Quality Management and Continuous Improvement Uni 3 DB SA Second Week Essay

Quality Management and Continuous Improvement Uni 3 DB SA Second Week - Essay Example The information makes response from the instructor to students faster. The students, on the other hand, are able to submit assignments and papers in time. The development of the websites also allows students to access campus-based resources such as library materials, and offer online technical support. The online study experience should be designed and planned to allow relative flexibility for the students. It does not necessarily mean that classes should be set in weekly intervals. There are students who would like a daily routine too. The course outline should be put online so that all students know the relevant topics. The plan should also give material to keep students involved in the coursework. This is a proven method of improving satisfaction and in the long-run, longer student retention (Johnston, Kilion and Oomen 2005). The schedule should give time adequate for students to cover the syllabus. Since the online students are mostly busy with other activities, the time for coverage should be maximized (Aggarwal, 2003). This ensures that the quality of education offered to the student is not watered down. The availability of instructors should also be such that response to any queries as soon as possible (within 24 hours). The time zones should also be considered in planning since online studies are not limited by geographical

Assessing Importance of School Factors Such as Racism Essay Example for Free

Assessing Importance of School Factors Such as Racism Essay A variety of material disadvantages that may confront ethnic minorities coming from working class backgrounds are they do not achieve the same level of education. The main achievers are Indian, Chinese and African students, but the lowest achievers are Turkish, Bangladeshi And Afro Caribbean students. The white working class students are the lowest achieving, which is peculiar because most sociologists are white who stereotype and label other students from different backgrounds. The main cause of underachievement in schools are cultural and language factors which sociologists clarify and focus on and are thought to be main cause of everything. Previously the spotlight has been put on what happens in school and racism in common As shown by Cecile Wright, which explains that, Asian students can also be the victims of teachers Cecile found out that regardless of the schools evident promise to equal opportunities, teachers still hold ethnocentric views they believe that British culture and English are greater. This prepared teachers to assume that they would have a poor pronunciation of English and left them out of class debates or used basic, childlike speech when speaking to them. Asian pupils also felt cut off when teachers spoken dissatisfaction of their behaviour or misread their names. Teachers saw them not as a risk but as a difficulty they could take no notice of. This resulted in that Asian pupils in particular the girls were hard-pressed to the limits and disallowed from play a part fully. Close at hand is proof of teacher racial discrimination and harmful labelling. Nevertheless study shows that pupils can take action in variety of ways. They may take action by becoming unsettling or withdrawn but pupils may decline to agree to the label and even choose to prove it incorrect by putting in hard work. Off-putting labels do not repeatedly twist into self-fulfilling prophecy Working class white pupils attain below standards and have lesser desires. There isn’t much parental support at home, which means there is low achievement and goals. Reports show that teachers have to deal with low level of behaviour and discipline in white working class schools. Nevertheless they had fewer kids on benefit programs teachers blame this on inadequate parental support at home and negative attitude that white working class parents have towards their children and their education. The life in the street for white working class can be tough for pupils which means they get used to getting intimidating and intimidate other which they pick up and use in school to cause disruptions and make it hard for other students to succeed at school. Underachievement of student of different is blamed on cultural deprivation. Few sociologists say that Afro-Caribbean families lack a close relationship to their family and therefore are extremely violent towards everything they do. Arguments explain that families aren’t very supportive towards their children and they don’t offer enough cultural capital for their children. Stereotypical views suggest those students are not deprived because of their class or because of their backgrounds. Factors like social class are important to certain ethnic minorities like Pakistanis, Bangladeshis and a considerable amount of Afro-Caribbean students, which are all working class backgrounds in which material deprivation play a main role because to find out why they achieve below the national standards. Sociologists say schools and curriculums made just for one specific group of ethnic minority gives priority to one particular ethnic minority while disregarding other ethnic groups. Some schools have curriculums, which are ethnocentric because they only give priority to English languages. The British curriculum has been described as exclusively British. In history Britain is thought to bring civilisation to ancient people are colonised. Black people as inferior weakens black children’s self esteem and Leads to them to underachieving and failing. It isn’t for sure what effects the ethnocentric study shows that black don’t really suffer from low self esteem. Wright’s study found some ethnic minority groups received poorer interaction from staff. Teachers perceptions were seem as stereotypical although Asian students were seen as good and black students were seen disruptive and disobedient. Study show that schools in cities which contain ethnic minority students were not benefitting in terms of O Levels entries because of being in low set and having to achieve high grade in order to get good results and become successful. Overall taking into consideration we can not split or label ethnicity from social classes and gender since this is really difficult matter as some of the main achieving students are from ethnic minorities so for that reason there isn’t a connection here so we can’t make statements or come to conclusions as to what the association among ethnic groups and schools actually are. Pupils can refuse to accept negative classing and teacher expectations. Sociologists can’t come to a conclusion to explain what occurs between teacher and students or what takes place in different ethnic groups related to education. Students live up to roles they are given but can try to resist the labels and getting put behind by carrying out what is thought of them to do or do what they want to do and achieve good education and become successful.

