Collateral Victims of Cultural Conflicts The WritePass Journal

Collateral Victims of Cultural Conflicts Abstract Collateral Victims of Cultural Conflicts AbstractChap 1: Introduction.Chap 2: Literature ReviewChap 3: Research MethodologyChap 4: Social PolicyChap 5: Research Findings and Analysis.Chap 6: Comparative element (secondary materials)Chap 7: The Role of the Youth and Community Worker.Chap 8: Conclusions and recommendations.Related Abstract The main aim of this piece of work is to explore the views and opinions of young people of African origins (especially those from the DR Congo) who have come to settle in the United Kingdom, on how they would cope with being raised in a country with a different culture. Though the study emphasized more the reactions and attitudes of young people on being raised by their parents in an African manner, the views of parents on trying to educate their children in an African manner in a country with a different approach, understanding and different principles, are also taken into consideration. The introductory chapters give a brief overview of the reasons why this topic was chosen, the study aims and objectives and also the research methodology. The following chapters focus more on the complexities of multiculturalism and of the different styles of educating children both in the DR Congo and in the UK. Despite the work finally closing with a summary conclusion and key recommendations for ways forwards, further research may still be necessary to determine if the opinions and views of the participants may be representative of the majority. Chap 1: Introduction. This paper will be an attempt to critically look at the lives of children of asylum seekers/refugees/migrants living in the UK, especially those coming from Central Africa and more particularly from the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). While parents of Congolese origin will tend to think that the Western society has brain ‘spoilt’ and/or ‘damaged’ their children, turning them into ‘little rebels’, the western world will instead have the perspective that these parents are simply abusing their children with their way of educating them or dealing with their issues.   Victoria Climbià © is one such example that many living in the United Kingdom will still have in mind. The main reason for these different perspectives will be the respective cultures of the two parts. The innocent children would therefore find themselves in the middle as ‘collateral victims’ of a cultural conflict. Do these parents have the right to be harsh on thei r children because of their beliefs/culture? Do they really understand how things work in the UK, with the evident problem of language being the first barrier for their integration? What is the right balance between the two extremes? Is a certain type of media which is stereotyping parents of African origin as ‘child abusers’ helping? And finally, what should be the contribution of a youth and community worker to both the lives of young people and parents finding themselves in these situations. These are some of the questions that this piece of work will attempt to answer in an impartial way. Coming from the same background (the African one), reasons for prioritising this topic is the fact that both as a youth and community worker and as an African of origins, personal hope is that some change and challenge will be made to, if not necessarily the way children are being treated by some African parents, but to the way they believe is the best way of dealing with children, on the one hand. In fact, from personal experience, being born in Africa and having being raised there until the age of 30 when I then permanently moved to the United Kingdom, personal understanding and perspective is effectively that parents of African origins will generally tend to give their children very little ‘voice’ and/or ‘space’ or simply no voice at all in the all process of their education. They will, more than their European counterparts, appear to use ‘reasonable chastisement’ to ‘discipline’ their offspring, a practice still permitted by the law in most African countries. Considerations of matters such as children/young people’s rights will generally have very little importance or even in some extreme cases no importance at all in the sights of some/many parents of African origins. Many parents of DR Congo origins will only effectively hear about children/young people’s rights when arriving in the UK as these are not ‘popular’ topics in African contexts and countries, where issues of power, equality, respect and social justice are highly placed at the rear plan due to political, economic and cultural factors. Conversely, on the other hand personal hope is also that, some serious reflexion on the negative sides of giving ‘too much voice and/or space’ to children/young people will also be honestly and critically examined. In fact, so many times emphasis will be put on parents (of African origins) being ‘rude’ with their children. But little or even nothing at all would be done in cases where so many parents (of African descents) will go through depression, rejection, abjectness, misery and even physical assaults, all due to the fact that their children/young people would be ‘excessively using their rights of being children/young people’. Finally, another expectation of this work is to try and get the British/Western society to understand better where these parents of African origins are coming from in terms of their culture and consequently stops stereotyping/stigmatising them. There would tend to be more assumptions than real insights/knowledge when it comes to African cultures amongst the British/western public opinion. From personal experience of living in the UK for more than ten years now, it would appear that native form the UK would know very little about African cultures and would generally show very little interest in knowing what’s going on beyond the UK’s boundaries, particularly in Africa. Overview of following chapters The following are some of the issues that will be addressed in this dissertation: Chapter 2:   Literature review This part will propose a comprehensive and extensive review of relevant literature on the topic area, including reliable internet sources, academic texts and journals articles. It will be an attempt to relate the chosen topic to existing knowledge, finding the gaps in them and eventually necessary future research/works to be done. Chapter 3:  Ã‚   Research methodology In this chapter, principles and rules employed for the study will be analysed. The main issues to be discussed will include: The research design Procedures for data collection Why some specific procedures would have been preferred to others Participants observations Ethical considerations The process of interviews, its advantages and difficulties. Chapter 4:  Ã‚   Social policy This piece of work will move on trying to link the issue to current and/or contemporary social policies. A particular focus will be on the ‘Every Child Matters’ (ECM) policy though others social policies such as ‘Aiming high for children’ may also be taken into consideration. Chapter 5:  Ã‚   Research findings and analysis This is obviously the most important part of the work where all live conducted interviews will critically, carefully and impartially be analysed. Their results will then be related to the main topic of this piece of work to try and learn something from them. Chap 6: Comparative element (secondary materials) This is where issues of power and/or differences in relation with raising children of DR Congolese origins and children of Indian origins/culture will be analysed and compared. Results from primary research will also be compared to secondary materials where possible. Chap 7: The Role of the Youth and Community Worker. This chapter will look at the crucial role the youth and community worker can particularly play with young person finding themselves in such complex situations, but also what support can they bring to the parents involved in the same process. Chapter 8:  Ã‚   Conclusion and recommendations After some considerations on the limitations of the study and some useful recommendations in relation to the exploited topic, a general conclusion will finally be drawn. Chap 2: Literature Review This chapter’s main aim will be to critically review the points of current knowledge on the study’s topic, generally looking at relevant literature/materials in connection with the study. From outset, it might be important to signal here that not much has been previously written in the specific area of the DR Congo’s children being raised in the UK. Especially in Greater Manchester where the study has been conducted, same studies or research work to do with children/young people from the DR Congo being raised by parents of African origins are very difficult to find. But from an initial internet search, the few relevant materials in connection with this dissertation’s topic have been some articles on children from the DR Congo been maltreated by their parents mainly due to religion which is sometimes infused with elements of the traditional in many African countries. One particular case was a story on many newspaper front pages, of a young boy branded by a hot iron because his father thought he was a witch (BBC website, 2007). Looking at most of the newspapers and websites in relation to this story, what came out was that there was a general feeling of in crimination rightly based on the horrible act committed by this DR Congolese father without looking any further at ways to try and help the parents involved if not to recommend their community leaders to some kind of child protection courses. One may rightly confirm that there was no sympathy at all from the general public. Some materials in relation with children/young persons of other African countries such as Ivory Coast which is a country close to the DR Congo in terms of cultures have been considered. One really notable case resulting is the one of the Victoria Climbià ©Ã¢â‚¬â„¢s Inquiry Report from the House of Commons Health Committee (2002-2003). Victoria Climbià © was a young girl who died on 25th February 2000 as I just arrived in the UK on the 2nd February 2000. The case, which is still fresh in my memory as it really shocked me at the time, will be another key point of this literature review. The reporting committee found that this young girl from Ivory Coast who came to live in London with her great-aunt, Marie-Thà ©rà ¨se Kouao and with her grant- aunt’s partner, died because of multiple injuries arising from months of ill-treatment and abuse by her great-aunt and her partner who were both convicted and sentenced later on. Without going back into the details of this traumatic an d shocking story, something to be noticed in the report is the Inquiry’s findings of staff making assumptions that because people originated from a particular culture, that behaviour could be described as being culturally determined when in fact they knew nothing about that culture and had never visited the country. The report clearly suggested that Victoria’s African culture (and religion) were the reasons why the all regrettable tragedy happened, while acknowledging that this culture misled some of those who came to deal with the case directly. On this one, African culture (and religion) was clearly be put on the bench of accused as having a very bad influence and bad consequences on the education, safety and protection of children. Moving from there and looking at books/materials on multiculturalism, a theme closely linked to the main title of this study, one point of focus was the excellent study of Taylor et al (1994) on multiculturalism in which they made the point that cultures deserve admiration and respect, even if it is accompanied by much that we have to abhor and reject.   Similar point of view could also be found and read in others books and authors writing on the same theme. Many writers while agreeing on the necessity of multiculturalism in today’s society would however always make sure that those coming from outside should to some extents be ‘assimilated’ into the new culture they were joining. A very recent study on multiculturalism from the Journal of Intercultural Studies (2011) rightly pointed out that Contemporary popular debates around multiculture – or even worse multiculturalism – have tended to take a sceptical stance, to the extent it is understood as a ‘failure’. This will join in agreement with Thomas (2011) who argued that Since the 2001 ‘race riots’ in the North of England and the 7/7/2005 horrific events in London bombings, the botched attacks two years later on a Glasgow airport and a number of very serious foiled plots, Britain appeared to reject multiculturalism. One critic called it ‘the death of multiculturalism’. One thinking moving a bit in the opposite direction was the work of Paul Gilroy (1993) ‘The Black Atlantic’ who made a strong liberating call to the forces of cultural nationalism trapped in their respective camps. He made the interesting point that being both European and black requires some specific forms of double consciousness. McCalla (2003) seemed to argue in the same sense, going even a bit further in her book ‘Black Success in the UK’, suggesting that one of the strategy utilised by mothers of Caribbean/African origin in their childrearing to challenge racism is to provide their children with a sense of cultural belonging and a collective racialised identity that they can draw strength from in times of difficulties. She seems to make the point that the original culture of the child of African/Caribbean origin can be ‘positively’ used for their success in the British society, giving them some kind of strong identity. Despite all the above considerations, it might however be reasonable enough to say that most of these books/writings/materials have one major weakness: they don’t really understand African cultures and in some cases