The Role of Child Death Inquiries

The Role of Child Death Inquiries Recently the benefits of child death inquiries and serious case reviews have come under particular scrutiny (Corby, Doig and Roberts, 1998). This assignment will use evidenced based information and practice to find other approaches or how to improve the form of the inquiry so its benefits outweigh its limitations. The United Nations estimate that every week two children in the United Kingdom die from abuse or neglect (UNICEF, 2003). The United Nations Convention, article 3 on the rights of the child places a duty on countries to protect children from abuse or neglect, the best interests of the child must be the primary concern when making decisions which may affect them, article 6 focuses on the importance of safeguarding their right to life (United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child, 1992). There are two types of child death inquiries; serious case reviews and public inquiries. A serious case review takes place when a child dies and abuse or neglect is suspected. They also take place in other circumstances where serious situations have occurred for example where a child has suffered from serious sexual abuse. The purpose of child death inquiries according to Working Together, 2010 is for agencies and individuals to learn where problems have arisen and to learn from these to improve their practice. The lessons learnt should be given to all individuals who work in this area to ensure they safeguard children in the correct way. When agencies already know where certain problems lie they should improve upon them before the serious case review is finished. A public inquiry for example The Colwell Report (1974), The Climbà © inquiry (2003) is a inquiry ordered by the government to review events, in this case child deaths. To conclude where practice could be improved upon, rec ommendations can be given and lessons can be learnt. Under regulation 5 of the local safeguarding childrens board requires that the local safeguarding children board undertakes reviews of serious cases. Serious case reviews must establish lessons to be learnt, identify which lessons are within agencies and which between and how long they have to act upon the changes to be undertaken. The reviews must also improve upon inter and intra agency working to promote and safeguard the wellbeing of children (chapter 8, Working Together, 2010). Laming (2009) states that serious case reviews are an important tool for learning lessons. Currently there is debate regarding the approach used in serious case reviews some believe that there are different approaches to take to learn from poor social work practice. Effective safeguarding practice is an approach considered, to learn from what is already proven to work. The obvious aim of child death inquiries is to try and avoid future tragedies. There is a repetitive circle within child protection. Families collide with professionals and most of the outcomes involve protection. The tensions involved between families and professionals involve competition of rights. The Human Rights Act, 1998 article 8 stipulates the familys right to a private family life and to be able to conduct their lives according to their culture and understanding. The opposite to this argument is to ensure all children are protected. When should professionals become involved? Parton (1991) describes the dilemma of how can the state establish the rights of the child and still promote the family to be an independent body in which to raise their children how they see fit and not intervene in all families and consequently reduce its autonomy. Depending on the theoretical viewpoint the professionals and current Government takes would impose when the state should intervene. A laissez-faires government would have little intervention. State paternalism is a perspective which favours more involvement of state intervention to protect children from abuse. This theory regards the childs welfare as more important than family autonomy. This perspective was reflected in the Children Act, 1989 as it introduced the expression likely for the child to be in significant harm. If there is a likelihood of significant harm there are possibilities of child protection orders being produced, and in other extensions of state power. Tensions between the duties that social workers have to safeguard children, the familys right to a private family life, the rights of the child, working in partnership with the parents and understanding when the state should intervene cause problems within social work practice. Knowing when to intervene has always been a problem for social workers within this area. Malcolm Hill (1990) found that published child abuse inquiry reports identified working with parents as a common problem. He found that papers noted access difficulties, in a number of cases parents didnt cooperate when the social worker needed to see the child at risk. Hill (1990) concluded that papers found social workers were too ready to believe parents. Hill (1990) concluded that the Colwell report (1974) found that social workers should focus on parents demonstrating their parenting skills and not to assume all was well because the parents said so. Social workers also need to look at the care the child is receiving holistically not focus on single areas of the family where they are showing positive steps, for example social workers may be satisfied as the family are participating in counselling but they need to still look at their parenting at home whilst this continues. Thus depending on the theoretical viewpoint the social worker takes decides when they should intervene. This assignment will adopt a state paternalism perspective, this perspective although draws conclusions that the child is likely to suffer significant harm which may affect the family relationships and autonomy its better to intervene now then wait until abuse or neglect has taken place and then safeguarding the child. This perspective