Aboriginal Quality of Life in Canada Essay

The state of health and health care for Canadian Aboriginal people is currently not improving, â€Å"Canadian Aboriginals tend to bear a disproportionate burden of illness; an outcome linked to their economic and social conditions [and] oppression† (Newbold 1998). European contact would forever change the course of life for the Aboriginals and their communities in Canada. It was only after the encounter between the old world and new world that two completely separate ecosystems had interaction between each other. Both worlds changed in radical ways through people, plants, animals, varmints and pathogens, this is known today as the â€Å"Columbian Exchange†. The New pathogens introduced to the Indigenous people who had no immunity, caused major depopulation up to 80 – 90% during the 1500’s. See more: Recruitment and selection process essay This completely changed the Indigenous people and posed as a massive threat to extinction of their population and culture. Contact between the Canadian Aboriginals and European voyagers brought in a mass amount of deadly and infectious diseases. Some of the diseases included smallpox, typhoid, the bubonic plague, influenza, mumps, measles, whooping cough, and later on cholera, malaria, and scarlet fever. Smallpox was a virgin soil epidemic, meaning that it was the first outbreak ever to the population that has had no previous experience with it. The Aborigines of the new world had no immunity to smallpox and the entire population was in danger of extinction. At around that time smallpox had a very high mortality rate which broke down the Aboriginal communities social mechanisms. This brought forth the break down of social the devices which were built within the Aboriginal culture, because the people were unable to hunt and gather food for the elders. This caused great knowledge loss as the elders in the Aboriginal community would perish from the disease. The greatest example of this is when Spanish explorer Cortez defeated the Moctezuma at Tenochtitlan. Cortez, had only 500 soldiers going up against the Aztec population of 200,000. When the battle began Cortez surely should have been defeated but it was not the strength of his army but the diseases they had brought with them that defeated the Moctezuma. Smallpox and the other various diseases brought over from the old world to the new world contributed to millions of deaths, severely diminishing communities, and it some cases erasing populations and communities completely. The disease was not controlled until the 1870’s when vaccination campaigns were introduced and implemented. After the epidemic of contagious diseases had slowed the Canadian Aboriginals were in the midst of assimilation, residential schools were established in the mid 1850’s to the 1990’s. Residential school were implemented by the Canadian government to assimilate Aboriginal people into the dominant society. The Aboriginal children removed from their communities and placed in the Residential schools. â€Å"Children as young as three to age eighteen were removed from their homes, mostly forcibly, and placed in boarding schools, where they stayed isolated from their family, community, culture, and the rest of Canadian society† (Barton, Sylvia S., Thommasen, Harvey V.,Tallio, Bill ,Zhang, William, Michalos, Alex C. 2001 pg. 295). Residential schools assimilated Aboriginal populations, however in doing so drastically reduced the health of the children being forced to attend these schools. Children were beaten, raped and starved while attending these schools leaving them p hysically and mentally scarred for life. â€Å"Children who attended these schools, in particular, suffered from the loss of culture, identity, and language as residential school life altered the traditional ways of Aboriginal peoples and broke up traditional ways of Aboriginal family life. In addition to physical, sexual, mental, emotional, and spiritual abuse, many children who attended residential schools were exposed to unhealthy environmental conditions, as well as malnutrition. Low self-esteem and self-concept problems emerged as children were taught that their own culture was inferior and uncivilized, and it is believed that as a result, many residential school survivors suffer from low self-respect, and long-term emo- tional and psychological effects† (Barton, Sylvia S., Thommasen, Harvey V.,Tallio, Bill ,Zhang, William, Michalos, Alex C. 2001 pg. 296). The main aspect of the Residential schools was to make the children abandon their heritage and traditions taught to them by their Aboriginal communities. This is the most significant reason why today’s Aboriginal youth is confused about their culture and heritage. If the children were not separated from these traditions the Aboriginal youth may not have been so vulnerable to substance abuse and other from of health constraints. Canada in its present day does not have