Human Physical Appearance and Women Essay Example for Free

Human Physical Appearance and Women Essay Throughout these moments in time, the term beauty has slipped out of control and become something utterly dissimilar. The significance of beauty has developed into something so unappealing, so unpleasant, so repugnant, that even now society is coming to the apprehension that the way they are portraying the description of beauty is erroneous. Over time, ‘beauty’ has evolved to something rather peripheral. Being beautiful is turning into an undesirable act, that most girls will go into extremes, just to get a sense of feeling ‘beautiful. ’ Although beauty is now considered something by which your looks will define, during Greek times â€Å"beauty was a virtue: a kind of excellence. Person’s then were assumed to be what we now have to call – lamely, enviously – whole persons. If it did occur to the Greeks to distinguish between a person’s â€Å"inside† and â€Å"outside†, they expected that inner beauty would be matched by beauty of the other kind† (313, Sontag). Nevertheless, there was once a time where beauty was interpreted or described as something internal, unlike now, beauty goes more towards the looks. â€Å"Beautiful† people have lots going on for them. They are more confident, make more money, and get promoted faster than their â€Å"less attractive† colleagues. But for the career – driven women, beauty is a no-win situation; the public wants you to be attractive, but, at the same time, not so beautiful that it is off-putting. People might say that looks shouldn’t matter, but in the real world, they do. Women try so hard to look their best, and at the same time, feel their best. Women struggle a lot in trying to â€Å"fit in† to what society sees as being beautiful. Women nowadays alter their body parts, faces, and their diets in order to feel satisfied with themselves. A universal obsession that girls have been approaching with is that that they must be required to look a certain way to be thought of as pretty. Girls look up to celebrities and models and see how skinny, scrawny, almost skeletal, and undernourished they are and they get this idea that they must look like that in order to be noticed. A widespread trend that has been going around has been that of the name anorexia and bulimia. Starving yourself, or eating excessively and then purging – girls see it as something they must do in order to feel good about themselves. They glimpse these famous figures with their collarbones showing, thigh gaps, small waists, and they get this state of mind that they must achieve that to feel beautiful. Society and mass media are barraging women with images that portray what is considered to be the ideal body. Such standards of beauty are almost completely unattainable for most women; a majority of the models displayed on television and in advertisements are well below what is considered healthy body weight. Mass medias use of such unrealistic models sends an implicit message that in order for a woman to be considered beautiful, she must be unhealthy. And this is what beauty is defined as in our time. Body image is a complicated aspect of the self-concept that concerns an individuals perceptions and feelings about their body and physical appearance. Females of all ages seem to be so vulnerable in this area, starting off in their pre-teen years, going along throughout their existence. Body dissatisfaction is something that goes through most women or young girls at some point in their lives. Females have been found to experience dissatisfaction with physical appearance at a much higher rate than males, and women of all ages and sizes display body image disturbance. Concern over weight and appearance related issues often surfaces in a woman’s early life. Body dissatisfaction and disordered eating patterns have been found to be an especially prevalent issue in adolescent and college females. Body image becomes a major issue as females go through puberty; girls in mid-adolescence