don’t even want to understand them. For the few who have attempted to get some deep insight on them, it is mainly about acknowledging and recognizing their existence without real will of practical understanding/knowledge of them. Personal concern when doing this literature review was also that no matter long could have a study conducted or a book written by a non African taken, it would still be very difficult for such a writer or researcher, despite all their willingness, to deeply grasp and understand some complex elements of African culture. Moreover, for some books/materials, by trying to protect the (African) child (only), it seems like the parents’ point of view (and culture) is simply ignored in many material relating to the subject. Assumption has instead always been made as to the conclusion that these children are being held ‘captives’ without their own consent. Very little has been done to try and find if the child themselves prefer the parent original culture. There is like a ‘taxation’ of the western culture and an obligation to renounce at one’s original culture. By trying to protect the British/European culture, the African culture is generally ignored. Not much help and effort to understand where the parents come from and try to help them as others in similar situations would benefit and get some compassion from the general public. In fact, Looking at an article from the Guardian (2009) ‘Tracey Connelly: the story of a woman defined by abuse’- on a simila r horrible similar story to the Victoria Climbià ©Ã¢â‚¬â„¢s one, committed by the parents of baby Peter Connolly can reinforce this stand point. The Guardian effectively tried to look at the reasons why Tracey Connelly, the mother of this lovely innocent baby, would commit such an atrocity on her own child and came to the conclusion that the fact that she had had a similar childhood (of abuse) which consequently led her into a drinking and pornographic life should be into consideration. Looking at a blog/debate linked to this article got to personal conclusion that many in fact became a bit sympathetic with Tracey, arguing that it would be important not only to look at what had happened but to try and find the reasons/roots and try and fight them from there to ensure that such events do not re happen in the future. Personal expectations are now that the following chapters of this work will give a better balanced view of the topic and hopefully suggest some positive recommendations related to the main theme of the study. Chap 3: Research Methodology This third chapter of the paper will explore the process of information gathering, including a rationale for any specific research methods chosen and relevant ethical issues. This study has drawn on a wide range of sources. However, for the purpose of information gathering, it has mainly used ‘qualitative’ methods. As Bedford and Wilson (2006) argued, while quantitative research collects facts and study the relationship between one set and another, gauging public opinion, qualitative research, almost the opposite of quantitative research, is more concerned with trying to gain an insight into human perception of the world and, as such, recognize that it is not wise to generalise about human reactions, opinions, attitudes and so on. In the qualitative research, the hypothesis or theory comes after the data collection. For the purpose of qualitative research, the strategy mainly consisted on organising face to face interviews with different members of the public who were susceptible to bring any kind of contribution to the study. Most interviews were live and were recorded. The original idea was to conduct interviews with some young people of African origin and others interviews with parents of the same backgrounds. But after the first interview with one young person, some serious difficulties due to disclosure and maturity problems led to a change of approach. As a matter of facts, after consultation with the university tutor, it was then agreed to only interview adults of African origin who came in the United Kingdom as children, who would then relate their experience of being raised by parents of African origins in the a British context/culture. This strategy was found as being more reasonable and protective for the interviewer, and was consequently used. Insistence was on asking them to try and be as honest as possible and give their feelings/thoughts/perspectives of those times when they first arrived so young. This was because in the due process of growing up and becoming parents, some of them slightly/completely shifted their position today on the subject of being raised by African of Congolese origins. This was so important not to allow the research to get wrong answers, consequently wrong data. All together, 6 interviews have been conducted, recorded and transcripted. Four interviews were conducted on the experience of being raised in the UK by parents of African origins and the other two were done with parents of African origins raising children in the UK. Two of the six interviewees are people with whom previous rapport was established in the past. Difficulty wise, as said a bit above, one key problem was the one of disclosure. In fact, the topic being a very sensitive one, it was not easy to find people ready and happy to talk about such difficult and private things. For some reasons, 2 of the interviewees consented to be interviewed at the condition that they would not be recorded live. The methodology with them was to take note straight as they were answering the interview’s questionnaire. African beliefs and culture in general and specifically DR Congolese’s one was also a serious problem. In fact, coming from the same ground, personal strong knowledge and experience have usually shown that people from the DR Congo are very sceptical whenever it comes to anything like interview or similar things. It took a lot to convince interviewees about the well founded of the all thing and its benefits for the general society. Personal privilege of being able to speak many DR Congolese main languages really helped in the all process. In fact, in the absence of financial support/vouchers to encourage those taking part into the research, the technique used to convince people was to speak to them in their respective dialect. This put them into confidence and made them more relaxed. The interview questions were agreed in consultation with the university tutor. One vital element in conceiving them was to avoid using ‘leading’ and/or ‘misleading’ questions. General questions were to be used instead of questions which were susceptible of leading into private areas of the interviewees lives. An example of an interview questionnaire can be found in the index at the end of the work. In terms of ethical issues, it is important to note here that ‘respect’ of both human being and opinions of people either interviewed or simply approached to get an interview was vital and capital, constituting the basis of all research process. When for example there was a strict refusal for the interview to be recorded as the interviewee as said above, the interviewee not wanting their voice and/or answers to stay somewhere, it was important to show total respect of their opinion and not to insist on recording the interview. The specific context of African mentality being difficult and also because of the sensibility of the topic which may lead to some legal persecution, consent forms were used before all interviews. Permanent consultation took place with the dissertation tutor about the right decision to take in case of incertitude or in complex situations. Again as said a bit above, because two of the interviewees were of people with whom previous contacts were estab lished in the past and because of personal social position in the DR Congolese community in Greater Manchester doing that many people know me, the aspect of confidentiality was essential in the all study. Despite the use of consent forms at the beginning of all interviews, it was really necessary to make strong assurances to each interview that none of the collected information would be used without their consent. Finally, from recent work undertaken during a university placement in a local non for profit organisation in Greater Manchester mainly working asylum seekers/refugees/migrants from the DR Congo, some information were also gathered from that experience. The placement took place in an organisation called African Francophone Integration Project Ltd (AFIP). This organisation located in Beswick, has as main objective to help asylum seekers/refugees/migrants newly arriving in the UK in their integration process. Most service users of the organisation are form the DR Congo, some form different countries of Africa. Some personal non recorded informal talking with the first Director of the organisation on the subject also gave some interesting elements which this work will at some point draw on. The first Director related some of his personal experience in dealing with some personal cases in relationship with this study theme, notably one case of a parent and their child who were referred to them by the Central Manchester social services. Summarizing this important topic on the methodology used for this research, one key point may be that despite all difficulties encountered when conducting this research, the certitude is that the information harvested during this entire project have provided a strong base for analysing the main topic. Another important point in closing this section is that all research was really conducted in a professional and ethical way. Chap 4: Social Policy This chapter will outline the key reference to historical and contemporary developments in social policy, legislation and welfare interventions relative to this paper’s topic. It will also briefly explore wider policies that take into consideration the well being and/or protection of young people (of diverse backgrounds). The main piece of legislation which this piece of work is concerned with is the ‘Every Child Matters’ (ECM) policy. The Government Department for Education Website (2011) explains that the Every Child Matters policy is a set of reforms supported by the Children Act 2004. Its aim is for every child, to have the support they need to: Be healthy Stay safe Enjoy and achieve Make a positive contribution Achieve economic well-being Still from the department of Education Website on the origins of this policy, it can be understood that the ECM policy came into power after the horrendous death of a young girl called Victoria Climbià ©. This case was briefly evoked in the literature review. At the hands of those entrusted with her cares, Victoria suffered appallingly and eventually died. Her case was a shocking example from a list of children terribly abused and mistreated. Every inquiry related to this specific case has brought forwards proposals for change and improvement to the child protection system. There have been reforms. The Green Paper, Every Child Matters, which sets outs the government’s proposals for reforming the delivery of services for children, young people and families, builds on existing measures to ensure that children at risk of harm and neglect are protected from negative outcomes and support all children to develop their full potential. Beyond this, this Green paper also address the p roblem of children falling through the cracks between different services, emphasizing that child protection can not be separated from policies to improve children’s lives as a whole. The document looks at the progress towards a framework of services which will support every child, using this as a context in which to consider the specific need of children at risk. It stresses the importance of information sharing between different government agencies and of a higher level of accountability. One may rightly agree that since the implementation of this social policy, there have been so many positive improvements in the protection and well being of children, though much still need to be done. Trying to link this wonderful social policy which has certainly brought more protection and safety for children and young people to the DR Congo culture of raising children, one certain fact is that they unfortunately don’t always walk along. In fact, most parents really close to the culture of ‘discipline’ will tend to think that this policy has given children/young people to much space for ‘rebellion’ against their parents, despite the fact that most of them would acknowledged that cases such as the Victoria Climbià ©Ã¢â‚¬â„¢s one are not to be encouraged at all or to be repeated, ever. The reasoning beyond this from the perspective of African parents is that policies such as the ECM have unfortunately treated all parents as being Victoria’s parents, not recognizing that all parents are not as evil as Victoria’s tutors were. The ECM would however acknowledge that all parents are not to maltreat and suffer their children as Victoria Cl imbià ©Ã¢â‚¬â„¢s tutors did, but would instead prefer ‘safety than being sorry’. Another really inescapable social policy that is certainly linked to the study’s topic is the ‘Aiming High for Children’ Policy. The Department for Education website (2011) summarizes this policy in these terms: The government’s aim is to ensure that, every child irrespective of race, gender, backgrounds or circumstances, gets the best start in life and the ongoing support that they and their families need to allow them to fulfil their potential. It wants to do this in a partnership with active, responsible parents and empowered communities, supported by public services that delivered packages of support tailored to families’ needs. To support parents to meet their responsibilities in raising their children and to help strengthen the role of communities in supporting parents, the government has made tackling child’s poverty a priority since 1997, has created a network of Sure Starts Children’s