takes a view that children have a high priority in society, they have rights to high standards of care and using this approach ensures that they are protected at all costs by the force of the law (Fox Harding, 1997). Child death inquiries are seen as an important tool used to improve local practice and implementing wider community health approaches to improve upon infant mortality rates. Bunting and Reid (2005) found that there numerous benefits to serious case reviews taking place. These included; more effective multi agency working, improved communication between agencies, they found that death certificates had become more informative they also found that from participating in serious case reviews practitioners had more knowledge surrounding child death and the causes of them ensuring a further focus on preventative measures of child death rather than focusing on child abuse. Corby et al (1998) have found that there is a growing concern on the impact of child inquiries on professionals especially social workers. They found that whilst inquiries were taking place social workers face continual criticism. The Maria Colwell case made social work practice public and put it under great scrutiny. Professionals within this case became points of focus of criticism, their work was scrutinised in incorrect contexts focusing on training of social workers affecting their morale significantly (Corby et al, 1998). The impact of child death inquiries on social workers and other professionals in this area can be psychological and emotional. Corby et al (1998) argues both sides of the case that child death inquiries can highlight poor practice and the need for the public to know why children already known to social services and other departments can still go on to be abused and killed. However the emotional and psychological effects on social workers can be so detrimental because of the scrutiny they are under, their work will be affected, and affecting further work they do. Corby et al (1998) investigated child abuse cases and inquiries and how useful they are and what changes have been made by using child death and abuse inquiries as an approach. Of the seventy inquiries they investigated between 1945 and 1997 they all produced similar recommendations in areas of improving inter agency co-ordination, training of professionals, improving child protection systems and using more experienced staff. Corby used this information to highlight that changes made between 1945 and 1997 have not been substantial as inquiries continue to make the same recommendations. Child death inquires do have their place in the public eye specifically when practice goes wrong, nevertheless they have a number of limitations. Child death inquiries affect personal confidence of the social workers and other professionals when they become embroiled within the investigation. Due to the nature of the child death inquiries the public only see the negatives of social workers, social workers fear the association of such inquiries. Practice will not change when inquiries focus solely on the structure of children and families department. If social workers feel like the target when involved in inquiries their work will be affected therefore affecting the work they do further on for example other children may be more at risk because social workers have no confidence in the work they are practicing. To use child death inquiries as a vehicle for policy development may not be the most effective approach to take. Child death inquiries are very expensive. If a more effective approach was to be taken and social workers and other professionals were able to learn more from this different process it would be more beneficial to take this approach than to carry on using money and concluding the same issues. Parton (2004) has found that the same issues have been identified on numerous times without any obvious changes in social work practice. Devaney, Lazenbatt and Bunting (2010) found that child death inquiries can still be effective but more emphasis needs to be on recommendations, implementing and acting upon them. Devaney et al (2010) also argue that policy makers need more understanding of the difficult situations in which children are at more risk from abuse or neglect. Devaney et al (2010) argue that this can help the policy makers express what social workers can do and make a disti nction between that and what should be done. Child death inquiries make assumptions that something has gone wrong and that the inquiry can find out what and give recommendations to learn from the mistakes. It assumes that practice will change because of the recommendations given and many inquiries dont focus on acting upon the recommendations, if they did then future inquiries wouldnt produce the same recommendations. Inquiries assume that the method they use is sophisticated. However, research into inquiries and literature has shown that other approaches could be more effective and less intrusive in practice and less strain can be put on professionals. Inquiries assume that multi agency working will be more effective, though if tensions between professionals are problematic then these will be difficult to resolve. Inquiries cannot assume that these tensions can be worked at by the professionals they need a superior management style to overlook the different professionals to be able to work effectively together. As well as the implications for social workers individually and for policy makers regarding the process of child death inquiries, organisational structures will be also be impacted upon when changing child welfare policy. Due to changes within organisations, for example changes in roles of professionals involved in child death inquiries the foundations of interprofessional multi agency work are not secure, concluded because inquiries focus excessively on the role of social workers rather than the antecedents of child death or abuse. With regards to the case of Maria Colwell (1974) the Secretary of