Issues and Trends in World Politics - Redefining Security Essay

Issues and Trends in World Politics - Redefining Security - Essay Example In addition, legislators find it uncomplicated to agree on military answers to external legal issues than to agree on the utilization of different methods of persuasion that United States can employ. Moreover, this false picture makes countries to focus on military risks and to assume other different and probably extra perilous hazards than the military risks. Thus it lessens the general safety of the people. Also, the false picture created by explaining national security in military terms plays a role in the persistent militarization of global relationships. This enhances the world wide insecurity in the long term (Ullman, 1983, 129). First, Ulham highlights the trade off with liberty. During a disagreement there are two specified values, each significant to the development of human beings. At its plain state, this decision depicts itself as the extent to which countries may go so as to safeguard themselves against rivals that that they perceive as oppressive, toward embracing barri ers that are similar to totalitarian towards the United States citizens. It is an issue that is evident in the everyday existence, hauling and pulling between the constitution, intelligence agencies and the police. A second choice entails association with countries whose code of conduct is different from those of United States. It raises the question whether the United States administration should establish an association of significant military relationship with the Republic of South Africa, and face the danger of racial disagreements in the American cities, or the United States should continue treating the Republic of South Africa as a rival and probably establish national racial peace (Ullman, 1983, 131). This is a significant feature of a stable community. A third choice includes military against financial help to needy nations. This choice pose the question, should the policy of the United States aspire at assisting administrations in the third world against the military danger s they presume to be coming from the Soviet Union and its collaborators, or at assisting citizens from the developing countries have better self-sufficiency so as to probably create extra healthy communities with decreased birth rates, thus reducing the increasing pressure on worldwide resources? Lastly, numerous choices contrast domestic and global priorities. The foremost source of national securities in the near future will be struggle for resources and territory. According to Ullman, a large number of violent disagreements throughout history have been caused by the struggle for resources and territory. He asserts that the future will see an increase in conflicts because of territory. The preservation of the idea of national autonomy has made the invasion of nations noticeably defunct. Ullman argues that the struggle for resources will probably increase because of the high need for a number of significant products and supplies. Nevertheless, these future struggles are perceived t o incorporate territorial aspects, but these territories will either be sparsely occupied or be unpopulated. Most of these territories will entail numerous resources that may be exploited, for example, oil. Also, he argues that these conflicts over resources will frequently be in the form of military battles whose combat periods will be short, instead of those prolonged wars. These wars will also be between countries that are neighboring each other, for

Thought Paper on Dahl Book Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Thought Paper on Dahl Book - Essay Example Two main themes stand out from Dahl’s analysis – his look at the ‘profound ignorance’ (p.7) of the Framers of America’s future, and thus the need to periodically amend it, and the fact that it has not been adopted by other democratic countries. Dahl begins with the basics, asking why we should uphold the Constitution, and stating that his aim ‘is not to propose changes in the American Constitution but to suggest changes in the way we think about our constitution’ (p.1). His book starts on the right note by immediately admitting the imperfection of American constitutional arrangements – at the Constitutional Convention held in Philadelphia, Rhode Island sent no delegates, while those from New Hampshire arrived weeks late. Not only was this an irregular start, but Dahl rightly asks why Americans should still feel bound to a document signed by only 39 men, some of whom owned slaves. When Dahl notes that there had never since been a r eferendum on it, one wonders if perhaps there should have been. Dahl is not unduly harsh to the Framers of the Constitution, recognizing that they were a product of their times, and that ‘Judged from later, more democratic perspectives’, the document has many shortcomings (p. 15). However, given this fact, Dahl is right that Americans should look upon it as the work of mortal men, and a practical and changing document, rather than a sacred text to be preserved. For example, with slavery, it was clear that the delegates from the southern states would never accept anything which didn’t allow slavery to continue, and so it was allowed for the sake of a strong federal government. Again, with the unequal representation in the Senate – a point which arises repeatedly in Dahl’s work as a weak point of the Constitution – the smaller states would never have accepted anything less than equal representation with the larger states. There is a tendency to assume that, because the Constitution retains the support of most Americans, and because of the idealistic portrayal of its origins, its status as a basically good document need not be questioned. What is most striking about Dahl’s work is his comparison of the American Constitution with that of other countries with a strong democratic tradition, out of which comes one major point – if the American Constitution was such a wonderful document, surely it would have been adapted by other countries seeking a democratic model. As Dahl himself writes, ‘Many Americans appear to believe that our constitution has been a model for the rest of the democratic world’, but of the 22 other democracies analyzed, America is unique (p.41). Some countries share some aspects of the US constitution, such as its federalism, or its strong judicial review mechanisms, but none has several key features in common. Especially interesting in this regard is the American presidential sy stem, which allows for a uniquely powerful head of state, who, since the office is now filled by popular election, is like ‘a monarch and prime minister rolled into one’ (p.72). We must agree with the author that such a powerful position does not really seem appropriate in a modern democracy. However, this is not the worst of the defects of the constitution as it now stands. More