diseases like smallpox to destroy. Aboriginal populations, also Residential school have been eliminated and no longer assimilate the Aboriginal youth. Still, the deteriorating health conditions for the Aboriginal community are dangerously high. This is mainly because of poor quality of living conditions, very limited access to doctors or healthcare centers, and the major diseases that affect the modern world today. The Aboriginals that live in highly populated urban areas still have poor quality living standards. Nearly two thirds of the Aboriginal population lives in the western part of Canada, the majority being in 4 or 5 cities. The issues that are considered social detriments to Aboriginals in these regions are education, health care, employment, Aboriginal status, social exclusion, unemployment rates and job security. Society’s negative attitude towards Aboriginal people has been a significant link between their living conditions and the overall quality of life. As stated by Hanselmann â€Å"In spite of the size of the urban Aboriginal population†¦[the] discussion about treaties, self-government, finance, housing, and other issues focus exclusively on First Nation communities and rural areas†. This is a problem because the majority of the Aboriginal population is left out of the equation, â€Å"it ignores the urban realities†¦ [and] an acute public policy [should] therefore exist for broadening of perspectives to include not just on-reserve Aboriginal communities but also urban communities† (Hanselmann 2001 pg. 1). The Canadian Aboriginal populations living in urban areas have been exposed to worse living conditions, also â€Å"aboriginal families are over twice as likely to be lone parent families, and more likely to experience domestic violence† (Hanselmann 2001 pg. 4). Lone parents tend to have lower living conditions, therefore lowering the quality of health for Aboriginals. Emotional stress and poverty are common factors among single parent families; these cause children to have lower social capital because they are unable to be active to develop social skills. Consequently, children with a single parent will likely be subject to psychiatric disorders, social problems, and academic difficulties, which all can lead to further health problems and issues. Another major aspect regarding health and the quality of life of Canadian Aboriginal communities is education. In a study done by Michael Mendelson he states â€Å"The category â€Å"less than high school†Ã¢â‚¬ ¦the Aboriginal population fared much worse than the total population, with at least 54 percent failing to complete high school compared to 35 percent in the population as a whole† (Mendelson 2006 pg. 10). Urban populations of Aboriginals have more individual without the education of grade 12 then the rest of the country. Education is important to the quality of life for Aboriginal communities because â€Å"Aboriginal males and females contingent on whether or not they earn a high school diploma, attend technical school or go to university†¦results show that an Aboriginal male who drops out gives up over $0.5 million†¦[and a] female can earn over $1 million by obtaining a high school diploma† (Mendelson 2006 pg. 8-9). This can better the quality of living for Aboriginals through better health care and living conditions . Living conditions as stated before can severely decrease the health and quality of life of Aboriginal communities, but it is not the only factor. Aboriginal people have a high susceptibility to chronic diseases and HIV/AIDS causing a higher mortality rate, higher suicide rate, and the reason for high alcohol and drug abuse. The Aboriginal people of Canada â€Å"bear a disproportionately larger burden of disease and die a decade earlier than the average population†. This is a shocking reality but not more then knowing the mortality rate for children of Aboriginal decent, â€Å"the infant mortality rate for Aboriginals is double the national average†¦they experience high rates of infections, diabetes, substance abuse, renal disease, mental illness, and suicide† (Sin, D., Wells, H., Svenson, L., & Man, P. 2002) . The two leading diseases that are currently affecting the Aboriginal population are cardiovascular disease/tuberculosis and diabetes. Cardiovascular diseases like tuberculosis among Aboriginal people are â€Å"more at risk than other Canadians of getting [a tuberculosis] infection. Some of the root causes are related to poor socio-economic conditions where they live† (Health Canada 2010). This is because Aboriginal people have significantly higher rates of smoking, glucose intolerance and obesity. Type 2 diabetes is a major problem among the Aboriginal youth and is increasing at a rapid rate. Health Canada says, â€Å"First Nations on reserve(s) have a rate of diabetes three to five times higher than that of other Canadians. Rates of diabetes among the Inuit are expected to rise significantly in the future given