How Social Work Has Influenced The 21st Century Social Work Essay

How Social Work Has Influenced The 21st Century Social Work Essay The social work calling advances social change, critical thinking in human connections and the strengthening and freedom of individuals to improve prosperity (International Federation of Social Workers). Using hypotheses of human conduct and social frameworks, social work intercedes at the focuses where individuals cooperate with their condition. Standards of human rights and social equity are essential to social work. In doing their everyday work, a social laborer is required to be proficient and skilful in an assortment of jobs. The job that is chosen and utilized ought to in a perfect world be the job that is best with a specific customer, in the specific conditions. Social laborer might be associated with a couple or these jobs relying upon the idea of their activity, and the way to deal with training that they use. The motivation behind this article is to distinguish the foundation, development and advancement of social work in Britain, from its starting points in the nineteenth century to its situation in the twenty-first century. The Elizabethan Poor Law or Old Poor Law was an Act of Parliament went in 1601, which made a national poor law framework for England and Wales. At the hour of passing it was alluded to as the 1601 Act for the Relief of the Poor. It formalized before practices of poor help appropriation in England and Wales and is commonly viewed as a refinement. Johnson (2007) clarifies that The Old Poor Law was not one law but rather an assortment of laws went between the sixteenth and eighteenth hundreds of years. The frameworks authoritative unit was the ward. It was anything but an incorporated government strategy yet a law, which made individual areas liable for Poor Law enactment. The barren destitute (individuals who cannot work) were to be thought about in almshouse or a poorhouse. The law offered alleviation to individuals who couldn't work: principally the individuals who were weak, inept, old, dazzle The physically fit poor were to be set to work in a House of Industry. Materials were to be accommodated poor people to be set to work. The inert poor and transients were to be sent to a House of Correction or even jail. Beggar youngsters would become understudies. The demonstration was an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom passed by the Whig legislature of Lord Melbourne that improved the countrys neediness alleviation framework. It was an Amendment Act that totally supplanted before enactment dependent on the Poor Law of 1601. The Bill set up a Poor Law Commission. This incorporated the shaping together of little wards into Poor Law Unions and the structure of workhouses in every association for the giving of poor help. The Amendment Act didn't boycott all types of outside alleviation, which was support without going into workhouses until the 1840s where the main strategy for help for the poor was to enter a Workhouse. As per Barwell (1994) the workhouses were to be made minimal more than detainment facilities and families were typically isolated after entering a Workhouse. The Act called for areas to be placed into Poor Law Unions so alleviation could be given all the more without any problem. Every association was to build up a wor khouse, which met the guideline of less qualification. In nineteenth century England there was a scope of occupations and deliberate positions, which had been built up as a major aspect of the new Poor Law (1834), The Charity Organization Society (COS), just as by strict and intentional social orders. Alleviating officials had duties according to open air help, which was help, as cash, food, dress or merchandise, given to the poor without the prerequisite to enter an organization, for example, workhouses. This was an option in contrast to indoor alleviation, which expected individuals to enter the workhouse (Rose, 1971). The COS upheld the standards of the new Poor Law (1834), whos point was to co ordinate crafted by magnanimous giving for the meriting poor. The 1906 1914 Liberal Reforms were acts passed by the Whig administration of Lord Melbourne that improved the countrys destitution help framework. It was an Amendment Act that totally supplanted before enactment dependent on the Poor Law of 1601. The Bill built up a Poor Law Commission. This incorporated the shaping together of little wards into Poor Law Unions and the structure of workhouses in every association for the giving of poor help. The Amendment Act didn't boycott all types of open air help, which was support without going into workhouses until the 1840s where the main technique for alleviation for the poor was to enter a Workhouse. The Workhouses were to be made minimal more than penitentiaries and families were regularly isolated after entering a Workhouse. The Act called for wards to be placed into Poor Law Unions with the goal that help could be given all the more without any problem. Every association was to set up a workhouse, which met the standard of less qualification. The 1942 Beveridge Report was an administration authorized report into the manners in which that Britain ought to be reconstructed after World War Two; Beveridge was an undeniable decision to assume responsibility, Woodward (2009). He distributed his report in 1942 and suggested that the legislature should discover methods of battling the five Giant Evils of Want, Disease, Ignorance, Squalor and Idleness. The Beveridge Report of 1942 proposed an arrangement of National Insurance, in view of three presumptions: family stipends, a National Health Service, and full work. The 1944 Butler Education Act changed the instruction framework for optional schools in England and Wales. This Act was named after the Conservative government official R.A. Head servant who presented the Tripartite System of optional instruction and made auxiliary training free for all students. The tripartite framework comprised of three unique sorts of auxiliary school, optional specialized schools and auxiliary current schools. The first structure of the NHS (1946) in England and Wales had three perspectives, known as the tripartite framework. Fourteen Regional Hospital Boards were made in England and Wales to manage most of emergency clinic administrations. In essential consideration GPs were self employed entities (that is they were not salaried workers) and would be paid for every individual on their rundown. At long last in network administrations, maternity and kid government assistance centers, wellbeing guests, birthing assistants, wellbeing training, inoculation vaccination and emergency vehicle benefits along with natural wellbeing administrations were the obligation of neighborhood specialists. During the Second World War the issue of dark pilgrims in Britain turned into an issue, because of the war, dark laborers and warriors showed up from the provinces to battle in the British armed force to help with the war exertion. Around then there were worry about the social results of the appearance of new dark transients, anyway migrants from the provinces that the administration supported were enrolled by the British state explicitly to determine work deficiencies. Richmond (1954). After the war, migration in Britain was on the ascent after groups of the laborers from the states came and settled. During the 1970s 80s examination concentrates on race and board lodging were led in a number urban communities like Nottingham, Liverpool and Birmingham, Simpson (1981) reasoned that dark candidates for chamber lodging stood by longer at that point white individuals. The examination distinguished that the normal dark family were bigger in size and required bigger lodging at that point white individuals, the gathering once in a while offered 4 bed lives lodging since it was viewed as empowering enormous families and the destitution that typically accompanies huge common laborers families. This is standardized bigotry, McPherson (1999). The Race Relations Act 1968 was a British Act of Parliament making it unlawful to reject lodging, business, or open administrations to an individual on the grounds of shading, race, ethnic or national starting points. It additionally made the Community Relations Commission to advance agreeable network relations. The Housing Act 1980 was an Act of Parliament passed by the Parliament of the United Kingdom that gave 5,000,000 chamber house occupants in England and Wales the Right to purchase their home from their neighborhood authority. The first of four components prompting The 1990 NHS and Community Care Act is the legislature at that point, from 1979 to 1997 the Conservative party needed to move British governmental issues to one side from post war progressivism under Margaret Thatcher. As indicated by Taylor (1972) The Conservatives put stock in self improvement so they were supportive of the casual carer where individuals would think about their own loved ones at home. Margaret Thatcher lectured Laissez faire A monetary hypothesis from the eighteenth century that is emphatically restricted to any administration mediation in business issues, it actually implies disregard things Margaret Thatcher needed to end the possibility of the administration dealing with you, for individuals to take care of themselves and stop Britain being a granny state. Demography is the investigation of populace seeing things like births, passings, relationships and movement. England is in a segment delayed bomb, its kin are getting more seasoned because of the improvement of sanitation in the course of the only remaining century, which is the most noteworthy ever. This implies individuals are living longer; there is an enormous increment in future. As the populace develops, the extent of individuals matured under 16 has dipped under those over state benefits age. Future during childbirth in the UK has risen (www.statistics.gov.uk). Pre 1990 Margaret Thatcher needed to address addresses, for example, what number of all the more older would we be able to home? Who is going to take care of them? Who is going to pay for it? The issue of the old Victorian geriatric wards were unreasonably costly to run and keep up. The segment issue was another factor that prompted the 1990 NHS and Community Care Act. Before 1990 The NHS and Social Services were considered excessively inefficient and costly. Thatcher needed a blended economy of government assistance where free, private parts and Social administrations take care of and treat individuals; she needed them to compet

The Concept of Flexibility

Presentation Pilbeam and Corbridge characterized adaptability as the capacity of an association to adjust the important people’s contributions to terms of sythesis, size, cost and responsiveness so as to adequately meet hierarchical objectives and goals (Pilbeam Corbridge, 2010). Instances of researchers who have expounded on the idea of adaptability are Taylor and Atkinson (Cheng Jarvis, 1996).Advertising We will compose a custom article test on The Concept of Flexibility explicitly for you for just $16.05 $11/page Learn More There are different sorts of adaptability and they incorporate money related, numerical, practical, fleeting and locational adaptabilities. These work to guarantee that associations are not understaffed or congested (CIPD, 2012). Budgetary adaptability has to do with the capacity of an association to convey monetary assets just where important and keeping away from superfluous expenses in authoritative procedures. Useful adaptability is the assignment of authoritative capacities to explicit people. It additionally has to do with the capacity of an association to have a workforce which can perform different assignments at some random time. Numerical adaptability has to do with the staffing of associations relying upon how much work is accessible at some random time (Acas, 2012). Transient adaptability is the commitment of laborers on brief premise, also called authoritative business while locational adaptability is the capacity of an association to encourage its representatives to work from their homes in order to cut on key infrastructural costs, for example, office space and transport (CIPD, 2013). The driving enthusiasm of the subject of adaptability in the UK is the need to change the work showcase. In 2003, the UK government acquainted the privilege with work in an adaptable way particularly for parental figures and representatives with youngsters matured six years and beneath. In 2009, the privilege was stretched out to incorp orate guardians with offspring of as long as sixteen years. Nonetheless, the privilege was appreciated by those representatives who had been in work for in any event 26 weeks (Flexibility, 2012). Presently, over 90% of all workers in the UK approach in any event one type of adaptable work with low maintenance business driving with 72% of all representatives followed by adaptable time at half while work sharing comes third at 45%. Some 37% of all representatives work in compacted weeks while 24% work at home (Hooker, Neathey, Casebourne Munro, 2007). As indicated by Atkinson’s model, adaptability has the upside of diminishing worker turnover and saving money on the expenses of enrollment. It lessens instances of truancy just as improves client support since representatives function according to the given courses of events (Vallespir, 2010).Advertising Looking for paper on business financial aspects? How about we check whether we can support you! Get your first paper with 15% O FF Learn More Discussion Atkisons, while working at the Institute of Manpower Studies turned out to be notable for his adaptable model in any case knwon as the ‘flexible firm’. Since 1980s, the adaptable firm model has picked up prominence particularly for its expectation and capacity to rebuild the work division over the world and particularly in the United Kingdom. This followed the money related cricis of 1980s which barely hit numerous organizations. The organizations in this way selected to apply the thoughts of Atkisons in order to endure (Murray, Poole, Jones, 2006). The center guideline of the model is the division of representatives into lasting or ‘core’ and low maintenance or ‘periperal’ workers. The ‘core’ representatives chip away at all day premise while the low maintenance representatives deal with contract premise. The general goal of Atkisons model was the improvement of the nature of work and administrations offer ed by