MARKETING AMONG BASEBALL PLAYERS

Introduction

Baseball is one of the most well attended and well loved sports in the United States. Even newspaper reports recording the lowest MLB attendance do not even compare to the highest attendance in other sports such as the NBA. Consequently, one is left to wonder whether there is a need for personal marketing techniques among the baseball players. The answer to this question is a definite yes. Baseball players just like any other players need to market their services to the public, coaches and also to the baseball association. The paper shall look at an in depth analysis of how baseball players market themselves and some recommendations will also be given about aspects that need improvements.

How baseball players market themselves
Product endorsements
The first major avenue that baseball players use to market themselves as sporting products is through product endorsements. Usually, players are approached by interested companies and then requested to endorse a certain product. This may be done by displaying the endorsement on television advertisements, on the cover/packaging of that particular product, through posters about the product or other media channels. (Howard, 2007)
It should be noted that many baseball players may not be as enthusiastic about endorsement deals as other players in the market. Usually, basketball players, golfers and tennis players are greatly associated with this form of advertising in comparison to base ball players. Despite this low turnout, a few players have exploited this avenue. For instance, a number of magazines such as “Sports Daily” have been targeting sports marketing within the country. They have explained just how some baseball players utilize television advertisement to make themselves known throughout the entire country. The latter magazine has given the name of the following baseball players as some of the most marketable baseball players in the country. They include:
• Sammy Sosa (Chicago Cubs)
• Alex Rodriguez (Texas Rangers)
• Derek Jeter (Yankees)

The latter player is one of the most respected sports marketers in baseball. This is partly as a result of his ability to secure long term deals with influential companies within the country. For instance, he managed to secure deals with Sporting Company Nike and also with Gatorade. Nike is well recognized in the process of promoting sports players and in this case baseball players because their products directly target sporting enthusiasts. Additionally, this company is highly successful thus implying that their ability to meet players prices is quite credible. (Howard, 2007)

The latter player (Jeter) has also secured deals with Fleet Bank and Armour Hot Dogs. These two companies indicate just how versatile baseball players are in terms of reaching a wide range of companies. Not only do these players go for endorsements in sports affiliated companies, but they also venture in other types of companies that may have nothing to do with sports such as the food sector or the banking industry. The reason behind such an approach is that baseball players are trying to reach a wide range of audiences through their endeavors. The majority of baseball sponsors actually come from non sport related fields. Additionally, many supporters and fans also come from other sectors of the economy. This is why it is favorable to use this line of thought while marketing oneself.

An example of one of the advertisements made by a baseball player was the Visa advertisement of 2004. In this advertisement, Yankees player Jeter is depicted as a baseball player who has wronged his team owner. The latter role was also played by the actual Yankees team owner. In this advertisement, the baseball player is asked just how he manages to go out all night but still play a good game of baseball. In response to this, the baseball player show his visa card and even opts to take the team owner out for a night out. When asked to comment about their use of the baseball player in their advertisement the Visa vice president Madam Silver claimed that the company had a keen eye for the kind of events or issues that are in season. Since baseball (and that particular baseball player) were highly respected, then Visa knew that they had a higher chance of getting the attention of their target market by appealing to them through such a well know player. Shown below is an image depicting the latter player

Source: http://www.usatoday.com/
On the other hand, Jeter chose to participate in this advertisement because he understood the fact that he could get greater levels of exposure here rather than in other promotional strategies because the advertisement would be aired at the Emmy awards and in local television shows for a very long period. Additionally, ratings designed to measure the overall success of the advertisement also indicated that the process was highly successful. For instance, it was found that twenty six percent of the respondents who saw this advertisement liked it a lot. Fifteen percent of them also claimed that they liked it. This means that the advertisement was effective in getting the message across but most importantly for this baseball player; it was important in exposing him to the public eye. (Howard, 2007)

Most companies that use baseball players for their advertisements claim that these adverts are important in ensuring that the public can still generate excitement about the advertisement or that there should be a buzz surrounding the ad. However, in instances where this is overdone, then baseball players may not be able to create the image or change that they require. However, if done in moderation, then it can attract the attention of the general audience.

MLB Campaigns
MLB has not been very enthusiastic about marketing its baseball players as other major league games in the United States. They were fond of complaining that their players require too much enumeration or that they were not good enough. In response to these attacks, then the baseball labor union has a talk with MLB management to inform them about the possibility of promoting baseball players. (Hallstrom, 2006)
In response to the agreement that they made with the association, the company decided that after the season it would promote their player’s capabilities through major campaigning. The campaign was dubbed I live for this. Through this avenue, it was possible for the MLB to market their baseball players as approachable individuals. In fact the baseball players have been accused of being too serious and that they do not come across as approachable. Consequently, the campaign was engineered to make them appear as though they are quite open minded and understanding about prevailing circumstances.

The latter group was able to reach a large number of people because statistics indicate that baseball is one of the sporting activities with the highest number of great players at any given season throughout the United States. Consequently, bringing this out was an important part of the program. On top of that, they asserted that the kinds of personalities that baseball players had was quite likeable and that they were wonderful people to be around. The following players highlight just how true these assertions are
• Henderson Rickey
• Eric Gange
• Barry Bonds
• Albert Pujols
• John Smoltz

All the latter players have a very wide list of admirers. These have been depicted by the kinds of stories that have been aired in most local news channels and other sporting channels. Usually, this is possible as result of the efforts made by the MLB to organize the viewing of these products. (Mc Eylea, 2008)

Franchise values
Some players use the names of their respective clubs to market themselves. In other words, as soon as they qualify to play for a certain well known team then they market themselves as the faces representing those games. One such example is the team captain of the Yankees. This player has become one of the well known players owing to the fact that he uses his affiliation to the Yankees to inform the public about his existence.

The latter approach is quite important in the world of baseball because failure to use it may result in very poor exposure for a player. Additionally, when players affiliate themselves to baseball clubs that have been performing poorly, then they may ruin their marketing strategy. A good example of such a club is the Expos. The expos has not been doing well over the past season owing to the fact that their management has been trying to relocate them to other parts of the country. In fact, records show that players within this club have not been paid well because the club lost close to thirty million dollars because of their failure to relocate. Players who associate themselves with such a club are bound to ruin their overall image.
Public relations

Because of the level of modesty that is prevalent in the MLB, one cannot ignore the fact that this is one of the most essential marketing tools in the sports. Many players opt for this alternative because public relations offers certain features that cannot be found in other sport marketing activities. First and foremost, through public relations, the public can learn all about a player’s history rather than just a particular aspect about them. This is possible because when most sports magazines, newspapers or websites write about the good deeds that baseball players participated in, they are likely to add in certain comments about the career or the ability of those respective baseball players. . (Mc Eylea, 2008)

Public relations is an important marketing avenue because the public tends to believe it more than other direct forms. This is because a third party is giving commentaries about the community or social responsibility enacted by a player rather than the player merely talking about himself. The public usually assumes that an external party has higher chances of telling the truth in comparison to the particular player who may be making the comments on his own.

An example of how baseball players have marketed themselves using this avenue is though donations to scientific organizations. Baseball players from the Phillies have built for themselves reputations of giving back to the society by encouraging research conducted by ALS institute. It has been giving funds for their projects and this has generated a lot of positive enthusiasm for the public about this. Additionally, the latter players have taken part in specific endeavors with one of the most prominent personalities being Curt Schilling. This baseball player has shown his dedication to the research institute by making contributions to them even after transferring to other teams that did not have a contract with the latter institute.

Another good example of how baseball payers have marketed themselves in the field of public relations is through community programs such as the Inner Cities program. The purpose of this program is to assist in the rehabilitation of crime prone neighborhoods through the common bond of baseball. Usually, the neighborhoods chosen for such projects are those ones that have recorded very high levels of drug abuse, teen violence, gang violence and other societal vices. (CDM sports, 2008)
The result of the public relations campaigns have reflected very positively among members of the baseball association or the persons who took part in the program themselves. For instance, the latter mentioned program allowed baseball players the opportunity to showcase their positive side by creating a platform in which they could interact with the children. The children in that neighborhood were given items such as;
• Bats
• Balls
• Gloves
• Etc

A follow up of the program also found that large numbers of them had embraced a positive aspect in life. For instance, some of them pursued their education and were able to complete college through baseball scholarships. As if this was not enough, a substantial number of them embraced lifestyle changes by living positively. Consequently, through these avenues, a number of baseball players were exposed to the public and most of them could now fit into the lifestyle of a well known player.

Direct marketing for scholarships
Because of the relative prevalence and fame of the baseball game, then a series of marketing agents have been created in order to encourage direct marketing to baseball coaches and auctions. Through this avenue, students can get college scholarships for baseball and thus begin a long and elaborate career in their respective sporting teams. Taking the example of a group known as Athletics scholarships; this company is important in laying out some of the important qualities that potential players willing to join the baseball association need to know before entering into those fields. For example, one has to tell coaches exactly what kind person they are and why they should be considered as potential members of a certain team.

There are a series of associations that are responsible for taking care of these obligations. The first one is the NCAA and the other is NAIA. Through the NCAA students have the potential to access close to six thousand scholarships through the program. Some of these scholarships may either be full scholarships or they may be partial ones depending on students’ qualification. (Athletic scholarships, 2008)
Most sports athletes are actually fond of using this approach nowadays. Most of them may write down details about themselves and their experience in baseball within their resumes. They eventually send this resumes to the concerned parties and those who happen to be in need of it can access it through the most favorable avenues.

Conclusion
Baseball players are more laid back in their approach to marketing themselves. However, this does not imply that they do not engage in the practice. Most players market themselves in less obvious methods such as public relations, MLB franchising and also through campaigns made by the MLB. However, there are still certain direct forms of marketing that entail advertisement. There are usually done through product endorsements. Additionally, some candidates interested in joining the MLB may market themselves directly by writing about their qualities and sending them to the respective coaches or associations.

Reference

Athletic scholarships, (2008): College Baseball Financial Aid Information, available at http://www.athleticsscholarships.net/
Mc Eylea, J. (2008): Nate Kuhn of AZ clash over baseball, retrieved from
Available at http://www.freepressrelease.com/
Howard, T. (2007): Baseball player’s endorsements, USA Today, Associate Press
CDM sports (2008): Major league Baseball players association and marketing, associate press
Hallstrom, D. (2006): Plans for marketing the game, Economic development report, 3, 47

The author of this article is a holder of Masters in Business Administration (MBA) from Harvard University and currently pursing PhD Program. He is also a professional academic writer. SuperiorWriters.Com>

IMPACT OF THE UK IMMIGRATION POLICIES ON CRIME, VICTIMIZATION AND CRIMINAL JUSTICE SYSTEM

Introduction

A series of individuals have engaged in debates about the controversial issue of the UK immigration laws. Some claim that immigration brings numerous, social, economic and even political benefits to the UK and to the countries that produce these immigrants. However, others argue that UK immigration policy is not a costless phenomenon. In this respect, they believe that the region’s safety or criminal status may be at risk when immigration is allowed to exceed these limits.