that risk factors such as obesity, physical inactivity, and unhealthy eating patterns are high† (Health Canada 2011). A reason for the high levels of diabetes in Aboriginal communities is because there is low participation in physical activities and traditional food is not consumed as much. Cardiovascular/Tuberculosis disease and diabetes considerably decrease the health and quality of life of the Aboriginal population. The Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) and Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome (AIDS) are a very dangerous and major health concern for the Aboriginal population. HIV if left untreated will cause AIDS. HIV attacks the immune system, as the illness progresses it results in chronic and deadly infections. Health Canada states â€Å"HIV severely weakens the immune system, leaving people vulnerable to many different types of infections and diseases. HIV is transmitted through: unprotected sexual intercourse, needle-sharing and pregnancy/delivery through birth† (Health Canada 2010). Due to the lower level living conditions, low grade incomes, and under developed education are more probable to be exposed to HIV/AIDS. Aboriginal women in Canada are at higher risk of contracting HIV/AIDS â€Å"Aboriginal women constituted 49.6 percent of newly diagnosed HIV cases among Aboriginal people while Non-Aboriginal women comprise 20 percent of newly diagnosed† (Ship, Norton 2001 pg. 25). Injection of drugs is the major contributor to contracting HIV/AIDS for Aboriginal women, which stages the affects of drug use and disease and how it negatively affects the Aboriginal populations health. Substance abuse, such as drugs and alcohol, has been documented as having harmful affects to the human body. Aboriginal communities have been exposed to the addiction of these substances and have cause significant deterioration of the individual’s health and social attributes, ruining relationships within their families and community. As more and more Canadian Aboriginals become addicted to the substances the more the degradation of the community and weakening of the quality of life within the community. Aboriginals are more exposed to substance abuse then others. This puts them at risk of being introduced at a young age and taught it is a social norm. â€Å"My father was a chronic alcoholic. His parents had seven children and five died of alcoholism, including my father. My mom drank also and I started drinking at age eight. I was in and out of group homes and foster care and by the age of fifteen I was ordered to attend AA. I started on IV drugs at sixteen† (Chansonneuve, Deborah 2007). With the combination of alcohol, drugs, and smoking the Aboriginal population is seemly wasting away. The leading issue occurring today is the age at which Aboriginal youth are beginning to abuse substances. The use of these substances only enhances chance that youth will not complete their high school diploma, will be at greater risk for criminal offences, and will only get lower grade incomes. Aboriginals being highly vulnerable to disease as mention before (Tuberculosis/CVD, diabetes, and HIV/AIDS) add with the substance abuse, the Aboriginal population have greater health care needs then that of the Non-Aboriginal population. Bruce Newbold explains the greater need to access physicians for healthcare and needs for greater funding. â€Å"Analysis reveals that geographic location, as compared with Aboriginal identity, appears to have a large impact with respect to health status and use of physician services. On-reserve Aboriginals, for example, reported a lower likelihood of having seen a physician and were more likely to rank their health as fair or poor. Location also influenced perceived community health problems and solutions. Self-identified problems included drugs, cancer and arthritis, while corresponding solutions included education, counseling and service access. Although the problems and solutions were relatively consistent across space, they too varied in their importance. In general, the results tend to reinforce the determinants of health framework, suggesting that the provision of health services is insufficient to remove health disparities on its own. Instead, broader social-welfare provisions must be considered.