different firms. In deciding the ‘core’ workers, a firm is typically guided by the aptitudes controlled by individuals. In essense, ‘core’ workers have uncommon abilities and that is the reason they are locked in consistently. This isn't to state or infer that the ‘periperal’ representatives must be in control of poor aptitudes yet what it implies is that the ‘core’ workers need to groups the capacity to perform multiple tasks. For instance, an individual who is prepared as a bookkeeper can likewise groups aptitudes in key administration, which can be valuable to the association. This worker is better held by an association since the individual is a significant resouce to it. Associations likewise foucs on preparing and retraining of the ‘core’ workers every once in a while to empower them to perform multiple tasks. Then again, it's anything but an absolute necessity for ‘periperal’ representatives t o forces more than one aptitude since they are recruited for a particular timeframe to embrace explicit errands. At the point when the assignments are not there, there is no need of having the people on the compensation list on the grounds that such a demonstration would mean, that the association woud be acquiring superfluous expediture, which would somehow been utilized in other valuable and productive exercises. Periperal laborers are increasingly sucseptible to cutbacks particularly during money related emergency. A succesful adaptable firm ordinarily has work adaptability and business adaptability. Work adaptability incorporates things like foundation of work groups or gatherings, schedulling of work and how outstanding task at hand is adjusted inside an association. Business adaptability has to do with drawing in representatives either on perpetual or brief premise or according to need. For organizations to viably actualize the Atiksons’ model, there is requirement for coordinated effort between the companies’s CEOs and the work force offices, which essencially manages human asset the executives. There is the requirement for the two to mutually build up a hierarchical startegy, especialy as to staffing. Correspondence between the two is accordingly a key ingridient for the succes of the model since businesses continue changing and therefore the should be continually strategic.Advertising We will compose a custom article test on The Concept of Flexibility explicitly for you for just $16.05 $11/page Learn More The need to grasp the adaptable firm model is additionally founded on the changing idea of the world particularly with respect to data and correspondence innovation which has made it a lot simpler to work at home or some other spot of the worker’s convinience. Numerous organizations over the United Kingom and the European Union have held onto innovation as a methods for cutting costs on office space, furniture, transport and othe r physical foundation. Ostensibly, there has been a radical depature from concentrating on the equipment parts of work to concentrating on the product parts of work. This means associations can connect with individuals who can work from their home, if they can comprehend their jobs and how to release those jobs in a proficient and compelling way. There has additionally been the development of the training division, which has seen numerous scholastic foundations present online scholarly projects, for example, certificate and experts progrms (VanNostrand Brekke, 1997). Understudies are enlisted for specific projects after which they are send the course materials online to learn at their home and just go to the foundations for tests. A few foundations even go to the stretch out of offering the tests on the web. A genuine case of an organization which has been rehearsing this method of study is the Liverpool University which offers experts programs through an online stage. This has empo wered numerous students to get to training and furthermore empowered the foundation to cut on the expenses of employing lectureres and for building classes and buying other learning framework (Kanigel, 1997). Adaptability in the United Kingdom is a subject of significant intrigue both to the businesses and representatives. As referenced in the presentation, the idea has been instituionalized since 2003 when the legislature through enactment gave representatives with youngsters matured six years and underneath the option to work flexiblby (Study mode, 2013). As per a review led by third work-life balance manager, greater part (92%) of UK bosses said they were willing to stupendous their representatives a chance to work deftly (Brown Remenyi, 2004). Be that as it may, about 27% of the talked with representatives said they needed to move toward their bosses to demand to work in an adaptable way notwithstanding the enactment requring all representatives with youngsters matured as long a s sixteen years the option to work deftly. This means the businesses generally acknowledged the thought simply because of the legisaltion (Department for Work and Pensions, 2009).Advertising Searching for article on business financial matters? How about we check whether we can support you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Find out More The overview further uncovered that females were bound to demand to work deftly than their male partners. Lion's share (68%) of the individuals who made such demands had been in the work for at any rate a half year while 21 % who made such demands had been in the work for under a half year. The overview uncovered absence of mindfulness about the enactments giving representatives the option to work deftly (Department for Work and Pensions, 2009). This is because of the high number of representatives (19%) who applied to work deftly without them fitting the bill for the equivalent. So as to expand the degrees of mindfulness, the Britain government has set up projects and plans to urge bosses to receive all the more family cordial work arragments in order to permit however many representatives as could be expected under the circumstances gain admittance to adaptable working. A case of such projects is the Building Britain recuperation of 2009 (Department for Work and Pensions, 2009). As of late in the UK, there have been calls for bosses to guarantee that their representatives are at freedom to pick what time to work and at which area (House of Commons business board of trustees, 2007). This has been required b

In Appreciation of Productive Fridays

In Appreciation of Productive Fridays One of the things that I wish I could tell my high school self is just how exited I am to get to do the things that I do here at Illinois, even when life gets busy. Really, even by the time Friday rolls around every week, Im still happy to go to my classes and my internship, because even though certain things are more challenging, theyre fun, and make me want to keep going! Also, the people that I get to see everyday make me want to continue doing the best that I can. I guess that what Im getting at is that I truly appreciate how my schedule motivates me to be as productive as possible, even on a Friday afternoon! Sarah Class of 2018 I'm from Grand Rapids, Michigan. I'm majoring in Communication in the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences.