Thesis driven essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words - 2

Thesis driven - Essay Example Through the Allegory of the Cave, in his work The Republic, Plato describes the position of unenlightened man, and 24 centuries later, the main hero of Wachowski Brothers’ movie The Matrix, hacker Neo, makes his way from the Cave towards enlightenment. According to Plato, human is caved in his/ her regular and familiar environment. He/ she does not ask questions, and does not will to change own life in more real and true way. Despite the ever-present possibility to start those changes, which Plato vividly describes as a light from the ideal world behind one’s back, most of the humans prefer to keep living in their familiar world of illusions, which is only a poor projection, a shadow of the ideal world. Unenlightened and delusioned man is a prisoner of his/ her own illusions. In Wachowski Brothers’ movie, the Matrix is a platform for humans’ illusions. Morpheus describes it as â€Å"the loading program†, â€Å"the construct for simulations† (The Matrix). Most of the people live in a common simulation, which is determined by AI. As Plato predicted, a more powerful â€Å"brain†, AI, had excelled human’s intelligence, and because the machine has no notion of morality, AI uses humankind brutally, but rationally for own benefit. The image of a caved unenlightened man is almost literally illustrated in the movie, especially in the scene, where Neo wakes up in a capsule and find himself to be a caved, but in a rather modern and more technical way. He is a part of high-technical mechanism, where Plato’s chains are cables and leads. They chain Neo’s whole body, but what’s the most important, they chain Neo’s brain. The familiar environment looks dark and grey now, and very similar to the Cave. Morpheus says, this darkness was made by humans (The Matrix). To get free from AI control, and to get out of the capsule, Neo symbolically bursts those cables and leads, and find himself confused and

HULSE CHRISTMAS WAR LETTER ANALYSIS Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 1

HULSE CHRISTMAS WAR LETTER ANALYSIS - Assignment Example In his first letter we are getting cognizance with Hulse`s point of view about the War of 1914, which was declared Germany in August,1914. According to the historical works this decision is often described as the beginning of the World War One. Germany got an ultimatum form Britain`s Prime Minister of that period - Herbert Asquith on the 3rd of August1. So, Asquith `s simple decision had cataclysmically influenced the British society. Hulse names in his letter flanking directions of the army for Gernany, be sea and by Belgium. He expresses his admiration for Churchill as â€Å"his action and the war-like spirit is compatible with his popularity and personal advancement†2. Before the letter dated the 12th of August 1914 their unit was resting and this made the narrator angry, he wanted to start greater action, and on that day he describes the following way â€Å"we start tonight, about midnight, but do not know destination or anything yet†3. Hulse tried not to write in his letter the most strategically important things. Like every person he used to describe also ordinary things like cold autumn. The letter of 27 November is not full of happiness. The soldiers get sick and the Germans are winning on the Western Front, but the most quantity of legends about World War One is about the first Christmas of the 1914, mentioned in the letters. The general situation looked as the British were fighting in the mud of Flanders and got an impression that the Germans want to destroy everything on their way. This impression was clearly broken. â€Å"It was absolutely astounding, and if I had seen it on a cinematograph film I should have sworn that it was faked†4, in such manner lieutenant of the 2nd Scots Guards Sir Edward Hulse described this event. On Christmas Eve the Western Front were not involved into great battles compared to the previous days of this month. The trenches heard the sound of the Christmas carols. German

Foreign Intelligence Organization Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Foreign Intelligence Organization - Essay Example In the past, these countries focused their efforts on getting intelligence concerning the United States Military capabilities, as well as military research and development activities. Today, these nations also collect technical, scientific, proprietary and economic information. The information collected is aimed at promoting the national welfare of these nations and also acquiring and maintaining highly developed military systems. These countries have the ability of collecting U.S. intelligence information using Human Intelligence (HUMINT), Signal Intelligence (SIGINT), and by analyzing open source material.1 Other countries also have the ability to collect imagery products that can be used to collect Image Intelligence (IMINT). It is essential to note that only the Russian Federation gathers space-borne intelligence. 1The People’s Republic of China also has this ability though to a rather limited extent. Therefore, Russia remains to be the nation that poses the most significa nt intelligence collection threat to the U.S. Russia has immense intelligence capability that was inherited from former Soviet Union. A large proportion of Russia’s intelligence collection infrastructure is focused on collecting information relating to the U.S. The Russian Federation uses SIGINT, HUMINT, IMINT, MASINT, and open source analysis. This is used to develop intelligence products for military planners and Russian political leaders. According to the federal Bureau of Investigation, Russian intelligence operations have increased in sophistication, scope, and number.2 They are likely to remain at this high level for the near future. The bodies legally responsible for foreign intelligence functions in Russia include the Russian Foreign Intelligence Service (SVR), the Main Intelligence Directorate of General Staff (GRU) and the Federal Agency for Government Communications and Information (FAPSI). SVR mainly collects scientific, political, technical and economic informati on. Majority of case officers working for SVR operate from Russian Embassies and consulates under diplomatic cover. Though alleged that SVR personnel have been reduced by 30%, active collection operations continue, and suspicion that SVR influences operations, and conduct propaganda is rife.2 The GRU mainly provides strategic and tactical intelligence for the Russian Military.2 They collect warning intelligence, important information on military capabilities of likely adversaries, and data on superior military technologies. Their collection techniques include HUMINT, both overt and clandestine, open sources, satellite imagery reconnaissance, SIGINT from ships, ground stations aircrafts and satellites. Collection activities that significantly threaten U.S interests are those under the Space Intelligence Directorate and First Deputy Chief.3 The Space Intelligence Directorate, in conjunction with the Fleet Intelligence Direction, manages Russia’s space reconnaissance program. Th e SDI operates many research institutes, its own cosmodromes, and a centralized computer processing facility. FAPSI’s main role is communications security for Russia.2 Russia continues to place emphasis on HUMINT.3 This is because of the information they gathered from the past. It is

