Accounting and Managment Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3250 words

Accounting and Managment - Research Paper Example Coombs & Jenkins (2002) Costly: For a better idea of the real cost of budget preparation, consider a company where 160 employees devote time to some aspect of budgeting. At an average cost of approximately $105,000 per employee, the company s annual cost of budgeting is nearly $17 million. Van der Stede (2003) Are irrelevant to today's environment: Budgets are developed and updated too infrequently. In today's turbulent business environment, the budgeted numbers could change daily and, as a result, the budget would be out of date before the financial year has even begun. (Barr, p38) Inflexible: Budgets are too reactive and inflexible and are a barrier to change. There are very few companies that actually update their budget during the fiscal year, purely because it is too complex and time consuming. Management and governments also spend very little time each month working on strategy, as most time is spent on data collection, reconciliation and accountability for public funds. Niskanen (1971) Internally focused: Jeremy Hope and Robin Fraser (2003) argue that budgets focus on cost reduction and not value creation. Budgets focus on internally generated targets that are comfortably achievable by you, but appears difficult to your superior. This breeds sub-optimalisation and does not promote growth of shareholder value. Production oriented: According to Stefan Sering and Maria Goldbach (2002), the traditional budget was developed in the manufacturing era where production costs and revenues were predictable, whereas today, an event such as 9/11 can change the way you do business at the drop of a hat. Concentrate on numbers: In the form of incrementalism-where the previous year's appropriation is the starting point for budget formulation, with negotiations focused on increments or decrements, state budgets. It is quite evident that while making budgets, the emphasis is on numbers and cost cutting. Aaron Wildavsky (2001). Does not include non financial information: The budget structure does not reflect changes in the company's organization and processes, and people were budgeting many costs largely under someone else's control. Hope and Fraser (2003) argue that front line managers are unable to regulate their own performance and financial planning processes. And therefore individual behaviours are not better aligned with corporate strategy. They don't reduce costs but protect them. This comes from the age old "use it or lose it" mentality. Staff knows that if they don't use a budgeted expense, it will get pulled from the next year's budget as management sees it as unnecessary especially in the public sector. Any unused balances are cut from the next annual budget. Brimson, Antos and Collins (1999). They encourage managers to play games with it. Budgets can encourage 'gaming' and perverse behaviour. Finance managers are more than familiar with "managing the slack" and making the budget "presentable" to the board. This, however, creates a culture of dishonesty and can lead to greater troubles such as fraud. Jensen (2001) They are results oriented. According to Hansen and Mowen (2006), when budgets are resource driven rather than output driven, then managers concentrate on resources and may fail to see the link between resources and output. When the need arises for cost cutting they make cuts on

Food and Beverage Operations Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 4000 words

Food and Beverage Operations - Assignment Example It may be ready to serve when it is delivered or it may need to be cooked and finalised (as it is still cold or frozen) in another kitchen, or a second kitchen. The sous vide is the most recently developed system of preparing food. Raw foods are prepared (such as by browning), then placed in vacuum sealed bags or pouches, and then steam-cooked at high temperatures that will pasteurize them. The food can then be served to the customers or chilled and stored. Food prepared this way can be stored for up to twenty-one days. The cook-freeze process means a catering system that requires fully cooking and then rapidly freezing the food. Then it is stored at temperature of -18 degrees or below. The food will be reheated before serving to customers. Care should be taken to prevent the food from being contaminated and to make sure that the stock is rotated and is fresh. before being served to customers. The shelf life of foods prepared by the cook-chill process is much shorter than foods prepared by the cook-freeze process as the shelf life is only five days (including the day of production, the time it takes to be distributed, and the time it takes for regeneration. a waiter who serves guests at the table using forks and knives. The food is served with a salver on to the plate and then placed in front of customers. This is also known as the Russian service. Family service is similar to that of the American service. The gueridon service is when silver salvers of food is placed on a small cart called a gueridon which has a

The Third Battle Of Ypres History Essay

