Database Management System Relational Data Structures CQR

Question: Alan Counting, Edward Quals and Peter Rofit are in partnership in an accounting practice, CQR. The practice specialises in taxation, auditing and financial advice for small to medium sized clients. They started the practice in 2005 and it has grown to now employ 25 people. These employees include other accountants and office staff. Alan, Edward and Peter believe the practice is headed for a period of significant growth and have come to you to help them redevelop their Client Billing (CB) system so that it copes better with their workflows and supports future growth opportunities. At the moment, when a client turns up for a scheduled appointment or when an accountant visits a client, the client's information is referenced using the clients name. If it is the first contact between the practice and client, the client is asked to complete their details (i.e. name, address, contact name, contact number, ABN, TFN, structure, sector, service) on a client information form. Some of this information is optional based on the type of client and area they operate in. For example, some clients are simply salary and wage earners looking for assistance to complete tax returns and would not have an ABN, whilst others are companies requiring advice and assistance with the many different aspects of operating their business. Once the relevant information is obtained for a new client, a unique client number is allocated to the client. The client is the legal entity being dealt with by the practice and clients are created based on their business structure type. A client record can only have one structure type. Examples include sole trader, individual, private company, partnership and trust. If for example, two individuals operate a business as a private company, and they want their companys tax return completed as well as their own, a client record would be created for that private company and separate client records would be set up to deal with the affairs of each of the individuals. There are circumstances though where a legal entity sits within another but this is not obvious e.g. where the practice performs superannuation duties and compiles returns for a self-managed superannuation fund for an individual. In these circumstances, there are two client records - the individual and the superannuation fund. Sectors are the broad categories that allow grouping of clients for reporting purposes. Examples include retail, construction, financial services, hospitality and manufacturing. Occasionally new sector categories are created and the practice would like to record these with their code and description in a CRICOS Provider No. 00103D ITECH1006/5006 Database Management Systems - Assignment 1 Specification Sem3 2014 (201427) Vn. 2 Page 2 of 7 separate table. They would also like to be able to record that a client may operate in none, one or more sectors. Services are the broad categories that the practice offers. Examples include auditing, taxation, financial planning, corporate advice and superannuation administration. The practice would like to be able to record that a client must use at least one service but may use a number of services. The practice has a separate Human Resources (HR) system recording all employee details but for the purposes of billing, they record specific billing details about an employee within the CB system. This information is recorded based on the unique employee number assigned in the HR system. Within the CB system, all employees including Alan, Edward and Peter are given an employment domain, employee type, a charging/billing rate (see below) and an audit supervisor identifier. An employee may have multiple employment domains e.g. taxation, auditing, superannuation but only has one employee type e.g. accountant, administrator. The audit supervisor status refers to whether or not another employee is responsible for supervising and signing off on the audit of a client i.e. only the supervisor highest in the hierarchy is able to sign-off. Further details are recorded for each employee based on qualifications. An employee may have many qualifications and they may be specific to the particular employee type e.g. employees cannot have a public practice certificate unless they are an accountant. These qualifications should be chosen from a set rather than being separately keyed for each employee but they have had problems in their current system with ensuring the integrity of this data. All contact with the client - appointments at the client or at the practice's offices, letters, emails, phone calls to and from the client, auditing and stocktaking at the client - is billable to the client. All work conducted on behalf of the client - completing tax, superannuation or BAS returns, preparing Profit and Loss and Balance Sheet statements for the various legal entities used by a client/s, reviewing legislation or communicating with statutory authorities on behalf of the client - is also billable to the client. All staff bill/charge in spans of 15 minutes. That is, they record the amount of time they work on a particular client by entering a starting date and time for the work they do, as well as a category of work (these are from a reference set common to many accounting practices and occasionally have new references added) and must charge a minimum time of 15 minutes and charge in multiples of this amount. When they have finished their particular activity, they key in an ending time. They always end any opened charges on the same day. An employee can work for and bill against none, one or many clients. Two or more employees could work together on a job and in such a case separate billing records would be created for each employee. All employees as well as Alan, Edward and Peter have a charging rate which is the rate at which each individual is billed to the client. The charging rate is an hourly figure. The charging rates are reviewed yearly by Alan, Edward and Peter. Their review is based on consideration of: (a) the experience and salary of employees; (b) the overheads of the practice (some costs are not directly attributable to the client but are incurred as part of the running of the practice); and (c) their hoped for profit and distributions to themselves as partners. Alan, Edward and Peter generally follow a process of determining the hourly charge/bill rate per employee based on the employee's salary and then multiply by the same factor for all to arrive at thefinal charge rate for the employee. You are not expected to provide the algorithm for this