Roles and responsibilities of public services Essay Example for Free

Roles and responsibilities of public services Essay The two public services which I have chosen to write about in my task 1 of the assignment are: * Police * Fire service POLICE: Police is a government organisation, which have a very important duty of maintaining law and order in the community. The work police come from the French, which refer to government or administration; the word police was coined in France in the 18th century. The police may also be known as a constabulary, after constables, who were an early manifestation of police officers. (www.en.wikipedia.org). POLICE FORCE STRUCTURE: Home office Police authority chief constable Home office is the government department and it has a full control on police, whereas home secretary, who works under prime minister and he/she is there to ensure that all the government polices carry out properly. Police authority is made up of local councillors (two third) and magistrates (one third), this is to make sure that the local public has an opinion about how the police force run in their region. Chief constable is the highest rank in the force, and he has an overall authority of maintaining and running the whole police departments. PURPOSE OF THE POLICE SERVICE: The purposes of the police service within a community are stated below: To prevent crime. To uphold law fairly and smoothly. To protect the community. To help crime victims. To pursue offenders and bring them to justice. TO PREVENT CRIME: Prevention of crime means to stop a crime before it happens. Police force prevent crime by visiting homes and businesses to offer them security devices and providing them information on how to perform security checks and about new security issues which mainly stop 80% of the crimes. Police also prevent crime by patrolling street and road on a regular basis. A recent crime surrey showed that the Derbyshire has the lowest crime rate in East Midlands. TO UPHOLD LAW FAIRLY AND SMOOTLY: This is one of the most important of responsibility of police forces to ensure that law and order is carried is fairly and smoothly, this includes the situations like arresting, searching suspects. Police forces have clearly full knowledge about law and legislations because their day to day works involves law and order. TO PROTECT THE COMMUNITY: The main purpose of police is to protect the community. Protection of community is one of the very important role of their job. They carry out this role by visiting school, houses, pubs etc and asking community opinions  about the different current issues which they are concerned about e.g. drugs at the moment in Derby (Drug squad Steve Holme visited Derby College to high light this issue). TO HELP CRIME VICTIMS: Helping is another role of their job, this is done by officers to make sure that no one feel deserted in the community and also victims feel secure and comfortable, thinking about that they are safe in the society. TO PURSUE OFFENDERS AND BRING THEM TO JUSTICE: Pursuing criminals is another purpose of police force. Pursuing criminals help a community in cutting down their crime figure and most of all it helps in keeping the peace. Due to the higher level of outcomes e.g. reduction in crime, criminals feels fear and community feel safe etc this is done on regular basis. An example of this was the case happened a few months ago where a female copper called pc Sharon Beshenivsky has got murdered in Bradford. Since her murder police have made several arrests for her killers. ROLES OF THE POLICE: The police force throughout in UK is responsible for maintaining law and order in their region. The roles and responsibilities of police consist on variety of tasks e.g. Dealing with accidents, dealing with emergencies, anti-terrorist. DEALING WITH ACCIDENTS: Accidents includes death, theft, robbery, minor offences speeding, fighting, etc police is well trained for tackling these type of situations, so and they always try their best to arrive on these situations as quick as possible just to get more and accurate information about the incident through witnesses and evidence and help the victims if any. It is very important for police to manipulate the situation no matter how worse is it because if they cannot do them than there is no point of their existence. Police normally work as a team to tackle big crises e.g. In London bombing police played a crucial part in bringing the peace back into city although too many people died in the bombing but the most important thing to notice is the amount of people police has had saved after taking over the situation. DEALING WITH EMERGENCIES: Accident happens at anytime so there must be some one who takes the response over them. So generally speaking in UK police is the only organisation who deals with local incidents. Emergencies includes like, chemical accidents, rail crashes, fire, flood, land slide bomb, hijacking etc, in certain other situations police works closely with other emergencies services like fire fighters, paramedics to take control on it. A very recent example of this is the petrol refinery explosion in Hemel Hempstead, where police took over the situation and clear out all the locals who were endanger from their houses. DEALING WITH TERRORIST ACTIVITIES: Mostly special police branch handles anti-terrorist work, but in case of real emergency local police member helps them in carrying out the task, as well as Special Forces, local police is also well trained in handling terrorist work. The example of this is the situation happened two months ago, where Special Forces mistakenly suspect a terrorist and shot him to death at London terrorist bombing. This incident caused a lot of crises between police and local public. The over view of this incident taken from www.google.co.uk is written below. Electrician Jean Charles de Menezes was shot dead on 22 July, 2005, by police  who mistook him for one of four would-be suicide bombers who attacked Londons transport system the previous day. Police in the capital were on heightened alert as they hunted the attackers, who struck just two weeks after 52 people were killed in similar co-ordinated suicide bombings. In the hours after the shooting but before police realised their mistake Scotland Yard said it had been directly linked to their anti-terrorist operation. Metropolitan Police Commissioner Sir Ian Blair told a news conference: As I understand the situation, the man was challenged and refused to obey police instructions. The Yard said his clothing and behaviour at the station added to their suspicions. But when it emerged that the 27-year-old Brazilian was not the man they thought he was and that his death had been a mistake Sir Ian described it as a tragedy for which the police accepted full responsibility. In London bombing special police force teamed up with local police from all over the region, to help in patrolling London train stations. RESPONSIBILITIES OF POLICE: Police responsibilities include carrying out all the above purpose and roles. They are also responsible for doing their job properly and are inspected to ensure their efficiency. The other responsibilities includes meet targets for detection, lower down the crime rate, provide a responsible service to the people of the community as they are employed by the community to provide a service and so the community should have the means to ensure that they are getting the service and their money is wisely spent. Police also has a responsibility to communicate with the general public and work in a partnership because this helps them to maintain trust and ensure effective policing. FIRE FIGHTER: (Fire Service badge) ROLES AND RESPONSIBILITIES OF A FIRE FIGHTER: The main purpose of the fire services or fire fighters to protect and save people and property from fire and other hazards in the most competent and effective manner to the highest possible standards of care and quality. ROLES: The role of Derbyshire fires service is to protect life and property and providing a quality fire safety service. Their other roles include: To practice and promote the health and safety polices, to contribute to the Development and progression of health and safety. To conduct higher standard of communications in emergency situation. Respect and be confident about the job. Another role of a fire fighter is to take part in the routine training practices and development review process. Another very important role of fire services is to promote the policy of equality and fairness, both internally and externally in order to demonstrate commitment to anti discriminatory practice. RESPONSIBILITIES AND DUTIES OF FIRE A FIGHTER: The main important responsibilities and duties of a fire fighter are: To respond immediately and safely to all emergency calls. To deal with an emergency work quickly, effectively and efficiently as a member of a disciplined team. To communicate with other emergency personnel at incidents. To established and maintain the confidence of members of the public and maintain links with the community. To give general fire safety advice and guidance to people when requested. To work to help educate members of the community in the risks and hazards of fire. To ensure personal safety and that of others at all times. To keep a level of physical and mental fitness necessary to carry out all the duties of a fire fighter. To maintain a personal appearance, hygiene and cleanliness of uniform in keeping with a disciplined service. To maintain personal appearance, hygiene and cleanliness of uniform in keeping with a disciplined service. To maintain all fire fighting and emergency equipment in a state of readiness including cleaning, repairing and testing as required and to approved standards and procedures. To check fire fighting resources provided for fire service use including hydrants and fixed installations. To know the local streets, roads and buildings situated around the fire station area. To be aware of the risks, possible hazards and water supplies to be found  within the fire station area. To complete basic paperwork and routine administration including recording of information. To keep records up to date as necessary. To take part in a continuous training programme by attending lectures, exercises, practice drill sessions and other forms of training to maintain competence levels.