† (Newbold 1998 pg. 59) It seems that Aboriginals who consider themselves of good health are considered to be actually of low health by the rest of society. From a Geographically view, Canadian Aboriginals on reserves do not have the same access to physicians as urban communities do. This causes Aboriginals on reserves to travel, which reduces the chance of them using a physician. The quality of proper health care is out of reach for most Aboriginal communities, mostly because of geographical isolation, cultural barriers and jurisdiction disputes by the federal and provincial government. Improving health conditions and the quality of life for Aboriginal people of Canadian current issue that solutions are being reviewed and implemented annually. The task is not easy because of the substance abuse and low education levels of the Aboriginal youth. Government politics play a huge role in the funding and improving the health care system for the Aboriginal communities, but over time the aboriginal people will have to look to themselves to improve their quality of life. Both Aboriginal and Non-Aboriginal people need to be more educated of the health risks concerning the Canadian Aboriginal population. The health of Aboriginals has not been treated in the proper manner Bruce Newbold explains â€Å"past attempts to improve aboriginal health status have tended to focus upon a narrow definition of health as the absence of disease or illness†¦this focus neglects a much broader range of determinants, including poverty, living conditions and education†. The government needs to put into prospective that â€Å"Improvements in health will likely depend on the improvements in the socioeconomic conditions faced by Aboriginals†¦by the direct participation of Aboriginals in the health reform process† (Newbold 1998 pg. 70). Therefore, to improve health condition in Canada for the Aboriginal population the people and the government cannot be narrow minded, every aspect that being social, financial or physical must be addressed. The major improvement of the Aboriginal financial economy and social conditions is needed to repair the deteriorating health and quality of life of the Aboriginal population. Aboriginal Health in Canada has drastically deteriorated since the first contact with European decedents. The early contagious diseases such as smallpox and tuberculosis have threated to destroy Aboriginal populations and now have become chronic diseases like CVD, diabetes and HIV/AIDS for existing Aboriginal communities. Substance abuse among youth and seniors mixed with low level education and poor living conditions are advancing the decline for the quality of life in Aboriginal communities in Canada. The Government and Aboriginal communities must work together and not have a narrow mind when solving these issues and implementing them in society. Improving the socioeconomic conditions in the regions of Aboriginal communities along with health care issues is the start to improve the quality of life for Aboriginals in Canada.

Was Egyptian Medicine a Huge Leap Forward?

Medicine in Prehistoric times and medicine in Egyptian times have shown similarities. For example trephining was still used as a treatment, even though it was not really very helpful. There was still the belief in supernatural forces being the cause for someone being unwell, despite the fact that it was not true. They both also used charms which have no effect, yet they believed it would have effect towards the supernatural forces. There was also the fact that during these two time periods there never were any anatomies to gain insight on how the whole human body works. They both used herbs which do work if used correctly. However there were also quite a few steps forward of development in Egyptian medicine as they did have the embalming process which involved somewhat dissecting the body if only to remove the organs and not a full scale anatomy however they were closer to the truth with the ‘channel theory’ as we do have veins, arteries and capillaries that have similar qualities to channels. They also were more developed in civilisation as they believed in a hierarchy where doctors existed, meaning that there were people specifically trained in medicine with medical books; they would pass knowledge through writing which would preserve over time to help new doctors and they would also comment on the effectiveness of the treatment itself, helping the doctor to decide the best treatment for their patient. They were also more developed as they had trade which would mean resources unavailable in Egypt could be brought from other countries to their own if they were in need of certain herbs for medicine. They could also exchange knowledge and treatments with other countries to gain more insight into effective medicine and ineffective medicine. Despite a few similarities in Egyptian and Prehistoric medicine I do believe that the Egyptian’s did provide an important step forward in the development of medicine as they had not only come up with a fairly accurate theory for how the human body worked which would lead away from supernatural causes to some extent as it offered more logical reasons why. This was discovered during mummification which was a process that was closer to the anatomy we still do today which does teach a lot about the body and how it works. Their preservation techniques for medicine were also really important as they would serve as guides and mean that any tested and proven theories and recipes could then be used by others as education and treatments, which is similar to today also.