process but as noted below they would like to record the rate and time period for which it applies. As well as charging employee time, the practice also on-charges for services or costs that are directly incurred on behalf of the client e.g. lodgement fees, penalties or fines. At the end of each month the practice runs its monthly account run. The outstanding balance from the previous month for a client is obtained (stored previously), any payments or credits received are itemised, any work or on-costs performed for the client are also itemised and an outstanding balance for the client is calculated (stored) and included on the account. In some cases, summaries of accounts are also produced and an amalgamated account sent to an individual responsible for payment of a number of different billing clients. All these processes are handled by a separate, existing Accounts Payable (AP) system. You do not need to do anything in this assignment with respect to the monthly account run and this description is provided as background. As part of their intended improvements, Alan, Edward and Peter would like their system to handle the following situations: (a) For new and existing clients, the sector they operate in is recorded literally against each client rather than allowing for predefined categories to be used and therefore allow multiple categories to be assigned to the client. Alan, Edward and Peter believe if they could correctly record these categories they could identify growth areas with individual clients and within sectors themselves; (b) Alan, Edward and Peter believe there is similar scope to offer add-on services to clients but the data recorded against the client is literal and does not align with the categorisation of services provided by the practice. Generally what is recorded is the 'service' the client originally contacted the practice to perform and because of this the practice may be unclear or missing out on offering other services the client would benefit from; (c) Up to now the practice has not been able to keep historical employee charging rates - when the new rates are keyed in, the historical records are lost - as that information is not kept to that detail in the AP system. Alan, Edward and Peter would like this to change so that it is possible to record the rate per employee against a time period for which the rate applies. They would like this functionality to be in the CB system; (d) The practice would like some idea of how clients 'fit together'. That is they would like to be able to understand how many clients they have that are related in some way but are separated by legal structures. This will assist them with understanding if they have missed out on any service opportunities with existing clients. For example they would like to be able to run a report that groups the three clients mentioned earlier the private company and the two individuals. In such a case the two individual client records would point/link to the private company client record and the private company client record would link to no others. In each client record therefore there should be a relationship link attribute that allows this linking. So now give those questions answers as according to all the current asspects: (1) E-R diagram: adherence to our standard, assumptions made, inclusion of correct primary and foreign keys, appropriate entities, relationships, and attributes. (2) Relational data structures: correct and meaningful translation of your E-R diagram. (3) Normalisation: appropriate interpretation of each normal form, arguments for leaving the schema in the normal form you consider optimal. (4) Conversion of E-R diagram to relational schema: schema is a correct translation of the E-R submitted with appropriate tables, columns, and primary keys Answer: (1) E-R diagram (2)Relational DataStructures (A) It contains the different structures provided by CQR to the clients CQRStructureTypes( Structure varchar(50), Description varchar(200) primaryKey(Structure) ); (B) It contains the different sectors provided by CQR to group the clents CQRSectorTypes( Sector varchar(50), Description varchar(200) primaryKey(Sector) ); (C) It contains the different services provided by CQR to the clients CQRServicesTypes( Service varchar(50), Description varchar(200) primaryKey(Service) ); (D) ParentClientID is just to have link for individuals who are part of any private client. CQRClientsInfo( ClientID varchar(10), Name varchar(20), Address varchar(100), ContactNumber varchar(20), ABN varchar(20), TFN varchar(20), Structure varchar(50), Sector varchar(50), Service varchar(50), ParentClientID varchar(10) primaryKey(ClientID, Sector, Service) foreignKey(Structure) referenced by CQRStructureTypes(Structure) foreignKey(Service) referenced by CQRStructureTypes(Service) foreignKey(Sector) referenced by CQRStructureTypes(Sector) ); (E) It contains information about different domains CQR supports CQREmploymentDomains( EmploymentDomain varchar(20), Description varchar(200) primaryKey(EmploymentDomain); ); (F) It contains information about different employee types CQR supports CQREmpTypes( EmpType varchar(20), Description varchar(200) primaryKey(EmpType); ); (G) It contains emploees information CQREmployeesInfo( EmpID varchar(10), EmploymentDomain varchar(20), EmpType varchar(10), BillingRate float, SupervisorID varchar(10) primaryKey(EmpID, EmploymentDomain); foreignKey(EmploymentDomain) references to CQREmploymentDomains(EmploymentDomain); foreignKey(EmpType) references to CQREmpTypes(EmpType); ); (H) It contins the employee hour rates history CQREmployeeHourRatesHostory( EmpID varchar(10), StartDate Date, EndDate Date, BillingRate float foreignKey(EmpID) references to CQREmployeesInfo(EmpID) ); (I) It contains the work categories those can be done to client CQRWorkCategories( WorkCategory varchar(20), Charge flaot primaryKey(WorkCategory) ); (J) It contians the Client billing information CQRClientBilling( ClientID varchar(10), EmpID varchar(10), WorkCategory varchar(20), StartTime Date, EndTime Date, Bill float primaryKey(ClientID, EmpID, WorkCategory) foreignKey(ClientID) references to CQRClientsInfo(ClientID) foreignKey(EmpID) references to CQREmployeesInfo(EmpID) ); (3)Normalisation of relations which identifies (A)Many clients can be mapped to same strucure type CQRClientsInfo ----many-one------ CQRStructureTypes (B) same clients can be mapped many sectors and many clients mapped to many secotrs CQRClientsInfo ----many-many------ CQRSecotrsTypes (C)Same clients can be mapped many services and many clients mapped to many services CQRClientsInfo ----many-many------ CQRServiceTypes (D) Same employees mapped to many domains and many employees mapped to many domains CQREmployeesInfo ----many-many------ CQREmploymentDomains (E)Many employees mapped to one employee type CQREmployeesInfo ----one-many------ CQREmpTypes (F) One client mapped to many works and many clients mapped one work. CQRClientBilling ----many-many------ CQRWorkCategories (G)CQRClientsInfo is not in 1NF as address field is not atomic CQRClientsInfo key (ClientID, Sector, Service), rest of the columns depending on ClientID which is part of the key. It is not in 2NF. CQREmployeesInfo key (EmpID, EmploymentDomain), rest of the columns depending on EmpID which is part of the key. It is not in 2NF. CQRClientBilling key (ClientID, EmpID, WorkCategory), rest of the columns depending on ClientID which is part of the key, it is not in 2NF. Rest all other relations maintained in 3NF. (4)Relational schema corrected to 3NF: CQRStructureTypes(Structure, Description, primaryKey(Structure)); CQRSectorTypes(Sector, Description, primaryKey(Sector)); CQRServicesTypes(Service, Description, primaryKey(Service)); CQRClientsInfo(ClientID, Name, StreetName, City, Country, ContactNumber, ABN, TFN, Structure, ParentClientID, primaryKey(ClientID), foreignKey(Structure) referenced by CQRStructureTypes(Structure)); CQRClientsSectors(ClientID, Sector, primaryKey(ClientID, Sector), foreignKey(Sector) referenced by CQRSectorsTypes(Sector)); CQRClientsServices(ClientID, Service, primaryKey(ClientID, Service), foreignKey(Service) referenced by CQRServicessTypes(Service)); CQREmployeeHourRatesHostory(EmpID, StartDate, EndDate, BillingRate, foreignKey(EmpID) references to CQREmployeesInfo(EmpID)); CQRWorkCategories(WorkCategory, Charge, primaryKey(WorkCategory)); CQRClientBilling(ClientID, StartTime, EndTime, primaryKey(ClientID)); CQRClientWorkCategories(ClientID, WorkCategory primaryKey(ClientID) foreignKey(WorkCategory) references to CQRWorkCategories(WorkCategory)); CQRClientEmployees(ClientID, EmpID primaryKey(ClientID) foreignKey(EmpID) references to CQREmployeesInfo(EmpID));

People V. Larry Flynt Essay Example For Students

People V. Larry Flynt Essay The movie of focus, People vs. Larry Flynt, is a film by Milos Forman which stars Woody Harrelson as Flynt. Larry Flynt is the president and publisher of Hustler magazine. Hustler is sort of the Mad magazine of written pornography which was started in the early 1970s. The interest for me was seeing how this movie depicts the sexual exploitation of women in the sex industry with a specific look at how the material devalues women. The movie starts out in 1952 with a young Larry Flynt along with his younger brother peddling moonshine somewhere in Kentucky. Twenty years later they own a strip club in Cincinnati, Ohio called Hustler. Larry says, If we could let people know what great lays these girls are, wed have something. His magazine begins with an idea of a Hustler newsletter containing only a few double sided pages of written and nudie material geared for men on the go. From there he built a million dollar porn magazine which today is sold globally. The moral majority protested heavily against Flynt and his magazine on grounds that the material was corrupting peoples thoughts and actions. Keep in mind, Playboy magazine was legally operating at this time. The difference between the two magazines was not that they contain nude pictures of women but the quality of the pictures themselves. Hustlers pictures were more vivid, real and risky; Playboys pictures were more artsy geared for an upper class man. Hustler also included pictures and stories of the sexual acts like bestiality. Flynt raised eyebrows and dropped jaws with every issue of his magazine, but one issue in particular really got peoples attention. In this issue, the magazine targeted the Reverend Jerry Falwell, former president of the Moral Majority, in a liquor ad parody recounting his first time. The ad featured Falwells first time with his mother in an outhouse. Falwell sued Flynt for libel, invasion of privacy, and intentional infliction of emotional distress. Hearin g this Flynt counter sued which ultimately brought this case to the Supreme Court of the United States. In 1988, the high court ruled unanimously in Flynts favor. As you can imagine, the ruling exacerbated the controversy further among the moral majority, feminist, and freedom lovers across the nation. After viewing this movie, I decided to redirect my research from how pornography devalues women to the controversial issue of the high courts decision. I found that probably the biggest groups to debate censorship of pornography are those feminist groups. However, they dont agree as a whole; the groups are split in half. Some feminists believe that pornography doesnt degrade women; it empowers them and censorship of things like pornography would only bring further discrimination. On the other hand, we have those right winged feminist who sincerely believe that degradation of women in pornography leads to criminal acts such as rape. They only reach a consensus in regards to strengthening their 1st Amendment Right by protesting against pornography or supporting it. Unsure of my opinion on the correlation of pornography and rape, I considered two articles: (1) Egalitarian, sexist, and aggressive sexual materials: attitude effects and viewer responses; and (2) Mens enjoyment of explicit erotica: effects of person-specific attitudes and gender-specific norms. In the first article, research on sexual attitudes was conducted among a sample of college students in Syracuse University. Hypothesis one was that both sexist and sexually aggressive scenes would increase acceptance of sexist attitudes; Hypthothesis two was that only sexually aggressive scenes would increase acceptance of rape myths and sexual coercion (Bauserman, 1988). Study one was conducted to identify the ways in which the sample described what sexism and sexual aggression meant to the sample. The second study examined change in attitude. Hypothesis one was weakly supported. Hypothesis two was totally rejected. This wasnt surprising to me. The idea that there is more correlation than th at is absurd, because violence is not sexual in any way. It is simply an act of empowerment over another individual using coercive means of doing so. In the case of rape, it is a sexual invasion to achieve a sense of domineering gratification for the offender over the victim to intentionally inflict harm. Therefore, rape and sex or sexuality can not be linked together. The second article focuses on the definitional