Centres to support children and their families in the vital early years. The government wants to ensure that the primary role of public services is to support families and communities to improve children’s outcomes. This great policy which has effectively ensured that many children, especially those from low income families, a group where many asylum seekers/refugees from the DR Congo would find themselves, have a real good start in life. However, there would appear again to have some conflicts in terms of what children of Africans origins receive as early education which some parents believe sets them on a wrong path from start. As this will be soon explored in the next chapter on the results and analysis of interviews one parent complained that their children are taught from very early ‘how to dial 999 for anything they might think their parents do to them which they would not approve’. The debate may go on for so long. Closing this chapter, it might be of help to recall that the UK government social policies in relationship with the education and protection of children/young people have made such a great difference in so many lives, though they don’t always go along with some parents of African origins opinions, and also though much still need to be done to improve them. Chap 5: Research Findings and Analysis. This chapter, obviously the most important part of the dissertation, will focus on all live (recorded) interviews conducted for the purpose of this study. The chapter will be composed of two main parts: in the first part, all conducted interviews will be reported and explained. The second part will mainly focus on critically analysing their results. All together, a total of 6 interviews were conducted. All of the six persons interviewed live in Greater Manchester, UK. There were 4 females and two males. As said a bit above in the third chapter on the methodology of research, because of some complications to do with disclosure and age, it was decided after consultation with my university tutor to only interview adults, but who had come to the UK as children/young persons. The study being interested not only with the experience of young people of African descent being raised in the UK by their parents/tutors but also with the parents themselves, four interviews were related to the experience of young people and the other two were of the parents talking about their experience of raising up children/young people in the UK. All of the six persons interviewed were aged between the age of 25 and 35 at the moment of the interviews taking place. Most of the participants relating their experience of young people came to the UK when they w ere aged between 8 and 14. Three of them were living with their direct biological parents and one with an uncle. All of their parents/uncle was originally from the DR Congo. One particular point which may be important to signal here is that one of the interviewee, who gave their experience of young person of African origins living in the UK, first came to live in the UK themselves as a young person and has now become parent themselves at a very early age when still living with her parents. She’s now living alone and has consequently the double experience of have been in both positions the study was interested with. Carefully looking at all answers given by all the persons interviewed, one key thing to be noted first was that the answers of ‘young people’ were diverse/different from one to another while in the answers given by parents, many similarities could be found. Young people. Answering the key interview question of briefly relating their personal experience of being rose in the UK by parents of African origins, two amongst the four ‘young persons’ interviewed thought the experience was negative and difficult. One striking point was that all two mentioned the fact that at the very beginning when they first came to live in the UK with their parents, there was no problem at all. But it is only after a few months (for one of them) or a few years (for the other one) that difficulties started arising. They all raised the point that when they got used to the way their peers were living and started imitating/copying them, that’s when they got into disagreement with their parents who were for all of the two persons interviewed very ‘traditional’ (according to the term used by one of them) or very ‘old fashion’ (according to the second interviewee). The two ‘young people’ found really painful and difficult the fact that they, at the same time loved their parents and loved their ‘new world’, as they put it. They reported that they found it difficult to try and choose between the British way of life and what their parents were asking them to follow as strict rules. They all unanimously thought that they were misunderstood by their ‘old fashion’ parents and would sometimes not know what to do as they had originally been raised (in Africa) in a way of total submission to their parents with no rights to argue with their decisions at all. The third ‘young person’ answering the interview questions came to live in the UK at the age of 9 with her parents of African origin. Her parents were strict on the fact that the way to ‘live her life’ was the African manner but were more understanding’ when she had different opinions. The parents were well educated persons since back in Africa where the dad had a BA from a DR Congolese university. They would however clearly state to her that the British way of life was ‘dangerous and wrong’ has it could leads her into a lot of trouble in the future. She reported that she eventually got into a ‘bad group’ of friends from school/college and ended up with becoming pregnant at nearly 16 years old. Her words were that the all experience of been raised by parents of African descent was not too bad because of the fact that her parents were more ‘open minded’ than most African parents who would give very little time to listen to their children and discuss with them. She nevertheless tried and made the point that, reflecting on her life after the pregnancy, she thought that despite the fact she thought at some point that her parents were too much like ‘village people’, had she followed their ‘way of life’ tough she didn’t like it much, she might have had a (positive) different life today. Answering the same crucial interview question on the personal experience of being raised by parents of African culture in a British environment and culture, the fourth ‘young person’ however went a bit in the opposite direction. In fact, he related that the all experience was a very good one without any ‘difficulty’ as he completely stayed in the line of what his parents told him to do. He continued saying that because his personal understanding of the all thing was that the British way of life was ‘deceptive’ and could potentially lead into a lot of troubles, he decided to stick with his parents way of education and didn’t find any problem with being raised in Europe/the UK by parents educating her in ‘an African manner’. Parents. As said a bit above, both parents who were females for the two them, have many similarities. As a matter of facts, they both made the common point in their answers that raising children in Europe/the UK is not easy at all, according to them. The reason why was about exactly the same. According to them, when they would like to raise their children in a disciplinary way as they had themselves been raised since back in Africa, they would encountered ‘the resistance’ of their child (as they put it) who would in many cases not listen to them anymore because they would have ‘known their rights’. One of them insisted on the fact that giving a sense of discipline to children doesn’t necessarily mean using physical punishment. She gave an example of the way of being dressed which she tried to inculcate to her daughter since they moved to the UK 11 years ago. In a DR Congolese context, she said that it would be such an embarrassing thing for a young girl to be dressed with ‘revealing clothes’. According to the point she made, a woman in the Congo with a trouser/skirt revealing her underpants or with a too short skirt would be ‘badly looked at. These types of things are completely normal in Europe she said. She made the point that the way of life in UK has encouraged her daughter to dress ‘freely’, forgetting her origins and/or culture. Her daughter would sometimes embarrassed her in front of her husband as she wouldn’t listen to anybody, copying her peers at school, on TV, on the streets etc. The second parent though a bit more ‘flexible ‘on such issues, however still made the point that she sincerely thought that the Congolese’ way of educating children would teach them to have more respect towards society in general and towards grown up/adults specifically. One clear point she made on the difficulty of raising her daughter in the UK was effectively emphasized on the fact she noti ced a complete change in the sense of lack of respect towards them when they moved to the UK and that their daughter started ‘being assimilated’ (according to her words by her friends styles of life. She reported how her daughter would simply threaten them to dial 999 and ring the police for any ‘little’ thing she would disagree with. Her most serious concerns was raised in these terms: if seems as they (meaning the police, the social services, the government, those in powers, those making law etc) only care about protecting children, which is right. But what about us parents the children are also giving us a terrible time. You’ve nothing to say and nothing to do as for any little thing not only she may call the police but also you may easily end   up as listed on a child abusers list somewhere. Linking with the above question, both parents were asked about their knowledge of children/young people rights. Both parents acknowledged that they had nev er heard about children/young people rights back in the DR Congo. As Bedford and Elizabeth (2006) pointed out, no matter how interested the researcher is interested in her/his topic (which was my case), she/he do have to keep an open mind about the subject and be careful not to pre-judge the answers. Impartially and critically analyzing the above findings from all interviews, and without trying to over generalize, many may join in agreement with the statement according to which the all process of passing from being educated in an African context with different legislation, beliefs, culture etc to being raised in a very democratic western country such as the United Kingdom must be a really confusing one for the child/young person. In fact, as the answers of most young people appear to suggest they would at some point, agreeing with the parents’ culture or not, have to make a difficult decision on the best way to follow. And unfortunately some of them have had to make such decisions being as young as 7 or 8. The parents, who for most of them w ere raised up in a specific way of seeing things for all their lives, would be of no help at all, giving their children, as one of the young lads said, no space at all for dialogue. This ‘waterproof’ and ‘no openness’   attitude of parents combined with the hidden desire to enjoy the British way of life will eventually make of these innocent young people without any kind of voice ‘collateral victims’ of a cultural conflict which they have never asked for. They have just unfortunately found themselves at the wrong place and at the wrong time, one may say. However, trying to read carefully between the lines, from interviews done with the ‘young people’, one important factor is that all young people do not necessarily think that the African way of raising children is ‘old fashion’ and wrong. Even though amongst the ‘young people’ interviewed, only one of them went in that direction, it is still a very important fact to be considered. This is really important because the general impression of the general audience/public may generally be that these poor children are being held captive despite their own will to do things which they think is detrimental to their good causes. Turning sights towards the parents, one who might have read their answers reported above will certainly conclude that they also feel like being misunderstood by the general society and being treated unfairly. As said at some point at the opening of this chapter, contrary to the young people’s answers which were sometimes completely different form one youngest to another, the parents however, despite some minor differences in opinions, seem to be of the point of view that the western culture and/or way of life is causing ‘more damages than good’ to children education. Reading their answers will understand that they, of course, are coming form an African point of view on the education of children. Even tough, they were no clear allusion to the use of physical chastisement as the best way of education children, the certainty was that they are formal on the fact that the British way of raising up children, tough with so many positive aspects, seem instead to lack â₠¬Ëœsome discipline taste and/or flavour’ in it. They both thought that combining the actual wonderful way of educating children with some ‘authority’ would make a better job. Chap 6: Comparative element (secondary materials) This chapter, as one may deduct by its title, will essentially be about a comparison between the DR Congolese culture/way of life, way of educating children in the UK the Indian’s ones. This comparison will be placed into the context of this paper main topic to try and get some lessons. While many or most of children and young people will generally tend to behave the same way and/or have same attitudes/reactions/feelings because of the simple common fact that they are all just ‘children’, it may however be right to confirm that each child/young person’s original backgrounds, culture, beliefs, religion etc., will have a strong influence in the way they perceive society. This