The Third Battle Of Ypres History Essay The Battle of Passchendaele also known as the Third Battle of Ypres. This was one of the major battles of World War I and consisted of a series of different operations and engagements between the 31st of July and the 6th of November with the objective of capturing vast amounts of German territory as well as destroying German submarine bases along the Belgian coast in an effort to thwart enemy naval capabilities. This campaign, unlike some others launched in the First World War, was meticulously planned by British Commander-in-Chief General Douglas Haig. However, General Haig was known as a stubborn man and showed major reluctance to modernise his tactics and strategies as a Commander, failing to see the use of artillery and being of the opinion that the Cavalry Charge still had a place in modern military tactics and because of this he may have been responsible for the heavy losses suffered by Allied forces at both Ypres and the Somme due to his unwillingness to deviate from his initi al strategies. The precursor to the Battle of Passchendaele was to be a preliminary artillery barrage against the entrenched Germans and their defenses on June 7, 1917 with the objective of softening the defensive lines to allow for an easier advance by Allied. Earlier, the British and Australians had deviantly planted 21 mines containing 450,000 kilograms of high explosives beneath the German defensive lines and their detonation signalled the initial attack by ANZAC forces who managed to take the town of Messines proper within two hours and subsequently the Messines ridge. The Battle of Messines alerted the already aware Germans of an impending attack. Three Victoria Cross medals were awarded to the ANZAC forces here. -Show Battle of Messines overview and point out battle lines- Following the Battle of Messines British forces began artillery bombardment on the Gheluvelt plateau which overlooked the town of Ypres. The bombardment again notified the German forces of impending attack and they moved troops to the front lines in response. The beginning of what would eventually become known as the Battle of Passchendaele started on July 31st with the Battle of Pilckem Ridge, in which 32,000 Allied lives were lost for the gain of 1,800 meters, and with the Battle of Langemarck which commenced slightly later on the 16th of August. These attacks allowed British forces to secure valuable footholds from which they would later attack Passchendaele. -Show Battle of Passchendaele overview, point out Allied and German positions- It is at this point that General Herbert Plumer took command of the Allied forces from General Hubert Gough, who favoured sweeping aggression, and abandoned the tactics that were failing to help the Allies to gain any appreciable ground and started to employ the same tactics that the ANZACs used successfully in the Battle of Messines. General Plumer planned to create smaller, more easily obtainable objectives instead of having the advancing parties rushing as far as they could before becoming exhausted and being repelled by fresh German reserves. September 20th, 52 days since the beginning of the Battle of Passchendaele. The Allies have gained a mere 2.5 kilometres for the loss of approximately 60,000 men or 24 men per meter. Haig was wagering that the German army would break soon, unable to continue reinforcing the front lines due to the heavy losses they sustained earlier at the Somme and Verdun. Plumer now starts the Battle of Menin Road, an engagement that would last 5 days. German defences are fierce with many young Australian soldiers falling to the bullets and shells of enemy infantry, pillboxes and artillery, ultimately limiting the gain of the Allies to 1,400 meters of territory while costing the lives 21,000 Allied soldiers or 15 men per meter gained, ANZAC deaths included. It followed a heavy artillery barrage with a reported 3.5 million artillery shells being fired with an allotment of one artillery piece for every five yards of the attack front. This major loss of ground by the Germans convinced them that their p revious tactic of defence in depth was obsolete and prompted a change in the way the lines were reinforced and held to create a more elastic defence. This caused heavier loses for the Germans during the preparatory bombardment and their subsequent counter-attacks. This would bode well for the Australians as more lives were about to be thrown at the enemy for more trivial territory gains. -Show picture of Australian soldiers are the Battle of Polygon Wood- The day after the Battle of Menin Road the Australian 4th and 5th Divisions would fight in a small conflict called the Battle of Polygon Wood, named for the shape the woods lay across the axis of the advancing Australian forces. The Australians were tasked with building upon the gains made during the Battle of Menin Road, however atop a large earthen mound overlooking the battlefield was the German position, heavily fortified by machine gun nests, dugouts and foxholes, ready to repel the advancing forces. Artillery covering the advance of Australian soldiers was heavy with one gun for every nine meters of the front, demolishing the Wood itself and destroying some of the German emplacements. By the time the soldiers had assaulted German positions the wood had been reduced to naught but splinters and broken wood but despite the heavy bombardment by Allied artillery, German pillboxes harassed the Australian soldiers, protecting the machine gunners hidden inside, ending the lives of appr oximately 7,200 Aussie men. It was the courage, mateship, fighting spirit and unwillingness to back down that helped the Australian soldiers take the Wood that was so heavily defended by the German army and repel the subsequent desperate counter-attacks launched. The following Battle of Broodseinde was the final time General Plumers strategy of biting and holding territory was successful and was a shining example that the spirit of the Allied forces could overcome even the hardest of German defences. From the outlook the men of I ANZAC and II ANZAC were tasked with capturing the crest of the previously mentioned Gheluvelt Plateau In conclusion, the Battle of Passchendaele was a cohesive event for the Australians as they gained respect as a formidable and capable fighting force from their Allies, strengthening the bond between the nations fighting men. It is also the embodiment of the courageous fighting spirit shown by the ANZACs that allowed the men to continue taking the battle to the Germans after losing 38,000 men of the original 70,000 to the bitter battle of attrition. For the massive number of troops lost on both sides, approximately 310,000 for the Allies and 260,000 for the Germans, for the gain of only a few kilometres. It is interesting to note that Adolf Hitler fought in the Battle of Passchendaele with the 6th Bavarian Reserve Division where he was injured on October 13, 1918 by a British gas attack.