Criminological theories provide a suitable avenue for evaluating the validity of such arguments and through such an approach; it is possible to understand the context of the latter assertions. The paper will attempt to explain the role of criminological theories in explaining crime and criminal behaviour with regard to immigration.

UK immigration policies
The United Kingdom immigration policies have undergone a lot of changes over the past few years. As of 2005, the Conservative party announced plans to tighten UK immigration policies with the aim of listing the upper ceiling on immigration. In other words, there was the intention of sealing some of the loopholes in the immigration policy. This was to be achieved through the utilization of several means as asserted by Straubhaar (2006).

First of all, the government planned on instituting electronic embarkation controls for all immigrants. Additionally, asylum seekers were also given strict laws to adhere to; any individual who fails to secure an asylum is to be removed from the UK and taken back to their country of origin. In response to the recent increase in economic migrants, the government announced a system in which the latter groups are to be ranked based on points systems. Those who were able to score highly in this system are the ones with the authenticity to remain in the UK.

It is essential to look into the concerns governing the UK immigration policies from both sides of the coin. In other words, care ought to be given in considering viewpoint from the government’s side and also from critics’ side.

Guild (2007) explains that the British Prime Minister during the year 2004, announced that immigration was an important part of the UK’s economic sphere owing to the fact that a substantial portion of the region’s growing economy have vacancies. These vacancies must be filled and what better way to do this than through migration. The Premier cited a prevalent five hundred and ninety one jobs available annually.

Given the latter announcement, The UK allows economic migrants into the country in order for the them to contribute towards the overall development of the country. This is also important in understanding why immigrants from the European continent are not subjected to stricter rules or regulations compared to their counterparts in other parts of the world.

However, Orcalli (2007) explains that the assertions made by the Prime minister about these vacancies were not related to the facts on the ground. According to him, there was a need to incorporate the number of people who change from one job to another or from one profession to another. This is the reason that such a high vacancy rate was reported by the Prime minister. Additionally, the latter author also argues that the unemployment rates within the UK exceed these vacancies hence illustrating that there is a need to look for ways of making the locals fill in these positions.

The British immigration system is more of an open door policy. (Schiff, 2007) The reason behind this is that the former prime minister and his party had asserted that immigration has always been a part of UK’s history and that this was an inevitable part of the country’s economy. While making these assertions, the Prime minister was able to give examples such as refugees from France during the seventeenth century. These refugees were instrumental in growing Britain’s economy. Additionally, he also cited the fact that immigration in the past has also been done based on humanitarian aspects. He explained how families were allowed in the region after it had been established that there were severe problems in their respective countries.

The United Kingdom is particularly selective about the kind of immigrants that enter its borders. This is because usually only those immigrants who have the intention of working or studying in the UK are given clearances. In fact the UK government turns close to a hundred and twenty thousand potential immigrant applications so as to encourage a level of selectiveness within the country. (Zimmerman, 2007)

However, certain areas about the UK immigration policies have been sources of unregulated entry of immigrants into the country. First of all, there are certain language schools that have been responsible for bringing in an unregulated amount of immigrants that usually pass inspection from the affected authorities. Usually, these language schools are allowed to bring in as many language students as they so wish from their country of origin.

Aside from the latter, Kondoh (2006) explains that many immigrants can obtain UK citizenship if they get married to individuals from this nationality. Additionally, the UK is careful about the nature of marriages that occur between foreigners and immigrants. This is because there is a possibility that such arrangements are commercial ones with the sole purpose of increasing an immigrant’s chances of staying within the country. It should be noted here that there is still some improvement because statistics show that close to fifteen percent of all marriages between immigrants and UK nationals are commercial ones.

Peridy (2006) also explains that the United Kingdom is fairly strict about whether or not persons leave the country after their expected stay within the country has expired. Usually, most UK embassies are given the responsibility of ensuring that immigrants will leave the UK after the end of their agreed period of time there. This is the reason why there have been cases of deportations of those individuals who do not comply. However, some critics have asserted that these controls are not as strict as they used to be. In the past, the UK used to have exit controls designed to detect any immigrants who have overstayed their welcome. However, this system is no longer in place and this could act as a serious loophole for persons who intend on bridging immigration laws within the country. In fact, experts have asserted that the largest cause of illegal immigration are those immigrants who were given visas for a short term visit but then chose to stay permanently within the country.

Statistics show that the United Kingdom is not a high migration country. Other countries such as the US or Australia have recorded much higher migration rates than the United Kingdom. Consequently, this implies that the region does adhere to certain forms of strict controls. Lundborg (2006) gives the following figures in relation to the total percentage of immigrants in this developed nation’s workforce:
• US-15%
• Australia- 25%
• UK-8%

However, in response to these statistics, some critics have argued that the UK is one of those countries that actively promote primary immigration. This was a reserve for countries such as Australia and the US. It has been argued that the latter continents have more room to accommodate immigrants compared to UK since the latter is densely populated than the former. Consequently, there is no sure way of determining exactly which country’s percentages are more in line with their structural and resource limits.

There are a series of immigrants that are permitted into the UK in order to gain access to a series of workplace opportunities that have their own vacancies. The NHS is particularly associated with this as the largest percentage of its nursing workforce comes from other parts of the world. Additionally, other potential workers normally enter the UK in order to work in its public service. This is the reason why the government has been sorting entry of immigrants so as to encourage infrastructural or economic growth within the country.

Additionally, some people have asserted that the UK immigration laws are biased or racist because there are certain restrictions that do not permit employers in the UK to hire whoever they would like. In response to these comments, the Prime minister asserted that the country’s immigration policies are such that they need to encourage people who will fill in gaps in the country economy.

Munz et al (2007) assert that the UK immigration policies normally target areas with specific skill shortage such as in the field of medicine. According to the latter authors, employers who represent these sectors are free to recruit from any part of the world. However, those coming from, other sectors of the economy need to first look in the UK labour market before they can go outside. Usually, when a certain occupation has not been classified as a sector that is in shortage, then the workers recruited for that profession must come from within. Employers need to show to the UK government that they have tried to source as many workers as possible from within the country to the point of lacking so as to start recruiting immigrants.

Additionally, the UK immigration policies are such that they have given priority to percentages from the European Union in that any person from the European Union is free to work or live in the UK following the latter explanations. In fact, this is the reason why some critics have asserted that immigration policies have become lax over the past few years adding that most people who are affected by it tend to be those ones that are not necessarily linked to the area under consideration.

Crime & victimization and relationship with immigration in the UK
The results relating crime to immigration have not been very positive over the past few years. This is because the rate of crime has increased drastically and this has also corresponded to the increased numbers of immigrants within the country however, one must be careful not to link crime directly to immigrants without due facts. Consequently, the subsequent portions of the essay shall look at the facts surrounding recent crime surveys conducted by the Bureau of statistics and other groups.

Hart (2007) claims that over eighty five percent of all the cash machine thefts that occur within the United Kingdom are committed by organised groups of Romanian origin. In this book, it has been asserted that ascension of Bulgaria and Romania into the European Union has caused serious increases in the level of organised crime within the United Kingdom. Consequently, it is imperative for the country to look for ways in which they can tackle the occurrence of these issues without necessarily creating a situation where the latter immigrants are sidelined.

Cases of increased crimes have caused such great concern to the point that the government has decided to create a platform designed to address crimes committed by immigrants. The agency mandated to deal with these issues is known as the Serious Organised Crime Agency. This agency was created in the year 2006 with the aim of curbing organised crime which is usually committed by the high level of immigrants. Benhabib (2007) also claimed that the government has been closely associating with the Bulgarian and Romanian governments in order to ensure that the chances of occurrence of these crimes are minimised.

The concerns over high crime rates among settling immigrants has also heightened owing to the behavioural patterns of the respective immigrants that settle in the United Kingdom. After the expansion of the EU, a mass influx of immigrants has been registered within the country. These immigrants who enter the country tend to settle in certain areas alone. Consequently, a large population of another group find themselves living in small areas of the UK. Mayer and Peri (2005) argue that this is where the problem could begin. They assert that owing to the fact that most of these immigrants tend to create their own cultural facilities, then they depict features that make them entirely different from the British or the UK lifestyle. Examples of such facilities include
• Media outlets
• Shops
• Worship centres
• Etc

While the latter types of facilities are not harmful in themselves, they create a scenario where the immigrants seem to be distinctly different from the rest of the population thus causing them to be alienated. When the latter group feel alienated, then they will not mind engaging in crimes against the society that has alienated the. Consequently, this is the reason why crime rates in such settlements tend to be much higher than in other areas (Wall, 2007)

Role of criminology theories in explaining crime and criminal behaviour
In order to understand crime, individuals resort to criminological theories; this means that the latter are mechanisms of placing criminal behaviour in context. However, one should not assume that criminal behaviour can be explained by just one theory. In fact, Jones (2001) asserts that these theories usually work hand in hand to complement one another. Hence, weaknesses in one form can be countered by the strengths in another form and this goes a long way in enhancing the overall understanding of crime.

Hale (2005) explains that there a series of criminological theories that can be used to affirm one another, to build upon or even challenge one another. Some of these theories include
• Deterrence theory
• Opportunity theory
• Rational choice
If one decides to use just one of these theories, then they are bound to leave certain gaps in the explanation of crime. Consequently, when the latter are used in conjunction with others, then chances are that there will be better understanding of its occurrence. Also the utilisation of an interdisciplinary or an interrogative approach is always useful in trying to understand why crimes occur the way they do.

Jones (2001) explain that the rational choice theory is one of the most applicable theories of crime around. The rational choice theory is based on the premise that every human being has the ability to choose what action to take and not to take. Usually, this is as result of rational reasoning that involves the process of weighing the potential benefits of the crime in comparison to the harm that might befall them if they choose to commit the crime. When benefits outweigh harm, then a crime is likely to occur. In this regard, crimes would be deterred if they were quite severe, if they were swift and also if they were certain to occur. This is because criminals have an inclination of choosing to commit crimes that will heighten their pleasurable experiences and minimise their pain.