State Barbara Castle concluded that social workers alone cannot solve the underlying problems. All professionals in this field of child welfare need to understand their role but if child welfare policy continues to change constantly the role cannot be undertaken as professionals have poor ideas of what their role is and how they should practice. All professionals need to work effectively to gether and have an understanding of delivering comprehensive services to diverse communities so no children are lost in the system or ignored. The importance of effective interprofessional multi agency work is such that until there is a balance of role and practice then the safeguarding of future children may be affected. Contemporary social work values may be affected, social workers have their own values personally and from learning from experience. Social workers must focus on human rights and social justice as their motivation for social work. Some critiques may argue that depending on the theoretical framework for example state paternalism some social workers may not be able to justify their motivation to impose this framework in their practice by not letting the family have a right to private family life (Human Rights, article 8) and be too quick to intervene. To ensure anti discriminatory practice social workers must understand different cultures have different behaviours when it comes to parenting. The social worker may think it is not appropriate, the family however may believe differently. This can lead to the social worker to not act at all. The social worker must ensure anti discriminatory practice, they need to see things from the perspective of the culture the family employs. Though stil l maintaining the values and knowledge they have regarding child abuse and when they should intervene. They must keep each case individual and make judgements based on evidence, not on their assumptions. To evaluate how useful child death inquiries are as a vehicle for policy development evidence needs to be considered whilst investigating journal papers to gain an understanding of where bias may occur. Using a wide range of sources gives a broader idea of what has been proven to work in social work practice (Roberts and Yeager, 2006). Research evidence is more valued than other sources, those papers that are repeatable and use a large amount of participants are more likely to have less prejudice in concluding how useful child death inquiries are as a vehicle for policy development. Higgs and Jones (2000) propose that evidence is knowledge derived from various sources, which has been tested and found credible. Having read all the information the weight of evidence suggests that changes need to be made to the approach of child death inquiries. The limitations and implications to practice are too substantial to ignore. Professionals and public havent seen any major changes because of the recommendations give by the inquiries. Corby et al (1998) found that of seventy public inquiries between 1945 and 1997 the main focus of recommendations was on improvements on inter agency co-ordination and improving the training of staff. The gap between the time of the death of the child and receiving the results of the inquiry is detrimental to social workers. Corby et al (1998) also argue that the cost of inquiries and the negative impact on social workers affecting their future practice may create more risk to other children they are safeguarding because they dont have the confidence to practice anymore. The most effective approach to take would be one that focuses with less scrutiny on the social worke rs so their confidence is not affected and acts upon the recommendations it has made. Policy can develop by using a different vehicle instead of child death inquiries. At the minute the impact of changing child welfare policy on social workers and organisational structure is considerable. An improved approach to child death inquiries can be more effective in changing policy than the constant changes that are currently happening because of the results from child death inquiries.

Peer Reviewed Article Summary

Peer-reviewed Articles Kimberly Winkler Psy/500 October 8, 2012 Bridgette Jenkins Abstract Resilience in any human being is vital but it also is important because it is the human capacity to face, overcome and strengthen by or even transformed by the adversities of life (Grotberg E. , Unknown). Every individual faces some sort of adversities which means that no one is exempt (Grotberg E. Unknown). Children are no exception to adversities so they must form resilience so they can overcome trauma (Grotberg E. , Unknown).Articles that will be discussed will show different mother-child interaction and resilience in children with early developmental risk and also using the resiliency scales for children and adolescents who are in the school settings. An article which discusses the comparison of maternal and paternal influences on young children’s behavior and resilience will also be deliberated upon. Mother-Child Interaction and resilience in children with early developmental risk M other Child interaction and resilience in children with early developmental risk speaks about a study which tests 50 children with early developmental delays.The article focused on the contributions of child characteristics and mother-child interaction to the prediction of formal intellectual disability (ID) among children with identified early developmental delays (Fenning & Baker, 2012). Children become resilient in certain situations and the study that was performed showed that children remain at risk for learning difficulties and teaching them resilience tools will help the children at risk for ID (Fenning & Baker, 2012).This article was extremely informative because it showed that mother-child interaction are very important to a child’s wellbeing and if not appropriately followed through with during preschool period they can be at risk for ID which increases resilience. Mother-child interaction is essential to resilience and this article portrays the importance of this. Fenning, R. M. , & Baker, J. K. (2012). Mother–child interaction and resilience in children with early developmental risk. Journal Of Family Psychology, 26(3), 411-420. doi:10. 