differences between erotica and pornography. These two terms are commonly misconstrued in an industry such as pornography. By dictionary terms, erotica is defined as of, devoted to, or tending to arouse sexual love or desire, erotica as literary or artistic work having an erotic theme or quality (Lopez, 1995). Almost alike, pornography is defined as the depiction of erotic behavior intended to cause sexual excitement(1995). Studies were conducted to measure men and womens responses to sexually explicit material and to see whether gender-specific norms had anything to do w ith the enjoyment exhibited from several slides. The investigator approached person-specific attitude studies using an Erotophobia-Erotophilia terms which are defined as the disposition to respond to sexual cues along a negative-positive dimension of affect and evaluation (1995). The idea was that the enjoyment of the explicit material would be influenced by an individuals person-specific attitude. Lopez argues that the difference of gender-specific norms of males and females in sex is positively correlated with the enjoyment of sexually explicit materials. More specifically, gender-specific sexual norms for men allow more freedom for them to view the material and to express their supported desire openly through masturbation for example. Womens gender-specific sexual norms are more inhibited. This hypotheses were supported through his research. .ufd0ed5d640e99c66ca33f01e05812e3c , .ufd0ed5d640e99c66ca33f01e05812e3c .postImageUrl , .ufd0ed5d640e99c66ca33f01e05812e3c .centered-text-area { min-height: 80px; position: relative; } .ufd0ed5d640e99c66ca33f01e05812e3c , .ufd0ed5d640e99c66ca33f01e05812e3c:hover , .ufd0ed5d640e99c66ca33f01e05812e3c:visited , .ufd0ed5d640e99c66ca33f01e05812e3c:active { border:0!important; } .ufd0ed5d640e99c66ca33f01e05812e3c .clearfix:after { content: ""; display: table; clear: both; } .ufd0ed5d640e99c66ca33f01e05812e3c { display: block; transition: background-color 250ms; webkit-transition: background-color 250ms; width: 100%; opacity: 1; transition: opacity 250ms; webkit-transition: opacity 250ms; background-color: #95A5A6; } .ufd0ed5d640e99c66ca33f01e05812e3c:active , .ufd0ed5d640e99c66ca33f01e05812e3c:hover { opacity: 1; transition: opacity 250ms; webkit-transition: opacity 250ms; background-color: #2C3E50; } .ufd0ed5d640e99c66ca33f01e05812e3c .centered-text-area { width: 100%; position: relative ; } .ufd0ed5d640e99c66ca33f01e05812e3c .ctaText { border-bottom: 0 solid #fff; color: #2980B9; font-size: 16px; font-weight: bold; margin: 0; padding: 0; text-decoration: underline; } .ufd0ed5d640e99c66ca33f01e05812e3c .postTitle { color: #FFFFFF; font-size: 16px; font-weight: 600; margin: 0; padding: 0; width: 100%; } .ufd0ed5d640e99c66ca33f01e05812e3c .ctaButton { background-color: #7F8C8D!important; color: #2980B9; border: none; border-radius: 3px; box-shadow: none; font-size: 14px; font-weight: bold; line-height: 26px; moz-border-radius: 3px; text-align: center; text-decoration: none; text-shadow: none; width: 80px; min-height: 80px; background: url(https://artscolumbia.org/wp-content/plugins/intelly-related-posts/assets/images/simple-arrow.png)no-repeat; position: absolute; right: 0; top: 0; } .ufd0ed5d640e99c66ca33f01e05812e3c:hover .ctaButton { background-color: #34495E!important; } .ufd0ed5d640e99c66ca33f01e05812e3c .centered-text { display: table; height: 80px; padding-left : 18px; top: 0; } .ufd0ed5d640e99c66ca33f01e05812e3c .ufd0ed5d640e99c66ca33f01e05812e3c-content { display: table-cell; margin: 0; padding: 0; padding-right: 108px; position: relative; vertical-align: middle; width: 100%; } .ufd0ed5d640e99c66ca33f01e05812e3c:after { content: ""; display: block; clear: both; } READ: Since the dawn of human existence and literally th EssayWith the above said, it is safe to indulge deeper symbolically to give some meaning to why there is a double standard of sex between men and women. Perhaps women are supposed to be more conservative according to societal sexual norms. When a women dresses more provocatively, or she is promiscuous, she is referred to derogatorily. When the same situations for men are considered, its just a part of his manly hood. This could give some insight to why rape victims attain a sense of self responsibility for the rape or why some people think a women, a prostitute for example, might deserve a violation of rape because they br ought it on themselves. The fact about pornography is that it illustrates material that is brought from the private sphere to the public. It illustrates personal sexual material that defies what it considered moral among people with deep religious belief. Perhaps the major problem with pro-sex feminism has been its failure to embrace the mens magazines (Paglia, 1996). Do you think that if women participated actively in supporting porn magazines people wouldnt be so conservative about sexual ideas? Do you think if there was a balance in pornographic material among men and women alike there would be debate about the devaluation of women? I think sexual attitudes would become more liberal and women and men might find common interest with each other in that aspect. It would open doors sexually for couples in bedrooms. I disagree with the moral majority that pornography corrupts the mind and body. I believe if an individual is socialized knowing the difference in erotica and pornography there would be a deeper u nderstanding of sexual exploration and whats all involved including whats deviant. The movie, People vs. Larry Flynt, is really about 1st Amendment Rights. However, I found it thought provoking in regards to the big debate between Anti-porn feminists and those freedom lovers who think that an opposing decision of the Supreme Court in this particular case could have meant the abolishment of all 1st Amendment Rights to everyone no matter what the subject. Pornography in this case is simply a matter of taste not law. ReferencesBauserman, Robert. Egalitarian, sexist, and aggressive sexual materials: attitude effects and viewer responses. The Journal of Sex Research. V. 35, no.3 (1998). P. 244-53. Formon, Milos, dir. People vs. Larry Flynt. With Woody Harrelson and Edward Norton. Columbia Pictures, 1996. Lopez, Peter A.; George, William H. Mens enjoyment of explicit erotica: effects of person-specific attitudes and gender-specific norms. The Journal of Sex Research v. 32, no. 4 (1995). P. 275-88. Spalding, Alison D. Taking Sides: Clashing Views on Controversial Issues in Gender Studies. Is The Sex Industry Harmful to Women? Ed. Camille Paglia. Dushkin/McGraw-Hill, 1998. 66-73.