Woody Allen On Life And Death English Literature Essay

Woody Allen On Life And Death English Literature Essay Woody Allen was born on December 1, 1935. He is an actor, director, screenwriter, playwright, author, and comedian. He focuses most of his work on middleclass life in New York City. He wrote a number of works that deal with life and death, specifically in the two I will focus on: Death Knocks and Whatever Works. Woody Allen depicts certain themes constantly throughout his works. Many of his characters change their values dramatically, which they held dearly before to adapt to their current situation. This was apparent in his movie, Whatever Works. He also shows the degradation of human society in his film through the perspective of the main character, Boris. Woody Allen s view on life and death is shown in his movies and books as changing, but also depressing and sometimes scary because of the way he writes. Woody Allen was born to a middleclass Jewish family in Brooklyn, New York. He always wanted to be a playwright and started stand-up comedy while in school. He was a writer for television shows, which helped him gain access to the entertainment industry. Eventually, he began writing, directing and acting in his plays and films. He has won Oscars for his films and has become a successful comedian. He has put a lot of himself in his films. Many of his characters have been older men with younger woman, such as the relationship between Boris and Melody in Whatever Works. Woody Allen had a relationship with his ex-wife s adopted daughter, who he later married. Woody Allen is the writer and director of Whatever Works, a film in which he depicts his views on life through the main character, Boris. For Allen, filmmaking is an art that, he says, distracts me from the uncertainty of life, the inevitability of aging and death and death of loved ones; mass killings and starvation, from holocausts not just man-made carnage, but the existential position youre in. Allen has portrayed his characters as a self-projection that began in his earlier movies. In Stardust Memories (1980), Allen presented a portrait of a man who is intended to appear just as depraved as Allen s critics have accused him of being (Lee 115-116). Thus, in Whatever Works, Allen again projects himself on to Boris. Boris believes that life is a horror show and that is completely overwhelming. He believes that life s aspirations eventually conform with age to whatever works. Whatever Works opening scene depicts the main character, Boris , outlook on life. The movie s first scene tal ks about the failures of ideologies because they all rely on the fact that people are fundamentally decent, which he believes is untrue. Boris claims life is a nightmare without people in it and that people should take whatever pleasure they can get in this house of nightmares. He has a completely cynical and negative view of life. In an interview, Woody Allen expressed his views of life and his life as a filmmaker. After Whatever Works, the broadcaster asked Woody about his reoccurring theme life being hard and painful. Allen responded, All the important writers and all the important philosophers have, in one form or another, come to the conclusion, the obvious conclusion, that you know, life is a terrible trial and very harsh and very full of suffering, and so whatever you can do with the stipulation that you dont hurt anybody without, you know, ruining a life here or there or causing any damage, theres nothing wrong with it (Will the Real Woody Allen). This provides insight into his philosophy of life and how it impacts his work. Like Boris, Woody says that real problems distract him from his work, like facing the harsh realities of life and facing death. He says that what distracts him is: the uncertainty of life and inevitability of aging and death, and death of loved ones, and mass killings and starvations and holocausts, and not just the manmade carnage but the existential position that youre in, you know, being in a world where you have no idea whats going on, why youre here or what possible meaning your life can have and the conclusion that you come to after a while, that there is really no meaning to it, and its just a random, meaningless event, and these are pretty depressing thoughts. And if you spend much time thinking about them, not only cant you resolve them, but you sit frozen in your seat (Will the Real Woody Allen). This shows how much Woody puts his thoughts into those of his characters. Woody Allen was influenced by many American and European influences, such as Ingmar Bergman, Dostoevsky, Charlie Chaplin, Orson Welles and more. Allen distrusts and satirizes formal education which he explicitly voices through Melody, when she tells Boris that he told her the American education system has failed (Woody Allen). In Whatever Works, Woody Allen tells the story of Boris. He is an old man and a genius. He divorces his first wife after a failed suicide attempt when he realizes they are perfect on paper but incompatible in real life. Then one day, after hanging out with his friends, he meets Melody, a young woman from Mississippi. She convinces him to let her stay with him temporarily. She is na ve and appreciates his outlook on life and eventually, falls in love with his genius mind. She believes she is lucky because a girl of her intelligence found a man with his genius, a physicist who claims he almost won the Nobel Peace Prize. Boris imposes his ideologies upon Melody. Woody Allen s views on beliefs are strongly shown as adapting to current situations. This can be seen in the movie Whatever Works through Woody Allen s depiction of Melody s parents. They are both blue-collar stereotypical religious Midwestern Americans. When Melody s mother first arrives, she faints after seeing that Melody is married to a man like Boris, believing that he is either holding or hostage or has brainwashed her. Prior to arriving in New York City, Melody s mother was a housewife who had only been with one man, her husband. After he cheated on her, they got a divorce and she came to her daughter. Eventually, she settles into a life in New York City. After a few weeks, she