America in the 1920s and 1930s :: American History

When many people study history and learn the mistakes from the past, it would be easier to able to understand the present. Nevertheless, it is not enough to simply study the events that have transpired. By changing the unfavorable events that led to despair and continuing the benefits to society, one can understand why they happen and better the future. In the United States in the early 1920s, a new stage appeared with different movements in the areas of politics, economics, society, culture, and foreign policy. By the events that led to the 1930s, new crazes had developed in many of these areas, while other areas remained in continuity. From the 1920s to the 1930, there were several factors that contributed to the changes in American society. The 1920s began shortly after in World War I when the United States and the Allies defeated the Germans in 1918. Many Americans were fed up with Woodrow Wilson, the 28th president from 1913 to 1921. The first election of the 1920s scoured Republican Warren G. Harding against Democrat James M. Cox. Cox supported Wilson and the League of Nations in the election. However, Harding won the election in a landslide, which was a sign of America ¡Ã‚ ¦s frustration with Wilson and his optimistic and liberal policies. The start of the new conservative era restored the power to the Republicans after the presidential election of the 1920. Harding made quite a few excellent appointments to his cabinet although he failed to demonstrate to have much intelligence. Charles Evans Hughes was appointed to be the Secretary of State, Andrew W. Mellon appointed as the Secretary of the Treasury and as leader of the Commerce Department, and Herbert Hoover bumped up the 1920s to a new level. On the other hand, Harding also appointed some of the worst positions for office. He appointed Albert B. Fall as the Secretary of the Interior. The Teapot Dome Scandal or the  ¡Ã‚ §Oil Reserves Scandal ¡Ã‚ ¨ [Simon, 3/8/00] surrounded the secret leasing of the federal oil reserves by Fall. He secretly granted the Mammoth Oil Company exclusive rights to the Teapot Dome reserves in Wyoming after President Harding transferred supervision of the naval oil reserve lands from the navy to him. While this scandal entered American politics as a symbol of governmental corruption, it had little long-term effect on the Republican Party. For the moment, Harding started the conservative trend of politics in the 1920s.

Aboriginal Canadians and European Settlers

Aboriginal Canadians and European settlers In the history of contact between Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal peoples in Canada, there has been an imbalance in acculturative influences. Generally, Aboriginal peoples have been changed substantially, with serious erosion of their cultures and identities. However, this dominance by Euro Canadian peoples has also been met by resistance by Aboriginal peoples.Policy and programme changes to alter the relationship between these two sets of people are suggested, including a reduction in pressures toward assimilation and segregation which have historically resulted in the marginalization of Aboriginal Peoples in Canada. When individuals experience intercultural contact, the issue of who they are comes to the fore. Prior to major contact, this question is hardly an issue; people routinely and naturally think of themselves as part of their cultural community, and usually value this attachment in positive terms.Of course, other life transitions (su ch as adolescence) can lead people to wonder, and even doubt, which they are. But it is only during intercultural contact that their cultural identity may become a matter of concern. The Royal Commission on Aboriginal Peoples established a research project on Aboriginal cultural identity, and commissioned reports on the subject.This paper is based on one of those reports, and draws upon concepts, data and analyses that were carried out as a consultant to that project The main line of argument in this paper is that intercultural contact between Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal peoples in Canada (both historically, and at the present time), has initiated a process of acculturation (at both the cultural and psychological levels), during which Aboriginal peoples have experienced cultural disruption, leading to reducedwell-being and to identity confusion and loss.It is further argued that sincethis process has resulted from interactions between Aboriginal and nonAboriginal peoples, the key to reestablishing a sense of well-being and secure cultural identity resides in restructuring the relationships between these two communities. This paper contains four sections: a discussion of the concept of cultural identity, as it derives from the social science literature; a brief review of the process and consequences of intercultural contact; a summary of the main findings; and a discussion of their implications for policy and programmed.May lead to more positive identities, and to cultural and psychological outcomes that are more fulfilling. Breton and Norman fishermen came into contact with the Algonquians of the northeast at the beginning of the 16th century, if not earlier, as they put into natural harbors and bays to seek shelter from storms and to replenish water and food supplies. There is some indication that these first contacts with Aboriginal inhabitants were not always friendly.A few individuals were kidnapped and taken to France to be paraded at the court and in p ublic on state and religious occasions. Also, precautions seem to have been taken to hide the women inland when parties landed from ships engaged in cod fishing or walrus hunting. On the other hand, there were mutually satisfactory encounters as trade took place. The Algonquian brought furs, hides and fish in exchange for beads, mirrors and other European goods of aesthetic and perhaps spiritual value. Both sides seemed content with this growing exchange.Soon the Algonquian exacted goods of more materialistic value, such as needles, knives, kettles or woven cloth, while the French displayed an insatiable desire for well-worn beaver cloaks. In the 16th century, the French, like their western European neighbors, proceeded to lay claim to lands â€Å"not possessed by any other Christian prince† based on the European legal theory of Terra Nullius. This theory argued that since these lands were uninhabited, or at least uncultivated, they needed to be brought under Christian domini on.The royal commission to ROBERVAL for the