may lead to say that children of African origins will to some extent be different to those from Asia, in their understanding of how they are being educated by their parents of DR Congolese/Indian descents. Both parents (of DR Congolese and Indian origins) will in the same way, tend to educate their respective offspring accordingly to their respective cultures. From an initial comparative study on DR Congolese culture and the Indian’s one, it was noticed a lot of similarities between the two. From a study on the Indian child website (2011), here are some of the most important characteristics in Indian culture (family culture, values, clothing etc) which will also be found in DR Congolese culture: Indians are highly flexible in the sense that they would like to imbibe the changes dictated by western influence and yet clearly affirms their beliefs in tradition. Indian dress etiquette discourages exposure of skin and wearing transparent or tight clothes. Family culture in Indian is about joy and sharing. Generally India is patriarchal Indian culture is diverse and rich Ancient Indian culture believes in a lot of dogmas and rituals that can be termed as false beliefs. It is customary to respect elders and seek their blessings. Hindu rituals are all about dance and songs. Indians are known for their hospitality and level of tolerance. Observing the belief that there is one God prevailing despite so many religions is a value in India. Family and religion are so closely linked. Trying to compare the rights of children in both countries (DR Congo and India), the following results from the UNICEF’s website on the rights of children in India: In India, children’s vulnerabilities and exposure to violations of their protection rights remain spread and multiple in nature. Parents’ attitudes and perceptions about child’s labour and the value of education is one of the cause underlying child’s labour, though poverty may be one the main reason. The government of India ratified the UN Convention on the rights of the child in 1e November 1992. Most of the rights detailed in the Convention are guaranteed in the Constitution of India. Ensuring that child rights are met for every child is a daunting challenge for India. Reflecting on the above reports on the culture and the rights of children/young people in India, one clear conclusion when comparing them with the same in the Democratic Republic of Congo is that there many similarities not to say that they are totally identical, despite some minors’ differences. Linking this with this study’s main topic/ideas, understanding that both DR Congolese and African culture having strong indications of the child’s being an element with very little voice in the family setting from early and being raised in that context, it will be logical that many parents when coming to the UK would tend to try and keep educating their child in the same way. This will certainly put the innocent children in the same position of being collateral victims of a cultural conflict. Chap 7: The Role of the Youth and Community Worker. What should be the role of the community worker involved with young people of DR Congolese origins founding themselves in a position of ‘collateral victims’? Does the youth worker have to take part for the young persons because that’s their work? Do youth workers have to ignore the parents? What should be their positions in the cultural conflictual situation? These are a few questions this chapter will attempt to address. The first part of the chapter will try and explain what’s youth work is while its second part will critically examine the role of the worker in this situation. As a personal experience undertaken during a very recent university placement (January to April 2011) done in an independent organisation in Beswick once again revealed, the general public doesn’t seem to know much about the entire discipline of youth and community work, not to talk about its invaluable contribution. In fact, at a first meeting with colleagues and volunteers working within the association which usually work more with all parts of the local community and not specifically with young people, I was introduced as a youth and community worker. This visibly raised some unexpressed questions as to not only how I would fit in their work, but further as to ‘what I really was’ (as a youth and community worker), as some of my colleagues confessed to me later on when we got very close. After explaining to them what youth and community work really was, they again confessed that all they knew was that it was about keeping young people happy with Nintendo, footba ll table-tennis etc. Introducing me as a youth and community worker to the 6 interviewees who kindly gave their time to answer a few questions for the purpose of this study seemed also to raise the same questions. Two of the parents told me at the end that they thought that it was ‘social workers’ who were supposed to be dealing with such issues. This introduction may easily take one to confirm that many still don’t know or wrongly assume to know what youth and community work is. Batsleer (2008) rightly pointed that youth and community work is about dialogue, about conversation. She keeps on saying that it is about enabling young people to ‘come to voice’.  Ã‚   This aspect of coming to voice is effectively a very crucial one when talking about youth work. As a matter of facts, may be because of what was seen and/or passed through generation after generation, until nowadays, people would wrongly tend to think of youth workers as people whose sole role is to ‘animate’ young people with different games, to keep them out of the streets. While youth work can indeed involve some recreational activities in the course of accomplishing its mission, that’s definitely not the primordial role of this noble profession. Because society will hardly listen to young people, youth work has as one key mission to give them a voice by creating safe space in safe place where they would be able to have a voice. Youth work is there underpinned by a set of strong values and ethics. These allow our work to be guided by anti discriminatory practice, equality, social justice, a commitment to harnessing participation. The National youth Agency (NYA) website (2011) gives a more complete definition of youth work is the following terms: The main purpose of youth work is the personal and social development of young people and their social inclusion. Youth work helps young people learn about themselves, others and society through non-formal educational activities that combine enjoyment, challenge, learning and achievement. We believe youth work methods can be applied in a range of settings by a wide range of professionals, support staff and volunteers, and we are committed to helping people understand and use these approaches. Youth workers will always aim to make their spaces safe for all young people, regardless of backgrounds, race, class, sex, ability, religion etc. in creating safe space in safe places for young people, we acknowledge that young people will feel better equipped to learn, share and influence society. What can then be the role of the above defined youth and community worker involved with persons/parents in a cultural conflict. To both the young person and the parents, it is first of all important to underline that, as seen in the definition of youth work, emphasis should always be put on ‘fairness’ in dealing with all matters. Despite the fact youth workers will have a sense of ‘alliance’ with the young persons for which they are advocating even for which they ‘are alive’, it may however be very important not to become ‘too emotionally involved’. Clear boundaries must always be traced between personal beliefs, values, opinions and professional ones. Youth and community work should remain as ‘neutral’ as possible, professional, ‘identifying’ the community first. This should apply to parties involved in the ‘conflict. In fact, as Belton (2009) argued, if we are to educate a community we must first identify it. He rightly insisted on the fact that youth workers should not label it or prejudice it as this would badly affect the ir work. Having critically and impartially examined the all situation, the youth and community worker will then have to take a decision on either refer the case to the appropriate services when necessary or either continuing to work between the two parties to get to some kind of resolution of the dispute. In everything, the youth and community worker will ‘peacefully’ challenge any form of discrimination, inequality, lack of respect etc. without being ‘pre judgemental, the role of the youth and community worker will basically be the one of encouraging debate et open/mature discussion between all parties. They will therefore encourage inclusion and promote social justice in doing so. Chap 8: Conclusions and recommendations. After going through a series of considerations on the very complex issues of children/young people of African origins, especially those from the DR Congo, the following can be said in conclusion: Many parents of African origins moving to the UK with their children will usually know very little about the way of life in Britain. They would generally tend to assume that they should keep giving their children the same education they were giving them when at home. The problem of language would evidently be the first barrier for them as for anyone moving to a country with a different language. This would unfortunately put the innocent children in a position where they are between the wraths of their inflexible, traditional and ‘old fashion’ parents and the hidden love of enjoying the British way of life. Some have precedent tried to look at the subject of the complexity of multiculturalism. Though this is generally considered as a good thing for society in principles, it is however taken with a lot of precautions. Recent activities of terrorism in the past few years have unfortunately increased the sense of rejection of multiculturalism. This study did use qualitative methods to try and get a better insight into the subject. For this, six interviews were conducted with members of the general public, originally from the DR Congo on living in the UK on their experience of being raised by parents of DR Congolese origins and on raising children in a DR Congolese manner, in the United Kingdom. Some UK social policies relative to the subject were briefly looked at and put into the context avec the main topic. From this exercise, the conclusion is that parents of African origin will struggle to adapt to these specific social policies, despite agreeing on their numerous positive sides. The reason again is found in those original ‘flames’ of fire profoundly imbedded within them since so many years, since their childhood, since hundreds and hundreds of generation. Analysing the results of all conducted interviews has provided the sense that most of the children being raised by parents on DR Congolese origins will struggle with the situation of being in between two cultures and will consequently especially suffer from a lack of understanding and/or support of a ‘too old fashion’ parent, who would give them very little support and voice/space for discussion, though they would not necessarily think that the African/Congolese way of raising children is a bad one. Comparing the way parents of DR Congolese origins deal with their children to the way those from India do the same has been a fruitful point as well. In fact, from that comparison, it emerged that both cultures have many similarities. This led to the understandable point that both parents raising their children in the UK will tend more to hang on to their original culture, not giving much ‘space’ for a shift into cultures to their children. Looking at all the above, it may be right to conclude by saying that though the debate on the complex issue of multiculturalism will certainly keep going on for as long as no one knows, it is a very good thing as it helps society in becoming a more diverse one. However, if the newcomers don’t necessarily need to completely be assimilated by the new culture they embrace, it may however be correct to give some thoughtful and honest considerations to their new homeland’s way of doing thing. This applies to the new homeland’s way of educating children. Conversely, on the other side, the new homeland or its inhabitants may or would definitely also benefit form, not rejecting the new comers’ culture straight away, but by trying to be open to them and try and learn from them, on what they may consider as being positive points. Those being in position of communication may help more by passing around this type of message than one focused more on the negative sides of the culture/actions/deeds of people from abroad. Finally, the children/young who have the privilege of finding themselves in a western country where their rights are properly protected and where they have got a bigger voice and more space for dialogue, should in no case find there an opportunity to willingly become a cause of pain for their parents, despite their Africa beliefs. While it is perfectly true that children have the right to be children on the one hand, it is also perfectly correct that parents have got the rights to be parents, on the other hands. Things can work properly if there are clear boundaries. Recommendations Once again, stressing the fact that though the above interview and the entire study is not to be necessarily as the reflection of the general public, the findings here my certainly informed many on what should be done. Amongst the most recommendations:    Putting more emphasis on educating the British general public on others’ cultures may have a significant impact on the acceptance of multiculturalism    More efforts may be needed in educating parents coming from abroad (especially from the Democratic republic of Congo) on the way of life/the culture in the UK will certainly help a lot.   