Hamlet Research Paper - 1538 Words

The Revenge Amongst the Characters of Hamlet But that the dread of something after death, The undiscoverd country, from whose bourn No traveler returns, puzzles the will, And makes us rather bear those ills we have, Than fly to others that we know not of? Thus conscience does make cowards of us all, and thus the native hue of resolution is sicklied oer with the pale cast of thought(Shakespeare pg.124). Revenge causes one to act blindly through anger, rather than through reason. It is based on the principle of an eye for an eye, but this principle is not always an intelligent theory to live by. Fortinbras, Laertes, and Hamlet were all looking to avenge the deaths of their fathers. They all act on emotion, and this leads to the†¦show more content†¦This is the use of Fortinbras expressing his anger but not using it in a way which could harm his country, and compensating by allowing him to express himself (Bloom pg 49). Fortinbras uncle may have saved his life right there because he very well could have been killed in his attack against Denmark this also saves a lot of heartache between the two countries. This also shows that Fortinbras is a very strong character, he assembles his army he gets ready to avenge his father but when he is told to think twice, he does. Oooh, Ahhh, is heard while the watchmen are at point. They look for the strange sound and nothing is thought of it except that it was a ghost. Marcellus one of guards hints that this may reveal something very big as he states, Something is rotten in the state of Denmark (Shakespeare pg 124). Although deeply sorrowed by his fathers death, Hamlet did not consider payback as an option until he meets with the lost of his father. His ghost tells him that he has been killed unjustly and with his rights still on his soul. One moment he pretends he is too cowardly to perform the deed, at another he questions the truthfulness of the ghost (McConnell pg 157). The ghost then tells Hamlet, to revenge his foul and most unnatural murder (Sh akespeare pg.124). However, upon his fathers command, Hamlet reluctantly swears to retaliate against Claudius. Hamlet does this not because he wants to,Show MoreRelatedThe Third Congressional District Of Hamlet Research Paper1498 Words   |  6 Pagesmasters degree from the London School of Economics and Columbia University. DeLauro is now married to Stan Greenberg a political strategist and has three children. DeLauro has been an ovarian cancer survivor for 32 years now, and continues funding research in finding an effective screening test to catch ovarian cancer early in future victims. DeLauro is quite wealthy and is one of the fifty richest members of Congress. 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Slaughterhouse-Five Futile Search for Meaning Essay

Critics often suggest that Kurt Vonnegut’s novels represent a man’s desperate, yet, futile search for meaning in a senseless existence.nbsp; Vonnegut’s novel, Slaughterhouse-Five, displays this theme.nbsp; Kurt Vonnegut uses a narrator, which is different from the main character.nbsp; He uses this technique for several reasons. nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp; Kurt Vonnegut introduces Slaughterhouse Five in the first person.nbsp; In the second chapter, however, this narrator changes to a mere bystander.nbsp; Vonnegut does this for a specific reason.nbsp; He wants the reader to realize that the narrator and Billy Pilgrim, the main character, are two different people.nbsp; In order to do this,†¦show more content†¦nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp; Kurt Vonnegut does not want to glorify war.nbsp; The narrator made a vow to nbsp;O’Hare’s wife, in chapter one, that the story would not do this.nbsp; â€Å"...I give my word of honor.nbsp; I’ll call it the children’s crusade.†nbsp; In order to do this, Vonnegut makes the main character a simple man.nbsp; His name is Billy Pilgrim.nbsp; His mission is to avoid anything that requires action or responsibility.nbsp; This causes him to avoid finding meaning in his life; he regards the world as chaotic.nbsp; The senseless act of war causes Billy to

Life and Circumstantial Luck Free Essays

Tic- toc. Tic- toc. Do I go left or do I go right? All these years I have been following the road of life and now it is in my power to take the road that leads to my final destination. We will write a custom essay sample on Life and Circumstantial Luck or any similar topic only for you Order Now Along the way, I have traveled on many types of surfaces, but now I face my greatest challenge. I am stuck between two paths. One path leads to eternal happiness and other leads to eternal sadness. Is it in my destiny to choose the right path? Or will it just be my luck to choose the wrong path? Do I go left or do I go right? Tic- toc. Tic- toc. Life. It is such a simple word, yet the meaning is nothing close to simple at all. We all take a journey on the fabulous road to life, yet does anyone even know what life is? I mean we all live it, but what is it? Anyone know the definition? ( I’d surely would like to know. ) Well if no one truly doesn’t know the answer to life then how can we know for sure why things happen the way they do? Is there some kind of spiritual force out there? Is there some person or thing controlling our every move? Or do things just happen just because they do; coincidences and forces that we have no control over? No one really knows if a god really exists, so things just happen because they just do. Things happen because of coincidences and forces we have no control over. Our life is then based on luck, isn’t it? Think about it this way, luck refers to something that which happens beyond a person’s control. This view incorporates phenomena that chance happenings, a person’s place of birth for example, but where there is no uncertainty involved or where uncertainty is irrelevant. (Huh? English please. ) In other words, luck is just something that we have no control over and just happens. However, there are a few different types of luck. Constitutional luck, it is luck with factors that can’t be changed. Circumstantial luck, it is luck with factors that are haphazardly brought on. Lastly ignorance luck, it is luck with factors one doesn’t know about. (So, where does this luck come in play? ) Luck can be seen everywhere, whether it be in movies, books, paintings, or reality. We live our lives