St Lawrence region, dated 15 January 1541, and La Roche's commission for SABLE ISLAND in 1598 enjoined acquisition either by voluntary cession or conquest. By the early 17th century, as the FUR TRADE expanded and Catholic missionary work was seriously contemplated, a policy of pacification emerged. The fact that the French chose to colonize along the Bay of Fundy marshlands and the St Lawrence Valley, from which the original Iroquoians had disappeared by 1580, meant that no Aboriginal peoples were displaced to make way for colonists.This peaceful cohabitation remained characteristic of Aboriginal-French relations up to the fall of ACADIA (1710) and of NEW FRANCE (1760). Beyond the Acadian farmlands and the Laurentian seigniorial tract, the Aboriginal peoples on their ancestral lands continued to be fully independent, following their traditional lifestyle and customs. Royal instructions to Governor Corellas in 1665 emphasized â€Å"the off icers, soldiers and all His Majesty's adult subjects treat the Indians with kindness, justice and equity, without ever causing them any hurt or violence. Furthermore, it was ordered that no one was to â€Å"take the lands on which they are living under pretext that it would be better and more suitable if they were French. † Royal instructions in 1716 not only required peaceful relations with the Aboriginal peoples in the interests of trade and missions but also forbade the French from clearing land and settling west of the Montreal region seigneurs. In the PAYS D'EN HAUT, care was taken to obtain permission from the Aboriginals before establishing a trading post, fort, mission station or small agricultural community such as Detroit or in the Illinois country.Following a conference with 80 Iroquois delegates at Quebec in the autumn of 1748, Governor La Galissoniere and Intendant Bigot reaffirmed that â€Å"these Indians claim to be and in effect are independent of all nations , and their lands incontestably belong to them. † Nevertheless, France continued to assert its sovereignty and to speak for the â€Å"allied nations† at the international level. This sovereignty was exercised against European rivals through the allied â€Å"nations,† not at their expense through the suppression of local customs and independence.The Aboriginal peoples accepted this protectorate because it offered them external support while permitting them to govern themselves and pursue their traditional ways. The MI'KMAQ, and later the Arenac, accepted the Catholic religion, even in the absence of large-scale sustained evangelization, as a confirmation of their alliance and brotherhood with the French and resistance to Anglo-American incursions. When the Milkman eventually signed a treaty of peace and friendship with the British authorities at Halifax in 1752, the ABENAKI who had taken refuge in Canada rebuffed the official delegate of the governor at Boston.Beg inning their apostolic labors in Acadia in 1611 and in Canada in 1615, Catholic MISSIONARIES dreamed of a rapid conversion of Aboriginal peoples and even wondered if they might not be descendants of the Ten Lost Tribes of Israel. Traditional Milkman and Montagnais hospitality dictated that the itinerant missionaries be well received. Soon evangelization efforts were centered on the sedentary, horticultural and strategically located HURON confederacy (see STE MARIE AMONG THE HURONS).But factionalism arising out of favoritism shown to converts and the EPIDEMICS that decimated the population almost brought the mission to a close. On two occasions, the JESUITS were spared execution or exile on charges of witchcraft only by French threats to cut off the trade on which the Huron had become dependent. Following the dispersal of the Huron in 1648-49, the missionaries turned to other groups in the Great Lakes basin, including the IROQUOIS confederacy, but they never enjoyed great success. Ab original peoples assumed a tolerant dualism: â€Å"you can have your ways and we will have ours, for everyone values his own wares. More success was achieved on the reductions, or reserves (see INDIAN RESERVE) as they came to be known, established within the seigniorial tract of New France. In 1637 the seigneur of SILLERY near Quebec was designated a reduction for some Montagnais encamped nearby as well as for all the northern hunters who would take up agriculture under Jesuit tutelage. Although the Montagnais did not remain long, some Arenac refugees came to settle, and finally Huron who escaped from the Iroquois conquest of their country.Eventually there were reserves near each of the three French bridgeheads of settlement: Loretta near Quebec for the Huron; Betancourt and Saint-Francois near Trois-Rivieres for the Abenaki; Kahnawake near Montreal for the Iroquois and Lac-des-Deux-Montagnes for both ALGONQUINS and Iroquois. These reserves were relocated from time to time at ever greater distances from the principal towns not only because of soil exhaustion but also because of the desire of the missionaries to isolate the Aboriginal converts from the temptations of alcohol, prostitution and gambling.The Kahnawake reserve, with the connivance of certain Montreal merchants, became an important link in an illicit trade with Albany and New York. The French designated those Aboriginal peoples who settled on these reserves under the supervision of Missionaries as â€Å"Indiens domicilies† (resident Indians). Those who came to live on reserves were motivated by religious ideals and the need to escape persecution or encroachment on their lands, but in time the economic advantages became quite substantial. It was often on the reserves that canoemen, scouts and warriors were recruited for trade and war.The products of the field and the hunt, as well as the manufacture of canoes, snowshoes and moccasins found a good outlet on the Quebec market. At the time of th e British CONQUEST of New France in 1760, the â€Å"resident Indians' were united in a federation known as the SEVEN NATIONS of Canada. It is possible that this Aboriginal political organization, whose membership evolved over the years, dates back to the early days of the French regime at the time when the first Aboriginal â€Å"reductions† (reserves) were created in the St Lawrence valley.Official French objectives had been to christianize and francize the Aboriginal peoples in order to attain the utopian ideal of â€Å"one people. † The church tried to achieve this objective through itinerant missions, education of an Aboriginal elite in France, reserves and boarding schools, but in the end it was clear that the Aboriginal