Ã‚   Educating children living in the UK on the difference between using the right to use their rights/freedom and the respect they are expected to show respect to society is of the key recommendations this study would strongly suggest. The youth and community worker whose main role is to fight for social justice and promote a society where social exclusion is completely eradicated one day will have a major role to play in this complex situation. Staying impartial, the youth and community worker will have to help all parties involved in trying to find a right balance for a better society. BIBLIOGRAPHY    Batsleer, J. (2008). Informal Learning in Youth Work. London: SAGE Publications Ltd, p. 5. Bedford, D. and Wilson, E. (2006) Study Skills for foundation degrees. London: David Fulton Publishers, p. 61, 62 and 64. Belton, B. (2009) Developing Critical Youth Work Theory. Rotterdam, The Netherlands: Sense Publishers, p. 39 Clements, P. (2008). Policing a Diverse Society. New York: Oxford University Press. Department for Education Website (2011). www.education.gov.uk /childrenandyoungpeople/sen/earlysupport/esinpractice/a0067409/every-child-matters. Aiming high for children. Accessed On line 27 April 2011. Flekkoy, M. and Kaufman, N. (1997), The Rights of the child: rights and responsibilities in family and society. London: Jessica Kingsley. Freeman, M.D.A. (1983), The Rights and Wrongs of children. London: Pinter. Gilroy, P. (1993), The Black Atlantic, Modernity and Double Consciousness. London: Verso. Gollnick, D. and Chinn P. (1990), Multicultural education in a pluralistic society. Columbus: Merill Pub. Co Henley, A. and Scott, J. (1999), Culture, Religion and Patient care in a multi-ethnic society; a handbook for professionals. London: Age Concern England. Howson, D. and Momodou S., (2009) Europe’s established and Emerging Immigrant Communities – assimilation, multiculturalism or integration, Trentham Books. http//: www.csa.com/facsheets/assia-set-c.php Jandt, F.E. (2007), an introduction to Intercultural Communication; Identities in a Global Community 4th ed. London: Sage Publications Limited. Journal of Intercultural Studies (Volume 32, nr 2, April 2011). Abingdon, Oxfordshire: Routledge, p. 134. Kidd, W. (2002), Culture and Identity. Basingstoke: Palgrave Publishers Ltd. Lynch, J. (1989), Multicultural education in a Global Society. London: Falmer. McCalla, D. (2003) Black Success in the UK – Essays in Racial and Ethnic Studies. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, p.93. Maguire, M. (2009) Law and Youth Work, Learning Matters. National Youth Agency. www.nya.org.uk/about-nya ‘Nick Clegg sets out vision multiculturalism’. www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-12638017. Accessed 20 April 2011. Packam, C. (2008) Active Citizenship and Community Learning: Empowering Youth and Community Work Practice. Exeter: Learning Matters Limited. Race and Difference – developing practice in lifelong learning. www.infed.org/lifelonglearning/b-race.htm. accessed 29 March 2011. Russell, S. and Amnesty International United Kingdom, â€Å"Most Vulnerable of All: the treatment of unaccompanied refugee children in the UK†. London: Amnesty International United Kingdom. Rutter, J. (2003) Supporting Refugee Children in the 21st Century Britain, a compendium of essential information (Revised Edition) Trentham Books) Rutter, J. (2006) â€Å"Refugee children in the UK†. Maidenhead: Open University Press. Sallah, M. and Howson, C. (2007) Working with Black Young People. Dorset: Russell House Publishing Ltd. ‘So what exactly is multiculturalism?’ www.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/3600791.stm Taylor, C. (1994) ‘Multiculturalism’. Commentary by Appiah, K.A., Habermas, J., Rockefeller, S., Walzer, M. and Wolf, S. Princeton: Princeton University Press, pp 72-73. The Victoria Climbià © Inquiry report. www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm200203/cmselect/cmhealth/570/570.pdf Thomas, P. (2011). Youth, Multiculturalism and Community Cohesion. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan, p. 1-2. Thompson, N. (2001) Anti-Discriminatory Practice 3rd ed.: Sage Publications. Tomlinson, S. (2008) Race and education. Maidenhead Berkshire: Open University press, p.58. Tracey Connelly: the story of a woman defined by abuse. www.guardian.co.uk/society/2009/aug/11/tracey-connelly-baby-p-mother. Retrieved 18 April 2011. Unicef.org/India/children_3220.html

5 Points to Mind When Working on a Psychology Personal Statement

5 Points to Mind When Working on a Psychology Personal Statement 5 Points to Mind When Working on a Psychology Personal Statement Psychology is the study of the human mind and its functions, especially those affecting a person’s behavior. It is no surprise that most institutions that offer courses in the study of Psychology are looking in detail at which candidates to accept. Tertiary institutions are looking beyond the marks or grades of each applicant, they are looking for deeper insights as to whether the candidates accepted will excel in the study of psychology and make a material contribution to the profession. In this article, we will take a look at some of the unique aspects of the psychology personal statement. We will share with you some tips on how to structure your personal statement, the things that you should include, and some examples of the types of things that you may want to say in order to stand out from the rest of the candidates competing for the available positions. 1. Describe Why You Wish to Pursue a Career in Psychology It is helpful if you can articulate what draws you to a career in this field. Try and demonstrate an understanding of the profession, demonstrate that you know what is involved in being a psychologist. 2. Describe Why This Specific Course Appeals to You If you are competing against a lot of other candidates for a limited number of spaces, then you need to demonstrate to the assessors that you have researched the courses available, that you have selected their course for a specific reason, that you are confident that this course will give you the training you need to progress your career. 3. Describe Your Previous Academic Performance That Is Relevant to This Course This is an opportunity to not just talk about your grades or the marks that you have achieved in previous studies but also to demonstrate that this is a natural progression for your academic career. 4. Describe the Personal Skills and Experiences That Make You a Suitable Candidate for This Course Try and demonstrate that you have an emotional connection to the career that you are pursuing. You need to have a personal reason to want to study this course. What makes you want to be a psychologist? 5. Seek Feedback on Your Personal Statement Make sure that you get your personal statement professionally proofread, and that you also seem objective feedback regarding the quality of what you have written. Possibly, the most important thing to remember about your psychology personal statement writing is that it should be about you. While it is important to get advice and expertise on how to make your personal statement as compelling as possible, what you must not do is to try and copy a personal statement that someone else has written. Your personal statement has to be authentic, it has to feel like it has been written by a real person, a person who really wants to study psychology and enter the profession. With a bit of thought and efforts, you could soon be starting the psychology course that you aspire to.

INTRODUCTION TO PROPERTY LAW Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

INTRODUCTION TO PROPERTY LAW - Essay Example Kumar does not possess the right to claim any right to be given the first preference. In fact, the sale is a three stage process starting from contract, transfer of conveyance and finally registration of title (Lecture Note- formal acquisition of title). In Mr. Kumar’s case, even the contract was not done according to legally valid terms (Lecture note- must be in writing) and hence his claims hold no ground. At this juncture it is necessary to check the formal way to be adopted in developing a contract. At the pre-contract stage, or before signing a contract, the buyer and the seller can negotiate and agree on the sale leading to a ‘subject to contract’. However, as far as a contract is not signed and exchanged in the usual way, the contracts are not legally binding (Lecture notes). As Goo (69) illustrates, similar was the case of Spottiswoode, Ballantyne & Co Ltd. V. Doreen Appliances Ltd. [1942] 2 KB 32 at 35; Keppel v. Wheeler [1927] 1 KB 577 at 584. In fact, a ccording to 1975 Law Commission directive (Law Commission 65, January 1975, Para 4), before a formally signed contract, there is no legal validity for the ‘subject to contract’. ... Then, the buyer can ask the seller to make necessary changes in the draft and can ask for explanations. Thereafter, both the parties sign the contracts and exchange them. At this stage, the purchaser is normally required to make a deposit of 10% of the purchasing price. If the buyer fails to do the transactions in time, he loses the money. In this context, it is apt to note another example that Goo (73) describes i.e. Union Eagle v. Golden Achievement [1997] 2 WLR 341, PC) as in Sourcebook on the law. The above information proves the weak position of the claims made by Mr. Kumar. All the communication he had with Thorpe Trustees were in the pre-contract stage and one can say, they have agreed on the ‘subject to contract’. However, as evident from Spottiswoode, Ballantyne & Co Ltd. V. Doreen Appliances Ltd, ([1942] 2 KB 32 at 35) this will not have any legal validity. In addition, the payment Mr. Kumar made was another mistake. Such a payment, not according to the normal procedures of contract, will not give him any ground, especially as it was made under cover of a Compliments Slip. In addition, the long time that has elapsed, that is from 8th September to 11th November, will further weaken Mr. Kumar’s stance as even in his letter, he has promised to act quickly. Making his situation even pathetic, Law of Property (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 1989, Section 2 states that the agreement must be in writing (Lecture Note-the agreement must be in writing). The conversation Mr. Kumar had on telephone with Thorpe Trustees on 9th September will not have any legal value. Thus, in total, it is evident that Mr. Kumar will not be able to claim any legal right to be solely considered for

Cultural phenomenon in African-American History from the Colonial Era Essay

Cultural phenomenon in African-American History from the Colonial Era to Reconstruction - Essay Example Her sisters were sold away from the family. Her mother held the rest of the family together with a determined resistance which was an inspiration to her daughter. Ben was freed from slavery at the age of forty-five, but continued to work as a foreman for his former owners. The family was helpless to fight for the freedom which his wife and children were later entitled to. (Biography.com). The young Harriet’s childhood was marked by harsh conditions: she inserted her toes into the smoldering ashes of a fire at night, in order to avoid frostbite. She received severe whippings even as a small child, working at various jobs, including weaving, housekeeping and baby-sitting, by the age of six. At the age of 12, she was seriously injured by a blow to the head, inflicted by a white overseer for refusing to help him tie up a runaway slave. This injury continued to be the source of life-long seizures, severe headaches and narcoleptic episodes. In 1844, at the age of 25, Harriet married John Tubman, a free Black man, who did not share her dreams of escaping to freedom in the North (Williams).    In 1849, Harriet’s owner died and she feared being sold to the South. This impelled her to make a bid for freedom. She was initially accompanied by her two brothers, but the men lost their courage and returned to their slave life. Guided by the North Star, penniless and friendless, Harriet hid during the day and walked across strange country by night. Her determination is seen in her words, â€Å"I had reasoned dis out in my mind; there was one of two things I had a right to, liberty, or death; if I could not have one, I would have de oder† (qtd. In Simkin). She secured aid from white abolitionists. Harriet’s escape bid included being covered in a sack and carried in a wagon, using a succession of ‘safe houses’ and finally crossing the Mason-Dixon line (dividing the free states of the North and the slave states of the South) to reach Phi ladelphia. In a poignant tribute to her freedom, Harriet says, â€Å"When I found I had crossed that line, I looked at my hands to see if I was the same person. There was such a glory over everything† (qtd. in Biography. Com). Harriet then embarked on the next stage of her life, which was to make her one of the most remarkable women in African-American history. Harriet took on a job in Philadelphia, worked tirelessly, and used her pay to help other blacks follow her path to freedom. She made the acquaintance of William Still, who was one to the most active ‘station masters’ of the Underground Railroad. The UGRR was the route to freedom along which slaves were transported from the South to the North. In order to maintain secrecy, the routes were called ‘lines’, the safe-houses were ‘stations,’ the slaves were ‘freight’ or ‘packages’ and the agents who guided them were the ‘conductors.’ With Stillâ₠¬â„¢s help, and that of the Philadelphia Anti-Slavery Society, Harriet became an official ‘conductor’ of the UGRR. When the Fugitive Slave Act of 1850 made the North dangerous for runaway slaves, who faced the threat of recapture and return to their former masters, the UGRR made Canada the destination of the people it guided. In 1851, Tubman moved to St. Catharines in Canada and used the city as the base for her activities.