Hale (2005) adds that crime can be explained though the opportunity theory. In this theory, persons choose to commit crime when a certain opportunity has presented itself more directly than if it was not present. Consequently, when there are more opportunities for a potential criminal, then chances are that those crimes will occur. For example, when a certain area contains many restaurants and pubs, then these locations present greater opportunities for crime. Besides this, opportunities can also present themselves in the form of a crime itself; shoplifting does not involve a lot of careful preparation like say robbery with violence, consequently, cases of shoplifting are much higher than robbery with violence because it easier to do the later.

The labelling theory is based on the premise that a person who has been labelled as a criminal will tend to live up to this attachment by actually committing crimes. Consequently, such a theory is founded upon the deliberate and precise acts of certain individuals when tackling differing problems. Accordingly, one’s psychological perception of himself or herself can cause that person to engage in criminal acts if they believe that the public perception about them is that of a criminal and hence there would be no difference if they committed crime anyway. (Smeeding, 2006)

While one may assume that criminological theories are only applicable to certain scenarios, it is imperative for one to draw links between these theories. For instance, the rational choice theory and the labelling theory can be applied in such a manner that one can see the similarities between them. For example, the rational choice theory is founded upon the premise that crime usually occurs as result of the rational decision to commit it in order to gain pleasure or minimise pain. Similarly, it can be argued that in the labelling theory, criminals are motivated to commit crime because of the rational decision or choice to live out their label as criminals.

Role of criminological research in influencing crime and criminal justice policies with regard to immigration
Many people believe that the cases of high crime rates within the United Kingdom as related to immigration can be linked to a series of crimes. The first one is the labelling theory. A number of immigrants perceive themselves as separate from the United Kingdom. This is because ethnic polarisation has increased drastically over the past few years especially after the introduction of the Balkan nation into the EU.

Hart (2007) explains that Britain’s education system and social arrangements have encouraged some degrees of ethnic polarisation. This is because most immigrants tend to live separately from other mainstream Britons. Subsequently, this sort of arrangement creates a form of inequality in treating individuals. In other words, by living separately from the rest of the region these immigrants relate their experiences to their ethnicity rather than to their ambitions or their goals. In the end, the immigrants feel that they are not part of the society that they live in. This is the reason why Kenotz (2006) claims that such immigrants are likely to take actions against the country that is hosting them. By being labelled as different individuals, the immigrants embrace that label and they tend to live up to the expectations that come with being different; one such action is through crime.

Criminological research has played a tremendous role in understanding crime and also in placing these criminal behaviour in the context of immigration or its policies. For instance, media reports have been recorded as saying that there is a crime wave associated with immigration. While this may be an over-generalisation, Kancs (2007) explains that the seemingly high crime rates within the United Kingdom have been a result of the rising population that has been associated with the mass influx of immigrants. Whenever populations increase, then this provides an opportunity for greater numbers of crimes to be committed because it is increasingly difficult to trace the perpetrator. This explanation is in line with the opportunity theory.

However, regardless of the actual reasons behind the increased crime rates, one cannot ignore the fact that the native UK population has registered greater concerns and worries about these crimes. Consequently, many of them have called for sterner actions by the UK government. This has been highlighted by a public demonstration, internet blogs and newspaper columns. Such calls have not gone unheard by the government. Research indicating heightened crime rates have caused the government to introduce new immigration laws. One such example was the upper limit for immigrants entering the country to work. The government realised that in order to reduce these fears, then it had to instate sterner action with regard to the UK population generally.

Orcalli (2007) also explains that the government’s statistics released recently have not done much to ease the fears inherent in native UK citizens. This is because the government asserted that the crime rates in areas saturated by immigrants are just as high as they are in native populations. By making this claim, the government’s intention was to make it appear as though immigrants have not caused surges in the level of crime in the UK. However, this raised a series of questions. If the proportion of the immigrants compared to the natives is quite low, then why were their crime rates comparable to those of the natives? Many individuals assert that criminal behaviour should not be tolerated at all and that it should be somewhere near nil or at a very low percentage. It is very disheartening to find that immigrants who are supposed to be seeking asylum, looking for work or studying are engaging in crime at all. This just means that most of them are violating the terms of their agreements. Most of them agreed to enter the United Kingdom in order to engage in nation building activities and not to commit crimes. (Pasqueeti, 2006)

Through criminological research, it has been revealed that the highest numbers of individuals who have led to increases in prison populations are immigrants. It has been shown that number of foreign prisoners has heightened compared to UK or British prisoners.

Other research reports have indicated that the standards prevalent in immigrant populations are quite different from those ones in the actual population. One such assertion was laid out by the Chief Constable operating in Cambridgeshire - Mrs Julie Spence. She asserted that the immigrant populations operate under different sets of rules in their respective countries. For instance, some immigrants are fond of carrying knives with them as a form of personal protection. This is merely part of their respective country’s culture and they have carried this forward into the United Kingdom. (Guild, 2007)

Over the past few years, criminological research has indicated that the cases of drunk driving have risen tremendously. As we speak over seventeen percent more foreigners have been arrested. Some of these foreigners may not consider drunk driving as such a big problem in their native countries. Additionally, the level of alcohol tolerance in those countries has dramatically reduced compared to its performance during the early hours.

Research has also shown that the numbers of crimes related to feuds between immigrants themselves has risen. For instance, it has been asserted that in Britain a certain Lithuanian murdered another Lithuanian thus causing increasing cases of strain in the police force within such immigrant areas. In fact Lundborg (2006) asserts that crime rates in these respective areas are usually associated with the nature of these respective individuals especially with regard to the kind of nation that they hail from.

Taking the example of a report highlighted by the police constable for Kent; this constable claimed that as of 2007, violent crimes over the past five years have increased by about thirty three percent. He claimed that this was because of the fact that a high number of immigrants have committed these crimes. The latter speaker also asserted that it takes up a lot of police resources to handle the problems associated with these individuals. When a person is arrested by a police officer in relation to a crime and they do not speak English, then police officers have to look for a translator. Consequently, this may cause a considerable wastage of resources on a suspect who may even be guilty of committing that crime. In the end, the person who loses the most is the one who had nothing to do with the crime. Instead of the police force directing their efforts to deal with other potentially dangerous rime, they are busy wasting their time dealing with suspects. (Guild, 2007)

In close relation to the latter argument is the fact that many immigrants actually get weary of the negative treatment which they get from police officers. Most of them assert that certain police officers or society in general may assume that one is a criminal when found in a certain scenario. This usually, makes such immigrants feel sidelined and some of them may make the choice to engage in criminal behaviour to fit into that profile anyway.

All the latter occurrences have affected immigration policies in a number of ways and have also affected the amount of finances spent in dealing with immigration as problems in themselves. For instance, the occurrence of crimes has affected criminal proceedings in court. This is because there is a mandatory requirement for all persons to receive fair trial by understanding their proceedings. Consequently, there is a need for more translators which eventually translates into greater public expenditure.

In close relation to the above issue is the fact that a lot of resources have to be spent to follow up cases relating to immigrants because they require different procedures. This issue has resulted in calls by a number of concerned parties about the possibility of terminating any visa of an individual that could have committed a crime. These parties have asserted that immigration places must be changed to accommodate persons who bridge their end of the bargain. According to them, persons who enter the UK are expected to live by their rules, most immigrants may take part in petty crimes but these are still unacceptable in the country and should therefore be prevented by imposing strict sanctions. This is the reason why the Prime minister responded by changing immigration policies to restrict upper limits of immigrants.

Conclusion
The issue of crime prevalence in immigration has been a highly controversial one. Some people believe that the mass influx of immigrants is directly responsible for the rising crime rates in the country. Others assert that these crime rates are as a result of the labelling that is done against these persons. Whatever the reason may be, one cannot ignore that fact that a substantial portion of the country’s crime rates have gone up. This also correlates to the surges in crime among foreign nationals.

Reference

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The author of this article is a holder of Masters in Business Administration (MBA) from Harvard University and currently pursing PhD Program. He is also a professional academic writer. SuperiorWriters.Com>

CRIMINOLOGICAL THEORIES AND THEIR APPLICATION

Introduction

Criminology is a knowledge body that treats crimes as a social phenomenon. Criminological theories are important in understanding criminality. The latter term encompasses all the issues that involve law breaking, law making and reactions towards the process of breaking these laws. There is a unified sequence that is created by the latter mentioned processes. Criminology may also be defined as the process of studying the etiology, nature and extent of law breaking behavior. Given all the latter issues, then criminiology covers all the societal arrangements, group roles, structural issues in society and other dynamics affecting the group.
History and definition of criminology theories

Classical and choice theories
This school of thought began as early as the eighteenth century. One of the most notable figures associated with the classical schools at that time was Cesare Beccaria. His work and the work of many other criminologists influenced the criminal justice systems as we know it today. Classical theories were set aside for some years but this was later changed after the neo-classical movement began back in the nineteen eighties. At this point, criminologists began adopting positivism in their explanations while others also began embracing structural influences.
There are three main ideas that govern the classical school of thought and they are as follows
• People’s freedom to choose
• The ability to control choice
• Certainty, swiftness and severity of punishment

The first aspect listed above is based on the fact that all human beings have the ability to make choices about their lives. This means that they have the free will to become greedy, jealous, thrill seekers, vain, lustful, needy, angry, vengeful etc. Consequently, most of the latter behaviors are mere indications of free will among these persons. (Siegel, 2004)

Secondly, the classical theory is founded upon the premise that all have the ability to control those choices. In other words, when individuals fear the risk of punishment, then they are likely to control their criminal tendencies. Human beings have the ability to analyze situations with regard to their positive outcomes and their potential negatives. If the risks involved in engaging in certain behavior are much less than the benefits, then an individual is likely to commit that crime.
Thirdly, the classical school of thought is founded on the swiftness severity and certainty of punishment. According to these thinkers, when the latter features are present within any society, then potential criminals are likely to be deterred from proceeding with their criminal intentions. In cases where punishment is conducted fairly, then this is likely to reinforce the latter belief about crime. One can regard punishment as an incentive for obeying the law. Consequently, if it is administered rationally and legitimately, then it can definitely deter crime. (Cook, 2005)

All in all, the interpretation of these three core ideas has brought about different reactions and different results especially when applied to case studies. Consequently, it is important for one to appreciate the context of a particular issue in order to understand crime. In this regard, a number of choice theories exist in the field of criminology. For instance, some people utilize the rational choice theory as a basis for understanding crime. Some prefer using the situational crime prevention theory, the sanctions theory and the deterrence theories all qualify as forms of the classical thought. In the above, the routine activities theory is founded upon the belief that for crime to occur, there must be three aspects that include; a suitable target, a potential offender and an absent or incapable guardian.