peoples would not abandon their culture, even when converted. It was the missionaries who, like the fur traders, learned the Aboriginal languages and adopted Aboriginal survival techniques.Racial intermarriage, or metissage, traced its origin to t he casual encounters, almost exclusively between Aboriginal women and Frenchmen deprived of European spouses, beginning with the fishermen and sailors along the Atlantic seaboard, and spreading into the hinterland as traders and interpreters, later unlicensed COUREURS DE BOIS, and finally garrison troops came into contact with the interior communities. VOYAGEURS and canoemen travelling to and from the upper country of Canada in the interests of the fur trade acquired the services of Aboriginal women to make and break camp, cook, carry baggage and serve as mistresses.Many of these unions became long-lasting and were recognized locally as legitimate a la facon du pays. Canon law forbade the marriage of Catholics with pagans, so missionaries often had to instruct and baptize adults and children and then regularize such unions. In 1735 Louis XV forbade most mixed marriages; nevertheless the rise of METIS communities in the Great Lakes basin, particularly along Lake Superior, indicated t he prevalence of the practice. Warfare was an aspect of Aboriginal life in which the French soon became involved.Most of the Aboriginal people remained steadfastly attached and loyal to France through to PONTIAC's rising in 1763, with the exception of the Iroquois, Fox and Sioux. Champlain, by supporting his Algonquian and Huron trading partners in 1609, earned the long-lasting enmity of the Iroquois. The French were unable to save the Huron from destruction at the hands of the Iroquois in 1648-49, nor were they able to stop Iroquois incursions into their own or their western allies' territories until the peace of Montreal in 1701 (see IROQUOIS WARS).The Fox became hostile in 1712 and were the objects of several military expeditions before their dispersal in 1730. The Sioux also often attacked France's trading partners and allies before agreeing to a general peace settlement in 1754. Canadian militiamen and Aboriginal auxiliaries distinguished themselves also in expeditions to aid L ouisiana against the Chickasaws and the Natchez. The escalation of tensions between the French and English over control of the fur trade in North America led to the signing of the TREATY OF UTRECHT in 1713.Under the terms of the treaty, France retained access to Cape Breton Island, the St Lawrence Islands and fishing rights off Newfoundland but ceded Acadia (Nova Scotia) to the British and recognized British jurisdiction over the northern territory of RUPERT'S LAND and the island of Newfoundland. The Mi'kmaq, MALISEET and Passamaquoddy of the area, considered themselves to be friends and allies and not subjects of the French Crown, as well as the rightful owners of the territory ceded to the British Crown.The lack of consultation regarding the terms of the treaty, and the lack of compensation provided to the Mi'kmaq, Maliseet and Passamaquoddy upset them greatly, significantly shifting the balance of power and Aboriginal-French relations in the area. France spent large sums of money for the annual distribution of the â€Å"King's presents† to the allied nations. In addition, the Crown issued clothing, weapons and ammunition to Aboriginal auxiliaries, paid for their services, and maintained their families when the men were on active duty. These Aboriginal warriors were judged invaluable for guiding, scouting and surprise raiding parties.Their war aims and practices, including scalping and platform torture, were not interfered with as they generally fought alongside the French as independent auxiliaries. In defeat, the French remembered them, obtaining in the terms of capitulation (1760) that they be treated as soldiers under arms, that they â€Å"be maintained in the Lands they inhabit,† and that they enjoy freedom of religion and keep their missionaries. These terms were further reiterated in the Treaty of Oswegatchie, negotiated by Sir William JOHNSON, at Fort Levis (near present-day Ogdensburg, New York), on 30 August 1760, and reaffirmed at Ka hnawake on 15-16 September 1760.These two treaties set out the terms for British protection of the interest of the Seven Nations and for the peaceful colonial occupation of their lands. As a result of this conquest, the French monarchy capitulated New France to Great Britain and on 10 February 1763, France and Great Britain signed the TREATY OF PARIS. The treaty outlined the conditions of the capitulation, which involved a series of land exchanges in which France handed over their control of New France to the English.Article 4 of the treaty provided for the transfer of French control of lands in North America east of the Mississippi River to Great Britain. Under the terms of the treaty, Great Britain also gained control of Florida from the Spanish, who took control of New Orleans and the Louisiana territory west of the Mississippi River from the French. In order to establish jurisdiction in the newly conquered Canadian colonies, on 7 October 1763, King George III and the British Imp erial Government issued a Royal Proclamation outlining the management of the colonies.Of particular importance, the proclamation reserved a large tract of unceded territory, not including the lands reserved for the Hudson's Bay Company, east of the Mississippi River as â€Å"hunting grounds† for Aboriginal peoples. As well, the proclamation established the requirements for the transfer of Aboriginal title to the Crown, indicating that the Crown could only purchase Aboriginal lands and that such purchases had to be unanimously approved by a council of Aboriginal people.The proclamation also provided the terms for the establishment of colonial governments in Quebec, West Florida, East Florida and Grenada. The colonies were granted the ability to elect general assemblies under a royally appointed governor and high council, with the power to create laws and ordinances, as well as establish civil and criminal courts specific to the area and in agreement with British and colonial l aws.References: 1994 Aboriginal Cultural Identity. Report submitted to the Royal Commission on Aboriginal Peoples. Ottawa, Ontario Aboud, F. 1981 Ethnic Self-identity, in R. C. Gardner and R. Kalin (Editors): A Canadian Social Psychology of Ethnic Relations. Toronto: Methuen. Keefe, S. E. 1992 Ethnic Identity: The Domain of Perceptions of, and Attachment to Ethnic Groups and Cultures. Human Organization 51 :35-43.