Paul marcartny

The Paul Mccartney conspiracy theory In October of 1969, three weeks after The Beatles Abbey Road album was released, wknr-FM ‘s Russ Gibb took a call from a man who identified himself as Tom who told the deejay and all the listener's about carefully hidden clues in The Beatles songs and album art which he claimed that they indicated Paul Mccartney had died on 9th November 1966 in a car accident soon millions of people started to tell people about other evidence they have discovered which proved Paul is dead was this a prank set up by John Lemmon or was Paul really dead ?The accident During the early-morning hours of November 9, 1966, while driving to a friend's house, Paul picked up a female hitchhiker who couldn't control her excitement when she realized who picked her up. As a result she tried to hug Paul, causing him to lose control of his Aston Martin. It smashed into a stone fence and burst into flames, killing them both. Paul was decapitated and burnt to a crisp, making a positive ID difficult. Despite no evidence to support either the story of the fatal crash or of a cover-up, the rumours persisted that Paul was dead.The need for a cover up The reason for the cover up was simple since the Beatles were one of the major money incomes for Britain if they broke up or the fans did not like the band since Paul was dead Britain will lose one of its most financial incomes of the time. The cover up In order to cover up Paul's death the band would need a Paul lookalike it is said the person chosen to be this Paul lookalike was William shears Campbell the winner of a McCartney lookalike contest. Evidence Here is some of the evidence which support's the claim of Paul death. 1 .The cover of the album, Sgt Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band (the album the band were working on when Paul died), has multiple indications that Paul McCartney may not have survived. The Beatles, wearing their new hippy outfits stand in the middle of the cover overlooking what appears to be a flower-covered grave. To their right are wax mannequins†borrowed from Madame Tussaud's Wax Museum†of the younger Beatles sadly looking down toward the â€Å"grave. † 2. The drumhead in the centre of the cover that says â€Å"Sgt Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band† may be the most deliberate clue of all.When you hold a straight-edge mirror perpendicular to the canter of the drum, in the middle of the words â€Å"Lonely Hearts,† the reflection reads, I ONE IX HE DIE (â€Å"One one nine he die,† or November 9 he die). The diamond points to McCartney. the doll's right leg sits a toy Aston Martin (the type of car that Paul drove) and at its left side is a bloody driving glove. 4. With the group dressed up for another album cover with Pau is I dressed as a walrus. Allegedly, in the Nordic-Viking culture, the walrus is a symbol of death. 5. Let It Be was the second-to-last Beatles album to be recorded, but the last to be eleased.On the cover, Pau l is the only Beatle whose face is partially obscured (by a microphone). He is also the only one not photographed in profile and with a white background. Paul's background is blood red. 5. The abbey road album cover is probably one the only album cover which the most evidence to support Pauls death. 1 . John Lennon leads in a white suit and symbolises the preacher; Ringo Starr is the mourner, dressed in black; George Harrison, in scruffy shirt and trousers, denotes the grave-digger; Paul is wearing an old suit and is the only one who is barefoot. Paul McCartney is left-handed, but here holds his cigarette in his right hand. At the time, cigarettes were commonly referred to as ‘coffin nails'. This, therefore, could be seen as a message that Paul's ‘coffin lid' had been nailed down and that the man in the picture was a lookalike. Paul is also out of step with the other band members. Each of the others has his left leg forward, but Paul has his right leg forward – ag ain marking him out as different. 3.The white Beetle in the background has the registration LMW 281F – 28 being he age conspiracy theorists say Paul would have been IF he hadn't ‘died', It has also been suggested that the LMW stands for ‘Linda McCartney Weeps' – referring to his new wife whom he had married earlier that year. 4. In the background, a small group of people dressed in white stand on one side of the road, while a lone person stands on the other side. 5. on the right-hand side of the road is a black police Van, believed to be a reference to the police who kept quiet about Paul's ‘death' 6.