1037/a0028287Assessing Personal Resiliency in the context of school settings: using the resiliency scales for children and adolescents Resiliency Scales for Children and Adolescents (RSCA) is a method to measure resiliency in students that is applicable for schools private use to utilize within the classroom environment (Embury, 2011). The RSCA will test students and pay attention to the strengths and limitations in personal resiliency (Embury, 2011). Resiliency interventions are then put into place depending on the results of the RSCA test and can be used in the school setting.School settings are just as significant as a child’s environment at home and when testing the children it will only set a foundation to better a child’s personal resiliency tools. The RSCA is easy to use and has ta ken studies pertaining to resilience and put them into a test form for the benefit of children in the school setting. Prince-Embury, S. (2011). Assessing personal resiliency in the context of school settings: Using the resiliency scales for children and adolescents. Psychology In The Schools, 48(7), 672-685. doi:10. 1002/pits. 20581The Comparison and Interdependence of Maternal and Paternal Influences on Young Children’s Behavior and Resilience We all go through tough times in our life and more people than others suffer with bouts of depressions and that does not exclude mothers and fathers. Systematically it has been understood that a mother-child relationship and a mothers depressed mood will affect children more so that a father-child relationship and a fathers depressed mood (Malmberg & Flouri, 2011). Research was done to decipher how depression affects young children’s behavior and their resilience to situations.I was intrigued to discover that economic deprivatio n and family stress have a negative effect on the mother-child relationship and in turn have a poor child outcome. Also, it was stated that during the research there was little evidence that showed the quality of father-child relationships promote resilience ( Malmberg & Flouri, 2011). As important as parent-child relationships are we can learn from them to promote positive behavior and form a positive resilience which is a natural part of young children.Malmberg, L. , & Flouri, E. (2011). The Comparison and Interdependence of Maternal and Paternal Influences on Young Children's Behavior and Resilience. Journal Of Clinical Child ; Adolescent Psychology, 40(3), 434-444. doi:10. 1080/15374416. 2011. 563469 References Edith H. Grotberg, Ph. D. (Unknown). Early Childhood Development: Practice and Reflections. In Guide to Promoting Resilience in Children: Strengthening the Human Spirit. Retrieved October 8, 2012, from http://resilnet. uiuc. edu/library/grotb95b. html.

Has EU aviation policy failed to meet its overall objective of producing safe, affordable, convenient and efficient services for its customers?

Introduction I don’t agree the EU aviation policy has failed to meet its overall objective of producing safe, affordable, convenient and efficient service for its customer. Mega-policy, according to De (2011, p.22) is master policy that deals with overall goals, certain basic assumption policy instruments and implementation strategies with the aim of typically large scale investments, and is divided as internal and external policy. In the EU aviation industry context, internal policy is meant to govern EU registered airlines whereas External governs non-EU registered airlines. The main aim of EU is to achieve a safe, affordable, convenient and efficient service for consumers. To provide a safe, affordable, convenient and efficient services1. Internal Policyi.Safety: EU established the European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) with the goal of ensuring civil aviation safety for its member countries (European Commission, 2009). The agency’s main task is to ensure air transport is safe as well as sustainable. To achieve this important goal, the agency has developed some of safety and environmental rules that must be adhered to by all stakeholders. In addition, it constantly monitors implementation of these standards through regular inspections of member states’ adherence to the rules, as well as offering technical support through training. Through EASA, EU regulates pilot and other crew member training as well as issuance of licences for European pilots. The establishment of single aviation market has been a huge success in enabling the EU agencies to collaborate in monitoring safety policy implementations. For example, European Commission, European Aviation Safety Agency and Eurocontrol have collaborated under the pillar of safe aviation services to the passengers through licensing regulations. Other agencies involved in safety regulation are national civil aviation authorities, and safety investigation authorities, who work to incorporate all stakeholders, including aircraft manufacturers and airline companies, in safety measures. The agencies operate under the common safety rules, which enable them to do random safety inspections at any European airport. Statistics show that, despite the rise in traffic over the last two decades, EU’s air safety initiatives have successfully maintained high standards in terms of aviation safety (EASA Annual Safety Review). It must, however, be noted that despite the raft of security measures, the notion of ‘zero risk’ in aviation does not exist, and occasional cases of accidents may occur. In such cases, EU advises that thorough investigations is the best approach, as studies show that accidents do not occur as a result of single event but a combination of multiple prior events (Ferroff et al., 2012). ii. Freedom to establish & provide services: EU’s