Jenny: A Character Analysis Essay

INTRODUCTION This paper is a two-part personality analysis of Jenny’s character in the movie Forrest Gump. Jenny is the lead character’s childhood friend who, as a child, is sexually and physically abused by her own father and, as a young adult, gets into drug addiction and attempts suicide, and eventually succumbs to an early death, leaving behind Forrest and their only son. Section I looks at Jenny from the points of view of Social Cognitive and Psychodynamic theories. Section II is an in-depth analysis of Jenny’s personality using Social Cognitive Theory.    Section I:  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Character Personality Matrix Theory Major Components Structure Process Growth and Development Psychopathology Change    Social Cognitive Theory    Jenny has a talent in singing but has poor self-perception, low self-efficacy and does not have goals.    Jenny lacks self-regulation.       Jenny has a mal-adaptive personality which is a result of her low self-efficacy. She could have learned her anti-social or maladaptive behavior (drug use, being associated with anti-social peers, and suicidal tendencies, among others) through observation from models as well as through direct experience. She was brought up by an abusive father, she has witnessed aggression (she was present when Forrest was bullied by the kids at school) and, as a grown-up, been a direct recipient of an aggressive behavior (she was hit in the face by her boyfriend in the Blank Panther party).       Jenny’s maladaptive behavior is a result of dysfunctional learning — she has observed and directly experienced inadequate or sick models (his father and his peers) — and maintained this kind of learning through reinforcement. She seems to have a phobia in relationship, that’s why she keeps running from Forrest who loves her and whom she professes to love.    Jenny shows a remarkably altered behavior toward the end of the movie — the result of her acquiring new thought patterns and behavior, and improved self-efficacy. Psychodynamic Theory Jenny has a weakened ego caused by an internal conflict. Jenny is suffering from anxiety caused by earlier trauma (her traumatic experience with her father, and even her experience of witnessing traumatic events happen to Forrest). Jenny is living in a distorted reality. She has learned to repress her emotions. She may also be living in denial of her traumatic past. Jenny’s maladaptive behavior from young adulthood and into adulthood are mainly caused by her traumatic experiences when she was a young girl (that is, the physical and sexual abuse she received from her father). Jenny exhibits a conflict of wishes and fears. She has carried over into adulthood her childhood wishes and dreams. Jenny’s altered behavior toward the end of the movie may be the result of undergoing cathartic hypnosis or free-association method.    Section II:  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Application of Personality Theory    Theory Description and Rationale Social cognitive theory is a personality theory proposed by Albert Bandura and Richard Walters in 1963. Taking its roots from the social learning theory proposed by Neal Miller and John Dollard in 1941, it views people as â€Å"neither driven by inner forces nor automatically shaped and controlled by external stimuli†¦ [but are] active agents who exercise some influence over their own motivation and actions,† (Bandura, 1986, p. 18, 225). It views people as â€Å"self-organizing, proactive, self-reflecting and self-regulating rather than as reactive organisms shaped and shepherded by environmental forces or driven by concealed inner impulses,† and human processes as â€Å"the product of a dynamic interplay of personal, behavioral, and environmental influences,† (Fajares, 2002). What’s good about the theory is that it takes into account the individual’s beliefs and expectations. It emphasizes that although reinforcement and punishment affect motivation, they do not directly cause behavior. According to the theory, the beliefs that people have about themselves are critical in their response to situations. People are both products and producers of their own environments and of their social systems, and, though they are influenced by their environment, their interpretations of their situations greatly shape their behavior. Humans, in the view of the theory, posses intricate capabilities that define what it is to be human. They can symbolize and deduct meanings from symbols, learn, self-regulate, and self-reflect, among other things, and these capabilities help them define their own personality (Fajares, 2002). According to the theory, modeling, which can be direct (from live models), symbolic (from books, movies, and television), or synthesized (combining the acts of different models), lies at the core of social cognitive theory. Modeling can cause new behaviors, facilitate existing behaviors, change inhibitions, and arouse emotions (Pervin, 1989). The choice of the social cognitive theory to analyze the character of Jenny in the movie, Forrest Gump is mainly due to the author’s perception of the theory as the most comprehensive of all the personality theories, and hence, the most fitting to analyze the character in question. The theory takes into consideration factors that behavioral and cognitive theories dismiss. It can also clearly explain things that the other theories cannot explain, as it does not have as many limitations as the other personality theories. Character Description From the view of the social cognitive theory, Jenny is a talented woman, but has poor self-perception and low self-efficacy. This means that she most likely thinks of herself as incapable of coping with situations. Likewise, Jenny has poor self-regulation and is without goals. This means that she does not have a guide that will help her to establish her priorities, and is more