experiencing luck every day. As we step foot into a casino or acquire a lottery ticket, we unlock the emerald doorway to our chances. Chance is the key to any time of game. We spin the wheel of fortune hoping that it will land on something pleasant. Often in literature, luck plays a significant role. When we think of luck, we think of lucky number 7 or the colour green. But in reality, luck isn’t that clear. It is a mystery hidden behind the shadows. Some people are blinded by the concept of destiny that they don’t realize that it is luck that is aiding them. In one of the greatest plays written, Othello, the main character is a person who you would think is unaccepted by society, but is loved. Othello is a moor and a Muslim from Africa. He is this dark angel that many are afraid of, yet love. During the 1600s, only men of noble decent became generals with a few exceptions here and there. But a Moor becoming a general was just a preposterous idea. Regardless of this fact, Othello thinks that it was because of his accomplishments that made him become who he is. He had fought in many wars and then Brabantio had invited him to stay with him and â€Å"still questioned [him] the story of [his] life from year to year, the battle, sieges, fortune that [he had] passed. (Othello, 1. 3, 128-130) A white man had shown interest in a black man regardless of the racism in the world at that time. (How does that happen? ) Nevertheless, Othello somehow becomes a general before even meeting Brabantio and coming to Venice. How became a general, is a question no one has an answer to. We can accept the belief that his accomplishments made him successful, but with racism being a major factor no thing seems to add up. We can say that it was in his destiny to become a general, but really is that really the case? It is more of a matter of pure luck that Othello obtains such a high rank in society. Overcoming such obstacles especially in the 1600s was simply impossible. A black man could never have a higher rank than even a white surf. White was always greater than black. Goodness always prevails. (Well back then it did. Now does it? Yeah, not so much). So for Othello to have become a general it could not have been because of his accomplishments, it had to have been of random occurrence that made him just a bit better than a white surf and to move up the chain of success. To have luck take control of your life, neither wits nor feelings are involved- just possibility. We depend on random occurrences to aid us for the better. â€Å"Luck never gives; it only lends,† (E. B. White) If life does revolve around luck then you must pay a price for the goodness. You may get lucky for a while, but since luck never gives, it takes back the luck and it is why we experience karma. Luck may give us marvellous things, but sometime along the road all of it gets taken back. Yet the whole concept of luck doesn’t seem to quite add up. Random occurrences and things happening beyond a person’s control do exist, but not everything is random. Life on earth couldn’t have begun randomly. There must have been something that created all of this and luck- just doesn’t seem to quite explain why. Many religions in the world either agree or disagree with the concept of luck. Gautama Buddha, the founder of Buddhism, taught his followers not to believe in luck. The view which was taught by Gautama Buddha states that all things which happen must have a cause, either material or spiritual, and do not occur due to luck, chance or fate. The idea of moral causality, karma is central in Buddhism. In the Sutta Nipata ,the Buddha is recorded as having said the following about luck: â€Å"Whereas some religious men, while living of food provided by the faithful make their living by such low arts, such wrong means of livelihood as palmistry, divining by signs, interpreting dreams†¦ bringing good or bad luck†¦ invoking the goodness of luck†¦ picking the lucky site for a building, the monk Gautama refrains from such low arts, such wrong means of livelihood. † Lakshmi, is the Hindu Devi of money and fortune. It is said that by proper worship, with a meticulous prayer procedure the blessings of this powerful deity may be obtained. However, the Catholic Church excludes chance or luck as an explanation for creation. As well, there is no concept of luck in Islam other than actions pre-determined by God and that God alone has power over all things. It is stated in the Qur’an that one’s sustenance is pre-determined in heaven when the Lord says: â€Å"And in the heaven is your provision and that which ye are promised. † However, one should supplicate towards God to better one’s life rather than hold faith in un-Islamic acts such as using â€Å"lucky charms†. Religion is the belief in and worship of a god or gods, or any such system of belief and worship, usually involving devotional and ritual observances, and often containing a moral code governing the conduct of human affairs. (Thank you dictionary. com) Whether one be atheist or follow a certain religion, one still has a belief in something. Many follow religions so they can give the creator of life a name; God. Many believe that God is the spiritual being that has created what we call the universe. No one knows for sure if he exists or not, but many want to believe that he does. In addition, throughout humanity, many messengers of God have walked the surface of the Earth and this gives more of a reason for people to believe that God exists. If God really does exist, then he must be the Supreme Being that had created life for us humans. Hence, he has already planned our life in a way, but in order to fulfil our life we have to put the pieces of the puzzle together. The bits and pieces are scattered everywhere and it is not easy to find them all nor is it to put them together. Along the way pieces can get damaged or lost. When pieces of the puzzle get damaged it means that your life is going bad or something is not going good, but can still repair your life. Sometimes pieces can get lost to the point where you have not enough pieces to complete the puzzle. In that case you make bad decisions and then something tragic happens to your life, which can result in death. This can be seen as how people die at a young age. Some young individuals make the wrong decisions and then it ends up costing them their life. Searching for the pieces is not as easy as it sounds. The pieces can be right in front of us, but we second guess ourselves and don’t know where to look. Often times we seek advice from fortune tellers and prophets. We go to seek for any clues of the future and hope that we can find our right path. And other times, people tell us what our destiny is and it is what we believe and try to achieve. This is most often seen in movies and books about heroes. Many character archetypes are based on the concept of a hero. The hero is a larger-than-life character that often goes on some kind of journey or quest. In the course of his journey, the hero demonstrates the qualities and abilities valued by his culture. How to cite Life and Circumstantial Luck, Essays