becomes an artist and takes in a lover and then another lover. She lives with two men and creates nude collages. Her husband is similar in his change. He is also a blue blooded American. When he comes to New York to get his wife back, he has a self-realization that he is a homosexual and lives with a ma le lover. Woody Allen shows how one s aspirations in life change to whatever works . In the movie, Woody Allen s view of life is cynical and his view of death is comical. Each time the character Boris s marriage fails; he attempts suicide by jumping out the window. After the first time, Boris land on a canopy develops a limp and divorces his wife. He believes they were the perfect couple on paper but that it no longer worked . He realized this after an anxiety attack in the middle of the night when he realized he was dying. He was referring to dying slowly each day and that one day, he will die. The second time Boris attempted suicide after his wife, Melody, tells him she is in love with another man and wants to love life and interact with others, and not be cynical anymore. He tells her he expected this day to come but when he goes home, he jumps out the window again. This time, he lands on a woman and breaks her leg. They eventually become a couple. Death is seen as way out of the hardship of life, however, for Boris, when one chapter closed, another opened. Life f or him was always worth living, even if he did not believe so at the time. He also tried to commit suicide on a rash whim. It was never planned but an immediate action without thinking. Woody Allen has parodied suicide in many of his films prior to Whatever Works, including What s New, Pussycat? (1965). Throughout his works, Allen asks fundamental questions about human life that includes, Is it possible to create a deeply satisfying romantic relationship with just one person? Is there one set of absolutely true moral principles, or is ethics simply a matter of opinion? Is there God? And what will happen after death? (Lee 46). In Whatever Works (2009), Woody Allen has finally come to a conclusion for many of his philosophical questions that he asked in his earlier films. Woody Allen is definitive in claiming there is no God as Boris and Melody mock Melody s father for praying. Melody outright tells her father that he is praying to nothing just air. Thus, faced with a meaningless universe and no way to prove the existence of God, his character contemplates suicide is something many of Allen s characters face (Blake 61). It was also apparent that romantic relationships are not with just one person because each of the characters had numerous relationships. Melody s mom had two lovers at the same time. None of the characters abided by a deep-rooted moral code either. Boris repeatedly claimed morals changed to whatever works . Death Knocks is a play about fooling death and putting it off. In the play, there are only two characters Nat Ackerman and Death. Death comes to Nat because it is his time to go. Nat refuses to believe him and plays Death in a game of Gin Rummy for an extra twenty-four hours to live and for some money. Death loses. In the play, Death claims there is a specific Death for each person and that it resembles them. Nat refuses to believe Death and eventually kicks him out of his house. This short play symbolizes Woody Allen s refusal to come to terms with death, shrugging it off and not coming to terms with it. The play shows Allen trying to come to terms with understanding what death is. However, in the play, Nat does not die. Many of his characters are obsessed with death. From Alvy in Annie Hall (1977) to Boris in Whatever Works (2009), the characters are obsessed with abstract considerations about the anguish of living and the terrors of death (Lee 61). Especially since, death is rarely far from Allen s thoughts or images (Blake 69). Woody Allen believes that life is synonymous with suffering. Thus, he takes a position of showing a thin line between choosing life and death for his characters, who are afraid to live and afraid to die. Thus, a repeated theme Woody Allen depicts is when a person comes to realize emotionally as well as intellectually that he will eventually die, he becomes filled with dread, which can be seen in works like Annie Hall and Manhattan (Lee 123). Boris had this epiphany that Nat Ackerson did not. Thus, the reactions of both characters for death were completely different. Woody Allen has led a successful career. He has made many films and written many plays. He is a man who thinks he is an existentialist, trying to see the big picture. He is scared of death and attempts to not think about death by working hard in his films and plays. In Whatever Works and Death Knocks, you get a sense of Woody Allen and how he puts himself into his characters, especially seeing what he says about life and death. Work Cited Allen, Woody. Britannica Biographies. Middle Search Plus. Web. 18 Jan. 2011. Blake, Richard A. Woody Allen: Profane and Sacred. Lanham, MD (u.a.): Scarecrow, 1995. Print. Estrin, Mark W. Allen, Woody. International Dictionary of Films and Filmmakers. Ed. Sara Pendergast and Tom Pendergast. 4th ed. Vol. 2: Directors. Detroit: St. James Press, 2000. 8-14. Gale Virtual Reference Library. Web. 12 Jan. 2011. Lee, Sander H. Eighteen Woody Allen Films Analyzed: Anguish, God and Existentialism. Jefferson, NC: McFarland , 1998. Print. Lee, Sander H. Woody Allens Angst: Philosophical Commentaries on His Serious Films. Jefferson, NC: McFarland, 1997. Print. McCaffrey, Donald W. Allen, Woody. International Dictionary of Films and Filmmakers. Ed. Sara Pendergast and Tom Pendergast. 4th ed. Vol. 3: Actors and Actresses. Detroit: St. James Press, 2000. 11-14. Gale Virtual Reference Library. Web. 12 Jan. 2011. Will The Real Woody Allen Please Stand Up? [REBROADCAST]. Fresh Air 29 Dec. 2009. Literature Resource Center. Web. 18 Jan. 2011. Woody Allen. International Dictionary of Films and Filmmakers. Vol. 2. Gale, 2000.Gale Biography In Context. Web. 19 Jan. 2011. Woody Allen On Life, Films And Whatever Works : NPR. NPR : National Public Radio : News Analysis, World, US, Music Arts : NPR. 15 June 2009. Web. 13 Jan. 2011. .