establishment of a single European Aviation Market, from the initial 27 national air transport markets all over Europe, has created an atmosphere of success in terms of freedom to all markets. The initiatives were meant to: Increase market access top every European carrier, with no restriction on capacity; Ensure no discrimination in terms of license provision across Europe; Ensure freedom to provide services to the aviation industry Ensure operators’ freedom to pricing their product and services Ensure implement penalties on those who infringe on the procedures The increase in more choices has also seen the number of EU routes increase by 25 percent from 1992 to 2011. The increased competition has led to 420 percent rise in intra-EU routes with more than two carriers over the same period (Zamarreno, 2012). Finally, the EU initiative led to rise in new entrants, which facilitated competition thus the emergence of market for low-cost air services, which currently account for 40 percent of EU aviation market.2. External Policyi. Market Opening The external aviation policy has been an integral part of EU’s strategy in effort towards greater flexibility, consistency and transparency in matters international civil aviation. To achieve these goals, EU has been gradually and consistently making and ratifying bilateral and multilateral agreements with other international aviation bodies outside EU. As such, EU has been carrying out is horizontal mandate of bringing the existing bilateral and multilateral agreements into line with EU laws. They also identified the creation of a Common Aviation Area with neighbouring nations, including United States, Canada, Australia, Brazil and India among others as an important step towards realising sustainable growth. This realisation has led to: Over 117 non-EU states accepting EU designation; Close to 1000 bilateral aviation safety agreements have conformed to EU laws, which have translated into over 70 percent rise in EU air traffic; Some neighbouring countries willingly participate in a pan- European Common Aviation Area e.g. agreements with Morocco (signed in December 2006) and Israel (signed in July 2012) among many other nations; Comprehensive agreements with key partners such as United States, Canada and Brazil, which aims to open partners’ markets, removal of investment barriers, and converging regulations across borders; Increased level playing field through adoption of common rules and standards that ensures greater aviation safety, efficient infrastructure, consumer protection and lower prices due to competition (Zmarreno, 2012). ii. Affordability and Convenience An external policy has meant that EU citizens benefits from reduced prices and more travel offers resulting from competition between EU and international airlines. Moreover, every airline must up its game by offering better services in terms of quality and convenience to withstand competition. The European Union aviation industry employs more than five million people around the world and contributes ˆ365 billion to the European GDP (Sandbag, 2012). In spite of the current economic crisis, it is projected that global aviation industry will continue to experience an average annual growth of 5 percent till 2030. When EU emphasises its commitment to external partnerships through their external aviation policies, their goal is to ensure barriers to growth is eliminated through removal of any limiting factor of investment (e.g. airline ownership). It must be noted that initial ownership of airlines were highly regulated, with governments restricting foreign ownership in what was cited as national security measures. However, the discriminatory approach to ownership was removed, thanks to EU’s raft measures to increase fairness, allowing more openness in market access and competition. For example, EU has a general ownership rule that allows up to 49 percent foreign owne rship of a European aviation company (European Commission, 2009). This is much better than the United States’ 25 percent of voting stocks restrictions to foreign ownership. Arguably, this arrangement has made EU aviation industry more attractive to external investors, hence the region’s benefits from large economy of scale. iii. Environmental Safety Aviation industry is responsible for 2.5 percent of the total global carbon emission (Sandbag, 2012). This percentage rises to 4.9 percent of the total anthropogenic carbon effect if all the radiation components are included. Put to context, this would make aviation industry the seventh largest carbon emitting ‘country’ worldwide. The forecast from the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) indicates that by 2036 carbon emissions from the industry alone will hit 300% compared to 2011 levels (Bows, et al., 2010). European Union’s decision to include aviation industry into its carbon market, with the introduction of Emission Trading Scheme (ETS), signalled their desire to protect the global climate. More importantly, EU member countries ensured EU law has primacy over national law, hence giving the union broader power to control any form of environmental destruction that may emerge from a single country’s non-compliance. In December 2012, EU’s court of Justice made a major landmark decision when it ruled out that the decision by the EU to include the international aviation in the ETS did not contravene international law as claimed by many international airline operators (Sandbag, 2012). This meant that the court gave EU authority to implement the carbon emission policy. Although there is still an ongoing row that has escalated into a number of non-EU members joining forces together to challenge EU and its emission policy, the steps towards safer environment is on course, with EU leading the park towards realising this important milestone It is important to note that major EU airlines are in the process of adopting ETS to set pace for their international peers. This is an important step considering that 25 percent of the