Forms of EMH The Efficient Market Hypothesis (EMH)

Question: Explain the meaning and forms of EMH. Explain the logic behind EMH. Present the evidence that researchers offer for and against each form of EMH. Explain how an asset price bubble can be rational, i.e. consistent with EMH. Evaluate the housing and mortgage-backed security price bubbles that brought on the recent financial crisis and concluded on whether they were rational or irrational. The essay has been written clearly and concisely and not exceeded the word limit. Answer: Introduction In financial economics, many studies have been carried out on efficient market hypothesis (EMH) and this interest has been triggered by various reasons. According to Fama(1970), EMH refers to an investment hypothesis which postulates that it is hard to make abnormal profits due to stock market efficiency. In this case, an efficient stock market enables the prevailing stock prices to factor in and incorporate entire relevant information within a short period. EMH is divided into three types notably; weak-form, semi-strong form as well as strong form EMH. This classification is dependent on the extent and speed at which the stock prices incorporate any new information that intrudes the market. Based on the literature, the risk-weighted return is greater in markets that are inefficient in comparison to efficient markets (Sewell, 2012). For this reason, the studies undertaken on stock market efficiency tend to be significant for both individuals as well as institutional investors. Additionally, strong knowledge of market efficiency is vital among corporate managers as their decisions influence the market value of their firms. Lastly, the EMH is often treated as a supposition in many financial models. The studies conducted on EMH have given rise to numerous contradicting arguments among the scholars. In this regard, this essay presents the arguments for and arguments against the EMH. To substantiate the claims, the essay provides corresponding evidence to the arguments. Then, the essay expounds on the effect of the recent financial crisis on EMH and winding up with a summary of the discussions. Arguments for and against and Evidence of EMH Short-term momentum which involves under reaction to any information intruding the market The initial empirical studies anchoring the viewpoint of randomness in share prices focused on determinants of short-run serial correlations exhibited by consecutive stock price movements. Overall, this study operated on the premise that the stock market lacks memory. This implied that the previous stock behaviour is irrelevant in determining its future behaviour as noted by Cootner (1964). In another research, Lo and MacKinlay (1999) established that short-run serial correlations were non-zero. More so, the presence of unnecessarily many fluctuations towards similar direction drew them to deny the fact that share prices exhibit random walk behaviour. Perhaps, this proved that there was momentum in short-run share prices. Furthermore, the scholars Lo, Mamaysky and Wang (2000) employed advanced nonparametric statistical methods which detect patterns. Also, they used a number of stock price signals which demonstrated that the stocks prices experience predictive ability to a certain extent. Additionally, many economists as well as psychologists with a bias in behavioural finance believe that short-run momentum adheres to psychological feedback mechanisms. This means that people often observe a stock price increasing and become attracted to the stock market in a manner that describes a bandwagon effect. In this connection, Shiller (2015) attributed the coming to lime light of the United States stock market in the course of 1990s to psychological influence. As a consequence, the U.S stock market experienced irrational exuberance. Further, the behaviourists argued that the short-run momentum was caused by the behaviour of investors failing to react to the information intruding the market accordingly. If for any reason, the complete effect of crucial news announcement can be tapped within some time, then the stock prices can demonstrate a positive serial correlation. Nevertheless, many factors interplay to offer contradicting implications on whether it holds that the share prices do not follow a random walk. To start with, since the stock market does not display a perfect example of a random walk, it is crucial to strike the difference between statistical as well as economic significance. Markedly, the statistical variables that influence the momentum are negligible which, in other words, imply that cannot allow investors to make abnormal profits. Any individual incurring transaction costs are less probably to institute a trading strategy while relying on the momentum obtained in these researches which will stand out against a buy-and-hold approach. On this note, Camerer et al. (2011) proposed that momentum investors rarely benefit from abnormal profits. On the contrary, some of these investors gained lesser profits in comparison to buy-and-hold investors at the time of candid, positive momentum established through statistical techniques. This is due to the presence of transaction costs which optimises any level of momentum that is available. In a similar fashion, Abraham (2014) found out that standard strategies are not lucrative due to trading costs associated with their implementation. Secondly, as a behavioural theory on bandwagon effects as well as under reaction to the latest information may appear sufficiently reasonable, the proof that such impacts happen in a systematic manner in the equity market is inadequate. For instance, Fama (1998) investigated the significant collection of empirical studies on events