Tim OBriens The Things They Carried Essay Example for Free

Tim OBriens The Things They Carried Essay Introduction There is a thin line between fact and fiction.   This is particularly true in Tim O’Brien’s THE THINGS THEY CARRIED.   Tim O’Brien expertly dealt with words as he described the atrocities of war in this book. Tim OBriens The Things They Carried goes beyond the usual fare of war fiction. As a matter of fact it goes beyond fiction despite the fact that the author labeled it as a work of fiction on the title page.    The book is an amalgamation of several genres – a memoir, a novel, and a collection of short stories. O’Brien’s genius lies in the fact that he turns fiction into something real so much so that the demarcation of fiction and fact in this story is hardly noticeable. You can never tell when the fact ended and the imagination begins.   There is a subtle intertwining of fact and fiction that hooks the reader into reading further.    The story may be fiction but the emotions, tragedies and lives behind the story are real. So real in fact, anybody can relate to them. I want you to feel what I felt. I want you to know why story-truth is truer sometimes than happening-truth. Chapter 18, pg. 179. This is a telling part of the story as Tim O’Brien relates how he wants the truth to come out not as the way other people seen it but the way he does.   His own version of the truth is what matters to him. Truly, facts could sometimes be stranger than fiction. Analysis The first-person narrator of this book is named after the author, Tim OBrien.   Tim is both a writer and combat veteran of the Vietnam War. The war fiction is not about the usual war story where gory tales of hatcheted bodies and non-stop killings abound. Instead, one finds a certain attachment to the characters as O’Brien skillfully narrates the emotional and psychological impact of war on them.   OBrien shows the true nature of the soldiers of the Vietnam War not as fearless soldiers but as young men and boys who are inexperienced and frightened in a strange land.   Even O’Brien is not spared from fear of going to war. My conscience told me to run, but some irrational and powerful force was resisting, like a weight pushing me toward the war. What it came down to, stupidly, was a sense of shame. Chapter 4, pg. 52. In this part of the story, Tim contemplated on how he was indecisive about being drafted for the war.   The character Tim OBrien reacts to his draft notice by going to the Canadian border and spends six days in a isolated lodge in the company of an old man named Elroy while he debates on whether he should evade the draft or accept it and go to war. In the end, he decided to go to war not so much he believes in it but more so because he does not want to put his family to shame. It is largely compelling, emotional and even humorous.   It gives a human face to the war as opposed to a mere narrative. OBrien explores the things they carried both figuratively and literally through the intermittent narration of the lives, even death, of the soldiers comprising the Alpha Company. OBrien masterfully recounts the emotions going through a soldier during unforgettable moments of his life: his feelings when drafted, his guilt when forced to kill an enemy, his shock at seeing friends or fellow soldiers killed in action and the gnawing feeling of homesickness. The plot is simple but told several times through different characters point of view, making it appear more complex than it seems. The book has its light and humorous moments though as depicted in the story the Sweetheart of the Song Tra Bong.   O’Brien, the author, knows exactly the perfect order of stories to attain the best effect, whether as a stand-alone story or to augment other stories.   Tim has a way of relating stories that catches the reader by surprise like this one: Speaking of Courage was written in 1975 at the suggestion of Norman Bowker, who three years later hanged himself in the locker room of a YMCA in his hometown in central Iowa. (Page 155) Love is one of the motivating factor for Tim’s need to tell the story. It had all the shadings and complexities of mature adult love, and maybe more, because there were not yet words for it, and because it was not yet fixed to comparisons or chronologies or the ways by which adults measure such things. I just loved her. Chapter 22, pg. 228. Tim O’Brien, the character professes his love for a girl when they were little. In the end, Tim admitted that his penchant for telling stories and why he needs to do it as he relates his life to the soldiers.   Im skimming across the surface of my own history, moving fast, riding the melt beneath the blades, doing loops and spins, and when I take a high leap into the dark and come down thirty years later, I realize it is as Tim trying to save Timmys life with a story. Chapter 22, pg. 246. In this quote, Tim tells of his need to tell stories. He knows it can bring the dead loved ones back to life, as if they are still with us. The soldiers do this to shield them from painful memories of losing a friend or killing a person. Tim, the character, tells stories since he was a child, when he lost the first girl he ever loved to brain tumor. The stories may change –characters, places, and events but the storyteller keeps the memories alive. These multiple narratives seem complex even at times confusing but OBrien once again manages to pull this off perfectly. â€Å"The Things They Carried† is a moving, heart-rending tale of the men in Vietnam War and the emotional and psychological baggage they carried, which leave them scarred for life, because of it. Work Cited: O’Brien, Tim. 29 Dec. 1998. The Things They Carried. Amazon. Accessed on 10, January 2007 http://www.amazon.com/Things-They-Carried-Tim-OBrien/dp/0767902890.

Gun Control :: Argumentative Persuasive Essays

Whenever some terrible act of violence occurs, such as a horrible school-shooting, people start asking questions and pointing fingers. They want to put the blame on someone or something. The blame is most often put on an inanimate object that does only what the person using it wants it to do. Guns do not cause crime and more gun control laws are not the answer. Gun control violates rights given to us by the Second Amendment, guns have proven to be extremely effective in deterring crimes and protecting private property, gun control does not work in controlling violence, and gun control goes against everything the founders of this country stood for. Gun control violates the rights that the founders of this country shed their blood for. Our constitution is the rights that the framers of this country put together because they felt it to be necessary for a strong nation. In it the Second Amendment states, ?A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free state, the right of the people to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed. One would think that the men who wrote the Constitution knew and understood the importance of allowing a free people to have the right to keep and bear arms. Some would say that today?s well-regulated militia was the National Guard, but even if that was true the Second Amendment still protects individ uals rights to keep and bear arms. As Thomas Jefferson so emphatically put it, ?No free man should ever be disbarred the use of arms.? (Quotations 1) Thomas Jefferson, being a huge supporter of the right to bear arms, also said, ?The beauty of the Second Amendment is that it will not be needed until they try to take it.? Jefferson also said, ?The strongest reason for the People to retain the Right to Keep and Bear Arms is, as a last resort, to protect themselves against tyranny in government.? He definitely realized, as did the other writers of the constitution, the importance of letting a free people have the right to Bear Arms. It has been said that guns just cause violence and are never a benefit to society, nothing could be so far from the truth. Statistics have shown time and time again that guns are used hundreds of thousands of times a year in the defense of one?s self, property, and family.

Factors Affecting the Successful Implementation of Ict

qFactors Affecting the Successful Implementation of ICT Projects in Government David Gichoya, Research School of Informatics, Loughborough University, UK D. M. [email  protected] ac. uk Abstract: A government is a huge and complex organisation, whose operations and strategic focus could be greatly enhanced by the well focussed application of Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) to support improvements in productivity, management effectiveness and ultimately, the quality of services offered to citizens.While the benefits of ICT in government cannot be disputed, there are several concerns about its success as well as the strategies to be adopted in implementation of systems in various countries. In this paper, the characteristic challenges that developing nations face, which make ICT implementation in government fail to succeed are identified and synthesised. The paper presents results of literature review of case studies from both developed and developing countries and p reliminary studies grounded in the Kenya e-Government reality.The key factors are identified, synthesised and categorised under common broad categories. This results in a rich picture of ICT implementation experience that helps to identify possible solutions. A descriptive framework for categorising key factors in ICT implementation in government illustrated with references to the literature is proposed. The input variables are categorised into factors for success (drivers and enablers), and factors for failure (barriers and inhibitors). The output variables are categorized into organisational and technological benefits. Finally, an action for success is proposed.This action includes suggestions for increasing the impact of factors for success while reducing the impact of factors for failure and use of available good practice. Keywords: Government informatics, ICT projects implementation, e-Government, information system, ICT success and failure applied to various phenomena (Beynon- Davies 2002). Following this definition of informatics, government informatics can be defined as the application of information, information systems and information technology within government. This therefore includes application of eGovernment which is â€Å"primarily to do with making the delivery of government services more fficient† (Bannister, Remenyi 2005). 1. Background With the emergence of information and communication technologies (ICTs), and eGovernment, it is possible to improve efficiency and effectiveness of internal administration within government and to re-locate government service from government offices to locations closer to the citizens. Examples of such locations are cyber cafe’, telecenters or a personal computer at home or office. While the benefits of ICT in government cannot be disputed, there are several concerns about its success as well as the strategies to be adopted in implementation of systems in various ountries. This paper therefore p resents the findings of a literature review, knowledge acquired from reviewed case studies from developing countries and a preliminary study grounded on Kenyan government. The paper considers the characteristic challenges that developing nations face, which make ICT implementation in government fail to succeed. A descriptive framework for categorising key factors in ICT implementation in government and an action for success are proposed. The action for success is presented as response to situation specific challenges. In support of government informatics, Tapscott (1995, p. v) argues that ICT causes a â€Å"paradigm shift† introducing â€Å"the age of network intelligence†, reinventing businesses, governments and individuals. Ndou (2004, p. 2) quoting Kaufman (1977) observes, â€Å"the traditional bureaucratic paradigm, characterised by internal productive efficiency, functional rationality, departmentalisation, hierarchical control and rulebased management is being r eplaced by competitive, knowledge based requirements, such as: flexibility, network organisation, vertical/horizontal integration, innovative entrepreneurship, organisational learning, speed up in service delivery, and a customer driven trategy, which emphasise coordinated network building, external collaboration and customer services† all of which are supported by ICT. Informatics is a bridging discipline that is fundamentally interested in the application of information, information technology and information systems within organisations. Informatics is therefore the study of information, information systems and information technology ISSN 1479-439X 1. 