total aviation emission comes from the region’s airlines (Braun, 2008). Conclusion EU aviation policy has been hailed around the world as one that has achieved success amid the biting economic challenges facing many airline industry players. EU aviation industry has seen tremendous growth and development for the last two decades. One of reasons for this astronomical growth has been attributed to the union’s efforts to provide safe, affordable, convenient and efficient service for its customers. Policy formulation, research and implementation are some of the most important operational aspects of aviation sector the union has embraced. Despite the numerous challenges, some of which are cross-border related, various reports show that EU’s efforts have resulted into some measurable success that is not comparable to any other regional union around the world. The union’s mega policy on aviation, which consists of internal and external, has seen substantial changes in safety, freedom to establish and provide more choices, opening of more markets, incr eased affordability & convenience and environmental safety. These initiatives have also led to affordable pricing by the airlines, convenience, and safer environment. It’s no doubt the reason why EU is considered the world’s largest and the most successful regional market integration with the most liberalised air transport. References Bows, A., Mander, S. Randles, S., and Anderson K. (2010). Aviation emission in the context of climate change: a consumption- production approach. Final Policy Report. June 2010. Braun, M. (2008). The evolution of emission trading in the European Union- The role of policy networks, knowledge and policy entrepreneurs. Accounting Organisations and Society doi:10.1016/j.aos.2008.06.002: 1-19. De, P.K. (2011). Public Policy and Systems. New Jersey, NJ: Pearson Education. EASA Annual Safety Review: http://easa.europa.eu/newsroom-and-events/general publications European Commission. (2009). FWC Sector Competitiveness Studies- Competitiveness of the EU Aerospace Industry with focus on: Aeronautics Industry. European Commission Final Report, 15 December 2009. Ferroff, C., Mavin, T.J., Bates P.R. and Murray, P.S. (2012). A case for social constructionism in aviation safety and human performance research. Aeronautica, Issue 3, p. 1-12. Sandbag (2012), Aviation and the EU ETS: What happened in 2012 during ‘Stop the Clock’December 2012. Last retrieved on 14 May 2012 from http://www.sandbag.org.uk/site_media/pdfs/reports/Sandbag_Aviation_and_the_EU_ETS_2012_171213_1.pdf Zmarreno, C.M. (2012). EU aviation policy in terms of access market. Presentation for Euromed Aviation II: initial workshop on Market Access, Brussels, 17 December 2012.

Cambodia Case Study in Religion and Peacebuilding

Cambodia Case Study in Religion and Peacebuilding The history of Cambodia is closely associated with the intensive interaction of such important forces as the opposed political parties, influential external actors, and significant religious groups. The development of the nation in Cambodia directly depends on the relations of religion and politics in the country. From this point, it is important to focus on the effective peacebuilding activities and practices based on the religious principles and realized in Cambodia in order to regulate political conflicts in 1993 and 1998. Referring to the historic events, it is possible to state that religion is closely connected with politics in Cambodia in spite of the followed principles of the religious neutrality. Thus, Buddhism is the national religion in Cambodia, and the Buddhist monks played an important role in the political conflict regulation in 1993 and 1998 in spite of the stated ideas of neutrality and non-partisan roles. The Discussion of the Conflicts and the Timelines Before 1993, Cambodia was divided into two political factions that were in a constant developing conflict during a long period of time, without proposing any possible solutions. In addition, the Buddhist religious groups were inclined to preach peace and reconciliation as a way of diverting people’s attention from the political issues to the idea of the nation-building. The important events occurred in 1993 when the political coalition was organized as a result of the UNTAC activities and the 1993 elections. Cambodia has gained the political stability. However, the fragile coalition could not develop during a long period of time, and the year of 1997 was characterized by the examples of significant military violence. The tense situation in the country’s politics found its resolution in the elections of 1998 which aimed to promote the political stability in the country, but they also led to the post-elections conflicts (Morris 193-194). Thus, the timeline of the political conflicts in Cambodia includes several important dates which are the period of the elections in 1993, the military conflicts in 1997, the elections of 1998, and the post-elections conflicts. In spite of the fact that these conflicts were rather similar in their ideas, they differ significantly in relation to the role of Buddhist clergy and monks in these conflicts. Thus, if the Buddhist clergy focused on the peace walks as the main method to predict and resolve the conflicts in 1993, the Buddhist monks joined the opposition demonstrations in 1998, and they were actively involved in the post-election conflicts. Key Actors in the Cambodian Conflicts It is possible to determine three key actors of the Cambodian conflicts in 1993 and 1998. These actors as the opposite political forces struggling for the political dominance in the country, and the Buddhist clergy and monks who followed the principles of neutrality and non-violence proclaimed and developed by Maha Ghosananda (Morris 200). The opposed political parties followed two opposite ideologies which were based on the principles similar to Communism and Liberalism. Some politicians were inclined to use the pre- and post-elections conflicts to advance their