Developmental Stage Theories Essay Example for Free

Developmental Stage Theories Essay Developmental psychology is the scientific study of changes that occur in human beings over the course of their life span. Originally concerned with infantsand children, the field has expanded to include adolescence, adult development, aging, and the entire life span. This field examines change across a broad range of topics including motor skills and other psycho-physiological processes; cognitive development involving areas such as problem solving, moral understanding, and conceptual understanding; language acquisition; social, personality, and emotional development; and self-concept and identity formation. Developmental psychology includes issues such as the extent to which development occurs through the gradual accumulation of knowledge versus stage-like development, or the extent to which children are born with innate mental structures, versus learning through experience. Many researchers are interested in the interaction between personal characteristics, the individuals behavior, and environmental factors including social context, and their impact on development; others take a more narrowly-focused approach. Developmental psychology informs several applied fields, including: educational psychology, child psychopathology, and forensic developmental psychology. Developmental psychology complements several other basic research fields in psychology including social psychology, cognitive psychology, ecological psychology, and comparative psychology. Theories Attachment theory Attachment theory, theoretical frame work originally developed by John Bowlby, focuses on open, intimate, emotionally meaningful relationships. Attachment is described as a biological system or powerful survival impulse that evolved to ensure the survival of the infant. A child who is threatened or stressed will move toward caregivers who create a sense of physical, emotional and psychological safety for the individual. Attachment feeds on body contact and familiarity. Later Mary Ainsworth developed the Strange Situation protocol and the concept of the secure base. There are three types of attachment styles: secure, anxious-avoidant, and anxious-resistant. Secure attachment is a healthy attachment between the infant and the caregiver. It is characterized by trust. Anxious-avoidant is an insecure attachment between an infant and a caregiver. This is characterized by the infants indifference toward the caregiver. Anxious-resistant is an insecure attachment between the infant and the caregiver characterized by distress from the infant when separated and anger when reunited. [1] A child can be hindered in its natural tendency to form attachments. Some babies are raised without the stimulation and attention of a regular caregiver, or locked away under conditions of abuse or extreme neglect. The possible short-term effects of this deprivation are anger, despair, detachment, and temporary delay in intellectual development. Long-term effects include increased aggression, clinging behavior, detachment, psychosomatic disorders, and an increased risk of depression as an adult. [2][3] Constructivism Constructivism is a paradigm in psychology that characterizes learning as a process of actively constructing knowledge. Individuals create meaning for themselves or make sense of new information by selecting, organizing, and integrating information with other knowledge, often in the content of social interactions. There are two ways in which constructivism can occur: individual and social. Individual constructivism is when a person constructs knowledge through cognitive processes of their own experiences rather than by memorizing facts provided by others. Social constructivism is when individuals construct knowledge through an interaction between the knowledge they bring to a situation and social or cultural exchanges within that content. [4] Ecological systems theory The Ecological systems theory, originally formulated by Urie Bronfenbrenner specifies four types of nested environmental systems, with bi-directional influences within and between the systems. The four systems are microsystem, mesosystem, exosystem, and macrosystem. Each system contains roles, norms and rules that can powerfully shape development. The microsystem is the immediate environment surrounding and influencing the individual (example: school or the home setting). The mesosystem is the combination of two microsystems and how they influence each other (example: sibling relationships at home vs. peer relationships at school). The exosystem is the interaction among two or more settings that are indirectly linked (example: a fathers job requiring more overtime ends up influencing his aughters performance in school because he can no longer help with her homework). The macrosystem is broader taking into account social economic status, culture, beliefs, customs and morals (example: a child from a wealthier family sees a peer from a less wealthy family as inferior for that reason). Lastly, the chronosystem refers to the chronological nature of life events and how they interact and change the individual and their circumstances through transition (example: a mother losing her own mother to illness and no longer having that support in her life). Since its publication in 1979, Bronfenbrenners major statement of this theory, The Ecology of Human Development[5] has had widespread influence on the way psychologists and others approach the study of human beings and their environments. As a result of this conceptualization of development, these environments—from the family to economic and political structures—have come to be viewed as part of the life course from childhood through adulthood. [6] Psychosexual development Sigmund Freud believed that we all had a conscious, preconscious, and unconscious level. In the conscious we are aware of our mental process. The preconscious involves information that though we are not currently thinking about can be brought into consciousness. Lastly, the unconscious includes those mental processes which we are unaware of. He believed that the conscious and unconscious had tension because the conscious would try and hold back what the unconscious was trying to express. To explain this he developed three structures of personality; the id, ego, and superego. The id, being the most primitive of the three functioned according to the pleasure principle. The pleasure principle states that the id’s motivation is to seek pleasure and avoid pain. Based on this he proposed five universal stages of development. The first is the oral stage which occurs from birth to 12 months of age, second is the anal stage which occurs from one to three years of age, third is the phallic stage which occurs from three to five years of age (most of a person’s personality is formed by this age), the fourth is called latency which occurs from age five until puberty, and lastly stage five is the genital stage which takes place from puberty until adulthood. 