Multiple Regression :: Gender

Introduction For this study researchers were interested in assessing whether self-reported health behaviours and health literacy are able to predict self-rated physical health, after controlling for the effects of gender and age. They are further interested in knowing which of the variables provide a statistically significant contribution to the equation. Also of interest to the researches was the interaction between gender and health literacy, that is, the degree to which individuals are able to obtain, process and understand the information needed to make appropriate decisions about their health, and the impact of this interaction on health. Data was collected from 350 people randomly selected from a dataset from a population-based study of health and health determinants. Health was measured on a scale of 1 to 10, where higher scores represent better health. Health behaviours include healthy diet, physical activity and relaxation and are measured on a scale from 1 to 15. Health literacy is measured on a scale from 10 to 45. Gender and age in years were also collected from the respondents. Data Screening & Assumption Testing The initial step in this data analysis involved screening the data for possible missing values, out of range values, univariate and multivariate outliers and multicollinearity. Three variables used for this study contained missing values; both system and identified missing. These variables were health literacy, physical activity and age in years, one case for each of these variables. Each of these missing values were recoded with a missing value code of 999. Descriptive statistics produced for each of the variables used for the analysis revealed out of range values for the variables healthy diet, physical activity and relaxation. These values were also recoded to the missing value code 999. Testing for the presence of outliers was done by generating a scatterplot matrix for all variables (Figure 1), and plots of Cook’s distances (Figure 2) and Mahalanobis distances (Figure 3). There are no cases which indicate a particular cause for concern. On the Mahalanobis distance chart there are no cases that is substantially larger than the rest and on the Cook’s distance there is no case with a distance above 1 which would indicate an influential point. Multicollinearity was tested and there were no variables with a tolerance of less than 0.3. It is also necessary to check the regression assumptions to ensure that any results from analysis are valid. The first assumption is that all variables are measured on a metric scale or that categorical variables are dichotomously coded. This is true for the data in this study. The second assumption is that each observation in the sample is independent of the other observations, the

How to Deal with Moral Differences :: Papers Ethics Morality

How to Deal with Moral Differences The first way is to believe there are no morally right or wrong viewpoints. The moral issue is just a cultural game and neither your opinions or mine matters. Therefore there is no right or wrong. This view is called moral nihilism. Related to this idea is moral skepticism, which holds that we can’t know any moral truths, and moral subjectivism, which holds that moral views are merely inner states in a person and that they can’t be compared to the inner states of another person. However believing in the above solves no problems, if nobody is right and nobody is wrong. The second way is to believe that there is no universal truth, that each culture has its own set of rules that are valid and apply to that culture, they don’t interfere with our rules and we don’t interfere with theirs, this is called ethical relativism. This belief is viewed as an attitude of tolerance. This belief solves conflicts in the idea that whatever the majority deems to be the moral rule is the rule to follow. The third belief is that deep down in spite of all the cultures differences we call all still agree on a certain moral basics, that people everywhere have basically the same human nature but that we just adapt it into our environment, this idea is called Soft Universalism. Universalism because it perceives that there are some universal moral rules; soft because it is not as radical as hard universalism. This belief can solve problems because its main goal is to seek common ground beneath the variety of opinions and mores. The fourth belief is called hard universalism, this is the absolute opposite of moral nihilism stating that there is only one universal moral code. This belief solves problems with hard evidence and reason. Problems with Ethical Relativism: (1) No Criticism or Praise of Other Cultures, we need to criticize or praise other cultures morals to maintain our own moral integrity. (2) Majority Rule, the idea of the majority always being right is just not rational. (3) Professed or Actual Morality? this is the idea that a certain kind of behavior is normal, but what is â€Å"normal†? for example when a group was asked about infidelity the majority was against it but when the same group was asked if they had committed it, the majority had. (4) What is a Majority? In the instance of euthanasia if a law is passed tomorrow

Unraveling Cleopatra Essay -- Egypt History Papers

Unraveling Cleopatra "She took a small boat, and one only of her confidants, Apollodorus, the Sicilian, along with her, and in the dusk of the evening landed near the palace. She was at a loss how to get in undiscovered, till she thought of putting herself into the coverlet of a bed and lying at length, whilst Apollodorus tied up the bedding and carried it on his back through the gates to Caesar's apartment. Caesar was first captivated by this proof of Cleopatra's bold wit, and was afterwards so overcome by the charm of her society that he made a reconciliation between her and her brother, on the condition that she should rule as his colleague in the kingdom." (The Life of Julius Caesar, Plutarch; translation by Dryden) Abstract Whether Cleopatra rolls out of an ornate carpet as authorative and in control or as the more stereotypical image of a sensual temptress, the carpet scene functions as an introduction between Cleopatra and Julius Caesar. More importantly, the scene also provides valuable insight into Cleopatra's character. Plutarch's account of Cleopatra's first encounter with Julius Caesar inspired countless artists to recreate their own interpretations. First prose and narratives, the workings of creative imaginations, emerged. Soon, the stirring mental images are captured on canvas and eventually breathed into cinematography. With the advent of movie making multiple versions of Cleopatra and her legend were produced, each distinct in their own right. Each version retells the carpet scene differently, and offers a different Cleopatra. The first impression of Cleopatra is imprinted by the carpet scene and sheds light on who Cleopatra is in the respective narrative or film. If she tumbles out of the c arpet in a rev... ...ert, Warren William and Henry Wilcoxen. Paramount, 1934. Cleopatra. Dir. Joseph L. Mankiewicz. With Elizabeth Taylor, Rex Harrison and Richard Burton. 20th Century Fox, 1963. Cleopatra. Dir. Robert Halmi Sr. With Leonor Varela, Timothy Dalton and Billy Zane. ABC, 1999. Dirks, Tim, "Greatest Films- Comprehensive Analysis of Classic US Films" (1996), URL: http://www.filmsite.org/cleo.html (12 Dec. 1999). Fielding, Sarah, The Lives of Cleopatra and Octavia [1757], Lewisburg: Bucknell UP, 1994. George, Margaret, The Memoirs of Cleopatra, St. Martin's Press, New York, 1997. Koller, Brian, "Cleopatra (1937)", URL: http://us.imdb.com/Reviews/165/16511 (12 Dec. 1999). Leyendecker, Frank, "Box Office On-line Review", (June 17, 1963), URL: http://www.boxoffice.com/classic.html (12 Dec. 1999). Plutarch, "The Life of Julius Caesar", Trans. John Dryden.

Psychological Distress and Coping Strategies Among Transgenders Essay