likely incapable of regulating her own behavior. Having directly experienced physical and sexual abuse from her father as a child, and having lived in an environment that tolerates maladaptive behavior as a young adult, Jenny eventually exhibited maladaptive behavior herself as a result of the interplay of her environment and her poor self-perception, self-efficacy and self-regulation. It is also a result of her dysfunctional self-conception and expectations. Towards the end of the movie, we see an altered Jenny. She is more mature in appearance and in the way she carries herself. She is shown performing a normal job (a waitress) and finds it easier to talk to Forrest about why she keeps running away from him. From the point of view of the social cognitive theory, this improvement in her behavior is a result of an improved self-efficacy and the acquisition of new thought pattern and behavior. From the point of view of the psychodynamic theory, Jenny may be described as one who has a weakened ego due to her internal conflicts, which is brought about by her traumatic experiences in the hands of her father when she was a child. She has carried into adulthood the memories of the traumatic experiences of her childhood, albeit in a repressed manner. She may not be conscious of the underlying problems in her personality, but it is shown in the way she keeps running away from Forrest whom she says she loves, and as manifested by her involvements with drugs and her having suicidal tendencies, among others. The altered Jenny that we see in the movie may have been the result of undergoing cathartic hypnosis or free-association method. She could have finally discovered and resolved her inner conflicts and set free her repressed memories. Character analysis Structure    The character of Jenny in the movie has a talent in singing. In fact, her dream is to become a professional singer. As a young kid, Jenny showed ability to relate with another person on a personal level; she and Forrest taught each other some tricks. She also showed the ability to encourage others to overcome their fears; she urged Forrest to climb tree, shouting, â€Å"Come on Forrest, you can do it!† from the tree top. However, even as a kid, she already seemed to have escapist tendencies: she is seen running away from her father, and praying to God: â€Å"Dear God, make me a bird, so I can run far, far away from here† (Tishe, Finerman, & Zemeckis, 1994). She also urges Forrest to run away and to run fast whenever she sees her friend being bullied. She shouts: â€Å"Run Forrest, run!† Many years later, when Forrest was assigned to Vietnam, she would advise him not to try to be brave but to run away from trouble, fast. But while her friend’s Forrest’s runs are in the literal sense, Jenny’s is both in the literal and in the figurative senses. She did a lot of running, but not away from trouble, but towards it, and away from the person she loves — Forrest. Viewed from the structure of her personality through the lens of social cognitive theory, Jenny appears to have poor self-perception, as manifested when, as an answer to Forrest’s question as to why she wouldn’tt marry him, she says it is Forrest who would not want to marry her (implying that Forrest deserves someone better than her) and, again, when she gives Forrest her being screwed up as the reason for her running away from him. She tells him when she explained for the first time why she kept going out of his sight: â€Å"I was just messed up† (Tishe, Finerman, & Zemeckis, 1994). Jenny likewise has a poor self-efficacy. According to Bandura (1986) in Pajares (2002), self efficacy is the perceived ability to cope with specific situations. It is the people’s â€Å"judgments of their capabilities to organize and execute courses of action required to attain designated types of performances.† Having a poor self-efficacy hindered Jenny from achieving her dream of becoming a famous singer because self-efficacy is the very basis of motivation. People with poor efficacy tend to avoid activities that they perceive to be beyond their capabilities, may not put much effort to achieve their dreams, may not persist when there are obstacles, may have negative thought patterns while performing the tasks needed to be done to achieve their dreams and may have negative emotional reactions while anticipating an event, or in the middle performing a task. Hence, she always finds herself wanting to fly but couldn’t. Finally, though Jenny had dreams of a good future, she did not have goals. According to the social cognitive theory, goals are those that â€Å"guide us in establishing priorities among rewards and in selecting among situations that enable us to go beyond momentary influences and to organize our behavior over extended period of time,† (Pervin, 1989, p.338). Jenny failed to establish her priorities and overcome the bad influences in her life and to have an organized behavior over a period of time. Hence, since attending an all-girl school, she has been involved in maladaptive behavior, such as getting into drugs, being with bad crowds, having suicidal tendencies, as well as having relationship phobia, among others. Process As a young kid, Jenny had been exposed to and directly experienced aggressive behavior from his father, and from the bullies who mistreated Forrest in her presence. And while attending an all-girl school, she might have had negative influences from peers, and these negative influences may have been accepted in her new environment. Having been introduced to an environment that gave positive rewards to bad behavior by means of acceptance, Jenny eventually turned out doing the modeled behavior. But more than just having been thrown in an environment that accepts negative behavior, the more important thing that could have contributed to Jenny’s maladaptive behavior is her lack of the ability to self-regulate. Self-regulation involves an individual’s