7] Stages of moral development Theories of morality that stem from Jean Piaget’s cognitive-developmental viewpoint emphasize shifts in the type of reasoning that individuals use in making moral decisions. Changes in the content of the decision they reach or the actions they take as a result does not occur. [dubious – discuss] Lawrence Kohlberg expanded on this issue specifically during adolescence. He suggested three levels of moral reasoning; preconventional moral reasoning, conventional moral reasoning, and postconventional moral reasoning. Preconventional moral reasoning is typical of children and is characterized by reasoning that is based on rewards and punishments associated with different courses of action. Conventional moral reason occurs during late childhood and early adolescence and is characterized by reasoning that is based on the rules and conventions of society. Lastly, postconventional moral reasoning is the stage during which society’s rules and conventions are seen as relative and subjective rather than as authoritative. [1] Stages of psychosocial development Erik Erikson became a child psychoanalyst like his mentor Anna Freud, Sigmond Freud’s daughter. He went on to reinterpret Freud’s psychosexual stages by incorporating the social aspects of it. He came up with eight stages, each of which has two crisis (a positive and a negative). Stage one is trust versus mistrust, which occurs during infancy. Stage two is autonomy versus shame and doubt which occurs during early childhood. Stage three is initiative versus guilt which occurs during play age. Stage four is industry versus inferiority which occurs during school age. Stage five is identity versus identity diffusion which occurs during adolescence. Stage six is intimacy versus isolation which occurs during young adulthood. Stage seven is generativity versus self-absorption which occurs during adulthood. Lastly, stage eight is integrity versus despair which occurs during old age. In each of these stages either one or the other crisis is developed. The ideal thing would be to have the positive crisis more developed than the negative crisis. [7] Theories of cognitive development Jean Piaget was a Swiss theorist who posited that children learn by actively constructing knowledge through hands-on experience. [8] He suggested that the adults role in helping the child learn was to provide appropriate materials or the child to interact and construct. He would use Socratic questioning to get the children to reflect on what they were doing. He would try to get them to see contradictions in their explanations. He also developed stages of development. His approach can be seen in how the curriculum is sequenced in schools, and in the pedagogy of preschool centers across the United States. Piaget believed that intellectual development took place through a series of stages which caused him to come up with his Theory on Cognitive Development. Each stage consisted of steps which the child had to master before moving on to the next step. He believe that these stages where not separate from one another but rather each stage built on the previous one, hence learning was continuous. His theory consisted of four stages; sensorimotor, pre-operational, concrete operational, and formal operational. Though he did not believe these stages occurred at any given age, many studies have determine when these cognitive abilities should take place. [4] Zone of proximal development Lev Vygotsky was a Russian theorist from the Soviet era, who posited that children learn through hands-on experience and social interactions with members of his/her culture. 9] Unlike Piaget, he claimed that timely and sensitive intervention by adults when a child is on the edge of learning a new task (called the zone of proximal development) could help children learn new tasks. Martin Hill stated that The world of reality does not apply to the mind of a child. This technique is called scaffolding, because it builds upon knowledge children already have with new knowledge that adults can help the child learn. [10] Vygotsky was strongly focused on the role of culture in determining the childs pattern of development, arguing that development moves from the social level to the individual level. 10] In other words, Vygotsky claimed that psychology should focus on the progress of human consciousness through the relationship of an individual and their environment. [11]He felt that if scholars continued to disregard this connection, then this disregard would inhibit the full comprehension of the human consciousness Nature/nurture A significant issue in developmental psychology is the relationship between innateness and environmental influence in regard to any particular aspect of development. This is often referred to as nature versus nurture or nativism versus empiricism. A nativist account of development would argue that the processes in question are innate, that is, they are specified by the organisms genes. An empiricist perspective would argue that those processes are acquired in interaction with the environment. Today developmental psychologists rarely take such polarised positions with regard to most aspects of development; rather they investigate, among many other things, the relationship between innate and environmental influences. One of the ways in which this relationship has been explored in recent years is through the emerging field of evolutionary developmental psychology. One area where this innateness debate has been prominently portrayed is in research on language acquisition. A major question in this area is whether or not certain properties of human language are specified genetically or can be acquired through learning. The empiricist position on the issue of language acquisition suggests that the language input provides the necessary information required for learning the structure of language and that infants acquire language through a process of statistical learning. From this perspective, language can be acquired via general learning methods that also apply to other aspects of