â€Å"Why compare yourself with others? No one in the entire world can do a better job of being you than you†.1 Transgender is a general term applied to a variety of individuals, behaviors, and groups involving tendencies to vary from culturally conventional gender roles. Transgender is the state of one’s â€Å"gender identity† (self-identification as woman, man, neither or both) not matching ones â€Å"assigned sex† (identification by others as male, female or intersex based on physical/genetic sex). A transgender individual may have characteristics that are normally associated with a particular gender, identify elsewhere on the traditional gender continuum, or exist outside of it as â€Å"other†, â€Å"agender†, â€Å"Genderqueer†, or â€Å"third gender†. Transgender people may also identify as bigender, or along several places on either the traditional transgender continuum, or the more encompassing continuums which have been developed in response to the significantly more detailed studies done in recent years. 2 ‘Transgender’ refers to a person, male or female, who dresses, acts or presents in a manner that differs from his or her gender norm. ‘Transgender’ includes transvestites (both fetish and dual-role), drag queens, drag kings, androgynes and genderqueers. It does not include transsexual people.3 The transgender community in India, known as hijras, number up to a million people and occupy a unique role in society. On the one hand, they are called upon to offer blessings during auspicious occasions like weddings and at births. The rest of the time, they are not only ignored but often ostracized from society.4 Transgender individuals are commonly viewed as a part of the lesbian, gay, and bisexual (LGB) community, forming the commonly known acronym LGBT. However, inclusion of transgender individuals within the sexual orientation political movement, and at social or cultural gay/lesbian events is highly debated. This is due to the division of sexual orientation and gender identity, which, though correlated, are different constructs. Whereas sexual orientation refers to one’s emotional, romantic and sexual attraction to others, gender identity refers to the person’s relationship to their gender and is largely independent of orientation. It is important to make the distinction between sex and gender. Sex is biological and physical (e.g., chromosomes, hormones, gonads), while gender is psychologically and socially constructed. For transgender individuals, gender is not congruent with sex. In order to align sex and gender a transgender individual may or may not undergo medical treatment, such as hormones or surgery. 5 Psychological distress is the end result of factors–example, psychogenic pain, internal conflicts, and external stress that prevent a person from self-actualization and connecting with ‘significant others’6. Coping is the expending conscious effort to solve personal and interpersonal problems, and seeking to master, minimize or tolerate stress or conflict. Psychological coping mechanisms are commonly termed coping strategies or coping skills. The term coping generally refers to adaptive or constructive coping strategies, i.e., the strategies reduce stress levels. Furthermore, the term coping generally refers to reactive coping, i.e., the coping response follows the stressor. This contrasts with proactive coping, in which a coping response aims to head off a future stressor7. Brief Resume of Intended Work 6.1 NEED FOR STUDY The term transgender (TG) was popularized in the 1970s (but implied in the 1960) describing people who wanted to live cross-gender without sex reassignment surgery. In the 1980s the term was expanded to an umbrella term, and became popular as a means of uniting all those whose gender identity did not mesh with their gender assigned at birth. In the 1990s, the term took on a political dimension as an alliance covering all who have at some point not conformed to gender norms, and the term became used to question the validity of those norms or pursue equal rights and anti-discrimination legislation, leading to its widespread usage in the media, academic world and law. The term continues to evolve.2 The population of hijras in India is estimated to be between 50,000 and 1.2 million. There is a huge disparity in the numbers because population censuses only give space to define either males or females. There are no reliable statistics. Tamil Nadu in a path breaking move has come to recogni ze transgenders – (the term itself is no monolith as transgender is more of an umbrella term). 8 Most hijras live at the margins of society with very low status; the very word â€Å"hijra† is sometimes used in a derogatory manner. Few employment opportunities are available to hijras. Many get their income from performing at ceremonies, begging, or sex work—an occupation of eunuchs also recorded in premodern times. Violence against hijras, especially hijra sex workers, is often brutal, and occurs in public spaces, police stations, prisons, and their homes. As with transgender people in most of the world, they face extreme discrimination in health, housing, education, employment, immigration, law, and any bureaucracy that is unable to place them into male or female gender categories. 9 Discrimination has prevented most hijras from obtaining decent education, jobs and housing, say transgender and human rights activists. The vast majority live in slums and, with limited job opportunities, resort to sex work or begging. They weave in and out of Mumbai’s traffic or come onto the women’s compartments of local trains, clap loudly and take money in exchange for a blessing. While hijras continue to face discrimination, they have also made significant social and legal gains in recent years. Last July, the Delhi High Court decriminalized gay sex, and in November, transgenders won the right to be listed as â€Å"other† rather than â€Å"male† or â€Å"female† on electoral rolls and voter identity cards.4 Tamil Nadu has an estimated population of 30,000 transgender people. It has made great strides in trying to integrate transgender people into society. This includes welfare schemes initiated by the Government and acceptance of transgender people into the mainstream media and film industry.10 The Hijra of India are probably the most well known and populous third sex type in the modern world – Mumbai-based community health organisation The Humsafar Trust estimates there are between 5 and 6 million hijras in India. In different areas they are known as Aravani/Aruvani or Jogappa. Often (somewhat misleadingly) called eunuchs in English, they may be born intersex or apparently male, dress in feminine clothes and generally see themselves as neither men. In June 2009, the Supreme Court of Pakistan ordered a census of hijras, who number between 80,000 and 300,000 in Pakistan. In December 2009, Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry, the Chief Justice of Pakistan, ordered that the National Database and Registration Authority issue national identity cards to members of the community showing their â€Å"distinct† gender. 11 In a national school climate survey on the school related experiences of our nation’s lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender youth, 55 percent of transgender youth report being physically attacked.33.2 percent of transgender youth have attempted suicide. 74 percent of transgender youth reported being sexually harassed at school, and 90 percent of transgender youth reported feeling unsafe at school because of their gender expression In a survey of 403 transgender people, 78 percent reported having been verbally harassed and 48 percent reported having been victims of assault, including assault with a weapon, sexual assault or rape. A study was found that bisexual students in Massachusetts and Vermont were three to six times more likely to use cocaine than their straight classmates.12 A study conducted on fifty-five transgender youth described their gender development and some of the stressful life experiences related to their gender identity and gender expression. More than two-thirds of youth reported past verbal abuse by their parents or peers related to their gender identity and nonconformity, and approximately one-fifth to one-third reported past physical abuse. The more gender non-conforming the youth were, the more abuse they reported. Four aspects of psychological resilience were examined: a sense of personal mastery, self-esteem, perceived social support, and emotion-oriented coping. A regression model of the selected aspects of resilience accounted for 40–55 percent of the variance in relation to depression, trauma symptoms, mental health symptoms, and internalizing and externalizing problems. Emotion-oriented coping was a significant predictor of negative mental health as determined by each of the mental health variables 13. A study conducted by GLSEN found that over 85 percent of trans students reported verbal harassment based on their sexual orientation and gender identity. Nearly half (49.5 percent) reported physical harassment based on these characteristics, and a third (34.1 percent) reported being physically assaulted. Transgender students get harassed much more often than their classmates: the study found that transgender students were over four times more likely to be verbally harassed because of their gender expression. The dramatically higher frequency of such victimization among transgender people is alarming, and as one would assume, has significant effects on a student’s ability to learn. 