In the classical school of thought, individuals must be motivated to commit crimes through the availability of an opportunity. In practice, classical theories are important in understanding victimization as well. Demographics and lifestyle are important predictors of victimization (the process by which victims and offenders get in contact with one another). Many researchers have found that aspects such as being male, unmarried, leading an active lifestyle and using bars can have an important influence on the occurrence of crime. It should be noted however, that the classical school of thought is not founded entirely on demographic factors, as these are the important predictors of the occurrence of crime. While some of the latter may not qualify as fully fledged theories, they are still as important as the full theories in understanding crime. (Pearce, 2003)

The rational choice theory is founded upon the premise that criminals have the ability to use intelligent thought while committing crimes. In other words, social behavior is an aggregation of a series of behavioral actions that are affected and conducted by rational individuals. This means that potential criminals are actors that are affected by certain values and beliefs within society. Also, these actors usually calculate the benefits or the costs of taking a certain action and then make the decision to commit that act if they are likely to maximize its benefits or its overall utility process. In the rational choice theory, one must also consider the effect that one’s environment has upon their decisions making process.

Here, there is an assumption that all criminals are well aware of their value systems and the means required to pursue these courses of action. Consequently, it is necessary for actors or potential criminals to first collect, then organize and finally analyze this information in order to come up with the most feasible alternatives. The rational choice theory is founded upon the ends and means concept. In other words, the latter theory provides an avenue for describing how criminals are able to achieve certain ends through the means of rational calculus.
It should also be noted that the rational choice theory refers to methodological individualism. In order words, individuals must examine the options available to them. This process of rational thought is what is then translated into the entire society. Consequently, the theory is built up from the individual and then aggregated to the entire society. The rational choice theory presents researchers with a series of challenges. The first is that most of the variables found within this theory are difficult to quantify. One such example is a 'potential criminal'. This variable is based on the aspect of criminality which is a personality trait yet crime itself is an event. The suitability of targets is yet another difficult term to define because most criminals portray this aspect differently depending on the demographics and their environment.

Other criminologists assert that the theory is best for preventative techniques. This is because it assists in explaining the following three d’s of crime
• Detect
• Delay
• Deter

When one is actually interested in finding out details about the exact location of where crime was committed, then it may be increasingly difficult. Additionally, it is also very difficult to understand exactly when a crime had occurred. The aspect of a crime’s conditions can also be difficult to determine through the rational choice theory. (Schmalleger, 2005)

Other experts have also asserted that the rational choice theory may not be suitable in explaining criminal actions owing to the fact that it is more suitable in confirming that an action was committed rather than falsifying it. These critics also claim that the magnitude of effects of the theories' variables are not well specified. This goes hand in hand with the overdependence on variables that cannot be observed or even measured. Lastly, critics claim that the theory is not particularly useful because it is a post hoc theory type.

The classical school of thought has been very influential in the criminal justice system as some of the policies affecting offenders are founded upon them. Examples of such policies include the get tough policy, police saturation measures and police crackdown in potential crime zones. Deterrence strategies are largely based on this notion and so are embarrassment rituals conducted upon offenders. (Pearce, 2003)
It should be noted that the choice theory renounces and firmly criticizes the use of rehabilitation as a form of law enforcement. These theorists believe that certain criminals are quite cold and hard such that it would be a waste of resources and time to try and rehabilitate them. Adherents to this principle are likely to understand that the only way to deal with crime is by separating innocent persons from evil ones.

Strain theory
The strain theory is based on the fact that certain social structures force individuals to commit crime. Strain theories were originally stated by well renowned criminologist Emile Durkheim. Thereafter, they were advanced by Robert Merton in the nineteen thirties who was then followed by Cohen in the mid nineteen fifties. Cloward and Ohlin did some more work on the theory and their efforts were subsequently backed by Rosenfeld and Messner.

According to these theories, strain may either be brought on by the structural institutions. The latter refer to societal level processes that are eventually transmitted down to the actors that make up society. Subsequently, most of them begin perceiving needs based on these structural institutions. A criminal’s perceptions about their opportunities or threats are defined by the level of regulation or circulation of a certain social structure.

The strain theory is also founded upon the premise that an individual is the person who has to undergo a lot of friction and difficulties in trying to meet society’s goals or expectations. Sometimes when these expectations are so important to the individual, then he or she might consider achieving through any route possible without serious consideration of the legitimacy of the means required to achieve it.
In Durkheim’s anomie concept, he tried to explain why certain individuals may choose to commit suicide. In his book, Durkheim states that this occurs when individuals loose their sense of purpose or when they feel sidelined by society. Additionally, this feeling is normally coupled by the lack of values in an individual.
Dubois also did some independent work on the strain theory and found that most people commit crimes as a result of the strain experienced within their environment. He confirmed this through a study of African American crime in the late nineteenth century. At that time, the society had just undergone radical changes in the political system thus heightening the level of expectations amongst this group. Most of them were strained by these and thus found themselves committing crimes to achieve their means. (Schmalleger, 2005)

It should also be noted that the strain theory can be analyzed through the functional aspect or through the structural aspect. In the structural aspect, there is more emphasis on the manner in which things work; here one examines the nature of a criminal event or the process of committing the criminal action with a look of the connections between these aspects and their level of interdependence of these variables. On the other hand, the functional explanation is founded upon the premise that certain structural features are parts of an overall system. This is the reason why things occur in the manner that they do. Social systems are mostly founded on the parts that make them up and when one part fails to perform these functions, then it subsequently leads to strain. If this strain continues for along time, then
chances are that the entire system could fail.

Robert Merton was very influential in the theory because he provided an avenue for understanding crime through strain. Merton asserted that there are two major pathways within which individuals can be led to crime. The first is a culturally related expectation and the structural possibilities required to achieve this goal. Merton’s study was conducted at a time when people were moving to the United States in pursuance of the American dream. According to this author, many of them found that it was not as easy as they had thought. Merton claimed that there was a disconnection between the culturally related expectations and the socially acceptable methods of achieving it. This disconnect was what was called the anomie. He believed that certain individuals chose to engage in criminal behavior as a result of the strain created between their aspirations and the opportunities available or meeting these expectations. This is the reason why more crime is prevalent in the lower social classes than in the higher ones because many people actually lack the opportunities with which to achieve societal goals and they eventually choose to commit it through illegitimate reasons. (Pearce, 2003)

Usually, such persons may lose their sense of motivation and may get frustrated. Also, society creates a situation of anomie when it dwells too much on the winners rather than rewarding all people who had the courage to compete. What this creates is a situation in which members of society has no clear cut methodology or predictability that can be used to define success and this is what is regarded as anomie or a degree of cultural chaos

Cultural deviance theory
One of the pioneers who was very instrumental in the process in explain the cultural deviance theory was Albert Cohen. The latter criminologist concentrated on delinquent behavior among boys within eth London society. Through this study, he was able to come up with the delinquent subculture phenomenon. His major concern in the theory was the aspect of innovative adaptation. According to him, young people do not operate in isolation as most of them are influenced by the world around them. Consequently, by identifying and understanding the characteristic of these cultures, it is possible to remember the way one has to deal with certain issues.

The first aspect of a delinquent subculture is the non utilitarianism aspect of it. In this regard, juvenile delinquents take part in crime just so that they can enjoy themselves or so that they can have fun. Additionally, the delinquent subculture is characterized by a level of maliciousness where such groups just want to cause trouble. Besides these, many delinquent subcultures have a lot of negativism. In other words, they tend to negate the norms of other cultures such as the middle class and then perceive this defiance as normal.

Delinquent subcultures are also characterized by the presence of hedonism as a need for immediate self gratification. Group autonomy also plays an important part here because most of these delinquents usually regard the authority of the groups as the only one and any other source is defied. (Schmalleger, 2005)

It is also important to note that Cohen felt that the delinquent boys were actually frustrated with the values of the middle class and consequently, rebelled against these sentiments through the use of crime.

Walter Miller on the other hand focused on another approach to cultural deviant theory. He did most of his research among lower class males in Boston. According to this author, delinquent behavior was not bought by another class’s values; instead, he saw it as a reflection of the lower class culture. He believed that middle class values were overestimated in Cohen’s theory. He also asserted that within the middle class, certain values were regarded as more important than others. However, the lower class was governed by different standards. In the end, this brings about clashes between these two groups and may create conflicts between the two categories or classes. In the lower class, values revolve around survival. Consequently, in the process of achieving these values, young males find that they have to engage in criminal behavior in order to achieve them.

Social process theories
In the social process, theory, more emphasis is placed on the micro level aspects than the macro one. This is different form all the latter mentioned theories because here, focus is on the role that the individual plays and how this affects society and not vice versa. One of the social process theories is the Sutherland’s Differential Associations theory. In this theory, learning is assumed to take place as a result of the process of socialization. In other words, individuals have the choice to either accept social norms or to reject them. This is different from the former mentioned theories (structural theories) that centre on society’s ability to impose its norms and value upon others without due consideration of their preferences. (Pearce, 2003)

Another distinct feature that emerges in the social process theories is the fact that criminal activities can take part in all social classes and there is little emphasis on one particular group. Another social process theory that one must consider is the social control theory. Through this theory, one is able to understand the fact that crime can be imposed through eth process of controlled existence. In the containment theory it is assumed that no single individual is actually forced to commit crime and that it can be committed by any one. In the labeling theory, individuals are pushed into committing more crimes when they have been labeled as criminals by society itself.

Another social process theory is the social developmental theory. Here, an individual is part of their interaction with their respective environments and this can only be understand by incorporating all the biological, psychological and sociological factors that come into play within an individual's life. In the age graded theory, it is asserted that crime is likely to occur when there is a change that has occurred at a certain age within a person's life. The individual responds to this abnormality through criminal behavior. Lastly, the dual taxonomic theory revolves around the fact that certain neuropsychological factors can make one more predisposed to crime. In this theory, considerations are also given to other causative factors such as poverty as drivers for the occurrence of crime. (Cook, 2005)

All in all, it should be noted that most crimes usually occur as a result of the specific choices that individuals have to make in the process of either accepting or rejecting societal norm.

Marxist criminology
The Marxist school of thought revolves around the reasons behind change. Additionally, it also dwells on the identification of disruptive forces in any one society. Additionally, it looks for ways in which any given society is divided along forces of wealth, power and also through prestige. Through these mechanisms, it is possible to understand why certain individuals behave the way the do.
In Marxist criminology, a lot of consideration is given to the relationships between crime and society i.e. There is a need to look into the structural and immediate social environments that could propagate crime. In this regard, Karl Marx believed that the upper class utilized the law in order to impose their own rules upon the lower class so that they could stay in those disadvantaged positions. Here, one can understand why certain acts are labeled as crimes and why others are not. This means that the theory is best for understanding state corporate crimes, state crime and also political crime.