ability to control their behavior rather than mechanically reacting to external influences (Pervin, 1989). If Jenny was able to self-regulate, meaning, she was able to process the influences modeled to her such that she was able to assign which behavior was socially acceptable, and which behavior was not, she could have prevented herself from succumbing to the negative influences modeled to her. According to the social cognitive theory, behavior is maintained by expectancies or anticipated consequences. Individuals learn to set appropriate goals for themselves, and reward themselves with self-praise, when they are able to model the behavior and with guilt when they fail to. Moreover, behavior is not exclusively regulated by external forces; there is a process of self-reinforcement through which individuals reward themselves for attaining the standards they set for themselves (Pervin, 1989). Jenny, who does not have goals in the first place, as mentioned in the structure section of this paper, also does not seem capable of self-regulating. Growth and Development As a result of her low self-efficacy, Jenny has developed a maladaptive personality which she learned through observation from models as well as through direct experience, having been brought up by a physically and sexually abusive father, and having witnessed and directly experienced aggression outside of the home; she was present when Forrest was bullied by the kids at school and, as a grown-up, been hit in the face by her boyfriend during an argument in a Blank Panther party. Jenny seems not to have become an aggressive person, but she developed maladaptive behavior. Her aversive experiences drove her to use drugs, develop phobia of relationship, and to attempt or contemplate suicide. Psychopathology Jenny’s maladaptive behavior is a result of dysfunctional learning —she has observed and directly experienced inadequate or sick models (his father and his peers) and maintained this kind of learning through reinforcement. Her exposure to and direct experience of inadequate models may have resulted in dysfunctional expectancies and self-perceptions. Her running away from Forrest who loves her and whom she professes to love may be indicative of a relationship phobia. It may be possible that she is reminded of her painful past which she might be trying to run away from whenever she is with Forrest. Or maybe she has developed fear of pain — fear of being ridiculed when with Forrest perhaps, or fear of the ghost of her painful past. According to the social cognitive theory, dysfunctional expectations and self conceptions have a great role in the learning of overt behavior, such that people learn, erroneously, to expect painful things to follow some events or to associate pain with an event (Pervin, 1986). In Jenny’s case, her developing a relationship phobia (with Forrest) may be caused by associating pain with being with Forrest, or expecting pain to happen by being with Forrest for a long period of time. Her incessant impulse to stay away from Forrest after brief encounters with him may be a defensive behavior to escape the pain she expects to experience or painful events she expects to happen when she is with Forrest. Change Toward the end of the movie, we see a new Jenny. She no longer exhibits maladaptive behavior, no longer runs away from Forrest, and is now able to confess her feelings. In the view of social cognitive theory, change in behavior happens when there is alteration in the level of and strength in self-efficacy. As the level of self-efficacy increases, a person’s behavior tends to change toward positive behavior (Pervin, 1989). At some point in her life (while Forrest was running across America), Jenny must have had acquired new thought patterns and behavior, and improved self-efficacy. This change in Jenny might have been brought about in part by maturation and her becoming a mother, but mostly by having new influences to model from. During that time in her life when change started to develop, she could have met new friends who modeled to her good behavior, in an environment that accepts that kind of behavior. She might have had systematic desensitization of her phobia; thus, in the end she is not only able to go back to the man she loves and with whom she has a child, but also ask him to marry her. Internal and External Factors Jenny’s personality is both a product of internal and external factors. Among the external factors that greatly influenced her personality include her father and the abuses he inflicted upon her; her aunt who took care of her when she was taken from her father; her peers in school and the people she came in contact with throughout her life; Forrest himself and the friendship they shared together since they were young children; and the events in the society they were born into. Compared with Forrest, Jenny is more involved with the events that shaped their country. The internal factors, on the other hand, include her thoughts about, feelings toward and perceptions of the people that she came in contact with and of the events that took place around her. Together, the external and internal factors have defined the person that is Jenny. Conclusion   Ã‚   Overall, when seen from the perspective of the social learning theory, Jenny comes out as a person who was not only screwed up by the environment but also by her inability to process her circumstances in a manner that could have enabled her to prevail over the sad events in her life.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Jenny’s greatest achievement is that she eventually prevailed over her maladaptive behavior toward the end of the movie. This change, from the point of view of social cognitive theory, is not impossible. All she needed is someone to model from — someone who has had similar circumstances like hers, but is behaving differently. 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