14 Psychiatric nurses are often in ideal position to assess the health and its problems and to offer education and support. Nurse needs to be knowledgeable about psychological distress and coping mechanism among Transgender people. When the nurse develops an effective plan for nursing management, she should consider family involvement, appropriate referral resources. The above studies highlight the psychological distress faced by the transgenders. As there is a dearth of research studies on transgenders in nursing, the researcher felt the need to contribute, explore and identify the psychological distress and coping strategies among transgenders. 6.2 REVIEW OF LITERATURE A study conducted on the fear of experiencing discrimination often provokes symptoms of psychological distress. One coping resource is positive identification with one’s social group–known as collective self-esteem. This preliminary study investigated whether collective self-esteem was related to fears regarding a transsexual identity and psychological distress among 53 self-identified male-to-female transsexuals (mean age = 50.79 years). Participants were recruited from transgender events held in Arizona and California. The majority (81 percent) reported living full-time as women (mean length of time living as a woman = 6.33 years). Negative feelings about the transsexual community and fears regarding the impact of a transsexual identity were positively related to psychological distress. A regression model revealed that the fear of how a transsexual identity would affect one’s life was the best predictor of the severity of psychological distress. These results a re consistent with findings from other historically marginalized groups, whereby the stress of being stigmatized by society adversely affects mental health. 15 A study used three focus groups to explore factors that affect the experiences of youth (ages 15 to 21) that identify as transgender. The focus groups were designed to probe transgender youths’ experiences of vulnerability in the areas of health and mental health. This involved their exposure to risks, discrimination, marginalization, and their access to supportive resources. Three themes emerged from an analysis of the groups’ conversations. The themes centered on gender identity and gender presentation, sexuality and sexual orientation, and vulnerability and health issues. Most youth reported feeling they were transgender at puberty, and they experienced negative reactions to their gender atypical behaviors, as well as confusion between their gender identity and sexual orientation. Youth noted four problems related to their vulnerability in health-related areas: the lack of safe environments, poor access to physical health services, inadequate resources to address their mental health concerns, and a lack of continuity of care giving by their families and communities16. A study conducted on the sexual minority status is a key risk factor for suicide among lesbian, gay, and bisexual youth; however, it has not been studied among transgender youth. Fifty-five transgender youth reported on their life-threatening behaviours. Nearly half of the sample reported having seriously thought about taking their lives and one quarter reported suicide attempts. Factors significantly related to having made a suicide attempt included suicidal ideation related to transgender identity; experiences of past parental verbal and physical abuse; and lower body esteem, especially weight satisfaction and thoughts of how others evaluate the youths’ bodies. Sexual minority status is a key risk factor for life-threatening behaviours among transgender youth.17 A recent study undertaken to understand the level of General wellbeing of Male-to-female (MTF) Transgender population living in Chennai shed light on the mental health concerns of the transgender population in Chennai. The study consisted of transgender (n=33), and that had been selected for the study by using Purposive sampling technique because it was a challenge to collect data from the population, given their obscurity. A standardized Tamil version of the Wellbeing Questionnaire-12 was used. As for the results of the quantitative data, 75.76 percent of the samples fell under Average Wellbeing Category, 24.24 percent of samples fell under Better Wellbeing Category and 0 percent fell under Poor Wellbeing Category. From the In-Depth Interviews it is inferred that the socio-economic status of Transgender is very poor, they feel inferior to others and are constantly humiliated and il l-treated by the society at large. However, support within the community is strong.18 A research study has documented the link between mental health disorders and discrimination. The coming-out process for an older LGBT person, who has lived most of his or her life in a hostile or intolerant environment, can induce significant stress and contribute to lower life satisfaction and self-esteem. Managing social stressors such as prejudice, stigmatization, violence, and internalized homophobia over long periods of time results in higher risks of depression, suicide, risky behaviour, and substance abuse. LGBT populations, therefore, may be at increased risk for these and other mental disorders. There may be a higher lifetime prevalence of affective disorders in LGBT persons, but no difference in current prevalence of such disorders. However, while little is known about the actual prevalence of mental health disorders in LGBT adults, even less is known about the prevalence of mental health disorders in older LGBT adults. 19 A study examined the relationship between psychological well-being variables (i.e., depression, anxiety, and self-esteem) and level of outness in male-to-female (M t F) transsexuals. Participants were 105 M t F transsexual attendees at an annual transgender conference held in Atlanta, Georgia. Participants completed seven questionnaires, including the Demographics Questionnaire, the Outness Demographics Questionnaire, the Outness Attitude Scale, the Openness Scale, the Beck Depression Inventory-II, the Beck Anxiety Inventory, and the Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale. A canonical correlation was conducted with psychological well-being variables as the predictor and the outness variables as the criterion. Results indicated that psychological well-being variables are related to outness. Treatment implications, limitations, and suggestions for future research are discussed. 20 STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM A study to assess the psychological distress and coping strategies among transgenders in a selected area, Bangalore. 6.3 OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY 1. To assess the psychological distress among transgenders in a selected area, Bangalore. 2. To assess the coping strategies among transgenders in selected area, Bangalore. 3. To find out the relationship between psychological distress and coping strategies among transgenders in selected area, Bangalore. 4. To find out the association between the psychological distress and coping strategies among transgenders with selected demographic variables. 6.4 OPERATIONAL DEFINITIONS * ASSESS: In this study, assess refers to an organized and systematic way of finding out the psychological distress and coping strategies among transgender. * PSYCHOLOGICAL DISTRESS: In this study, psychological distress refers to the failure of the people to respond adequately to mental, emotional, or physical demands which will be assessed by using Kessler Psychological Distress Scale. * COPING STRATEGIES: In this study coping strategies refers to the mechanism that adapted by the transgenders to overcome the distress which will be assessed by using Coping Strategies Survey. * TRANSGENDER: In this study, transgender refers to people those are born with a particular gender but have the behaviour and characteristics of opposite gender. HYPOSTHESIS H1- There is a significant relationship between psychological distress and coping strategies. H2- There is significant association between psychological distresses with selected demographic variables. H3 – There is significant association between coping strategies with selected demographic variables. 6.5 ASSUMPTIONS * Transgenders adopt different coping strategies to overcome psychological distress. VARIABLES UNDER THE STUDY * Research variable: * Psychological distress * Coping strategies. * Demographic variable: Age, education, religion, marital status, cultural background, socio economic status, area of residence, past experiences. DELIMITATIONS: * The study is delimited to selected areas of Bangalore. * The study is limited to 100 samples. 