While the relevance of the Marxist school of thought has reduced over the past decades, one cannot undermine the influence that this theory has upon the field of criminology. In Marxist criminology it is assumed that economic power can be translated into another form of power i.e. political power. Through economic power, the majority members of society i.e. those who do not have economic power are disempowered and causes discourse. (Schmalleger, 2005)

In Marxism, conformity is created through socialization. Conformity is an important part of a society because it ensures social order. Here, law is the methodology utilized to enforce the state's interests. In other words, since all states operate under their own rules, then it is very possible to impose any kind of rules. It should be noted here that small groups always come out as leaders regardless of whether the system if governance is democratic or autocratic. The reason behind the emergence of groups in any given society is that there is a need for decision making organs everywhere. Consequently, society is forced to contend with the influences made by this ruling class. In other words, the modern state is largely driven and affected by those who control the means of production. Examples of how this can be depicted in colonial law in colonial states such as East Africa. The British created laws that would assist them in the process of securing returns from coffee plantains.
Property laws are usually created in such a manner that they would benefit the ruling class, these laws sideline the lower class and they are forced to look for other means of survival other than through the process of understanding these underlying issues. Most of them resort to crime as their last alternative to survival. Adherents to this theory compare two continents i.e. Europe and North America. They claim that in Europe, the law is more socialistic and this is why crime rates are quite low. However, in the US, crime rates have hit all time highs because of the lack of effective mechanisms that would assist in the process of understanding this problem

The Marxist school of thought centers around the issue of social isolation. Consequently, it has also been used to understand why certain crimes work related crimes occur. When society offers certain individual work that is regarded as demeaning or work that involves no application of creativity or decisions making, then individuals are bound to get bored by it. In the end, some working class members opt to engage in corporate crime in order to defy this kind of oppression within the workplace.

Application of the theories to case studies
The case of the wall street broker
The classical theories can be applied to this situation in order to understand the latter issue. This wall street broker examined the costs of doing insider trading (i.e. engaging in unethical behavior, getting disbarred or being arrested) against the benefits that would emanate from committing the crime. The benefit would be five million dollars in a very short period. Additionally, punishment is not certain because if executed well, corporate crime is difficult to detect. Since punishment was not certain, then this could have propagated the individual in committing the crime. (Schmalleger, 2005)

The strain theory is also very important in understanding this broker's decisions to commit corporate crime. This individual lives in a society that values winners or people who seem monetarily successful. It is likely that the legal channels for attaining high level of financial success are minimal as they may take too long. Consequently, there was an anomie in meeting societal expectations related to financial success and the legal channels available to achieve this. In the end, he chose to use a short cut to meet these expectations.

The cultural deviant theory states that individuals are likely to engage in certain forms of behavior owing to the fact that there are certain norms that society creates with regard to the middle class. Consequently, in order to defy these norms, then one is likely to engage in criminal behavior. The stock broker was rebelling against society’s expectations of him.

Social processes theories focus on the stock broker's ability to decide for himself
why he wants to commit a certain crime. The control theory can be applied here in that society’s expectations of monetary gain were able to control his actions and caused him to commit a crime. (Schmalleger, 2005)

In the Marxist school of thought, individuals commit crime because they are trying to respond to the demeaning work or the type of work that involves minimal creativity. This theory could be the strongest in trying to understand why this crime occurred. The stock broker could be committing the crime as a way of defying the oppressive nature of his job even after he received qualifications from one of the most reputable learning institutions in the world.

The suburban college girl
The classical choice theories focus on the benefits that one stands to gain against the costs or negatives that they have to incur. In this case, the college girl wanted to complete her education and pass; these were the benefits of the crime. On the other hand, the deterrents would be the fact that she can be rejected as a decent member of society. Since the punishment in this case was not that severe, then this could have pushed her there.

The strain theory also assists in understanding her situation. Society expects her to complete her education in order to get a good job and live comfortably. In order to do this, she must pay her tuition and look for time to read her books. Since the benefits are at stake, then she risks being labeled as an outcast just so that she can meet this expectation. The strain between these two aspects caused her to commit the social misdeed of becoming a call girl.

The cultural deviant theory can also be applied in this situation. The call girls comes from a middle class family, but she chooses to rebel against the expectation of this class by engaging in socially unacceptable behavior. This rebellion is propagated by the fact that she cannot meet the expectation of society through the available channels so she decided to rebel by looking for others. (Cook, 2005)
Social process theories also apply to her scenario in that she has the ability to decide for herself whether she wants to commit a crime and why she chose this avenue to do so. Marxist criminology can also be applied here because the controllers of capital have provided this girl with very limited routes to meet her obligations. In order to survive she has to resort to socially inappropriate means such as through the call girl service in order to make it. The most applicable theory in this case study is the strain theory.

The Hispanic boy
The classical school of thought would explain this boy’s decisions to join a gang though the aspect of punishment. In such a neighborhood, law enforcement authorities are not that vigilant, consequently, punishment is not certain, it may be delayed or might not be that severe. The benefits of joining the gang in clued protecting his life and getting money. Sine this boy has very few options that could assist him in meeting hi basic needs, then he weighs the benefits against the deterrents and finds that committing these gang crimes would be more beneficial to him. In close relation to this theory is the strain theory. There is anomie between meeting his basic needs such as food, clothing and the means available to get them. The Hispanic boy probably has little access to education thus making it extremely difficult for him to pursue his dreams through the legal channels. The anomie between these structural aspects cases him to commit crimes.

The cultural deviance theory is the most applicable in this case study because the Hispanic boy could be acting out against the rules of the middle class; that one has to get wealth through certain channels such as working or education. In close relation to this are the social process theories where neutralization theory would be most applicable

Marxist theory also applies in this situation because the controllers of wealth have created a situation where this boy has no other mechanism for earning a living since the former groups have limited his choices.

Male college student
Date rape can be explained through the classical theory in that this individual chose to engage in it because there are minimal chances of getting caught if it is covered against the background of a date. He chooses to engage in the act because he may not want to undergo the long process of normal intercourse. The benefits outweigh the punishment and thus prompt him to continue with it. The strain theory explains that society expects certain things from individuals. In this case, one is expected to engage in intercourse only through consent from both parties. However, in order to do this, the college student may be required to spend a lot of time on a certain lady. Consequently, there is a strain and he chooses to rape such victims in order to respond to this strain. (Schmalleger, 2005)

The cultural deviant theory may also be applicable in that he may be acting to his peer’s delinquent behavior. These peers may be acting out against their own class through date rape. The social process there is applicable in that the control theory helps to understand this college student's behavior. Lastly, Marxism is also applicable here because he might be trying to depict sign of power among his partners. But in order to do that, one has to have status which is only applicable to controllers of capital. In reaction to this situations, he chooses to rebel through date rape.

Conclusion
Criminological theories are all applicable in the latter case sties. However, certain theories seem to stand out against others thus making it relatively easy to deal with the root causes of the crimes through those outstanding ones.

Reference

Siegel, L. (2004): Criminological theories, patterns and typologies, CA, Wadsworth Publishing Company
Pearce, F. (2003): Crimes of the powerful, Peter Lang Publishing company
Cook, D. (2005): Social process theories vs social structural theories, Routledge
Schmalleger, F. (2005): Criminology Today- an integrative approach; McGraw hill publishers

The author of this article is a holder of Masters in Business Administration (MBA) from Harvard University and currently pursing PhD Program. He is also a professional academic writer. SuperiorWriters.Com>

SOCIAL CAPITAL

Introduction

Social capital is a crucial part of any given society as it is a source of stability. This phenomenon falls under the cultural component but is not as clear cut as other types or forms of capital. In fact many people have treated social capital as something that should be addressed by second generation experts. This perspective is because social capital is increasingly difficult to measure even to accommodate in public policy.

The purpose of the paper will be to provide an all encompassing definition of the phenomenon of social capital, identify different methodologies that can be used to measure it, identify social concepts that can be addressed by social capital and lastly explain how social capital can solve problems in a specific organisation. The organisation chosen for analysis is the Environmental Protection Agency Queensland. This will be the focal point in the last portion of the essay as I work in this organisation.

Definition of social capital
Many groups and individuals have attempted to define social capital. However, some of the statements passed of as definitions are in fact depictions of social capital and not the actual thing. Social capital may be defined as the informal and instantiated norm that acts as a means for promoting cooperation between individuals. Norms in this case may refer to the cases of reciprocation between two people or they may refer to complex doctrines from major religions such as Christianity. The most important aspect here is that these norms have to be engrained into a real human relationship. (Stayner, 1997)

The issue of reciprocation is something that potentially exists among all people but is usually evident when dealing with friends. In other words, other aspects such as civil society, trust and networks are only products of social capital but do not form part of the actual definition. It should be noted here that institutional norms do not just apply to any kind of norms. The norms under consideration in social capital are those ones that can cause an actual increase in the level of cooperation between certain groups.

These norms must be linked to certain values that include honesty, reciprocity, performance of duties among others. This also means that other norms applicable in specific scenarios may not qualify as suitable ones in social capital. For instance, in some parts of Italy, there is great cohesion between members of the family but outside the family unit; individuals are allowed to take advantage of one another. Those norms are not acceptable in the definition of social capital. (Putnam, 2006)

Some people assert that social capital is a public good. In this respect, it is likely that private agents would not produce it in surplus. However, such a perception is dangerously misleading because of the fact that many people need cooperation in order to attain their individual needs. This means that they will create social capital as a private commodity. However, one cannot ignore the fact social capital as a private good is still vulnerable to negative and positive externalities. One example of a positive externality is the way individuals treat each other well even when those individuals do not come from their own families. Social capital can bring about negative externalities owing to the fact that the closer a group of people are to one another, the more dissociated they are from other non-members of their group. Taking the examples of Mafias in Russia; this category of individuals has a very high degree of social capital amongst themselves. However, they bring about so many problems to the community that they are dealing with. (Fine, 2001)

Some people have asserted that social capital caused societal problems because it encourages bureaucracies and even hatred towards others. However, this assertion is also not true because of the fact that society has its own way of dealing with vices. Additionally, other forms of capital have their negatives too. For instance, human capital has its own defects because it can create torturous situations for the affected persons. Besides that, physical capital can also be detrimental in that rifles and other dangerous ammunitions still qualify as forms of capital. Therefore, one can conclude that since social capital assists people in the process of goal achievement, then it is just like any other form of capital.