interests and to oppress the population in Cambodia. The Buddhist clergy and monks represented the unique powerful actor in the social and political sphere of the country in spite of the fact that the ideals of Buddhism prohibited the active participation in the political activities. According to the developed Buddhism principles, the Buddhist clergy and monks in Cambodia were focused on the political neutrality in its combination with the social engagement, different non-partisan and non-violent strategies which were actively used in the process of resolving the conflicts in 1993 and 1998 (Morris 198). Religion, Peacebuilding, Conflict Resolution, and Politics Focusing on the events of 1993 and 1998, it is possible to state that religion in Cambodia is a very influential tool to convince people to change their minds and follow certain practices and social paths. In spite of the shared ideology and principles of non-partisan participation and political neutrality, the approaches used by the Buddhist clergy and monks while participating the social and political events of 1993 and 1998 are rather different that is why the results of the conflicts and the role of the Buddhist monks in the processes are different. In 1993, the Buddhist monks demonstrated their focus on the social engagement without participating directly in the political conflicts, and this approach led to the effective conflict resolution. On the contrary, in 1998, the Buddhist monks were actively involved in the conflict, and they became the victims of the military violence as the other people. The conflict was not resolved appropriately (Morris, 200-201). Referring to these two situations, it is possible to state that the Buddhist clergy and monks were oriented to finding the balance between two opposite approaches in order to adjust them to the proclaimed principles of the social engagement connected with the idea of neutrality and non-partisan position of the Buddhist clergy and monks in relation to the political powers in the country. The Buddhist clergy and monks in Cambodia played an important role in relation to the peacebuilding in the country, especially with references to the events of 1993. Thus, the peace walks organized before the elections were discussed as the powerful tool to cease the tensions in the society and to calm the population (Morris 200). As a result, the ideals of the neutrality and non-violence were followed directly, and many contributions was made to the social peace before the significant political events. Thus, the associated demonstrations were discussed as peaceful ones. From this point, the conflict resolution was achieved with references to the peaceful methods. However, the events of 1998 demonstrated the results of the opposite approach used by the Buddhist clergy and monks to respond to the political and social situations. The Buddhist clergy were effective in relation to handling the conflict before the elections because of focusing on the peace activities. Nevertheless, the Buddhist clergy and monks became involved in the demonstrations after the elections of 1998. Thus, the Buddhist clergy and monks expressed their political position clearly instead of avoiding any partisan activities (Morris 202). As a result, the conflicts were not regulated effectively during a long period of time. The role of the Buddhist clergy and monks in regulating the conflicts in 1993 and 1998 was significant to influence the voter turnout positively and to contribute to the development of the peaceful activities and behaviours within the Cambodian society. However, it is important to pay attention to the fact that the Buddhist religion contributed to the peacebuilding in Cambodia with references to following the non-partisan roles and teaching the society how to handle the conflicts and stay peaceful in the context of problematic social and political situations. Morris, Catherine. â€Å"Case Studies in Religion and Peacebuilding†. Religion and Peacebuilding. Ed. Harold Coward and Gordon Smith. New York: State University of New York Press, 2004. 191-211. Print.

Discuss the meaning of the term metaphysical with regard to three poems in the book Essays

Discuss the meaning of the term metaphysical with regard to three poems in the book Essays Discuss the meaning of the term metaphysical with regard to three poems in the book Essay Discuss the meaning of the term metaphysical with regard to three poems in the book Essay Essay Topic: Andrew Marvell Poems Donne Poems The Book Of Three Metaphysical poetry is poetry that explores a branch of philosophy that deals with the nature of existence and of knowledge. There are a number of trademark characteristics that feature in these poems that technically define them as metaphysical. Some of these features include the use of intellectual and reasoned persuasion, conceits, confrontational arguments and personification. In this book the metaphysical section looks at poems written before 1770 and by analysing three poems, I am hoping to identify the features that are most common in metaphysical poetry. I think it is important to discuss these features in order of importance to try and identify the main features with which you could identify a metaphysical poem. The poems I will look at are To His Coy Mistress, by Andrew Marvell, The Sun Rising, by John Donne, and To Daffodils, by Robert Herrick.Immediately, by looking at these poems, I can see that the purpose of all three poems is to persuade using reasoned logical arguments. In, To His Coy Mistress, with a series of arguments, Marvell is trying to persuade his shy love interest to have a sexual affair with him. This form of structured argument is favoured as oppose to the traditional practise of courting a woman. Because he has been courting this lady for so long and has yet succeeded in bedding her, he is frustrated and decides to embark on a different choice of tactic.This cleverly written poem aims to persuade her with an argument that is sectioned in