frequently report being dissatisfied with weight, fearing further weight gain, and being preoccupied with weight loss. This is a problem that we are now facing, and because of this many girls are suffering and going through difficult times, juts to feel good about themselves. The 20th century has seen a huge upsurge in the importance placed by Western society on physical beauty, particularly for women. The fashion, cosmetics and plastic surgery industries have thrived on 20th century preoccupation with physical appearance. It is a preoccupation that affects women in every sphere, whether they choose to pander to it or not. Definitions of beauty in the 20th century, when referring to human physical  beauty, are nearly always constructed in terms of outward appearance and sexual attractiveness. Images in the media today project an unrealistic and even dangerous standard of feminine beauty that can have a powerful influence on the way women view themselves. From the perspective of the mass media, thinness is idealized and expected for women to be considered attractive. Images in advertisements, television, and music usually portray the ideal woman as tall, white, and thin, with a tubular body, and blonde hair. This representation that is being portrayed has been a vast difficulty that girls are coming across of. They don’t feel beautiful, thus altering their ways of eating and the way they look very drastically in order to fit in. Only a very small percentage of women in Western countries meet the criteria the media uses to define beautiful; yet so many women are repeatedly exposed to media images that send the message that a woman is not acceptable and attractive if she does not match societys ultra-thin standard of beauty. In recent years, womens body sizes have grown larger, while societal standards of body shape have become much thinner. This discrepancy has made it increasingly difficult for most women to achieve the current sociocultural ideal. Such a standard of perfection is unrealistic and even dangerous. Many of the models shown on television, advertisements, and in other forms of popular media are approximately 20% below ideal body weight, thus meeting the diagnostic criteria for anorexia nervosa. Research has repeatedly shown that constant exposure to thin models fosters body image concerns and disordered eating in many females. Almost all forms of the media contain unrealistic images, and the negative effects of such idealistic portrayals have been demonstrated in numerous studies. The mass medias depiction of women portrays a standard of beauty that is unrealistic and unattainable for a majority of women in society. Models shown in all forms of popular media are often under what is considered healthy body weight, which sends a powerful message that women must sacrifice their health to be considered attractive by societal standards. The negative effects of ultra-thin media images of women have been well documented; research has shown that females who are repeatedly exposed to and internalize the thin ideal are at greater risk to develop body image disturbance and eating pathology. Although it is clear that the media influences the way women view themselves, it is unclear how this process takes place. The social comparison theory, cultivation theory, and self-schema theory can be used to examine how media images of women come to affect the way women feel about their bodies and physical appearance. These perspectives also give some explanation for why some women show resilience to the negative effects of the media, while others are dramatically impacted. Nevertheless, beauty has become something rather disturbing and unwell. The image of beauty has been portrayed onto something so popularized that mostly all women around the world are being affected by it. Women are changing their ways and changing themselves to feel as if they fit in to what society expects of it. Beauty is still evolving, and is changing throughout the time, not for the better but for the worst.