The reason why social capital has generated a lot of controversy with regard to it benefits is that it has the highest number of negative externalities compared to the other forms of capital such as human and physical capital. The human mind operates in such a way that it always creates friends and enemies; this is the basis for most political systems. Consequently, when certain people cooperate with one another, then they tend to sideline others in the process. One must therefore look at the net externalities that social capital would bring to society.

Another approach to social capital is considering it as a radius of trust. Groups that have social capital are likely to poses radius of trusts. When the outcomes emanating from this cooperation are positive, then this expands the groups’ radius of trust beyond its immediate circles. One can therefore assert that in a certain modern society, social capital is seen as a series of circles that tend to overlap with one another and the higher the degree of overlapping the more positive externalities associated with social capital. (Bolin et al, 2004)

How to measure social capital
The biggest debates surrounding social capital revolve around its measurements. Many stakeholders have failed to agree on how this can be done. However, there are still some general approaches in this area. Two types of methods emerge and they include
• Survey data
• Census
Survey data can be conducted on the issue of civil engagement or levels of trust within any one society. Censuses are usually conducted on specific group membership so as to engage their level of social capital. There may also be other approaches that are plausible and all these will be examined below.

One expert in the field of social capital known as Robert Putnam conducted a research for measuring social capital. He used the census approach in that he counted all the civil society groups within his area of study. Here, he included groups such as political clubs, literary societies, bowling leagues and sports clubs. He compared these sizes across geographical areas and also through the passage of time. The size of each group i.e. the number of members of the civil society groups were represented by the letter ‘n’. In his case, he measured social capital as the sums of all the social membership groups as show below
SC = the sum [n1...nT]
Where n is the number of people, 1 is the first civil member society and t is the last number of civil society members. SC is social capital

Consequently, when n and t are high, then the level of social capital is also high. This is because when n is low, then groups cannot achieving big aims. Also, when t is low, then chances are that the level of separateness in that society is high. This method has its defects because sometimes the definitions of t are not clearly laid out. In other words, it may be difficult to determine exactly how many civil societies exist in society. It is also difficult to determine how many groups were left out in between 1 to t. (Edwards, 2004)

This method may also be problematic because of the fact that censuses conducted in certain areas may only focus on certain prominent civil groups and ignore others. Taking the example of a census conducted in the Yankee City in the United States. It was found that there were as many as twenty two thousand groups in a community constituting seventeen thousand members. What this meant was that the proliferation of technology has brought about so many groups that may be difficult to track. For instance, it is very difficult to measure the numbers of people who belong to online chat rooms, those who engage in email conversations among other things.

Because of the inadequacies in the latter formulas, it is essential to add another aspect to it that incorporates the level of cohesiveness in a certain group. For instance, bowling leagues have no way of changing parliamentary decisions. Consequently, one should not look for ways in which they can include the level of integration between groups and this is by adding the coefficient c. This is a very difficult parameter to measure because it requires the involvement of an outsider who would asses a how a specific group is behaving in normal circumstances and also under high stress. By introducing this coefficient, then the formula for measuring social capital now becomes
SC=sum of [(cn)1.....(cn)t]

It should also be noted that the latter method is still not comprehensive enough owing to the fact that every group creates some externalities that are independent of the direct efforts of the group. (Harris, 2001) For example, if a religious sect is started and members are encouraged to be honest with one another, then it is likely that during their business dealings, such individuals are likely to carry forward the same principle into their business dealings and this can cause positive business outcomes in those respective societies. To incorporate this aspect, one can use the coefficient rp where r represents the group’s radius of trust. Therefore the formula for calculating social capital becomes
SC= Sum [ (rp cn1)....(rp cn)t]


However, one cannot ignore the fact that the radius of trust in any particular group can either be positive or negative. As indicated earlier members of the Russian mafia are likely to produce more negative externalities than other sectors. While religious groups that encourage positivity to all people regardless of their membership is likely to create positive spill-overs. In order to account for these eventualities, then the reciprocal of the radius of trust denoted by rn needs to be included in the formula as follows.
SC= Sum of [ {(1/rn)rp cn}1 ...... {(1/rn)rp cn}t ]

Alternatively, social capital can be measured for specific organisation through another method. In this case, one gets the changes that occurred within a certain company prior to takeover and the changes that occurred after the takeover here. (Beck, 1999)

Market capitalisation incorporates both intangible and tangible assets. In this case, social capital is found within the intangible assets such as management and employees within the company. It should be noted that it may be difficult trying to draw a line between other social aspects of a company’s intangible assets. Examples of the latter include things such as future market conditions, brand names, good will among others. Consequently, one must look for ways that they can use to enhance this process.

When considering organisations that are being taken over, it is essential to include the aspect of premium. This is because this indicates how much the new managers believe they can handle or even manage a certain company. Premium also indicates the degree to which management regards the future among other situations. In the end, it is essential to understand that this premium may not just be a mere indication of the social capital in that firm but it may also include human capital. This method is inadequate in that is includes other parameters but one cannot ignore the fact that social capital forms an important part of the premium attached to a certain organisation.

How social capital can be used to address a particular social issue
The issue of informal education is particularly important in society because of a number of reasons as shown below
• Facilitates child development
• Eliminates traditional risk factors
• Facilities economic development
• Improves health

When education within a certain society is rich i.e. it is a combination of both traditional teachings and informal education, then chances of social and economic prosperity are heightened. For instance, informal education facilitates child development because through social capital, informal education can teach children important norms that will be useful in their academic achievements. It also heightens the opportunities available to these individuals and also the choices that they are willing to make. (Haidt, 2006)

Additionally, informal education engrained and facilitated by social capital can create situations in which public areas are cleaner and safer. It can also reduce poverty levels and mobility within any give society. Many societies register greater level of crime than others because their informal education does not have the ability to encourage them to enter community organisations. Consequently, such people are not interlinked and would therefore not feel obliged to commit crimes.

The Marxist school of thought puts forward the fact that poor countries’ economies remain stagnant owing to the fact that there is high degree of inequality and social / economic advantage in such countries. Consequently, when informal education is coupled with social capital, then it will go a long way in mitigating social inequalities thus enhancing the economy.

If informal education is boosted by social capital, then this can enhance the overall public health situation within a respective area. This is because people would be encouraged to participate in socially building activities. These include volunteering church activities, club attendance among others. All these interactions increase life happiness and minimise the occurrence of street related diseases. (Allen, 2008)

The later are the benefits that can emanate from coupling social capital with informal education. However, it is also necessary to review practical applications of how this can be done. Many informal educators utilise group memberships in clubs, organisations etc to achieve their objectives. Many approaches used by informal educators in the past revolved around formation of groups targeting certain troubled members. However, social capital necessitates a different approach. Here, the very fact that an individual has joined an organisation will reduce their chances of exhibiting those negative indications. This means that informal educators need to redirect their efforts towards encouraging people to join social organisations or other similar institutions so as to promote greater levels of cooperation.

There should be a move towards creating enthusiasm for joining any of the following
• Social groups
• Health relate groups
• Political enthusiasts
• Economic groups
In other words, through informal education targeting the joining of these groups, then the overall quality of education within Australia can increase.

It is also imperative to remember that informal education can be linked to social networks. One cannot ignore the fact that many individuals lack the feelings of tolerance or trust among themselves yet these are important aspects of social networks. Consequently, by building these attributes through social capital, then informal education can be heightened. Additionally, informal educators can achieve the same objective through the use of dialogue among interest groups or through conversations. By doing this, they will have created an environment that promotes cooperation and this will go along in improving society’s overall performance. (Bookman, 2004)

Informal educators should also be careful about the potential negatives that emanate from social networks. In other words, they promote alienation of other groups and may also bring about narrowing in society. In response to this, informal educators can teach their target groups about the need to celebrate differences between one another. In close relation to this, is that they need to teach these people how they can achieve better levels of tolerance. They can do this by celebrating those differences that seem to occur across different groups. Besides this, informal educator can look for ways in which they can promote bridging and bonding. All in all, social capital would facilitate greater achievement of these personal goals.


A social capital issue relevant to my organisation
The organisation under consideration is the Environmental protection agency Brisbane. This agency works towards protecting all natural resources regardless of whether they are found on land, in the sea or on air. For Australia, marine pollution and the sustainability of water resources for protection of marine life is particularly important. This is because a vast majority of Australian land is a coastline and these issues have to be addressed. (Offer, 2006)

The particular social issue that is related to marine life is fishing by individuals within certain areas of the coastal regions. When one examines other parts of the world such as in the Guatemalan coast, one can see that there are overwhelming cases of commercialisation within this coastal region. The overall result is that some groups have been marginalised while others are benefitting overwhelmingly out of this. This has brought about greater levels of depletion within the marine ecosystems of that area.

Similarly, Australia is faced with a lot of issues in its coastal areas. There are a series of groups within the latter areas that are interested in fishing activities. These fishers can either be divided into personal fishers such as the one done by the native aboriginal people or personal fisher men who sell to bigger firms or the bigger firms themselves.

Usually, corporations have their own forms of social organisation and networking, however, this is not prevalent among the individual harvesters. Most of them operate in isolation and have very minimal opportunities to supplement their incomes through commercial enterprises. What this means is that the largest portion of fishing is done by these large corporations and most of them tend to overuse fishing resources. If this is left unchecked, then it could cause a situation in which marine life is endangered. Consequently, there is a need to look for ways in which this can be minimised through social capital.

One can see that instrumental processes are at work in this situation in that other groups are benefitting more than others. Additionally, there is the problem of exploitation of fishing processes by the large companies because there are minimal normative processes available to them. Consequently, one needs to look for ways in which these issues can be resolved.

The first issue that needs to be tackled here is the protection of the rights of individual fisher men. Social capital can provide a solution by encouraging members of the fishing community to join their efforts by forming an organisation. By doing this, their work will be more systematic, they will have better instruments and commercial organisations will need to consider them as worthy competitors. What this will do is that it will create situations in which international firms will be prompted to move to other parts of the world that has less social capital and this will protect marine species within Australian coastal regions. (Putnam, 2006)

By forming organisation and cooperating with one, fisher men in the coastal regions will go a long way in boosting equitable distribution of fishing grounds within Australian waters because these commercial companies will be encouraged to disperse their efforts to other parts of the country that are not as polluted as others. Consequently, this will protect marine life because cases of overfishing in certain areas ad minimal fishing in others will greatly reduce.