studies which tailored towards establishing whether equity prices behave efficiently to new announcements in the market. In this case, the events encompassed announcements on return surprises, share splits, activities on dividends, mergers, latest exchange listings as well as IPO or initial public offerings. Fama found out that clear under reaction to new information is as obvious as an overreaction. Also, he established that post event consistency of abnormal returns occurred in the same manner as post event reversals. Furthermore, Fama indicated that the majority of return inconsistencies occurred only in situations where specific models are used. Howeve r, these findings tend to diminish when a variety of models for anticipated normal earnings are employed to incorporate risks. This occurs in tandem with the use of distinct statistical approaches are employed. For instance, research that offers identical weights on post announcement earnings of various stocks can give rise to varying findings from research that allocates weights to the stocks based on their intrinsic value. Long-Run Return Reversals As discussed in the short-run, the returns are determined using a number of days and the common argument countering market efficiency entails the occurrence of positive serial correlation. However, various studies have proved that there is negative serial correlation within an extended period. At some point, this is referred to as return reversals. For instance, Fama and French (1988) established that twenty-five to forty percent of the changes in long-term earnings can be projected on the basis of negative correlation with previous earnings. Likewise, Poterba and Summers (1988) confirmed that there is a significant mean reversion exhibited by stock market returns in the long-run. A number of researchers have claimed that this projection is caused by the behaviour of the share prices to overreact. In this connection, DeBondt and Thaler (1985) contended that investors are influenced by optimism as well as pessimism which make prices diverge systematically from their basic values and afterward exhibit mean reversion. These scholars attributed this overreaction to previous events is in tandem with the hypothesis of behavioural decision suggested by Camerer et al., (2011). This theory states that investors are intrinsically overconfident in their efforts to project future share prices. These results add weight to investment methods that subscribe to contrarian strategy. Contrarian strategy involves purchasing of stocks that have seemed unattractive over a long period and shying off from stocks that are characterized by long-term run-ups. Although there is significant evidence to substantiate negative long-run relationship in the stock earnings, the results indicated by mean reversion has proved to differ across various researches. In particular, this correlation has shown a different degree of strengths from one period to the other. Notably, the strongest empirical is manifested in times like the Great Depression. This period gives rise to stock patterns that do not give a definitive generalization. Furthermore, these mean reversals, in general, may demonstrate a behaviour that tallys with market efficiency. The rationale for this is that they are partially engendered by interest rate volatility as well as the interest rate behaviour to return reverse. Because of the condition that stock return has to increase or decrease to increase its competition with earning from the bonds, it is likely that there will be fluctuations in the interest rate accordingly. In the instances where interest rate adjusts back to the mean within certain duration, this changing pattern will give rise to return reversals such that the pattern corresponds to the efficient market operation. Furthermore, it may be difficult to generate profits when single stocks show return reversal behaviour. Fluck et al.(1997) modelled a strategy that involved buying of stocks within thirteen-year duration in the course of the 1980s as well as early 1990s which experienced poor earnings over the previous 3-5 years. These scholars established that equity with extremely low returns within the 3-5 years duration displayed greater earnings in the subsequent periods. On the other hand, the shares characterized by high earnings within the previous 3-5 years demonstrated lower earnings in the subsequent periods. Therefore, it was concluded that there is extremely strong statistical proof of mean returns. Nevertheless, the scholars also established that earnings in the subsequent period were indifferent to both groups. For this reason, the scholars were unable to prove that contrarian strategy would give rise to higher-than-average returns. Therefore, it can be concluded that although strong s tatistical pattern associated with mean returns was manifested, no indication was available that confirm that market inefficiency would empower investors to realise abnormal earnings. Impact of 2007-2008 Financial Crisis on EMH The recent fall in economic performance, as well as turmoil experienced in the financial market coined as the global financial crisis, was condemned for the failure of the financial markets between 2007 and 2008 internationally(Milner, 2009). In this regard, the concept of EMH has been employed by many scholars to explain the effect of the financial crisis. Indeed, the financial crisis paved the way for fresh scrutiny as well as a critique on the EMH. Notably, market strategists such as Grantham asserted absolutely that the efficient market hypothesis accounted for the financial crisis in that the trust in the EMH made corporate leaders to acute underestimation of the consequences of occurrence of asset bubbles (Nocera, 2009) .This is evidenced by the words of Roger Lowenstein(Fox, 2016). In the meeting organised by International Organisation of Securities Commissions, the debate on EMH was among the key agenda. In the meeting, Martin Wolf- the premier Financial Times staff- rejected the fact that EMH is not related to the real operation of the market. In the same meeting, McCulley- the MD of PIMCO presented a subtle view that EMH had not failed, though had a lot of errors in its application as it ignored the human nature (Stevenson, 2009). In addition, Posner Richard deviated from the EMH and exerted more weight on Keynesian economics. In his criticism, he contradicted some prevailing perspectives