Is the Family a Fabricated Thing

Introduction The family has traditionally occupied a central place in society with communities hailing it as the basic unit of society. Families provide the social core in all societies and the nuclear family is present in all societies in the world. The unifying function of the family has been credited with the development and advancement of societies since time immemorial.Advertising We will write a custom essay sample on Is the Family a Fabricated Thing? specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More For this reason, the family unit is unanimously considered as the basic building block of a successful and functional society. This is the ideal institution within which children are created and brought up in a protected environment until they are able to take care of themselves. The family also serves as a tool for socialization since the shared moral and social values of the community are inculcated in the children withing the family setting. For these reasons, the family is assumed to be an innate experience with some authors suggesting that the family is a natural institution. However, this notion has been questioned by anthropologists whose studies have led them to question the â€Å"naturalness† of the family unit. The findings of these scholars have led them to conclude that the family is not a natural thing but rather a construction of the society. This paper will set out to discuss the ideas of some of the most outstanding anthropologists of the 20th century, Adam Kuper, David Schneider, and Claude Levi-Strauss, in order to show that the family is a fabricated thing. The Idea of the Family The family is regarded as the basic unit of society and at its most base level; it is made up of a man, woman, and their children. Kuper (1982) states that the family preceded the formation of the society and in these early stages, it comprised of a male figure who exercised jurisdiction over his wives and children. Each family paid no regard to the other and acted in its own self-interest. The aggregation of families was the next step in social evolution and the ties of kinship became the basis of societies. The family provided the basis on which societies were ordered with expanded extended families serving as the social core.Advertising Looking for essay on social sciences? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More Reproduction is universally considered to be the basis of family relations since each person must have a biological father and mother. This simple parent-child relationship makes it possible to perform genealogical tracing since it is a biological fact that a man and a woman must be involved in procreation. Therefore, the concept of kinship was formulated based on this blood relation and relationships though marriage unions between previously unrelated parties. The naturalness of the family has been presupposed for many centuries due to th e prevalence of this social grouping. However, the arguments made by anthropologists suggest that the family is a cultural construct. Family: A Fabricated Concept Adam Kuper’s Ideas Adam Kuper suggests that the family was formulated as an organization through which people could live in harmony and accomplish greater exploits. Before the concept of family, each individual acted at his own discretion and there was no order or system of laws in place. Kuper (1982) records that the original state of human society was characterized by promiscuity rather than family life and this status quo was detrimental to the raising of children. This primitive existence was unsustainable since violence and anarchy reigned. The family unit emerged as a more ordered system of procreation within which the child could exist in a more secure environment. As the family concept became more sophisticated, legal paternity became recognized and the child could grow in an environment where he/she had a m other and a father. The extended patriarchal family group provided the basis for jural order and continuity (Kuper 1982, p.73). The earliest form of government was therefore based on the family concept. The political ideas were grounded in the assumption that â€Å"kinship in blood is the sole possible ground of community in political functions† (Kuper 2008, p.723). The family was formulated as the best structure to foster social stability and encourage good governance. The prohibition of some relationships in some cultures while the same relationships are allowed in others is further proof that kinship is a culturally constructed concept. Human beings formulate the laws governing who should marry whom and therefore forms a family and they vary from society to society.Advertising We will write a custom essay sample on Is the Family a Fabricated Thing? specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More Kuper (2008) documents that in the nine teenth century, there was no crime in incest, and there were no rules articulating which marriages were allowed or forbidden. Before the 1880s, incest was an acceptable practice in England and there were no laws against the practice. The social perception of incest only underwent a radical change when the danger of sexual relations between fathers and daughters, or brothers and sisters began to be publicized by the National Vigilance Association. Following this, incest came to be conceived of as an offence with a victim. Because of this change in public perception, the British Parliament passed a Law in 1907 that made incest a crime and criminalized sexual relationships between members of the immediate family. As such, the family is a fabricated institute that is prone to changes based on the public needs. Kuper (2003) argues that the family was necessary to ensure survival in the primitive societies where division of labour was necessary. In these pre-modern societies, the nuclear family comprised of male and female enabled the parties to specialize in various activities for sustenance. The males typically acted as the hunters while the females were gatherers within a nuclear family setting. This economic function increased the value of the family and kinship was integral for survival Kuper (2003). It is conceivable that without the economic need of family, this institution would never have been created. Further reinforcing this supposition is the observation by anthropologists that with the rise of the individualist modern society, the economic functions of family have shrunk and each sex can manage to exist without the need of the other. Another indication that family is a fabricated concept is the difference in preference placed on a particular side of the family by different cultures. While some cultures emphasize on matrilineal descent (kin from the mother’s lineage), others emphasize on patrilineal descent (kin through the father’s lineage ).Advertising Looking for essay on social sciences? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More In addition to this, the location of residence differs with some cultures promoting marriage residence at the mother’s family house while most promote residence at the father’s family house (Kuper 2003). If the family was a natural construct, there would be universal preferences and all cultures would follow the same conventions. The fact that different ideals are practiced by different cultures proves that family is a human construction. The rapid changes in society that were experienced in the 1950s and 1960s demonstrated that the family was not an integral component of the society. During this period, consensual unions became widespread and the traditional family unit was dismantled in some circles. Some people began to view the family as a major source of discontentment within the society and this greatly discredited the nuclear family as an unshakeable institution. The sentiments of the time are best articulated by Leach who asserts, â€Å"far from being the basi s for the good society, the family with its narrow privacy and tawdry secrets, is the source of all our discontents† (Kuper 2003, p.332). The nature of partner relationships has also experienced significant changes over the decades with a marked decline in the importance of the social origin of a partner being exhibited in all modern societies. In the past, great weight was placed on marriage with major kinship involvement in the process (Dykstra 2006). Today, marriage unions are primarily a matter of personal choice and preference with the families on both sides of the partners being involved only marginally. In addition to this, the frequency with which family unions are dissolved has risen tremendously. The increased rate of marriage dissolutions is blamed on the heightened emphasis on the emotional side of relationships, which leads to higher expectations and demands by both partners on each other (Dykstra 2006). In traditional marriage unions, emphasis was placed on the s ocial and material benefits of the union. Claude Levi-Strauss’s Ideas Claude Levi-Strauss is credited with advancing the Structuralism theory in which he argued that the phenomena of the external world are apprehended as having distinct characteristics because of the way our senses communicate these perceptions (Voss 1977). Human beings are predisposed to categorize things into separate units or segments