development, such as perceptual learning. The nativist position argues that the input from language is too impoverished for infants and children to acquire the structure of language. Linguist Noam Chomsky asserts that, evidenced by the lack of sufficient information in the language input, there is a universal grammar that applies to all human languages and is pre-specified. This has led to the idea that there is a special cognitivemodule suited for learning language, often called the language acquisition device. Chomskys critique of the behaviorist model of language acquisition is regarded by many as a key turning point in the decline in the prominence of the theory of behaviorism generally. [12] But Skinners conception of Verbal Behavior has not died, perhaps in part because it has generated successful practical applications. [12] Mechanisms of development Developmental psychology is concerned not only with describing the characteristics of psychological change over time, but also seeks to explain the principles and internal workings underlying these changes. Psychologists have attempted to better understand these factors by using models. Developmental models are sometimes computational, but they do not need to be. A model must simply account for the means by which a process takes place. This is sometimes done in reference to changes in the brain that may correspond to changes in behavior over the course of the development. Computational accounts of development often use either symbolic, connectionist (neural network), or dynamical systems models to explain the mechanisms of development. Research areas Cognitive development Cognitive development is primarily concerned with the ways in which infants and children acquire, develop, and use internal mental capabilities such as problem solving, memory, and language. Major topics in cognitive development are the study of language acquisition and the development of perceptual and motor skills. Piaget was one of the influential early psychologists to study the development of cognitive abilities. His theory suggests that development proceeds through a set of stages from infancy to adulthood and that there is an end point or goal. Other accounts, such as that of Lev Vygotsky, have suggested that development does not progress through stages, but rather that the developmental process that begins at birth and continues until death is too complex for such structure and finality. Rather, from this viewpoint, developmental processes proceed more continuously, thus development should be analyzed, instead of treated as a product to be obtained. K. Warner Schaie has expanded the study of cognitive development into adulthood. Rather than being stable from adolescence, Schaie sees adults as progressing in the application of their cognitive abilities. 13] Modern cognitive development has integrated the considerations of cognitive psychology and the psychology of individual differences into the interpretation and modeling of development. [14]Specifically, the neo-Piagetian theories of cognitive development showed that the successive levels or stages of cognitive development are associated with increasing processing efficiency andworking memory capacity. In addition, children in higher-levels of cognitive development have been observed to have greater mathematical fluency in basic addition and subtraction problems. 15] These increases explain differences between stages, progression to higher stages, and individual differences of children who are the same-age and of the same grade-level. However, other theories have moved away from Piagetian stage theories, and are influenced by accounts of domain-specific information processing, which posit that development is guided by innate evolutionarily-specified and content-specific information processing mechanisms. Social and emotional development Developmental psychologists who are interested in social development examine how individuals develop social and emotional competencies. For example, they study how children form friendships, how they understand and deal with emotions, and how identity develops. Research in this area may involve study of the relationship between cognition or cognitive development and social behavior. Erik Erikson believed we undergo several stages to achieve social and emotional development. These stages were called the Erik Eriksons Stages of Psychosocial Development. The stages were trust vs. mistrust, attachment, parenting style, ego identity, role diffusion, generativity versus stagnation, midlife crisis, and ego integrity versus despair. Emotional regulation or ER refers to an individuals ability to modulate emotional responses across a variety of contexts. In young children, this modulation is in part controlled externally, by parents and other authority figures. As children develop, they take on more and more responsibility for their internal state. Studies have shown that the development of ER is affected by the emotional regulation children observe in parents and caretakers, the emotional climate in the home, and the reaction of parents and caretakers to the childs emotions. [16] Physical development Physical development concerns the physical maturation of an individuals body until it reaches the adult stature. Although physical growth is a highly regular process, all children differ tremendously in the timing of their growth spurts. [17] Studies are being done to analyze how the differences in these timings affect and are related to other variables of developmental psychology such as information processing speed. Traditional measures of physical maturity using x-rays are less in practice nowadays, compared to simple measurements of body parts such as height, weight, head circumference, and arm span. 17] A few other studies and practices with physical developmental psychology are the phonological abilities of mature 5- to 11-year-olds, and the controversial hypotheses of left-handers being maturationally delayed compared to right-handers. A study by Eaton, Chipperfield, Ritchot, and Kostiuk in 1996 found in three different samples that there was no difference between right- and left-handers. [17] Memory development Researchers interested in memory development look at the way our memory develops from childhood and onward. According to Fuzzy-trace theory, we have two separate memory processes: verbatim and gist. These two traces begin to develop at different times as well as at a different pace. Children as young as 4 years-old have verbatim memory, memory for surface information, which increases up to early adulthood, at which point it begins to decline. On the other hand, our capacity for gist memory, memory for semantic information, increases up to early adulthood, at which point it consistent through old age. Furthermore, our reliance on gist memory traces in reasoning increases as we age.