Conclusion
Social capital can present numerous benefits to organisations, groups and society alike. However, the negatives brought about by this concept can be mitigated by planning for the differences created

Reference

Stayner, R. (1997): Sense of place, social capital and rural development, The rural development centre, University of new England Paper presented to the rural Australia, 4th July
Allen, S. (2008): The Social Economy of the Metropolis; Oxford University Press
Putnam, R. (2006): Diversity and Community in the Twenty-First Century; Nordic Political Science Association
Bolin, B. et al (2004): Bonding and Bridging - Understanding the Relationship between Social Capital and Civic Action; Journal of Planning Education and Research, 24, 3, 64-77
Harriss, J. (2001): Depoliticizing Development - The World Bank and Social Capital, Free Press
Fine, B. (2001): Social Capital versus Social Theory - Political Economy and Social Science at the Turn of the Millennium; Routledge
Offer, A. (2006): The Challenge of Affluence - Self-control and well-being in the United States and Britain since 1950; Oxford University Press
Haidt, J. (2006): Putting ancient wisdom and philosophy to the test of modern science; Heinemann Publishers
Edwards, M. (2004): Civil Society; Polity Press
Bookman, A. (2004): How working families can build community and survive the new economy; Routledge.
Beck, U. (1999): World Risk Society; Polity Press

The author of this article is a holder of Masters in Business Administration (MBA) from Harvard University and currently pursing PhD Program. He is also a professional academic writer. SuperiorWriters.Com>

SANTA FE JUNIOR HIGH EIGHTH GRADE MATH CURRICULUM

Introduction

The situation under consideration is the continual improvement of the eighth grade math curriculum in Santa Fe Jr. High school. A quarter of this school’s population is made up of Hispanic students. Their math results have indicated that much still has to be done with regard to meeting their needs. Also, the economically disadvantaged students’ needs also have to be met so that these two categories can catch up with the rest of the eighth graders. Recent reports show that the school’s math curriculum is above the 77% state’s average, consequently, the purpose of this paper, is to identify a solution to this discrepancy.

Article source, name and tile
The article chosen for analysis is called “Ritz Model: A model to take theory into practice; Old Dominion University” it is available at http://www.odu.edu/%7Ejritz/oted885/ritzmodel.shtml its author is known as John Ritz and it was written in the year 2007.

Summary of the article
The article is a guide for educators to look for ways on which they can translate theory into practice. The author does this by selecting two major curriculum thinkers in the past. The authors are known as Taba and Zais. The latter writers were chosen owing to the fact that their models proved systematic methods that could be used to develop curricula.

The next issue addressed in the article is how to lay out a curriculum foundation. According to the author, one ought to examine the program areas that they are dealing with as this acts as a guide in future methodology. Thereafter, there is a need to look into the reasons behind identification of the program area so as to have a propelling factor for engaging in the curriculum development. This should then be followed by an identification of a knowledge process that would assist in
the process of creating the curriculum. (Ritz, 2007)

It should be noted that all the above still lie within the curriculum foundations. This first step also incorporates laying a structure of program implementation. This is then followed by a series of goals that will be necessary in achieving these respective outcomes.

The second step in curriculum development is known as creation of curriculum content. In this process, educators are expected to determine the skill or knowledge which they plan on transmitting to their students. The process can be achieved by first laying out the scope of ones content. Thereafter, one should establish a sequence that will be utilized to achieve this scope. This should then be followed by a creation of unit specification i.e. the smaller aspects of the curriculum that will be summed up to create the whole. Again, the rationale and clarification of unit activities need to be conducted in this segment. Additionally, all the materials required to achieve these unit goals must be clarified. By doing these, then a curriculum’s content specification will be well laid out. (Ritz, 2007)
The last aspect of the curriculum development process is setting out its evaluation. In this regard, one ought to look for ways in which they can assess learners for achievement of the objectives as set out in the first aspects of the curriculum development. This is the point where most educators go wrong, when the curriculum goals differ from the assessment ones, then student are bound to perform poorly. Educators need to ensure that they match these two aspects.

A plan for a proposal for a project that suggests a solution connected to my learning area which is tied to leadership (including resources and strategies)
The program will involve a pilot study among eighth graders within the Santa FE Junior High school. Eight children will be chosen for this pilot study. Four of them must come from the economical disadvantaged category while four of them must also come from the Hispanics category. Their mathematical performance will be noted prior to the program and then it will be assessed after the program so as to ascertain that the plan will be effective in the larger population of the school.

School personnel will be required to administer this program and also preside over the final test after the end of the program. First of all, teachers need to receive training about the following aspects
• How to merge mathematical theory with cultural experiences of Hispanics
• How to create and maintain social relationships with their students
• How to identify hurdles faced by student’s external environments and to get past them

The latter issues will mostly be revolving around the needs of the economically disadvantaged children and Hispanic children. If teachers fail to understand how to identify these issues, then it can be increasingly difficult for them to implement even mathematical performance across the entire school population.

The other aspect of training that teachers will receive in this program is on methods for assessment of students who have interacted with trained teachers. It will be imperative to look for mechanisms that will assist in the process of merging the needs of these two groups with the overall goal of achieving state average performance like their other colleagues.

The program will also train teachers in the process of implementation; this means that a series or resources and strategies will be identified. (Ritz, 2007)One such strategy is the use of peer reference in this approach; one teacher who has already undergone training will create a report of their implementation process. Another teacher may also do the same. Thereafter, these teachers can compare notes and identify some of the problems that they are facing while looking at possible solutions to these issues. Another strategy for implementing the program could be through interaction with other schools that have similar demographics. This means that the School could identify other people that have a percentage of Hispanic or economically disadvantaged children that is close to theirs. Thereafter, they could discuss with their peer educators some of the approaches that they have used to boost performance. It would be preferable, if the school could identify schools that have performed better than they have in the eighth grade math scores.
At this point, it should be noted that practice based curricula are very important and effective in getting children to perform well in schools. When teachers incorporate these two categories in the learning process a little more, then chances are that they may heighten their performance.

Some of the resources that will be important in this process include video conferencing with educational peers. This will be instrumental in exchanging ideas at a wider forum thus engaging educator’s intellectual ability and their capacity to meet the needs of all their students.

After the students have interacted with these trainee teachers, it will be important to track their mathematics performance as they are progressing with it. (Ritz, 2007)This can easily be done by creation of tracker reports for the students chosen for the pilot study. The tracker reports will be essential in identification of week areas and then suitable methods will be used to create alternatives.

The program will also encompass training teachers in the process of assessing some of the gains that their students got after the program. This will be done at the end of the program. It will be up to the educators to decide the actual duration of the program but statistics show that most teachers are prefer a period of two months.
The students who will be chosen for the study need to take part in the program for a period of one and a half hours every day. This should be done in all the working days for the programs. Thereafter, teachers are supposed to implement the training program while they are intercutting with these students so as to ensure that they are benefitting rightfully from the idea. It should also be noted that the highest percentage of students - over seventy percent of them need to indicate that they have performed well in that respective situation. Most of them need to depict the fact that they have made certain educational gains within their lives (Ritz, 2007)

Recommendations for administrators
The first thing that this school’s administration needs to do is to give teachers greater autonomy in the classroom this means that the hidden aspects of the curriculum that are aimed at maintenance of the status quo will be eliminated. There is an obvious indication that the current approach being used by the school among these two categories of individuals is not working very well. (Ritz, 2007)Consequently, most of the teachers have to break down the walls of status quo in order to achieve this.

The second thing that they need to do is deal with culturally related problems associated with the Hispanic students. In other words, problems with their languages could be causing this disparity. Consequently, the school needs to implement a better language problem for these secondary English speakers. Additionally, care should be taken to ensure that those programs are implemented properly.
It will be necessary for the school administration to look for ways in which they can provide adequate materials needed to boost the performance of these students. (Ritz, 2007) First of all, it will be necessary for teachers to have wide access to training facilities that can be conducted online. Also, the issue of video conferencing needs to be included in the school’s budget. The school administration should also dedicate their time and resources towards garnering the support of other schools that have similar demographics to theirs and those that have been performing well in the eighth grade level.

In the latter area, much attention also should be given to provision of learning resources to the economically disadvantaged and Hispanic students themselves. The lack of resources could be serious impediments to their progress and by collaborating with them, it will be important in process of boosting their performance.

Since many people regard the process of curriculum development as an aspect that can be improved upon by teachers, then it is imperative for these respective individuals to look for ways in which they can implement their own kinds of approaches in the classroom. (Ritz, 2007) However, since looking at the curriculum as a process rather than a product largely depends upon the quality of the teacher, then it is imperative for the school administration to ensure that the eight grade math teachers invest in their quality.

Many experts assert that the major weakness of employing such an approach in education is that teachers must go out of their way to create meaning in the classroom yet at the same time link this to education experiences. If this is not done efficiently, then chances are that the economically disadvantaged students and their Hispanic counterparts will not improve in the math performances.
The issue of the hidden curriculum needs to be an important aspect of their curriculum. They need to incorporate this into the way they are handling this matter by creating a situation in which they address the problem at the teacher student level. Teachers need to be encouraged to interact more with the students.
Lastly, the latter school ought to examine their teaching practices with their social structure. This will go a long way in motivating the Hispanic students to embrace education generally and mathematics specifically.

Conclusion
The curriculum can be analyzed through a number of ways. One of them is through the use of the Ritz model. This model will provide a systemic way in which one can apply the method within the classroom environment to cope with the proble

Reference,

Ritz, J. (2007): A model to take theory into practice; Old Dominion University, vailabel at http://www.odu.edu/%7Ejritz/oted885/ritzmodel.shtml

Appendix
Source: http://www.odu.edu/%7Ejritz/oted885/ritzmodel.shtml
Ritz Model
A Model to Take Theory Into Practice
Curriculum development is one of the key factors related to meaningful and successful program improvement. If one were to examine the curriculum development procedure, a number of recurring structural elements would be identified that are useful in the construction of a curriculum for any subject area. This review will be devoted to an identification and explanation of these elements. It is pursued to offer educators and trainers additional tools that may be used in the educational process. Besides this point, if educators are familiar with the logic and rationale accompanying the curriculum development process, they should be better equipped to defend and implement any program in their subject/training area.

Analysis of reports and texts in the curriculum area reveal that many proposals have been suggested for models or steps to be taken in educational program development. Those that had the greatest influence on the author have been presented by Tabu (1962) and Zais (1976). Both writers have developed systematic procedures for the development of curriculum. Their models are based on the establishment of foundations, content, and evaluation procedures. These are illustrated in Table 1.
Many of those who study the components of curriculum are in agreement with the selection and need for these elements in the development of programs or courses. However, for any model to be useful to educators or trainers, detailed explanations are essential so those who wish to employ these elements in the development process can fully take advantage of them.