and assign these things named classes. Any material object of culture or belief system is in imitation of human apprehension of nature (Levi-Strauss 1970). Man’s perception of nature as segmented is therefore responsible for his view of society as ordered. Advocates of the family as a natural unit might argue for the â€Å"natural† nature of the family structure since it exists universally. Both primitive and civilized societies have some concept of family, which is typically made up of females and at least one male figure either related to the female(s) by bloo d or by marriage. Levi-Strauss refutes this assertion by highlighting that cultures are bound to have some similarities since they are all products of human minds (Voss 1977). For this reason, universal features such as the family unit can occur. Levi-Strauss suggests that the basis of marriage rules was to create bonds between otherwise unrelated people. He argues that the since pre-historic times, communities had the option of intermarrying among themselves or giving away their women to other communities (Johnson 2003). The communities that gave away their women cemented political alliances and thus reduced the risk of being annihilated by superior enemies. The incest taboo was formed out of the need to enforce exogamy and therefore increase the society’s chances of survival. Voss (1977) best articulates this idea by stating that â€Å"if survival of a society is dependent upon alliance, strong sanctions against incest must be interdicted† (p.28). The family concept was formulated as an important unifying force through which the social cohesion was fostered and propagated. Levi-Strauss formulated the alliance theory in which he argued that sibling groups were linked through the exchange of sisters in marriage thus extending sibling solidarity to larger groupings (Kuper 1982). Levi-Strauss argued that â€Å"all the pre-modern societies of the world were organized on the basis of cross-cousin marriage† (Kuper 2008, p.726). He further stated that the family as a function of marriage was an institution that was formulated to create and maintain alliances. These alliances took place through the exchange between groups as people married for strategic reasons such as to strengthen political alliances (Levi-Strauss 1969). Kinship served the practical purpose of preventing war by setting up a diplomatic alliance between groups. The class structure that is based on family status is a cultural construction. Levi-Strauss considers the practice of to temism an expression of the differences among members of the society. Totemism, which is the naming of individuals or clans after particular plant or animal species, was a widespread practice since historical times (VonSturmer 1970). This practice emerged from the need of man to develop a system of social ordering by giving different class structures. Human beings are able to distinguish each other according to their mutual social status, which is normally articulated in the form of social classification. David Schneider’s Ideas Throughout the 19th century, Americans held the view that the family relationship was biologically given and of huge importance to the society. Many Europeans also shared this assumption and they presumed that kinship was a biological outcome. However, Schneider argues that if this were the case then the same set of ideas would have been developed by other peoples across the world. This is not the case and the family structure varied from continent to continent, and tribe to tribe. For this reason, David Schneider suggested that kinship was a function of civilization and not a feature of primitive society. According to this anthropologist, there is nothing natural about kinship and it is the production of the society. Social conventions alone may lead to a family relationship even if there is no biological relationship between or among parties. This view is corroborated by Johnson (2003) who reveals that a person is regarded as family based on some socially prescribed duties and privileges that the person fulfils in his/her relation to others. The manner in which people act towards each other is based on the concept of kinship, which is a construction of man. Schneider (1984) argues that there is no such thing as kinship and that â€Å"kinship† is in fact a creation of anthropologists and it has no concrete existence. Schneider (1984) suggests that family is a social construction that is useful for the allocation of right s and their transmission from one generation to the next. The family was formulated as an entity through which continuity could be guaranteed. Patrilineage in many societies served as a landholding corporations with parents leaving property to their children. Dykstra (2006) notes that resources are â€Å"passed down from one generation to the next, in the form of gifts or inheritances for example, or in the form of financial support† (p.1). Schneider (1984) theorizes that biological kinship is culturally constructed and it was formulated to help establish paternity with a fair degree of likelihood. He elaborates that primitive man lived at a time when promiscuity prevailed and there was no way of establishing who the child’s father was. The concept of â€Å"marriage of pairs† was formulated to help establish paternity and this was the earliest and greatest act of human intelligence. The bonds and ties that are attributed to the sexual reproduction that occurs in the family setting are not natural but a function of the society. Schneider (1984) observes that sexual relations can occur and have significance even outside kinship. However, the social and cultural attributes that are created when sexual reproduction occurs in a nuclear family setting are formulated by the society. Biological relations are for this reason afforded special qualities by the society. This has led to the ties being regarded as natural and inherent in the human condition. The ties between biologically close members are not natural since they would not be special without the social and cultural connotations ascribed to them. The socialization process is responsible for inculcating the concept of kinship in children. As a child grows up in the family, he/she is taught the logic by which his/her specific culture classifies kin and these concepts become ingrained in him/her. The child is often ignorant as to what kinship terms such as â€Å"uncle†, and â€Å"aunt y† mean but he/she is brought up to attach special meaning to the relationships. Schneider (1984) points out that the classifications of â€Å"relatives† may extend beyond the simple biological and genetic relationships with stipulated descent being included in the categories. Without the socializing process, the concept of the family would die out as individuals would not be confined to this socially prescribed structure. Schneider strongly rejects the understanding that family has to do with reproduction and he assertively declares that kinship is essentially undefined and vacuous which since it has little that can justify it (Read 2003). The inadequacy of blood relationships for a definition of family is accentuated by the inability for this consanguinity to account for practices such as adoption that still make fatherhood and motherhood possible. Read (2003) argues that it would be more convincing to state that family is a social convention rather than a function of procreation and parturition. Schneider argues that the family is a fabrication since some cultures do not have words that can reasonably translate to â€Å"father† or even â€Å"child†. In his ethnographic work among the Yapese, Schneider noted that the relationship between the biological father and offspring could not be translated as â€Å"father† and â€Å"child† in the English sense of the word (Schneider 1984). The Yapese people were able to exist without this genealogically based kinship relationship and even the passing down of property from generation to generation was not done on the basis of biological relationships. Further Evidence In addition to the thoughts of the renowned anthropologists referenced herein, current developments in the family structure provide more evidence that the family is a cultural construct. The traditional gender-specific division of labour has had to change with the increased participation of women in the labour mark et. Dykstra (2006) notes that the interaction between the partners who make up the family has become â€Å"more of a matter of negotiation† with the traditional gender-specific notions being all but discarded in most developed nations. The recent legitimization of gay and lesbian family formation in many Western countries further reinforces the assertion that family is a fabricated concept. For centuries, homosexual relationships were frowned upon by societies with severe penalties being imposed on individuals who engaged in these unions. Schneider (1997) reveals that the notion of sodomy was so abhorred in Western culture that if â€Å"justified killing and enslaving so many in the 15th and 16th centuries† (p.271). This has changed and homosexual unions are today tolerated on a greater scale. Schneider (1997) notes that gay and lesbian rights are today asserted with antidiscrimination laws and fringe benefits being accorded to this previously marginalized