Understanding Diversity in Beliefs about Health

Understanding Diversity in Beliefs about Health Understanding diversity in beliefs about health Getting your child vaccinated is a choice every parent has to make. There are many attitudes, beliefs and perspectives on the topic. This essay will be comparing and contrasting these views between the two groups of parents, those being the ones that decide to fully vaccinate their children and those that put off certain vaccines or dont vaccinate their children at all. The majority group of 90.1% of parents in Australia decided to have their children fully immunised, with the remainder being the parents that choose to refuse certain or all vaccines (A. G. o. h. (2014)). Reasons for different attitudes leading to these decisions can range from the medical to the religious reasons (Douglas S. Diekema, M. D., M.P.H. (2012)). Recommendations and education about immunisation usually happens through the parents doctor or physician, since it is seen in the medical community as a big problem that parents don’t vaccinate their children (Douglas S. Diekema, M. D., M.P.H. (2012)). In so me countries such as Canada it is mandatory to vaccinate your child, but in countries like Australia and the US the choice is up to the parents (Walkinshaw, E. (2011))(Douglas S. Diekema, M. D., M.P.H. (2012)). This decision a parent can make for the child can have lasting effects into adulthood and with recent recurring outbreaks of diseases like whooping cough, there is a lot of stigma surrounding the topic (Walkinshaw, E. (2011)) . A vaccination is a medical procedure where a person is injected with a substance which can prevent illnesses and diseases being caught or spreading (Shetty, P. (2010)). Parents give their children shots for each disease and a few single diseases need multiple shots just for themselves (Pediatrics. (2011)). Such diseases that children might get vaccinated for would be polio, influenza virus and the measles (Douglas S. Diekema, M. D., M.P.H. (2012)). Most parents vaccinate their children (A. G. o. h. (2014)). But there is also a high number of the population which refuses to receive their vaccinations, mainly because of skepticism (Walkinshaw, E. (2011)). This is apparent even though many doctors such as Dr Ian Gemmill try to put across messages like â€Å"Immunizations are the safest, longest-lasting and most effective ways to prevent communicable diseases† (Walkinshaw, E. (2011)). Although this is the majority of the attitudes between health care occupations, surveys show that health workers still remain divided on this issue, with a à ¢Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬Å" of emergency nurses in one survey expressing that they had concerns and didn’t fully trust the idea of immunizations and what the risk of side effects would be for themselves (Mary Ann Bell, P., Joseph A. Dake, James H. Price, Timothy R. Jordan, Paul Rega. (2012)). Doctors like Dr Gemmill emphasise their point by referring to statistics of immunizations, comparing disease related death from before vaccinations to after (Walkinshaw, E. (2011)). While Edda West, the coordinator of the Vaccination Risk Awareness Network has the counter argument that, a medical procedures that’s as invasive as vaccinations will always carry a risk of injury or death and this should be taken into consideration by the patients parents (Walkinshaw, E. (2011)). Also saying that many health professionals are persuading parents and not educating them about the fact that they themselves have a choice (Walkinshaw, E. (20 11)). Vaccinations have health groups divided but in the end it is up to the parents and their choice in end. Vaccines overall have strong effects on the health industry (Douglas S. Diekema, M. D., M.P.H. (2012)). Parents that have their children vaccinated Parents can have a positive attitude about vaccines for a number of reasons. Most parents know about the certain diseases that could be fatal for their babies (Dannetun, E. T., Anders ; Giesecke, Johan. (2007)). Vaccines have demonstrated to have positive effects in solving this problem and this is the main motivation for most parents to have their children immunized (Dannetun, E. T., Anders ; Giesecke, Johan. (2007)). Most parents dont give it a second thought since vaccines are widely accepted and promoted in today’s society (Douglas S. Diekema, M. D., M.P.H. (2012)). It is given out through schools and some schools even require children to be vaccinated before they can be accepted into a school (Douglas S. Diekema, M. D., M.P.H. (2012)). So one of the big influences on the beliefs of parents that are pro-vaccination come from the General health community and the government (Dannetun, E. T., Anders ; Giesecke, Johan. (2007)). The World Health Organisation (WHO) says that it wants most countries to vaccinate all their children (Dannetun, E. T., Anders ; Giesecke, Johan. (2007)). These groups push vaccinations by the parent receiving the advice from a health professional, or having the parents children face restrictions in the future like not being able to attend a certain school (Douglas S. Diekema, M. D., M.P.H. (2012)). Parents