7. MATERIAL AND METHODS: 7.1 SOURCE OF DATA The data will be collected from the transgender in selected areas in Bangalore. RESEARCH APPROACH: The investigator will use descriptive exploratory approach to conduct the study. RESEARCH DESIGN: The research design for the study will be descriptive survey design. RESEARCH SETTINGS: Study will be done in the selected NGO’s for transgenders in Bangalore. POPULATION: The target population for study is transgenders in selected area. SAMPLING TECHNIQUE: Investigator is using purposive sampling technique to draw the samples. SAMPLE SIZE: The sample size will be 100 transgenders. SAMPLING CRITERIA: INCLUSION CRITERIA: * People who are willing to participate in this study. * People who know English and Kannada. * People present at the time of data collection. EXCLUSION CRITERIA: * People who are terminally ill or have critical illness. METHODS OF COLLECTING DATA Structured self reporting technique will be used to collect the data. Permission will be taken from samples and an informed consent will be obtained from the samples. 7.2 DATA COLLECTION TOOL * Part I – it consists of demographic variables like age, gender, education, socio-economic status, area of residence, past experiences. * Part II – the investigator will use Kessler Psychological Distress Scale for psychological distress and Coping Strategies Survey for assessing coping strategies. DATA ANALYSIS METHOD: * The data will be analyzed using descriptive and inferential statistics. * Descriptive statistics like mean, frequency, percentages and standard deviation will be used. * Inferential statistics like â€Å"correlation co-efficient† and â€Å"chi- square† methods will be used. 7.3 DOES THE STUDY REQUIRE ANY INVESTIGATION OR INTERVENTION TO BE CONDUCTED ON PATIENTS OR OTHER HUMAN OR ANIMAL? IF SO PLEASE DESCRIBE BRIEFLY. * No, this is a descriptive study, it does not require any investigation to be conducted on patients or human or animals. 7.4 HAS ETHICAL CLEARENCE BEEN OBTAINED FROM YOUR INSTITUTION? * Yes, the ethical clearance certificate has been enclosed. 8. REFERENCES: 1. Available from: URL: http://thinkexist.com/search/searchquotation.asp?search=self+esteem 2. Gay and Lesbian Alliance against Defamation (online). 2010 May ( cited 2011 Feb 24); Available from: URL: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Transgender 3. Available from: URL: http://uk.answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20070926024655AAZAbtB 4. Hanna Ingber Win. Global post. Transgender India: Banned in Bombay? (Online) 2010 April 10; 1(8). Available from: URL: http://www.globalpost.com/dispatch/india/100409/india-transgender-scandal-banned-bombay 5. Kayden Z Healy. Internalized Transphobia, Minority Stress, and Collective Self-Esteem. June 2011 6. Available from: URL: http://medicaldictionary.thefreedictionary.com/psychological+distress 7. Carver, Connor-Smith J. Personality and coping, Annual Review of Psychology. (2010). P. 61, 679 – 704. Available from: URL: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coping_(psychology) 8. Indian and Hijra (online). 2008 Nov 30 Available from: URL: http://shantanudutta.sulekha.com/blog/post/2008/11/indian-and-hijra.htm 9. Ravaging the Vulnerable: Abuses against Persons at High Risk of HIV Infection in Bangladesh (online). 2003 Aug: Available from: URL: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hijra_(South_Asia) 10. Chennai: Move on toilets for transgenders sparks off debate (online). 2009 Jun 23: Available from: URL: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Transgender_rights_in_Tamil_Nadu 11. Ahmed M. Scalo Publishers (online). 2001 Sep 15: Available from: URL: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Third_gender 12. Available from: URL: http://www.youthprideri.org/Resources/Statistics/tabid/227/Default.aspx 13. Arnold H G, Anthony R D, John A F. Aspe cts of Psychological Resilience among Transgender Youth. Journal of LGBT Youth (serial online) 2011 (cited 2011 Apr 08); 8(2): (2y screens). Available from: URL: http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/19361653.2011.541347 14. Tonei Glavinic. Student plus online academic student journal. Research Shows Lack of Support for Transgender and Gender-Nonconforming Youth in U.S. School Systems 2009 January 24; 1. 15. Sanchez, Francisco J, Vilain, Eric. Journal of Counseling Psychology. Collective self-esteem as a coping resource for male-to-female transsexuals 2009 Jan; 56(1): 202-9. 16. Arnold H. G, Anthony R. D. Transgender Youth. Journal of Homosexuality (serial online) 2006 (cited 2008 oct 17); 51(1): (2y screens). Available from: URL: http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1300/J082v51n01_06 17. Arnold H. G, Anthony R. D. Transgender Youth. Life-Threatening Behaviors. 2010 Dec 18. Thilakaravi. Mental Health Concerns of Transgender Population Living in Chennai, South India – A Study. MeD INDIA Networking for health January 2011. 19. Mark J Simone, Jonathan. Appelbaum. Clinical gediatrics. Addressing the Needs of Older Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Adults: 2011; 19(2) p.38-45. 20. Jeffrey D Strain, I Michael Shuff. Psychological Well-Being and Level of Outness in a Population of Male-to-Female Transsexual Women Attending a National Transgender Conference. International Journal of Transgenderis: 2010 oct-dec p. 230-240.

Discuss How the Concepts of ‘Race’ and ‘Ethnicity’ Essay

Australia is known for its multicultural society, but race and ethnicity are a huge factor of persistent racism and inequality in this country. The driving force behind this is the strong belief that some of the population still hold against people who appear different to themselves. To gain a clear understanding of this sensitive topic one must look at the origins, forms and effects of racism. This essay will look at how the concepts of ‘race’ and ‘ethnicity’ perpetuate inequality in our society, a brief history of Australia in relation to racism and how people experience these inequalities today in a society that we call multicultural. Modern Australia was established as a ‘region of recent settlement’ in 1788 which was a small part of a larger process of European colonisation (Bessant & Watts, 2002, p. 219). They had a set of ideas, values and beliefs and assumed that aborigines had no system of land ownership, agriculture, animal husbandry. Indigenous people have been in Australia for more than 100,000 years (Bessant & Watts, 2002, p. 222). The White Australia Policy in the 20th century encouraged immigration only from Britain, but didn’t allow ‘Asians’ and ‘Non-whites (Economou N, 1998, p.363). By 1950’s people from all countries were allowed to migrate into Australia to help post war reconstruction. The colonial immigration saw a mass migration of European people mostly from Britain to Australia. It is said that between 1788 and 1852 approximately 170,000 people moved to Australia, and the gold rush era after 1851 made it a highly desirable country for migrating (Bessant & Watts, 2002, p. 231). By end of World War two, as war forced Australia to get closer to other countries, which resulted in the first significant weakening of the policy in 1951. Later in the 1950s and 1960s other parts of the White Australia Policy were gradually dismantled. By the 1970s the federal government had removed all racial restrictions from its immigration law (Bessant & Watts, 2002). Various writers have contradictory approaches and ways of looking at racism, making it a complex topic. It takes many different forms, ranging from physical violence to derogatory language. A person or group’s belief that their race is superior or inferior, or their moral and social traits are predetermined, based on biological differences can be termed ’racism’. A group of people sharing the same skin colour, same values, coming from the similar backgrounds may constitute as ’race’. One of the most common forms of racism found today is Institutional Racism, which stems from established corporations, and other powerful forces in society, thus making it hard to question and faces less public condemnation. Examples include housing, employment, businesses, education, religion and media (Healey, 2002). Typically, the basis of this type of discrimination is from irrational fear of people at the receiving end who belong to a different culture or ‘race’. Although, there have been ongoing debates about racism all around us for centuries, it is an assault on human rights as it methodically refuses people of different caste, colour, race, sex or their country of origin basic values underlined by Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) which