1 e-Governments initiatives According to Kaul and Odedra (1991) governments around the world have been engaged in the process of implementing a wide 175  ©Academic Conferences Ltd Reference this paper as:Gichoya D (2005) â€Å"Factors Affecting the Successful Implementation of ICT Projects in Government† The Electroni c Journal of e-Government Volume 3 Issue 4, pp 175-184, available online at www. ejeg. com Electronic Journal of e-Government Volume 3 Issue 4 2005 (175-184) range of (ICT) applications. Countries have been classified by the United Nations according to their Computer Industry Development Potential (CIPD) as advanced or less developed Mgaya (1999). Advanced include, for example, the United States, Canada, West European countries and Japan; less developed include for example Argentina, Brazil, India, Mexico, Kenya and Bulgaria.For all countries, use of ICTs for government reinvention is increasing not only in investment but also in terms of visibility with a number of high-profile initiatives having been launched during the 1990s. According to Heeks and Davies (2000), this reinvention has taken place especially in the advanced countries. Western countries are convinced that the information society will result in economic and social benefits (Audenhove 2000). The author quoting Organis ation for Economic Cooperation and Development, notes that information infrastructures are expected to stimulate economic growth, increase productivity, reate jobs, and improve on the quality of life. Heeks (2002) observes that there is a big difference between ICT implementation and use between developed and developing countries. However, Westrup (2002) observes that similarities can also be expected. These similarities include funds which are never sufficient, bureaucracy and user needs. The difference is how problems are addressed in different countries. It can be argued that, with their adequate resources and advanced technology, the Western countries have an easier way of implementing ICT projects than DCs. Most developing countries are characterised by limited omputer applications in the public sector, inadequate infrastructure and shortage of skilled manpower (Odedra 1993). Odedra (1993, p. 9) notes that â€Å"this situation exists not merely due to lack of financial resourc es, but largely due to lack of coordination at different levels in making effective use of the technology†. This uncoordinated efforts can only result in duplication if each department implements its own ICT projects without due regard to compatibility within the government. technical and support staff and facilities including buildings. So far, the Government Information Technology Investment and Management Framework is onnecting all ministries to the Internet under the Executive Network (Limo 2003). The government is also connecting the ministries to run integrated information systems for example the Integrated Financial Management Information System (IFMIS) and the Integrated Personnel and Pensions Database (IPPD). While developing countries may have similar characteristics, the Kenyan context presents various challenges that affect the successful implementation of ICT projects. Characteristics that define Kenyan ICT environment: †¢ Most ICT projects are initially dono r funded. †¢ Some donations are made without prior consultation or carrying out a needs nalysis by the recipient organization †¢ Operational/running costs are met by the government. Funding (capital and human resource requirements) ends with the project phase. †¢ The budgets for ICT are inadequate but rising. †¢ A lack of ICT policies and master plans to guide investment. To the extent that, with a number donors funding ICT, there have been multiple investments for the same product due to lack of coordination. †¢ A focus on ICT applications that support traditional administrative and functional transactions rather than on effective information processing and distribution within and without government epartments; †¢ Unstable ICT resources. This paper therefore helps to answer the following questions: 1. What critical factors or variables can be identified as important in terms of their effect on ICT project implementation in government? 2. Are there comm on variables and can the variables be synthesised and categorised under common broad categories for specific action to be taken? 3. Does the resulting analysis of the data lead to a framework that enables analysis and understanding of the ICT implementation experience in Kenya and can it help to identify problems and solutions? 4. Does this in turn result in a framework hat can be used to guide ICT 2. ICT Implementation in Government of Kenya Over the last five years, the Kenyan government has initiated some capital investment towards set up and installation of ICT infrastructure. Funding for these investments is achieved through partnerships between the government and development partners. The foreign funding component constitutes the largest percentage of this investment in terms of technology. The government contribution is usually in the form of www. ejeg. com 176  ©Academic Conferences Ltd David Gichoya implementation in Kenya and other developing countries? 5. Does the resul ting framework build on revious frameworks either in terms of its applicability to real life situations, its inclusive nature, its cohesiveness, and its ability to generate questions for further research? The research strategy envisaged is close to one used by Doherty, King et al. (1998), since the objectives are partly confirmatory but primarily exploratory. The strategy involves use of in-depth interviews, observation and documentary review. This approach provides new insights, grounded in the Kenya e-Government reality, into factors that contribute to the success or failure of ICT projects. It also shows the relationship between the doption of good practice during implementation and the resultant level of success attributed to the operational systems. The methodology envisaged therefore has two dimensions, one theoretically based on ICT literature; and the other analytically based on case studies. This paper therefore includes knowledge acquired from a literature review and a pre liminary investigation grounded in Kenya. focus. Planning projects Implementation of ICT A familiar maxim says, ‘if you cannot plan it, you do not do it’. Another maxim says, ‘I never planned to fail, I just failed to plan’. Planning spans a whole project period. It begins once the roject planning activities determine the organization’s strategy and identifies the ICT projects. Within the framework of a few fixed constraints, project plans evolve with the lifecycle. The constraints are time and money so each project has a clear deadline and a tight budget. According to Moran (1998, p. 39), plans fall into one of the two categories: vision without substance and a budget without vision. The identified problems of vision without substance are vagueness of future vision, lack of institutional vision, current position and time. Identified issues of budget without vision are questions as to what roblem is being solved, what are the priorities and definitio n of the roles and responsibilities. With ICT projects being advocated for and financed by donors, budget without vision is likely to be the project plan. Maciaszek (2001, p. 10) has suggested some planning models and methods for ICT implementation. Further, Aineruhanga (2004) observes that planning as a tool can help in reducing waste by identifying the pre-requites conditions for successful ICT implementation rather than â€Å"rushing into a complex e-Government strategy without having first finalized a national ICT policy†. Figure 1 presents a research framework onstructed from these preliminary studies. The framework specifies the area of research interest and shows how ICT implementation success affects ICT facilities quality and information system quality. In turn ICT facilities quality and information systems quality affect the perceived benefits. An ICT project implementation can only be perceived to have succeeded if the perceived benefits are realised. ICT facilitie s quality can be assessed after careful evaluation of the infrastructure to determine technical functionality. For example if the facilities were for networking different departments, the question may be hether this has been achieved successfully. This will involve a technical and user evaluation of the functional communication systems. Information system quality can only be determined by evaluating the information they generate. For example if the information is for budgeting purposes, the question might be whether the information system can generate accurate and timely financial information. Three reasons are identified for poor project planning in organisations. These are; risk management had not been addressed, business systems had not been justified to the full and lack of involvement from management Knott andDawson (1999). These can be taken as the major reasons but are not exhaustive. This is due to the diversity of the implementation environments. Also, as noted by Bannister and Remenyi (2000), p. 1), when it comes to complex decisions, managers often rely on methods which do not fall within the traditional boundaries of so-called rational decision making. It is observed that managers sometimes base decisions on ‘acts of faith, gut instinct or blind faith’ (referred to as strategic insight). As noted by Harindranath (1993), though developing countries commit a sizable amount of economic resources to ICT, for hem to reap maximum benefits, ICT needs careful planning and coordination prior to implementation and use otherwise trial and error methods of implementation that characterise most government ICT applications will only succeed in the wastage of scarce resources Perceived benefits are the end products that can be used to judge the success of the whole system. If the perceived benefits like easier communication, networking, and system integration, timely, relevant, complete and useful information are not realised, then the system will be perceived to have failed. Attributes of each component are shown for clarity and www. ejeg. com nd 177 ISSN 1479-439X Electronic Journal of e-Government Volume 3 Issue 4 2005 (175-184) Figure 1: Research framework 1998, Heeks 2002, Mgaya 1999). However, a careful review of reasons for failure identifies other factors whose presence or absence determines success or failure of projects. To begin with, the researcher looks at the output variables which are the benefits to be achieved if the initiative succeeds. The purpose of this is to clarify the goal of ICT projects. These goals may form a key element to the planning process as described above. Achievement of these goals helps to determine how to classify ICT projects. In ddition, perceptions of, and reasons for ICT failure are reviewed and these helps to identify possible key variables. 3. ICT performance evaluation ICT evaluation can be defined as establishing by quantitative, and/or qualitative methods the value of the ICT to th e organisation Khalifa et al. (2004). Performance cannot be judged as good or bad without the successful implementation of the project. In this paper, the technical or operational implementation of ICT infrastructure is of interest. Evaluating ICT projects can be quite problematic and can sometimes be quite subjective (Heeks 2002, Currie 1995, Bannister, Remenyi 2004, Irani 002, DeLone and McLean 2002, Bannister and Remenyi 2000) and there is no single ICT evaluation method that can be applied to all situations (Khalifa et al. 2004). Currie (1995) justifies this position using various case studies drawn from businesses in various developed countries while Heeks (2002) observes that evaluation is subjective and can depend on circumstances including time. Evaluation leads to the determination of success or failure of an ICT project. 4. 1 Output variables 4. ICT and IS success and failure Many benefits can be achieved using ICT in government. However, a word of caution given bySaul and Zulu (1994) is in order. The authors see ICT as a means to an end and not an end in itself. The value of ICT lies in its ability to assist the government in finding solutions to its problems. ICT expenditure can only be justified if there are benefits accruing to it and not adopting it for its own sake. Literature shows that planning and management of ICT projects has a very poor record in developing countries (Galliers et al. 1998, Qureshi The benefits are listed below: †¢ Cost reduction †¢ Quality of service delivery www. ejeg. com 178  ©Academic Conferences Ltd David Gichoya †¢ †¢ †¢ †¢ †¢ †¢ 5. Factors for ICT success and failureIncreasing capacity of government Improved decision making Transparency Improved efficiency Improved access to information Other technological benefits for example cheaper and efficient and access to large storage capacities within larger and more advanced computers While discussing factors for success and failu re, it is necessary to clarify the â€Å"opposite† effect of most factors. This means if the presence of a factor encourages success, the lack of it encourages failure (examples are, proper infrastructure and well motivated staff). The converse is true such that if presence of a factor causes failure, its bsence will cause success (examples are bureaucracy, poor project and change management). 4. 2 Categorisation of ICT projects failure Broadly, the assessment of worth of an ICT venture focus on considerations of the success and failure of IS. The issue of ICT failure can be analyzed by assuming that learning from IS failures will provide us with important lessons for formulating successful strategies for the planning, development, implementation and management of information systems. While discussing dimensions of ICT failure, Beynon-Davies (2002, p. 201) considers both the horizontal and vertical dimensions of the informatics model.The horizontal dimension is expressed in t erms of the difference between development failure and use failure. The vertical dimension is expressed in terms of failure at the level of ICT systems, IS projects, or organization, or at the level of the external environment. Six types of IS failure is identified as follows: †¢ Technical failure †¢ Project failure †¢ Organizational failure †¢ Environmental failure †¢ Developmental failure †¢ Use failure Beynon-Davies supports the argument with several case studies and quotes other models for IS failure put forward by Lyytinen & Hirschheim (1987). 5. 1 Factors for successFactors for success are those occurrences whose presence or absence determines the success of an ICT project. They can be drivers or enablers as described by (Moran 1998, Riley 2000, Doherty et al. 1998, Heeks 2003b, Mugonyi 2003, Heeks 2004, Khaled 2003). . Their absence can cause failure and their presence can cause success. Drivers are the factors that encourage or reinforce the suc cessful implementation of ICT projects. Some of these are listed below: †¢ Vision and strategy †¢ Government support †¢ External pressure and donor support †¢ Rising consumer expectations †¢ Technological change, modernization, and globalizationEnablers are the active elements present in society, which help overcome the potential barriers. Some of these are listed below: †¢ Effective project, coordination and change management †¢ Good practice 5. 