might get the feeling that they are obligated to vaccinate their child, they want the best for their child and the education they receive when looking for professional advice it leads parents to a pro-vaccination standpoint (Walkinshaw, E. (2011)). Another thing pro-vaccination attitudes are pushed with would be the parents own fear for their child (Mary Ann Bell, P., Joseph A. Dake, James H. Price, Timothy R. Jordan, Paul Rega. (2012)). Children are always at risk of getting sick, spikes in diseases like whooping cough occur in populations unvaccinated and babies die from this ((RCN), R. C. o. N. P. C. (2012)). Naturally, occurrences like these influence parents that might have not have been pro vaccine to maybe change their view. Pertussis vaccination is one of the most common and outbreaks among the unvaccinated community are not uncommon ((RCN), R. C. o. N. P. C. (2012)). Parents who are worried and don’t want to put their children at risk will mostly seek the simpler solution to ensure the safety of their child and that’s to vaccinate (Douglas S. Diekema, M. D., M.P.H. (2012)). The fear factor also leads to some pro-active attitudes to pro-vaccination. This is especially apparent in developing nations, where vaccines are on high demand and support from the government is lacking (Blecher, M. S. M., Filip ; Kollipara, Aparna ; Hecht, Robert ; Cameron, Neil A. ; Pillay, Yogan ; Hanna, Luisa. (2012)). There is a high burden of disease in places such as South Africa with high death rates due to preventable diseases such as pneumococcal and rotavirus (Blecher, M. S. M., Filip ; Kollipara, Aparna ; Hecht, Robert ; Cameron, Neil A. ; Pillay, Yogan ; Hanna, Luisa. (2012)). People of the pro-vaccine attitude might go as far to fund charities to distribute to poorer countries, with the intention that it will allow children in developing nations to receive vaccines. The most notable donator being Bill Gates, a parent himself donating $2Billion of his fortune in 1999 to vaccine distribution, his contribution has allowed many parents in poor countries to have better acce ss to vaccines for their own children. More has been donated since (Economist, T. (1999, 5 Nov)). These actions all stem from their attitudes to vaccinations, believing that more vaccines, means less death or injury. Parents that don’t want their children to be vaccinated Children that don’t get vaccinated are said to be put at risk of coming down with a deadly illness (Douglas S. Diekema, M. D., M.P.H. (2012)). Parents are of the anti-vaccine attitude, believe that they are doing better for their child because of their own reasons or lifestyle choices (Shetty, P. (2010)). Something that could have parents take an anti-vaccine opinion, could be for non-medical reasons like the family religion or philosophical reasons (Shetty, P. (2010)) (Douglas S. Diekema, M. D., M.P.H. (2012)). But the majority of parents that don’t vaccinate their children have reasoning mainly due to their own skepticism about the vaccine shots and their possible side effects (Shetty, P. (2010)). Parents say that they don’t want their children to be exposed to â€Å"unnecessary toxins† (Shetty, P. (2010)). The risks and benefits of vaccines are weighed up by parents, it is alleged by some anti-vaccine groups that immunisations can be linked to other dis eases such as autism or multiple sclerosis (Shetty, P. (2010)). The number of people with this attitude is rising globally, it is said that anti-vaccination groups would only be localised to specific areas in developed nations (Shetty, P. (2010)). But with the rise of the internet and social networking, the idea of greater safety from no vaccines in becoming to be known in more developing nations like India (Shetty, P. (2010)). Paul Offit, the chief of infectious diseases, says that many parents aren’t fully educated about vaccinations and that they shouldn’t buy into the anti-vaccination lobbies which said to basically that â€Å"vaccines are the devil† (Shetty, P. (2010)). It is also said that a possible reason for people to have this point of view is because people can see an association between, the drop in illness levels, while the rate of people that encounter either real or perceived side effects goes up (Shetty, P. (2010)). Doctors are expected to fully educate parents about such subjects, because of common misconceptions about statistics which might influence their standpoint, so parents can make a fully informed decision. Comparisons One of the similarities these two groups share is that their actions are driven by fear (Shetty, P. (2010)). Whether it be the fear of losing your child via a sickness, or the fear of the idea that they will be exposing their children to â€Å"biologicals of unknown toxicity† (Douglas S. Diekema, M. D., M.P.H. (2012))(Shetty, P. (2010)). Both parties want the best for their children. Governments are constantly pushing vaccinations (Economist, T. (1998, 5 Nov)), and Health professional anti-vaccine groups are more vocal about parents not being educated about their choice and not being able to exercise their freedoms (Shetty, P. (2010)). Parents that are anti-vaccine seem to be