sub-group. T he traditional notion of family has had to be reinvented as non-heterosexual couples form relationships and become â€Å"families†. Discussion The idea that family is a fabricated concept has led to the fall of kinship studies as modern anthropologists have abandoned the subject due to the many internal problems and theoretical weaknesses contained in it (Kuper 2003). In spite of the different approach taken in their arguments, the three thinkers analysed in this paper, Levi-Strauss, Kuper, and Schneider all contend that family is a cultural construct. The paper has demonstrated that the prevalence of families in all communities is not an indication of their naturalness. Renowned anthropologists such as Levi-Strauss have demonstrated that the seemingly universal concept is not an indication of the naturalness of the family unit. Rather, it is a statement of the scientific operations of classification of objects and phenomena which occurs in both Western and primitive societie s. The universal family structure as we know it is a product of identical mental manipulations, which explains the seemingly self-consistent systems exhibited all over the world. The fact that the family unity is â€Å"not what it used to be† is proof enough that the family is a fabricated unit that keeps evolving with the culture of the society. In the recent past, alternative household organizations such as single-parent families and singles have become prevalent hence necessitating a review of the importance of the nuclear and extended family. These realities suggest that the assumption of genealogy or biology as the basis of the family is faulty since if this were the case, the family structure would remain static through time. In spite of the understanding that the family is a fabrication, this unit will continue to play an important role in society. The nuclear family is still the engine-room of socialization and it continues to bestow economic benefits for its members. Even Schneider (1984) acknowledges that kinship is a privileged institution since it is the major building block out of which all social systems are constructed. Conclusion This paper set out to examine the ideas of prominent anthropologists in order to demonstrate that the family is a fabricated thing. A review of these ideas has revealed that family is an ideological illusion constructed by man over the centuries. The paper has demonstrated that the concept of family started from the individual actor playing for economic and political advantage and using the family as a tool for social cohesion. The paper has convincingly shown that most aspects of kinship are not natural but rather the social construction of various societies over the centuries. The family relationship is not primarily one of genealogical and reproductively, instead, it is culturally specified and the manner in which it is expressed and perceived is a fabrication. It can therefore be authoritatively stated that family is not inherently human or universal; rather, it is a cultural construction that is arbitrary and variable in nature. References Dykstra, A 2006, Family relationships: the ties that bind, Amsterdam Study Centre for the Metropolitan Environment, Amsterdam. Johnson, C 2003, Claud Levi-Strauss: The formative years, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge. Kuper, A 1982, ‘Lineage Theory: A Critical Retrospective’, Ann. Rev. Anthropol, vol. 11, no. 1, pp.71-95. Kuper, A 2003, ‘What Really Happened to Kinship and Kinship Studies’, Journal of Cognition and Culture, vol. 3, no. 4, pp. 329-335. Kuper, A 2008, ‘Changing the subject – about cousin marriage, among other things’, Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute, vol. 14, no.1, pp. 717-735. Levi-Strauss, C 1969, The Elementary Structures of Kinship, Beacon Press, Boston. Levi-Strauss, C 1970, The raw and the cooked, John and Harper, New York. Read, D 2001, What is Kinship? In The C ultural Analysis of Kinship: The Legacy of David Schneider and Its Implications for Anthropological Relativism, University of Illinois Press, Urbana. Schneider, D 1984, A critique of the study of kinship, University of Michigan Press, Michigan. Schneider, D 1997, ‘The power of culture: notes on some aspects of gay and lesbian kinship in America today’, Cultural Anthropology, vol. 12, no. 2, pp. 270-274. VonSturmer, J 1970, Claude Levi-Strauss: the anthropologist as everyman, Cornell University Press, Ithaca. Voss, S 1977, ‘Claude Levi-Strauss: The Man and His Works’, Nebraska Anthropologist, vol. 145, no.1, pp. 21-38. This essay on Is the Family a Fabricated Thing? was written and submitted by user Doctor Spectrum to help you with your own studies. You are free to use it for research and reference purposes in order to write your own paper; however, you must cite it accordingly. You can donate your paper here.

History and Geography of Puerto Rico

History and Geography of Puerto Rico Puerto Rico is the easternmost island of the Greater Antilles in the Caribbean Sea, approximately a thousand miles southeast of Florida and just east of the Dominican Republic and west of the U.S. Virgin Islands. The island is approximately 90 miles wide in an east-west direction and 30 miles wide between the north and south coasts. Larger Than Delaware and Rhode Island Puerto Rico is a territory of the United States but if it became a state, Puerto Ricos land area of 3,435 square miles (8,897 km2) would make it the 49th largest state (larger than Delaware and Rhode Island). The coasts of tropical Puerto Rico are flat but most of the interior is mountainous. The tallest mountain is in the center of the island, Cerro de Punta, which is 4,389 feet high (1338 meters). About eight percent of the land is arable for agriculture. Droughts and hurricanes are the major natural hazards. Four Million Puerto Ricans There are almost four million Puerto Ricans, which would make the island the 23rd most populous state (between Alabama and Kentucky). San Juan, Puerto Ricos capital, is located on the north side of the island. The islands population is quite dense, with about 1100 people per square mile (427 people per square kilometer). The Primary Language Is Spanish Spanish is the primary language on the island and for a short time earlier this decade, it was the commonwealths official language. While most Puerto Ricans speak some English, only about a quarter of the population is fully bilingual. The population is a mixture of Spanish, African, and indigenous heritage. About seven-eighths of Puerto Ricans are Roman Catholic and literacy is about 90%. The Arawakan people settled the island around the ninth century CE. In 1493, Christopher Columbus discovered the island and claimed it for Spain. Puerto Rico, which means rich port in Spanish, wasnt settled until 1508 when Ponce de Leon founded a town near present-day San Juan. Puerto Rico remained a Spanish colony for more than four centuries until the United States defeated Spain in the Spanish-American war in 1898 and occupied the island. The Economy Until the middle of the twentieth century, the island was one of the poorest in the Caribbean. In 1948 the U.S. government began Operation Bootstrap which infused millions of dollars into the Puerto Rican economy and made it one of the wealthiest. United States firms that are located in Puerto Rico receive tax incentives to encourage investments. Major exports include pharmaceuticals, electronics, apparel, sugarcane, and coffee. The U.S. is the major trading partner, 86% of exports are sent to the U.S. and 69% of imports come from the fifty states. United States Citizens Since 1917 Puerto Ricans have been citizens of the United States since a law was passed in 1917. Even though they are citizens, Puerto Ricans pay no federal income tax and they can not vote for president. Unrestricted U.S. migration of Puerto Ricans has made New York City the one place with the most Puerto Ricans anywhere in the world (over one million). Pursuing Statehood Through the U.S. Congress In 1967, 1993, and 1998 the citizens of the island voted to maintain the status quo. In November 2012, Puerto Ricans voted not to maintain the status quo and to pursue statehood through the U.S. Congress. 10-Year Transitional Process If Puerto Rico were to become the fifty-first state, the U.S. federal government and the state-to-be will establish a ten-year transitional process towards statehood. The federal government is expected to spend about three billion dollars annually in the state toward benefits not currently received by the Commonwealth. Puerto Ricans would also begin paying federal income tax and business would lose the special tax exemptions that are a major part of the economy. The new state would probably obtain six new voting members of the House of Representatives and of course, two Senators. The stars on the United States flag would change for the first time in more than fifty years. If independence were chosen by the citizens of Puerto Rico in the future, then the United States will assist the new country through a decade-long transition period. International recognition would come quickly for the new nation, which would have to develop its own defense and a new government. However, for now, Puerto Rico remains a territory of the United States, with all that such a relationship entails.