2 Factors for failure The factors for failure are those occurrences that constraint proper/smooth implementation of ICT projects in government. These can either be barriers or inhibitors as described by (Khaled 2003, Gakunu 2004, Aineruhanga 2004, Heeks 2003a, Ndou 2004, Bhatnagar 2003, Saul and Zulu 1994). ICT success or failure in developing countries can be categorized into three depending on the degree of success (Heeks 2002).First, is the total failure of an initiative never implemented or in which a new system was implemented but immediately abandoned. Second is partial failure of an initiative, in which major goals are unattained or in which there are significant undesirable outcomes. Associated with partial failure is the sustainability failure where an initiative first succeeds but is then abandoned after a year or so. The last is success of an initiative where most stakeholders attain their major goals and do not experience undesirable outcomes. For the purpose of this paper, Heeks categorisation is more relevant since it can be sed to categorise the few projects implemented by the Kenyan government using the above criterion as the case may be. www. ejeg. com Barriers can be considered as those occurrences that hinder ICT implementation. Some of these factors for failure are listed below. †¢ Infrastructure †¢ Finance †¢ Poor data systems and lack of compatibility †¢ Skilled personnel †¢ Leadership styles, culture, and bureaucracy †¢ Attitudes 1 79 ISSN 1479-439X Electronic Journal of e-Government Volume 3 Issue 4 2005 (175-184) Inhibitors do not necessarily prevent the implementation of ICT projects but they do prevent advancement and restrict successful mplementation and sustainability. Some of these factors for failure are listed below. †¢ User needs †¢ Technology †¢ Cordination †¢ ICT policy †¢ Transfer of ICT idolisers †¢ Donor push far as they help in shaping the process of identifying the areas of weaknesses in ICT implementation in government. In this paper, functionality is considered to depend on ICT systems and usability and utility are crucial in determining stakeholder satisfaction, which increases stakeholder acceptance, and reduces resistance to adoption. 7. Action plan for success The best way to achieve maximum benefit for ICT implementation is to have all the factors for uccess with no occurrence of the factors for failure. However, in real world that is not the case. Given su ch a situation, an action to increase the chances of success is required. Clockwork (2004) suggests the following framework for implementing e-Government projects. 6. Previous models for ICT project success Several models for assessing success, failure and the way forward for ICT systems in general DeLone and McLean (2002) and developing countries Heeks (2002) have been suggested. These and other models are considered relevant to this paper. The model proposed by DeLone and McLean (1992, p. 87) was later overlaid on a impler scheme of functionality, usability and utility by Beynon-Davies (2002). This overlaid model introduces the idea of functionality and usability, which are considered relevant to ICT implementation. Beynon-Davies argues that, the worth of an IS will be determined in the three contexts of functionality, usability and utility. The framework consists of five stages: †¢ Examine national e-Readiness †¢ Identify and prioritize themes †¢ Develop a program of action †¢ Apply to target groups †¢ Implement solutions – the final stage of the framework, is to implement the solutions. A key factor in this implementation is to ensure that the rganization is ready and in place to realize the new activities and corresponding changes. Some ICT best practices that have been â€Å"harvested† from a review of successful applications are suggested by Clockwork. Given their simple situation, developing countries are in a position to make effective and speedy use of such best practices for their own purposes. This can be viewed from an angle of ‘technology leapfrog’ which can be achieved through appropriate technology transfer (Ifinedo 2005). DeLone and McLean (2002, p. 2) acknowledged the difficulty in defining information system success and noted that different researchers ddress different aspects of success, making comparisons difficult and the prospect of building a cumulative tradition for I/S research simil arly elusive. The ITPOSMO model seeks to explain the high rates of failures of information systems in developing countries Heeks (2002). This model assumes the designers of IS are remote which means their contextual inscriptions are liable to be significantly different from user actuality. It assumes the designers come from developed countries or have been trained in developed countries and their knowledge of the local circumstances is at variance with the local reality.This model can be used in explaining some of the reasons as to why implementation of ICT in Kenyan government fails. However, the interest of the paper is on the whole of the ICT implementation which views IS as a passenger. The suggested best practices in ICT are: 1. Do not underestimate the complex environment in which ICT programs evolve. ICT projects are too often believed to have a technology focus. 2. Be sure to select a project that is expected to demonstrate the greatest benefit for your target group. 3. Gove rnment staff should be ‘re-skilled’ to anticipate the changes that accompany an ICT structure and new roles 4.Identify the right technologies. 5. Make a decision on how an organizational process fits your technology. 6. Strong program and project management is essential to develop and implement successful ICT solutions. The first two models deal with ICT/IS in general but Heeks model is for ICT/IS implementation in government and especially in developing countries. All these models act as useful guides in highlighting some of the key variables that affect ICT success. They are considered in this paper as www. ejeg. com 180  ©Academic Conferences Ltd David Gichoya 7. Do not underestimate the total cost of ownership (TCO) of an ICT project.The above best practices might not be sufficient but they can act as a basis for further research. In this paper, the best practices have been analyzed but their adoption in Kenya is not clear at this early stage of e-Government imple mentation. prophylactic against failure and should be adopted more widely. 7. 3 Local improvisations According to Heeks (2002), local improvisation is done to reduce actuality-reality gaps. This can be through hybrids that recognize local capacities and improve success rates. However, Heeks notes that schemes to develop these hybrids in the DCs are virtually nonexistent thus hampering improvisation.Participative approaches to implementation e. g. group working and end-user involvement; have to be carefully considered since most have been developed for the industrialized countries. Examples of how these participative IS techniques were a failure, are the case of Mexico’s General Hospital and an enduser development initiative for health IS in South Africa (Heeks 2002). The implementations failed because of the large gap between design assumptions and requirements and actuality of organizations into which ICT was introduced. The conclusion drawn is that these implementations fai led because there was too large a gap between he design assumptions and requirements of those techniques and the actuality of organizations into which they were introduced and not necessarily because of participative design is necessarily wrong. 7. 1 Conducting e-Readiness assessment In this paper, e-Readiness refers to the government ability to take advantage of the ICTs as a facility to enhance and improve its administrative functions. e-Readiness has several components, including telecommunications infrastructure, human resources, and legal and policy framework. e-Readiness assessment suggested above can be conducted on: †¢ Data systems infrastructure Legal infrastructure †¢ Institutional infrastructure (standardization of various departmental means of communication and the technology that is used) †¢ Human infrastructure †¢ Technological infrastructure †¢ Leadership and strategic thinking readiness (short, medium and long term plans by specific governmen t ministries) In this regard, e-Readiness assessment can be used as an information-gathering mechanism for governments as they plan their strategies for ICT implementation. It can help the project team to better understand what impediments to ICT implementation exist and what initiatives are needed to overcome them. . A descriptive conceptual framework for developing countries context A framework for mapping the knowledge gained from both the literature and the case studies is given in figure 3. The framework gives a pictorial representation of a conceptual format of the literature for representational purpose. Input variables are all those factors considered as inputs to an ICT project. Some of these factors though necessary might be absent and are considered to be factors for failure. Other factors are present but their presence becomes obstacles to success. These are categorised as factors for failure. 7. 2 Design divisibilityDivisibility of local design can decrease chances of f ailure as explained by Heeks using the Volta River Authority (Ghana) as an example (Heeks 2002, p. 109). Divisibility is achieved by: modularity (supporting one business function at a time by allowing separation of, for example, accounting and personnel functions), incrementalism (providing stepped levels of support for business functions by allowing separation of, for example, clerical and management support). In Kenya this has been achieved to some extent. Both the personnel and accounting functions are computerised with varying degrees of success within the ministries.This has been done through the implementation of Integrated Financial Management Information System (IFMIS) and the Integrated Personnel and Pensions Database IPPD). Heeks (2002) observes that design divisibility is therefore a www. ejeg. com The input variables that act as the foundation of the ICT project and are considered as main ingredients to ensure the success of the project are referred to as drivers or prer equisites while those variables that encourage success are referred to as enablers or essentials. As ICT projects are implemented, it is necessary to map the input variables to assess where action should e taken. Output variables are represented as either organisational or technological benefits. The 181 ISSN 1479-439X Electronic Journal of e-Government Volume 3 Issue 4 2005 (175-184) organisational benefits are the benefits that accrue to the organisation. Technological benefits may not necessarily accrue to the organisation but are regarded as benefits resulting from implementation of the technology. These benefits can be enjoyed by individuals, the organisation and the public. situation specific action. Input and output variables are considered as far as they affect the success and failure of ICT implementation.The framework takes cognisance of broad premises (benefits, challenges and impact) of the Kenyan perspectives discussed in this paper and those observed by (Avgerou and Wa lsham 2000, Berleur and Drumm 2003, Heeks 2002) for both research and action. Lastly the framework shows the response which is presented as action for success. The response proposed has three characteristics. First, it analyses the situation, second, it looks at the various factors contributing to success and/or failure and finally an action for success to a In the response, action is taken to increase the chances of project success by reducing the mpact of the factors for failure and increasing the strength of the factors for success. Drivers (Prerequis ites) Factor for s uccess Input variables 1. Fina nce 2. Infrastruc ture 3. Attitudes 4. Coordination 5. Strategy 6. Skills 7. O thers E nablers (Essentia ls ) Action plan for s ucce ss : 1. Conduct an e-readiness assess ment 2. Strategy and Policy – a decla ratio n b y the government stating goals and objectives by appointing a board for co-coordinating ICT impleme ntation 3. Local improvisation inc lud ing design divisibili ty 4. Encourage public-private partne rs hip to create sustainable ICT programs 5. O thersResponse O utput varia ble s 1. Organis ational be ne fits †¢ Improved efficienc y †¢ Improved access to information †¢ Tra nsparency 2. Te chnological be ne fits †¢ Cheaper and efficie nt communication †¢ Large stora ge †¢ Real time process ing Barriers Facto rs for Failure Inhibitors Figure 3: Descriptive framework or region within which their work is located (Avgerou and Walsham 2000). As the literature reviewed suggests, developing countries are still far behind in implementing e-Government and it is hoped that successful implementation of ICT projects will act as a strong foundation for eGovernment initiatives. 9. ConclusionTo fulfil the development needs of ICT projects, those involved in the design, implementation and management of IT-related projects and systems in the developing countries must improve their capacity to address the specific contextual chara cteristics of the organisation, sector, country www. ejeg. com 182  ©Academic Conferences Ltd David Gichoya cooperation from development partners on ICT projects †¢ To produce guidelines that the governments can use to help define their needs and agendas with regard to government ICT implementation and use †¢ Provide a basis for assessing good practice for ICT implementation in government Contribute to the body of knowledge on ICT implementation According to Doherty et al (1998), the factors that influence the ultimate level of success or failure of informatics projects have received considerable attention in the academic literature. Doherty et al (1998, p. 3) summarised studies on success factors and current research objectives involving empirical studies. Future papers will include the findings of cases studies done in 9 ministries of the Kenyan government. Therefore, this further research will identify and categorise the factors influencing ICT implementation accordin g to their degree of influence in Kenya and suggest ossible actions. In this paper, the factors affecting ICT implementation have been categorised into factors for success and factors for failure. These have been further categorized as either drivers, enablers, barriers or inhibitors. The paper does not classify the factors in terms of their influence. However, vision and strategy and government support are considered important for success while lack of funds and poor infrastructure are considered as major factors for failure. As many arguments for ICT planning prove, ICT project implementation is a complex exercise and more research is needed to identify challenges, ood practice and solutions for successful implementation. This paper analyses and syntheses both all information gathered to develop a framework that hopefully can be used during ICT infrastructural planning and implementation in developing countries. The response framework discussed in this paper is expected to be used to: †¢ Provide a basis on which to analyze and specify international support and References Aineruhanga, M. , 2004. Focus on the ‘Kenya ICT Week'. Chakula Newsletter, (9),. Audenhove, L. V. , 2000. Information and communication technology policy in Africa: A critical analysis of rhetoric and practice.In: C. AVGEROU and G. WALSHAM, eds, Burlington, USA: Ashgate Publishing company, pp. 277-290. Avgerou, C. and Walsham, G. , 2000. Introduction: IT in developing countries. In: C. AVGEROU and G. 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