by maintaining that the decision to liberate the financial sector had exceeded the limits through exaggerating the pliability of laissez-faire capitalism (Cassidy, 2010). Despite the criticisms, the effect of financial crisis on EMH was grounded on two major conceptions. To start with, the perspective that competition puts in force a relation between revenues as well as costs. This implies that, in a scenario of abnormal profits, new entry lowers the costs. Secondly, there is a perspective of treating fluctuations in asset prices as determined by the information flow in the equity market. When these two perspectives are used jointly, the EMH results as noted by Ball (2009). This basic conception offers more insights on a startling projection on financial market response to any information that is freely made public. In competitive equilibrium situations, the returns derived from the use of information released to the public ought to commensurate with the cost incurred in using it. However, in reality, public information is priceless which implies that it is freely found. As consequence, the returns associated with such information ought to be equated to zero (Kim, Shamsuddin and Lim, 2011). Therefore, no one can earn abnormal profits from such information that has been factored in the prices. During the financial crisis, it was established that the assumption of efficient market was relaxed (Ball, 2009). This implied that the market prices did not reflect all the information that was available on the market. As such, there was an asset bubble which was characterised by increasing and falling of stock prices by huge differences than usual. At this point, some prudent investors benefited from the opportunity that was presented by the market. At the same time, a number of investors recorded significant losses. Conclusion From the essay, it is apparent that there is diversified and contradicting opinion about the validity of the efficient market hypothesis. In the essay, if the stock price demonstrated random walk behaviour, the equity market was regarded as of Weak-form market efficiency. On the other hand, if the stock prices indicated that it does not follow random walk behaviour then it was regarded as inefficient. This meant that the previous stock data can be used to predict future prices. On this note, some studies found out that the stock prices exhibit random walk behaviour. In particular, this studies include Cootner (1964), Lo and MacKinlay (1999) and Fama(1998). Conversely, Lo, Mamaysky and Wang (2000) established that there is some degree of predictability in the stock market. The EMH acknowledges the fact that it is difficult for any investor to make supernormal profit in an efficiently operating stock market. Furthermore, the global financial crisis was associated with the EMH. However, it has been argued that it is incorrect to assume that EMH caused the market bubbles. Instead, the essay has clarified that the occurrence of the financial crisis is pegged on overreliance on the belief of EMH. During this time, some the prevailing assumption of EMH did not hold which resulted in the famous global financial crisis. References Abraham, S. M. (2014) Testing International Momentum Strategies between Chinese and Australian Financial Markets,International Journal of Financial Research,5(1), p.1. Ball, R. (2009) The global financial crisis and the efficient market hypothesis: What have we learned?,Journal of Applied Corporate Finance,21(4),pp. 8-16. Camerer, C. F. Loewenstein, G. and Rabin, M. (Eds.). (2011)Advances in behavioral economics. Princeton: Princeton University Press. Cassidy, J. (2010) After the Blowup - The New Yorker. [Online] The New Yorker. Available at: https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2010/01/11/after-the-blowup [Accessed 24 Jun. 2016]. Cootner, P. H. (1964) The random character of stock market prices. Cambridge, Mass: MIT press De Bondt, W. F. and Thaler, R. H. (1995) Financial decision-making in markets and firms: A behavioral perspective,Handbooks in operations research and management science,9, pp.385-410. Fama, E. F. (1998) Market efficiency, long-term returns, and behavioral finance, Journal of financial economics,49(3),pp.283-306. Fama, E. F. and French, K. R. (1988) Permanent and temporary components of stock prices,The Journal of Political Economy, pp.246-273. Fluck, Z. Malkiel, B. G. and Quandt, R. E. (1997) The predictability of stock returns: A cross-sectional simulation,Review of Economics and Statistics,79(2), pp.176-183. Fox, J. (2016) Book Review: 'The Myth of the Rational Market' by Justin Fox. [Online] Washingtonpost.com. Available at: https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/06/05/AR2009060502053.html [Accessed 24 Jun. 2016]. Kim, J. H. Shamsuddin, A. and Lim, K. P. (2011) Stock return predictability and the adaptive markets hypothesis: Evidence from century-long US data,Journal of Empirical Finance,18(5), pp.868-879. Lo, A. W. and MacKinlay, A. C. (2002) A non-random walk down Wall Street. Princeton: Princeton University Press. Lo, A. W., Mamaysky, H., Wang, J. (2000). Foundations of technical analysis: Computational algorithms, statistical inference, and empirical implementation.The journal of finance,55(4), 1705-1770. Milner, B. (2009) Sun finally sets on notion that markets are rational. [Online] The Globe and Mail. Available at: https://www.theglobeandmail.com/globe-investor/investment-ideas/features/taking-stock/sun-finally-sets-on-notion-that-markets-are-rational/article1206213/ [Accessed 24 Jun. 2016]. Nocera, J. (2009) Poking Holes in a Theory on Markets. [Online] Nytimes.com. Available at: https://www.nytimes.com/2009/06/06/business/06nocera.html?scp=1sq=efficient%20marketst=cse_r=0 [Accessed 24 Jun. 2016]. Poterba, J. M. and Summers, L. H. (1988) Mean reversion in stock prices: Evidence and implications, Journal of financial economics,22(1), pp. 27-59. Sewell, M. (2012) The efficient market hypothesis: Empirical evidence, International Journal of Statistics and Probability,1(2), p.164. Shiller, R. J. (2015)Irrational exuberance. Princeton: Princeton university press. Stevenson, T. (2009) Investors are finally seeing the nonsense in the efficient market theory. [Online] Telegraph.co.uk. Available at: https://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/comment/tom-stevenson/5562355/Investors-are-finally-seeing-the-nonsense-in-the-efficient-m