more scared of the side effects of the vaccine than the actual disease (Shetty, P. (2010)). Doctors of the pro-vaccination standpoint do express that there are vaccines that children might not need, but vaccines like Hep B are a must (Shetty, P. (2010)). This appeals to many parents that might be on the f ence about vaccinations, there is an appreciation for a middle ground between that two population groups (A. G. o. h. (2014)). There are a lot of diseases to vaccinate against (A. G. o. h. (2014)). Parents that are of the pro-vaccination standpoint may hold off on a certain vaccine if it doesn’t seem needed, until they decide they might want to go traveling with their children, to a place where it is needed, causes for this behaviour can be linked to someone’s financial standpoint (C, H. A. E. W. R. E. I. S. N. K. M. (2012)). The same idea applies for parents of the anti-vaccination standpoint, if there is an outbreak of a disease such a pertussis in the area where they live, some parents would be happy to makes sure that their children got a shot in that circumstance ((RCN), R. C. o. N. P. C. (2012)). Impacts on Health The main population group that affects the health community are the parents which dont decide to vaccinate, hence why doctors push it to their patients so strongly, because it is said to cause preventable traffic in the health system (Douglas S. Diekema, M. D., M.P.H. (2012))(A. G. o. h. (2014)). With more and more parents not vaccinating their children, they are pushing beyond the safe number of whats called the herd immunity (Douglas S. Diekema, M. D., M.P.H. (2012))(Shetty, P. (2010)). Herd immunity is based off the notion that it is safe to have a small amount of children in one area that are not vaccinated, but if there is a number of children not vaccinated in the same neighbourhood then outbreaks are more likely to occur (Shetty, P. (2010)). Vaccines are also expensive though (Blecher, M. S. M., Filip ; Kollipara, Aparna ; Hecht, Robert ; Cameron, Neil A. ; Pillay, Yogan ; Hanna, Luisa. (2012)). If everyone was anti-vaccine then it would free up expenses which could be used fo r arguable more important aspects of health (Blecher, M. S. M., Filip ; Kollipara, Aparna ; Hecht, Robert ; Cameron, Neil A. ; Pillay, Yogan ; Hanna, Luisa. (2012)). Poorer countries need to accommodate as the demand for vaccines rises, putting more strain on their current health systems (Blecher, M. S. M., Filip ; Kollipara, Aparna ; Hecht, Robert ; Cameron, Neil A. ; Pillay, Yogan ; Hanna, Luisa. (2012)). Conclusion Vaccinations are one of the many choices parents get to make for their children and any subject relating to life or death is going to be touchy. Although there are some countries such as slovenia that don’t allow for the freedom for parents to choose, with other countries like canada looking to do the same (Walkinshaw, E. (2011)). Mainly due to strong advocacy from the health systems as a whole (Douglas S. Diekema, M. D., M.P.H. (2012)). In the nations where you are allowed choice, doctors try their best to make sure parents are fully educated on the matter so there is less of a chance that parents make their decisions for the wrong reasons (Douglas S. Diekema, M. D., M.P.H. (2012)). References A. G. o. h. (2014). Australian Childhood Immunisation Register (ACIR) statistics. Retrieved 06/03, from https://www.medicareaustralia.gov.au/provider/patients/acir/statistics.jsp Blecher, M. S. M., Filip ; Kollipara, Aparna ; Hecht, Robert ; Cameron, Neil A. ; Pillay, Yogan ; Hanna, Luisa. (2012). Financing vaccinations – The South African experience. Vaccine, 30, 7. doi: 10.1016/j.vaccine.2012.04.042 Douglas S. Diekema, M. D., M.P.H. (2012). Improving Childhood Vaccination Rates. The New England Journal of Medicine, 366(5), 3. doi: 10.1056/NEJMp1113008 C, H. A. E. W. R. E. I. S. N. K. M. (2012). A cross-sectional study of pre-travel health-seeking practices among travelers departing Sydney and Bangkok airports. BMC public health, 12(1), 1. Dannetun, E. T., Anders ; Giesecke, Johan. (2007). Parents attitudes towards hepatitis B vaccination for their children. A survey comparing paper and web questionnaires, Sweden 2005. BMC public health, 7, 1. doi: 10.1186/1471-2458-7-86 Economist, T. (1998, 5 Nov). Philanthropy: Gates the Good. The Economist, 1. Mary Ann Bell, P., Joseph A. Dake, James H. Price, Timothy R. Jordan, Paul Rega. (2012). A National Survey of Emergency Nurses and Avian Influenza Threat. Journal of Emergency Nursing. doi: 10.1016/j.jen.2012.05.005 Pediatrics. (2011). Meningococcal conjugate vaccines policy update: booster dose recommendations. Pediatrics, 128(6), 5. doi: 10.1542/peds.2011-2380 (RCN), R. C. o. N. P. C. (2012). The Health Protection Agency is warning parents to keep their children up to date with vaccinations for whooping cough, after an increase in the number of cases in 2011. Nursing Children and Young People, 24(3), 1. Shetty, P. (2010). Experts concerned about vaccination backlash. The Lancet, Vol.375(9719), 2. doi: 10.1016/S0140-6736(10)60421-7 Walkinshaw, E. (2011). Mandatory vaccinations: no middle ground. CMAJ: Canadian Medical Association Journal, Vol.183(16), 2.