Change for the Better

Never would he have thought that we would have ended up loving t there, falling in love, and learning about the culture as much as he did. Although a person's perception can be a good a thing, it also can get in the way of having a great friendship, learning something new, and Just being happy. Today's technology is very friendly in meeting new people on different sites like Backbone, Twitter, and Chattahoochee. Some peoples perception of meeting new people with technology that are around the world will get rid of their local cultures, traditions, and control over their cultures communication (Borderer, Borderer & Swollen, 2010, peg. 12). What people don't get Is technology Is one of the ways we learn the most about a culture. A way to get more respect for your culture Is to share It to people and not to be afraid to show It. When making friends you don't want to be the weird one, but for me seeing someone that Is so proud of their cultures Just makes me want to learn more about them . Plus you might be surprised that our cultures have some similarities and are part of the dominant culture. Having something in common is always a good base to a wonderful Friendship. Cultures in the world are what makes the world so interesting.So many different things we can learn and discover where things came from. Now some people are to proud of there country to even take the time to learn about another country because they thing its wrong and their cultures is the right way of doing things. All the different cultures have probably something in common with one an other, and you will probably find out that a lot of them Just a have some tweaks to make them different. Learning about a culture that you are going to go visit Is respectful to the people of that country whether they are Into the big tradition or not.In the end everyone is proud of their country's accomplishments and what they contributed to make the world it is today. Outsourced is a great way on showing how your pe rception affect your attitude and happiness. While Toad just wanting a burger, he went to a Mac Dona's to realize they don't sell burgers. He meets a character, named Bob, who was in the same predicament that Toad was in but for much longer. Bob told Toad that it doesn't get better until you accept Indian's culture. Once Toad finally accepted the culture he wanted to learn more about it and found a way to communicate better with the people of India.Toad was a more happy person, and even found love during his months In India. When you totally accept something, whether it's a different culture or It Is Just the way you look, you become a better and happy person. Perception Is a strong and powerful thing you use to view life situations. It Is always going to be with you whether you want it or not, and is something that we control our actions, and make up our mind about something we heaven full learned about. Perceptions can change your life for the better or for the worst. It comes dow n to how you take your perceptions and whether you let them change your life for the better.

Essence of Corporate Social Responsibility and CSR Coursework

Essence of Corporate Social Responsibility and CSR - Coursework Example CSR can be defined a commitment made by a company towards the stakeholder to operate in an environmentally, socially and economically sustainable fashion. CSR seeks to integrate workplace culture, communities and human rights to business strategies. In the initial days the many used to treat CSR as arm chair philanthropy, however things have changed drastically. It is treated as an integral part of the overall business strategy. In order to discuss the focal points related to CSR two companies have chosen in the form of Philip Morris and Starbucks. Philip Morris is one of largest tobacco companies. It includes seven leading international brands that include Marlboro, the top most cigarette brand in the world. Starbucks one the other hand is a global coffee chain. They are based on Seattle, Washington. It is also the largest coffeehouse company. It has over twenty thousand stores and operates in over sixty countries. Starbucks shops provide a wide range of products including hot and c old coffee, pastries, snacks, etc. As it can be seen that two companies with distinct product mix and different business model has been chose. The main objective of such choice is to demonstrate the importance and benefits of CSR across various industries. Add to it must be mentioned that as per research the key focal points of CSR activities of both the companies happens to be same, at least to some extent; such as investment in foundations and communities, waste reduction, energy conservation, recycling etc. Here it is needless to say that CSR for Philip Morris is supposed to be a bit trickier as compared of Starbucks keeping the product line in mind (Urip, p. 13). Potential Benefits and Importance of CSR CSR should not be looked upon a leakage of resources. If implemented properly CSR policies can provide an array of benefits such as increase the level of customer retention, enhances relationship with customers, suppliers, stakeholders and other channel partners, differentiates t he company from that of the competitors, improves reputation, generates positive publicity and even helps the companies to get new business. This segement will be of great help to understand how CSR activities benefits Starbucks and Philip Morris to maintain better relationship with the stake holders. Stakeholders include employees, business partners, investors, local communities as well customers. It will also be helpful to analyze the alignment of CSR with the corpora objectives. It will reflect the importance of CSR keeping the overall corporate strategy in mind. Corporate objective can be defined as a realistic objective set by the company that influences key strategic decisions (Heal, p.132). Starbucks views CSR as an opportunity to give something back to the community. As a matter of fact it runs down deep to the company roots. For Starbucks CSR is an approach to fulfill the commitments made to the origins, environment, communities, and partners. Some of the approaches include investments to benefit coffee producers and their families; promoting the concept of recycling, conservation of coffee growing countries; having in store green teams. More than one billion people work at Starbucks. They are not treated as employees; rather they are treated as partners. As a matter of fact the mission statement of the company talks about the commitment to partners. As mentioned before CSR activities for Philip Morris are supposed to be a bit trickier as compared to the other. However the CSR activities of the company are nothing short of impressive. The company actively invests in art

University essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

University - Essay Example Human resource management plays a crucial role in forming organizational culture and involves activities such as making organizational structure, building trust, ensuring job satisfaction, leadership, influencing power and politics in the organization. Human resource management involves a set of ideas, practices, techniques which are designed to improve employees’ productivity. They provide support and instructions to the groups in the organization. HR plays a crucial role in solving all cultural barriers and cultural issues. HR practices bring flexibility and office integration for improving quality of work. Human resource management in an organization plays an important role in forming organizational culture. â€Å"Culture is defined as (a) a pattern of basic assumptions, (b) invented, discovered, or developed by a given group, (c) as it learns to cope with its problems of external adaptation and internal integration, (d) that has worked well enough to be considered valid and, therefore (e) is to be taught to new members as the (f) correct way to perceive, think, and feel in relation to those problems.† (McLuhan 2006). Organization has to bring the people together to achieve the common goal of the organization. Management sets certain parameters, guidelines and accepted norms to decide what and how the organization’s goals are to be achieved. Every organization has its own unique culture, attitude, morale or values set. Culture in any organization indicates the roles, values, beliefs and the behaviour patterns of the people working in it. â€Å"Organizational culture includes a complex set of interrelated, comprehensive, and ambiguous factors. Furthermore, it is a multidimensional construct that is of interest to many different disciplines including anthropology, sociology, and organizational psychology.† (Jesus 2008). Organizational culture is shared among the members

Behavioral finance Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Behavioral finance - Assignment Example Modern financial economics are pegged on the assumption that financial practitioners act both meticulously and with rationale. However as evidenced and earlier stated, this is not always the case. These deviations from the norm are not rampant and inherent but follow a systematic chain of events. With this information in mind it is possible to incorporate these systematic human deviations into the standard model of financial markets (Rutledge 264). In so doing, two commonly overlooked mistakes come to the foreground: Financial practitioners tend to indulge in excessive trading with belief that the next trade will rake in more lucrative returns. This is irrational trading and is propelled by emotion rather than rational thinking. The human trait of being too overconfident or corky in this case is the key driving motivation behind this bias. Some financial practitioners are also in the habit of holding on to losing stocks while at the same selling their winning stocks. This again is in stigated by lack of confidence and the need to avoid both failure and regrets coupled with poor judgments. Behavioral finance contributes to asset pricing in two major dimensions. These dimensions are reached upon by use of agents which may in them are not completely rational. These are: I. Limits to arbitrage This argues that the damage caused by irrational traders in their irrational deviations may be difficult, if not impossible to be undone by the more rational trades. The traditional asset-pricing model does not factor in market frictions and greatly undermined trading frictions like transaction cost, bid spread, ask spread etc. These forces have a great impact on asset returns and therefore should not be ignored. The limits to arbitrage create a model where mispricing exist for the simple reason that risk adverse arbitragers are not concerned mainly with the riskless values of an asset, but about the price of assets in periods following these irrational traders. This model con siders the cost of arbitrage more so the volatility returns and states that the habit of mispricing will inevitably dominate markets especially in the cases of highly volatile stocks whereby arbitragers may avoid the risky volatile position. Finding mispricing is a tasking affair and may involve institutional laws that should regulate the type of trade to be done. For instance short selling which is essential to effective arbitrage including cost of borrowing, legal fees and liquidity risk is not allowed in mutual and pension funds. Therefore there should exist a cap on the limits to arbitrage. II. Psychology: This helps in creating a continuum of deviations spurning from full rationality to completely irrational. The known concept of asset pricing therefore is in a very vibrant flux whereby there is a slow paradigm shift from the completely irrational approach to a more accommodating broader outlook based on the psychology of investors. Risk and misevaluations are therefore the two main determinants of the security expected returns. This is roughly based on a concept by Savage (183) which is a decision making method with imminent or existing risks in consideration. This concept is known as the Subjective Expected Utility whereby it is widely