three parts. In the first, he explains how things would and should be if they had the time. He tells her that if time werent an issue he would love her till the conversion of the Jews. This is ironic because the Jews will never convert to Christianity and this emphases the extent to which he would be prepared to wait for her virginity had he time. He tells her that if there were time to court, the way that she is torturing him would be no crime.The use of the word crime is ve ry strong and would inevitably make the lady feel like a criminal, guilty of tormenting this poor man. In the second part of the argument, Marvell turns to a more realistic note, telling her frankly that there is no time for games. He explains that with times winged chariot hurrying near they are fighting a war against time, where, if they dont hurry things along, they will loose the battle with time. He even tells her that if she doesnt have sex with him, the worms shall take her virginity when she dies. With this cruel argument, Marvell is hoping that he can scare her into sleeping with him. The argument closes with a section that tells her how they should seize the moment. By using the simile like amorous birds of prey, he is telling her that she should forget her coyness and make passionate love with him.The second poem in this section that uses an argument to persuade is The Sun Rising. In this poem, Donne is in bed with his lover and with the sun coming up, the daylight is mak ing their sexual appetite disappear. With this poem he is trying to persuade the sun to go away and leave them in the dark to make love. He says the sun is unruly to rise and a saucy pedantic wretch. From this, he is telling the sun that he is outrageous for halting his enjoyment and at the same time desperately dull for not appreciating how wonderful sex is. This use of opposites is otherwise known as an oxymoron.He tells the sun to go and wake up other people, like the king, and the the schoolboys and sour pretences because he is wasting his energy on someone who doesnt care. For him and his lover do not care for the rags of time because their love is stronger than time, Love, all alike, no season knows nor clime. He also asks him why he feels so powerful, so reverend and strong when his lover shines more brightly than the sun, and that he is surprised that her eyes have not blinded thine. In this argument Donne is trying to belittle the sun, steal his confidence and therefore, pe rsuade him to leave him in peace.In Daffodils, Herrick is trying to persuade the flowers that he loves so dearly, to stay with him forever, begging, stay stay. He compares the life cycle of a daffodil to that of humans explaining that like spring flowers have a short life, so do people. He tells the daffodils that if he waits till the evensong, which is a metaphor for winter, they can go together. He his trying to convince the flowers that they will not have to wait very long for him to die because humans have as short a spring as flowers do.Another characteristic that comes to my attention and features in all three poems is the poets use of geographical and scientific features, such as time and the cosmos to guide their arguments. In To His Coy Mistress, the theme of time and the lack of it is the main theme of the poem and strengthens his argument to his mistress. He also mentions places such as the Indian Ganges and the river Humber as part of his argument to show her how patient he would be if they had time. Even if she were on the other side of the world, he would wait. In The Sun Rising, geography and the cosmos is included in Donnes argument. He tells the sun that his lover is so precious and that her eyes are so bright, that the sun may very well see the riches of th Indias in her eyes.He also makes the sun feel powerless by telling it that the two lovers are the centre of the universe, thy sphere and that the sun is not. In To Daffodils, time and the cycle of life is the key theme of the poem. When Herrick compares the life of a daffodil to a human life he uses the different times of day as metaphors for the different seasons of the year. The early rising is the spring, noon, is the afternoon and evensong is the winter. By making this sort of comparison, he is making the daffodils relate to him and therefore encourage them not to leave when springtime ends. He encourages the daffodil slowly first, pleading with them to stay till the day is over, till the year is over and eventually till his human life is over, so that he can go with them.The last feature that occurs in all three of these poems is the use of personification. In To His Coy Mistress, time is personified when he tells his mistress that times winged chariot hurrying near means they are really fighting a personal battle with time, a war in which they have no way of winning if they do not seize the moment and have sex. In The Sun Rising, the whole poem is dedicated to the sun, indicating that the sun indeed has human characteristics in the eyes of John Donne.Further evidence of this is when he labels the sun as a busy old fool which clearly personifies the sun. In To Daffodils, the same principle applies when Herrick dedicates a whole poem to persuading the flowers not to leave him. By using the personal pronoun, you to address the daffodils he is personifying them as though they were humans. This love of personification by metaphysical poets is not the most prominent characteristic of metaphysical poems but it does feature in all three poems, so evidently it is one of the favoured devices.From my analysis there are many features which tend to define metaphysical poetry that occur frequently, and there are many more that I have not mentioned in this essay. However for me, these three are the characteristics that crop up most in these particular poems and undoubtedly, the use of a logical structured argument is not only popular but in most cases is the central purpose of the poem.

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