With this in mind, the author has analyzed the models of Taba, Zais, and others to determine those structural components most useful in curriculum development. To this list have been added other elements that have proven useful in structuring a resourceful curriculum document. The resultant curriculum development model appears in Table 2. The remainder of this analysis will explain each of the structural elements cited in Table 2 and how they may be employed in the development of a technical course or program.

The major headings cited in Table 2 have been identified as curriculum foundations, curriculum content, and curriculum evaluation. Each of these categories and their anatomy will be reviewed to exemplify their use in curriculum development.

Curriculum Foundations
Curriculum foundations are the components that influence and control the content and organization of the curriculum (Zais, 1976, p. 101). They are based upon values one has developed pertaining to knowledge, society, learning, and the individual. Foundations tend to influence the philosophies of those who are developing the curriculum, and these philosophies are, in turn, reflected in the curriculum. Such components as (1) definition of the program area, (2) rationale for the study of the program area, (3) content source, (4) content structure, (5) program aim, and (6) program goals are included in the curriculum foundations. As implied in the above discussion, curriculum foundations are used to establish a basis for further undertakings in curriculum development. At this point, each of the elements found within the curriculum foundations will be explained. The definition of the program area shall be the first element reviewed.

A precise definition of the program area under analysis can be useful to those involved in curriculum development. By establishing a definition of the program area, one is laying out the boundaries for the curriculum development process. In this way, both the developers and users of the curriculum will know exactly what knowledge or content is to be analyzed and conveyed. In the case of production technology (an area where the author has developed curriculum), a broad definition that has been offered for describing this subject is:

The application of knowledge and technical systems that convert resources into structures or industrial or consumer goods (Hadley & Ritz, 1991, p. 23).
Others have provided definitions for this program area that also could be used.
With a knowledge of the definition of the program area, the reader is ready to pursue the second element of the foundations. This is a rationale for the study of the program area. Information interrelating the areas of knowledge, society, learning, and the individual can be used in this element to emphasize the need to study the program in schools or the work environment. Instances used to support the study of production technology include:
• Integrating technology and daily life.
• Gaining an understanding of production systems.
• Using tools, materials and processes.
• Developing problem solving skills.
• Learning social/cultural impacts of technology.
• Practicing industrial safety.
• Practicing personal and business management skills.
• Building human relations skills.
• Practicing entrepreneurship skills.
• Discovering employment and post-secondary training needs.
• Developing leadership skills (Hadley & Ritz, 1991, p. 14).

With a definition of the program area and a rationale for its study, one should know the "what and why" of the content being shaped into a curriculum. With this information, the next step is to examine the source of the curricular content or knowledge base.

The content source is the third element that assists in establishing a foundation for the curriculum development process. It is the knowledge base where the curriculum content is derived for use in program development. In simpler terms, a content base is a bank or reservoir of knowledge where information (knowledge) is obtained for structuring a program. Depending upon whom is developing the program, and for what purpose it is being designed, i.e., work, leisure, general information, various content sources can be used.

A number of these include employment, job cluster training, general literacy, specific technologies, or technological areas. If one were to develop a curriculum on computing, these differing content sources would drastically change the shape of the curriculum. A computer course for general literacy would be much different than one to train network engineers or program designers. The source one selects to design a curriculum shapes its intent, or aim, and is often dictated by ones philosophy, understanding of the knowledge base, knowing the needs of society, and realizing how and why learners learn.

With an understanding of the content source, the next step in the curriculum foundations is to establish a content structure. It is the fourth element used in establishing a foundation for the curricular program. The content structure is employed to display graphically how the information being derived from the content source might be arranged for program and curricular unit development purposes. An example of a content structure for a production technology course appears in Figure 1. As can be observed, the content structure illustrates how the content for the program might be structured for program development purposes.
The program aim is the fifth element of the foundations portion of a curriculum development structure. This element describes the expected outcome of having students/learners study the content prescribed in the curriculum. For a production technology education program this outcome might be "to acquaint learners with the processes and systems used to produce our industrial and consumer products" (Hadley & Ritz, 1991, p., 5).

The final curriculum development element useful in establishing the foundations for a program or curriculum is the program goals. Goals are long range program outcomes that reflect the directions in which the curriculum should work. Examples of goals for production technology include:
• Learn how production systems originate.
• Describe how production systems influence people and societies.
• Discover how industry processes resources into products using processing, construction, and manufacturing systems.
• Use management systems to support the operation of production systems.
• Investigate technical developments in production technology systems which will probably change our products in the future.
• Analyze career options in the technologies of production systems.

As represented through this listing, goals are more specific than aims, but they still do not provide any means for direct student attainment of knowledge.
The above discussion has provided some insight into the development and utilization of foundations for curriculum development. Incorporation of these structural elements into the curriculum development process provides a means for expressing a philosophical view based on knowledge, society, learning, and the individual. Thus a strong foundation can be established for further undertakings in the curriculum development arena.

Curriculum Content
Curriculum content is the second major category of curricular elements. It includes the knowledge, skills, and attitudes (values) which educators are interested in conveying to learners. As the foundations of the curriculum determine what and why to teach, the content focuses upon the specific information to be transmitted and the means of transmission. In this category are the scope, sequence and unit specifications. The unit specifications may be further divided into goals, rationales, objectives, activities, and references. In all, the content elements provide direction for organizing curriculum content and for transmitting it to learners. At this point, each of the elements found within the curriculum content category will be discussed.

Scope and sequence are vital elements in structuring any curriculum in the education/training program. These elements establish content guidelines for the curriculum development and implementation processes. The use of a scope and sequence provides an effective format for organizing learning experiences for both curriculum developers and implementors.

The term scope encompasses the magnitude of content and objectives within a curriculum (Beauchamp, 1975, p. 198). More specifically, it is the breadth of knowledge to be covered within the curriculum or a particular subject area. As an example, in the production technology program, the scope of the curriculum might include production technology and its impact on societies, the production technology cycle, processing technology systems, manufacturing technology systems, construction technology systems, and future implications of production technology. From this example, one can see that the scope includes the breadth or magnitude of content that the program wishes to transfer into learning experiences.

Sequence is usually associated with scope. However, its meaning does differ. Sequence is the ordinal structuring of the content found within a curriculum (Beauchamp, 1975, p. 198). More simply stated, it is the order in which scope or content and objectives will be arranged for instructional purposes. In production technology, the sequence for a unit on the production technology cycle might include material resources, resource extraction, transforming materials, the production process, marketing, the service industry, and resource recovery. In curriculum development, the scope would list all the content areas to be taught, while the sequence would provide the ordering of this content in a coherent fashion.
To further assist in the development of curriculum and instructional plans, unit specifications are needed. Unit specifications are those rudiments which are helpful in the actual developing and structuring of a unit of study. The sub-components of unit specifications are unit goal(s), unit rationale, unit objectives or competencies, unit activities, and references. These curricular components will be reviewed next.

Unit goals are the overall outcomes which instruction within the unit should be directed. Examples of unit goals, for a production technology unit on marketing, could include:
• Describe the concept of market analysis.
• Organize marketing activities.
As can be gathered from this example, unit goals are broad in nature, but they attempt to show what the purpose and instructional focus of the units are.
The next unit specification component to be discussed is the unit rationale. It is an element which supports the unit goal(s) and explains the "what and why" of the unit. The unit rationale should provide the reasons for providing such a unit of instruction for learners. These descriptions should be short but meaningful narratives and provide specific reasons why study in such units are vital to the learner's total education.

A third curricular component under the heading of unit specifications is unit objectives or competencies. While aims and goals are broad and somewhat removed from the learning situation, objectives or competencies are measures of specific learning outcomes. They are essential targets and can be measured through classroom activities and evaluations. Examples of unit objectives are illustrated for a unit on resource extraction for a course in production technology:
• Describe how material resources were gathered during our early history.
• Explain how resources are extracted from our environment today.
• Differentiate between mining and harvesting.
• Construct models of resource extraction devices.
• Experiment with the production of materials through biotechnological means.

As illustrated through these examples, objectives or competencies are specific targets for instruction within the education or training program. They prescribe perimeters within which instruction should evolve, and they can be used to evaluate
whether learners can achieve these targets.

Unit activities are the fourth set of components found under the element of unit specifications. These elements, as stated by Zais, "represent the heart of the curriculum because they are so influential in shaping the learner's experiences and thus [his/her] education (1976, p. 350). Unit or learning activities are those parts of the curriculum where learners become involved. They are the reading, listening, manipulating, writing, experimenting, and other learning processes that provide learners with experiences in the content of the curriculum. It is through these various learning activities that the content of the curriculum is transmitted to the learners. Activities are what involve the learners in the curriculum. Through these various experiences, the process of learning actually takes place.
The final component of unit specifications is references. These are the books, videos, periodicals, and other resource materials that are helpful in developing instructional plans to implement the educational program. Many who have proposed models for curriculum development have not included this element, but it is felt by this author that references are a vital component for those who are faced with implementing the curriculum. For this reason, it has been listed under the unit specifications element.

In this review three major elements have been included in the curriculum content section of this model. These have been labeled the scope, sequence and unit specifications. After one attempts to transmit the content of the curriculum to the learner using these elements, a final category of curriculum development comes into use, i.e., the evaluation elements useful to curriculum development.

Curriculum Evaluation
The final broad category of curriculum elements is evaluation. It exists for two primary purposes. First, it attempts to measure whether the learners are achieving the content objectives set forth in the curriculum, and second, whether the curriculum is doing what it is supposed to do, content validity. Therefore, the evaluation category of a curriculum should be divided into student evaluation and document validation elements.

The student evaluation element is concerned with unit objectives and unit activities. Through student performances and assessment through testing, learners are measured to determine if they can competently achieve those standards prescribed in the unit objectives. In addition to this means of evaluation, there exists an area know as document validation. This type of evaluation determines whether there is a correspondence between the ideas set forth in the foundations section and the information transmitted through the content section of the curriculum. All too often, curriculum documents describe one set of intentions and offer a different set of content and outcomes. Consequently, the curriculum document is not fulfilling its intended purpose. The document validation is intended to insure the curriculum foundations and content are directed toward the same outcomes.

In the above discussions, a number of useful curriculum development elements have been cited and illustrated. These elements have been organized into three categories. These included curriculum foundations, content, and evaluation. If these elements are used in the development of a curriculum or program, a more meaningful and understandable curriculum should result. This occurs because those who are developing the curriculum must identify and structure their ideas following a logical sequence. This allows for more directed dialogue and research by those undertaking the curriculum development. When these steps are used in the curriculum development process, a number of effective instructional programs and units of instruction should result.

The author of this article is a holder of Masters in Business Administration (MBA) from Harvard University and currently pursing PhD Program. He is also a professional academic writer. SuperiorWriters.Com>