Reading Assignment 5 Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Reading 5 - Assignment Example I think this is important because looking at absurdity as springing from anxiety makes one realize that many of the absurd things we do or see happen because of fear or apprehension of consequences and of things to come. â€Å"Tomorrow, he was longing for tomorrow, wheras everything in him ought to reject it. That revolt of the flesh is the absurd† (14). Many people tell themselves that tomorrow will be better only to get through the day. This is another absurdity of life. Everyone hopes for something better but they know that this is just wishful thinking. I think this is interesting because it is consciousness telling itself that tomorrow will be better than today, however, it is as if the conscious mind knows that it is lying to itself. Hence, this â€Å"revolt of the flesh† is absurd because consciousness telling itself lies is absurd. â€Å"But what is absurd is the confrontation of this irrational and the wild longing for clarity whose call echoes the human heart † (21). The world is often irrational yet the heart longs to make sense of it all. Thus what I think is meant here is that incompatibility of the irrational reality of things and the clarity that people desire is, in itself, an absurdity. This incompatibility leads to absurd situations where people try to make sense out of something if only to maintain their sense of clarity.

Human Resource Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Human Resource - Essay Example Alternatively, I would set aside the elections based on the Taft- Hartley provisions and the circumstances of the case. The law stipulates employees’ freedom and right to determine their representative union and prohibits any form of threat of reprisal from the employer. The supervisor, being a recognized representative of the employer, however expressed interest in the union’s meeting by making multiple appearances around the meeting. Such a repetitive act was therefore not coincidental and indicated a motive to influence employees’ representation. The supervisor’s appearances around the union’s meeting could also have implications such as identifying members of the unions, based on their past unionism initiatives, and influencing elections results to favor some unions. The employer is also vicariously liable for the supervisor’s actions. These therefore mean that the employer’s behavior, through its supervisor, identifies significant threat of reprisal against the union and therefore contravenes employees’ freedom and right to determine their union of representation (Carter and Rausch,

The Declaration of Independence and Its Irony for Equality Term Paper

The Declaration of Independence and Its Irony for Equality - Term Paper Example Its primary goal is to discuss how the Declaration departs from its true essence based on the undermined state of the minorities within the society throughout history. For research materials, this paper will deal with the American Political Thought by Kenneth M. Dolbeare and Michael S. Cummings as its primary source of information for the Declaration of Independence. It will also use several internet and magazine articles as other sources of information. Keywords: Thomas Jefferson, the Declaration of Independence, equality and the rights of men, racial discrimination, women, gays, lesbians The Declaration of Independence and its Irony for Equality The Declaration of Independence portrays literal power in the usage of rhetoric devices that clearly stands out throughout the document. Thomas Jefferson, as its writer, had such proficiency beyond doubt that he was a very learned and skilled person. The rhetoric devices used to point at the possibility of a good education and literal skill s well developed throughout the writer’s experiences. As the studies of the Declaration of Independence find attest, the document is perhaps one of the most creatively designed state documents. Distinctively enumerated into exceptional divisions, Jefferson demonstrated some rare writing skills that make it one of the best literal state papers. The Declaration of Independence can be divided into an introduction, a clearly developed preamble, a section describing the indictment of the Crown, denunciation of the American oppressors - the British - and a good conclusion (Dolbeare & Cummings, 2009, pp. 49-52). Any paper passing the test of good writing must at least show such organization. With skill in rhetoric and a steadfast soul for nationalism, Jefferson had created some of the most messianic, heroic and memorable lines contained within the Declaration of Independence. Even down to his choice of words, Jefferson managed to immortalize this document throughout the annals of th e United States. Usage of terms such as â€Å"necessary† creates an impression of the strong need for the Americans to take the proposed action, which is well connected to their human nature. The line, â€Å"One people† can be translated to send a strong message that the Americans and the British were different people brought together politically and breaking the â€Å"political bands† which was a necessity for the survival of the Americans. This choice of words was intended to capture the attention of America’s friends. However, there is one line in the Declaration that gathers much controversy and debate. The usage of the line, "We hold these truths to be self evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, that among them are Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness† poses an intention that could have well been deeply thought to bring a diverse interpretation by the Americans, the British and possible allies who could assist the Americans in their quest for independence. This line consists of a group of principles pertaining to human rights that are naturally and rhetorically read and interpreted together.