states that human rights are everyone’s birthright and apply to all without difference (Healey, 2002). Common perception of shared origins, culture, lifestyle and traditions amongst a group of people or society is the universal definition of ethnicity (Bessant & Watts, 2002). People can share the same nationality but have different ethnicities. A few writers have put forward fascinating explanations of ethnicity. Edward Shils in his ‘primordial approach’ argues that he believes everyone has a primordial attachment to their motherland, people and religion which brings out strong emotional ties by socialising, which further gives rise to the need to have a separate identity and belonging. Then the ‘Mobilisationist Approach’ suggests that nothing is predictable or normal about ethnicity. Rather, ethnic identities come into sight and are toughened in political contexts where groups struggle to get access to inadequate and valued resources (Van Krieken et al, 2000, p. 519). The basis of ethnocentrism is a conscious or unconscious belief that one’s ethnic group, culture, religion, custom or behaviour is superior to another ethnic group. Politicians boast that Australia is a multicultural, open and classless society. Despite the well known image of Australia’s everyone have â€Å"a fair go†, the country is still full of both institutional and popular racism. Education has always been very important when it comes to moving up in class and has been very liberating in Australian society. However, indigenous and ethnic groups have been somewhat disadvantaged in opportunities to acquire education. According to the Australian Bureau of Statistics only five Indigenous Australians per 1,000 obtain tertiary qualification, compared to 70-80 per 1,000 for Anglo Australians. In the 1990s welfare, health care and education support for Aborigines accounted only to 2% of total budget outlay (ABS 2000:21). In order to receive an education a person requires an income, but to get an income one needs a job, and a job is challenging to find without an appropriate level of education. Therefore an individual’s chance of education is influenced by the socio-economic status of one’s parents which is a cyclic social inequality hard to break. Migrants and their children often find it challenging to adjust to the Australian school system as they often come from countries that have a poor education system, and even if they have tertiary qualifications they mostly are not recognised, resulting in them taking lower paid and lower status jobs. Working class children often attend schools in working class suburbs where pupils are directed into working-class jobs. A high number of students leave school early and the expectation that they will attend university is low. In comparison, upper-class children attend private schools, and the expectation that they will attend university is high. Migrants and ethnic groups are often at a lower end of the socioeconomic scale (Aspin, 1996, p. 87) Migrants arrive with little money and few skills. Already at a disadvantage with language barriers, migrants and ethnic groups are also faced with racism and discrimination in their search for employment. In 1996, One Nation political party leader Pauline Hanson made a speech that claimed that Australia was being overwhelmed by ‘Asians’ and feared that Asians were taking over jobs. The fact is that Asians at the time only accounted for 5% of total population and ‘there is little evidence to support the claim that high rates of immigration ‘cause’ unemployment or ‘cause’ Australians to lose their jobs’ (Bessant, 2002, p. 219). Indigenous people had a 24. 3% unemployment rate according to 1996 census (ABS 2000:23). Indigenous people are usually poorer than most non-indigenous Australians and receive a lower income on average than the total population. The household income for Aborigines in 1994 was $158 compared to $310 for white Australians (ABS 2000C:23) This also reflects the fact the there is a higher reliance by the Aboriginal population on social security payments (ABS 1996b: 122-4) Socioeconomic status is a major determinant of inequality as it influences access an individual has to the economic resources of a society. L. J. Aspin (1996) explains that white Australian-born males have a better chance of obtaining access to the resources of society. Inequality is also reflected in the differential access to housing and health services. For people who are paying rent and on a low income, it is almost impossible to save for a deposit on a house at the same time. Aborigines and migrants suffer discrimination in rental accommodation, where landlords preferring a two-parent, white, Anglo-Saxon families. Only 10% of Aborigines own housing compared to 70% of white Australia population (Aspin, 1996, p. 87). Most Aborigines live in rural and provincial Australia (Bessant, 2002, p. 226) far from big cities where there are more jobs, higher paid jobs, better education, better housing, good water and sanitation services, hospital medical services and other community amenities. Some ethnic backgrounds are still not accepted in our society and are treated differently and unequally. We see and hear about them on a day to day basis. In recent months the Indian community in Australia, especially students have become a vulnerable target for attacks, whether racist or not. On 31 May 2009 in Melbourne, about 5000 students marched through the streets of Melbourne protesting against these attacks on Indian, Pakistani and Bangladeshi students. 25-year-old Sravan Kumar Theerthala was in a serious condition in intensive care after being stabbed in the head with a screwdriver one week earlier (Bolton & Peterson, 2009). In an article in The Age newspaper on February 19 Victorian police claimed that these attacks are not racially motivated, but opportunistic where Indian students are â€Å"over representing themselves as victims† and can be looked upon as soft targets. The police also advised them â€Å"not to speak in their native language loudly† or display signs of wealth. Attacks on Indians aren’t the only allegation Australia has faced over the years. It seems that anyone in power, including police, politicians or the media has had the tendency to somehow flare these attacks. In the Herald Sun on 11 June 2009, 3AW’s Neil Mitchell said: â€Å"Australians are also bashed and die in India, which does not provoke parades of chanting ocker backpackers in the streets of Mumbai†. In 2007, the then immigration minister Kevin Andrews referred to the Sudanese community when he said â€Å"Some groups don’t seem to be settling and adjusting into the Australian way of life as quickly as we would hope. † A spate of violent attacks were then unleashed against Sudanese migrants, and one was bashed to death by a group of white men (Bolton & Peterson, 2009). As Australia continues to argue that it is a just, tolerant, open and classless society, there is still evidence of race and inequality among us and affecting the many lives of migrants and Indigenous people. It is interesting to note that the very determinants of class – power, money, education, family background, occupation, health and general way of life are also the same factors where others experience inequalities. Race and ethnicity perpetuate inequality, and in any country including Australia, one would find that there are always some people with very strong values of racism, and media outlets which help in manipulating the views of general public. There still needs to be a massive drive by communities and governments on racism and inequality and it will be long before we will be a â€Å"happy multicultural Australia†. Bibliography Aspin, L J 1996, ‘Social stratification and inequality’, Focus on Australian society, 2nd edn, Longman, Melbourne. Australian Bureau of Statistics 2009, Australian Bureau of Statistics, viewed 28 November 2009, < http://www. abs. gov. au/ >. Bessant, J & Watts, R 2002, ‘Neighbours and nations: ethnic identity and multiculturalism’, Sociology Australia, 2nd edn, Allen & Unwin, St Leonards, NSW. Bolton, S & Peterson, C 2009, Indian students speak: Stop the racist attacks! , viewed 28 November 2009, < http://www.greenleft. org. au/2009/798/41083>. Economou, N 1998, ‘The Politics of Citizenship: identity, ethnicity and race’, in Alan Fenna, Introduction to Australian Public Policy, Vol 1, Addison Wesley Longman, Melbourne. Healey, J 2002, ‘Racism: Beyond Tolerance, A Fair Go’, Racism in Australia, Vol 180, The Spinney Press, Rozelle, NSW. Van Krieken, R, Smith, P, Hobbis, D & McDonald, K 2000, ‘Migration, ethnicity and Australian Aboriginality’, Sociology: themes and perspectives, 2nd edn, Pearson Education, Frenchs Forest, NSW.