Understanding Predictors of Sexually Coercive Behaviour

Understanding Predictors of Sexually Coercive Behaviour Abstract Purpose: In order to end or at least improve education and reduce sexual coercion, it is crucial to identify the variables that play a part in such behaviour. Method: One hundred and thirty students (57 female and 73 males) ranging in age from 18 to 26 were randomly approached at one of three university campuses and completed a questionnaire battery. Results: Overall 91.7% of respondents reported to have never been sexually coercive. Logistic regression analysis, using a dichotomised criterion of coercion, established that frequent pornography and potential sports team membership increased the potential of coercion. Conclusion: Introduction Over the past three decades a plethora of research has concentrated upon the factors involved in and the repercussions of sexual assault, victimisation and perpetration (Abbey, McAuslan, 2004). Sexual experiences and behaviours are often complex involving; moral and gender stereotyped beliefs, social learning, peer interaction and biological factors. An important part of maturity is developing appropriate sexual beliefs that enable the adolescent to control sexual urges and to manage the consequences when such urges are not controlled. Problems begin to arise when individuals apply pressure or force in a coercive manner in order to obtain sexual intercourse. Sexual coercion is persistent within society and both males and females serve as victims as well as perpetrators (Sigleman, Berry Wiles, 1984). However, more often than not offenders are young, male and anti-social (Ellis Walsh, 2000). A vast spectrum of research (Koss, Gidycz, Wisniewski, 1987, Forbes Adams Curtis, 2001, Warkentin Gidycz, 2007, Martà ­n, Vergeles, Acevedo, Sà ¡nchez Visa, 2005, Lacasse Mendelson, 2007) also suggests that a large proportion of sexually coercive behaviours occur within university settings. Some suggest that the sexually promiscuous environment promotes sexually coercive behaviours and attitudes resulting in a number of sexual assault and date rape offences (Douglas, Collins Warren, 1997, Brener, McMahon, Warren, Douglas, 1999, Koss, Gidycz, Wisniewski, 1987). Research using student samples also seems to suggest that males who play sports, use pornography, have hyper-masculine sex beliefs and mating strategies will report using and accepting sexually coercive behaviours (Martà ­n, Vergeles, Acevedo, Sà ¡nchez Visa, 2005, Lacasse Mendelson, 2007). Further problems arise with what constitutes sexual coercion and when does coercion become attempted rape or rape. Legal definitions are often confusing and broad, the general population usually define rape as vaginal, oral or anal intercourse or attempted intercourse against a person’s will or if the person is unable to give full consent (Humphrey Kahn, 2000; Abbey, BeShears, Clinton-Sherrod McAuslan, 2004). Sexual abuse which incorporates sexual coercion is generally defined as behaviour that covers a range of sex acts which includes physically forced sexual contact and verbally coercive intercourse. Due to the ambiguous definitions police reported prevalence often underestimates the problem (Senn, Desmarais, Verberg, Wood, 2000). Further to these issues some victims fail to realise that they are in fact themselves victims (Pollard, 1992). If the perpetrator is known to the victim they are often reluctant to label the incident as rape. There are also conflicting views to what constitutes ‘intercourse’. Sonenstein, Ku, Lindberg, Turner, Pleck, (1998) argued that men attribute vastly different definitions to the word ‘sex’ when compared to women. Bogart, Cecil, Wagstaff, Pinkerton, Abramson, (2000) and Sanders, Reinish (1999) both found that over half of their participants would not define oral sex as sex. Even more participants did not class an act to be ‘sex’ if one or both of those involved did not have an orgasm. As a consequence of these ambiguous definitions some sexual behaviours may not be perceived as sexual acts and both the victim and perpetrator may be under estimating the seriousness of some behaviours. Research in this subject area has tended to use large representative samples (Abbey et al. 2004). A smaller number of studies have used self reports to estimate the prevalence of sexual coercion. The majority of research has concentrated upon the student population as many studies have shown a generalised problem among university students (Abbey et al. 2004, Martin et al. 2005). Sexual abuse and coercive behaviours will arguably be prevalent in the student population as individuals are still trying to form their identities. Adolescents have powerful motives for sexual intercourse due to pressure from social stereotypes and peers as sex is often viewed as a male conquest. Sexual coercion is said to be a social problem that reflect the stereotypes portrayed by a sexist society (Brownmiller, 1975). Maskay and McCreary-Juhasz (1983) argue that most students will be pressured to engage in sexual activity by either internal or external forces. Arguably males are more likely to hold sexists attitudes and condone sexually coercive behaviours which may be why they are predominantly perpetrators (Monson, Langhinrichsen-Rohling,, Binderup, 2000). Female students have continuously been highlighted as being at high risk of coercion in to unwanted sexual behaviour (Mouzon, Battle, Clark, Coleman, Ogletree, 2005) as females aged 16 to 24 experience rape at a level four times higher than the general female population (Parrot, Cummings, Marchell Hofher, 1994). In a vast range of research that has been conducted with university students what became apparent is that rape perpetration ranges from 6% to 15%, sexual assault ranges from 22% to 57% and 85% of females reported that their date was a perpetrator of sexual coercion(Abbey et al. 2004). These varying estimates may be in part due to differing methodologies or the varying definitions of sexual coercion. However what remains clear is that sexual assault and coercion is a serious problem even if we only consider the lower estimates. Coupled with these estimates, 25-60% of male students admitted they would force a female to have sex if they thought they wouldn’t be caught (Russell, 1993, cited in Emmers Sommer, Allen, 1999). Despite a wide range of research in this area over the past decade it has become apparent that there are difficulties in eliciting reliable accounts of sexual coercion and therefore intercourse. Some participant may minimise the number of sexual partners where as in many societies young males exaggerate sexual experiences because it as seen as a measure of manhood (Boohene, 1991). As a whole sexual victimisation has been a serious problem on university campuses. Despite efforts from the universities highlighting the risks students put themselves at not much has changed and the prevalence of such behaviours has shown little fluctuation over this time period. It is important to note that sexual aggression varies greatly among different universities (Koss, et al.1987). It seems viable that in order to attempt to tackle this ongoing problem the factors or social situation that influence or exacerbate such behaviours need to be identified. All men are arguably exposed to similar social experiences, however only a small proportion of these go on to engage in sexually coercive behaviours. The question must be why does this minority conduct these behaviours and accept sexual coercive tactics, what are the mediating factors and how can it be prevented? The literature examining the use and acceptance of sexual coercion suggests that certain variables remain consistent (Emmers-Sommer, Allen, 1999). Despite over 47 variables being associated with sexual coercion (Frank, 1989) they generally fall in to one of two categories; psychological and physical pressure (Struckman-Johnson, 1988). Psychological takes the form of verbal pressure, where as physical involves threat of harm to an individual if they refuse to engage in intercourse. Koss (1989) referred to psychological as being implied force and physical as being explicit force. Several studies have concluded that verbal coercion is often the most commonly used coercive tactic (Mouzon et al. 2005). Within a university setting it was apparent in the majority (58.6%) of coercive incidents, the male carried on even though the female had stated ‘No’ (Muehlenhard Linton, 1986). Verbal coercion is a negative level of persuasion that can take the form of; blackmail, persuasion, lies, false promises, guilt or threats to end a relationship (Walner-Haugrud, 1995). Many males use verbal coercion as it leaves the victim with a lack of choices to pursue that don’t have severe social or physical consequences (Heise, Moore, Toubia, 1995). Sexual intercourse may actual seem like the easiest option in order to escape constant pressure or to avoid negative consequences including threats to a relationship (Livingston, Buddie, Testa VanZile-Tamsen, 2004). The anticipation of a negative reaction from their partner was significantly associated with a woman’s decreased ability to refuse sex and over 40% of females engaged in intercourse due to constant pressure (Koss, 1985) . However when females are seen to ‘give in’ to intercourse due to the social and emotional pressures it is debated whether this is true victimization (Muehlehard Peterson, 2004). Regardless of this viewpoint the presence of verbal coercion is consistent in dating relationships, 93% of coercive acts reported by females involved a male that was known to them (Testa Livingston,1999). With regard to university campuses, social circles constantly overlap thus increasing the likelihood the victim, her friends or acquaintances will now the perpetrator. Dating situation can often be ambiguous with pressure from societies expectation of gender stereotyped roles and traditional dating scripts. These expectations and pressures can often lead to attitudes of rape justifiability and victim willingness. Males are often viewed by a western society as being dominant and aggressive. Therefore some males want to uphold this view often resulting in hyper-masculinity. Malamuth, Linz, Heavey, Barnes, Aker (1995) argue the views of these males will be strengthened especially in a university setting. Their ‘Confluence model’ states that variables such as sexual promiscuity or hyper-masculinity will influence sexually coercive behaviour and attitudes. Some male’s think they are justified in being coercive towards their date especially if they the female accepted the date, they have paid for the date or the female invited him back to her residence (Feltey, Ainslie Geib, 1991). Such behaviours are justified as being acceptable as certain males believe because the female has ‘allowed’ him to take the ‘lead’ role then she must be willing to engage in intercourse or he is justified in pursuing intercourse without consent as she ‘owes’ him (Parrot, 1990). Surprisingly some females agree that a man is justified in having sex with a female against her will if she willingly goes back to his house (Muehlenhard, 1988). Even when dating scripts are reversed and the female initiates or pays for the date some males still perceive this as the female’s willingness to engage in intercourse. These males are likely to assume that females who initiate or take control are experienced or ‘easy’. The males described in these situations are more likely to blame the female if sex occurs, are more likely to endorse rape justifiable attitudes and are less likely to perceive that coercion took place (Parrot, 1990). Reassuringly, 98% of university students agreed that using coercion to obtain sex is not acceptable regardless of other dating factors (Cook, 1995). Some behaviours do not have the ambiguity of whether they are coercive or not for example the use of force, threat or weapons are unequivocal examples of sexual coercion. Koss et al. (1987) argued that over half of their student sample were sexual victimized and 6% stated they had been raped in the past year whilst at university. Fisher, Cullen, Turner (2000) reported much lower figures of around 11% for sexual victimization and 2% raped in the past 7 months. These differences could indicate a decline in sexually coercive behaviour however it may be more likely due to differing definitions of sexually coercive behaviours and the different time frames used. Taking even the lower estimates it appears that a significant proportion of students have endured some form of sexual coercion during a relatively small time frame. However research has continually highlighted that the number of reported incidents of sexual coercion by females will always out weight the number of self reports by males (Koss et al.1987). Therefore it appears that there are marked gendered differences in the way both sexes perceive and report sexually coercive behaviours. The gendered differences in attitudes towards sexual behaviour general highlight that males are more sexually permissive and more interested in casual sex and women tend to have an emotional tie (Forbes, Adam-Curtis, 2004). Despite some decline in these gender differences, the issue of casual sex remains the same. Males are twice as likely as females to approve of casual sex and four times as likely to think attractiveness is a sufficient enough reason to have sex (Feignbaum Weinstein, 1995). Males also believed it is ‘normal’ for intercourse to occur after eight dates whereas females argued it would be nearer to 12 (Cohen Shortland, 1996). This sample of male students may therefore have unrealistic dating scripts. Expecting intercourse to occur four dates sooner than females may result in the female perceiving the males advances as being sexually coercive whereas the male believe his behaviours are the next ‘logical’ step. Such differences in sexual expectations may be a major contributing factor to the discrepancies between recorded and self reported behaviours. Discrepancies may also be attributed to some men perpetrating multiple acts as recidivism rates are often low. Rubenzahl (1998) reported that within his student sample 29% reported being sexually coercive on more than five occasions. The underlying differences in attitudes towards sexual coercion may lie with the conditioning of males and females, and their assumed gender identity. Embracing the identity of being masculine or feminine will have an effect upon perceptions of appropriate or inappropriate behaviour, and the decisions regarding engaging in intercourse. As gender identities are diametrically opposed, society views real mean as those who have sex and women, who are ladies, do not (Muehlenhard, McCoy, 1991). Males who adopt this gender identity have more traditional values and expectation. As discussed previously, these males will ask for the date, pay for the date, initiate sex and ultimately endorse sexually coercive strategies. Such males are also more likely to believe that females engage in ‘Token Resistance’, in that they say no in order to preserve their feminine identity, even though they are willing to engage in sexual intercourse. Others believe that token resistance may actually be a change of intention rather than a self protective factor (Shortland, Hunter, 1995). Around 40% of college women admitted they had engaged in token resistance, even though they planned to have sexual intercourse (Shortland, Hunter, 1995) and 17% make regular practice of it (Muehlenhard Hollabaugh, 1988).Therefore, even if the female truly means ‘No’, a minority of males will still pursue intercourse as they perceive it to be the female being coy or bluffing to protect h er reputation. Given that males and females are expected, by the rules that govern society, to act in opposing ways and that some males believe because of these expectations, females say ‘no’ when they in fact mean ‘yes’, it is hardly surprising that coercive behaviours become problematic. Confusion for males will obviously arise when females they have previously engaged in sexual intercourse with have used token resistance. Problems will arise when the same male engages with other females, yet uses his previous experience as a rule of thumb. Some women use verbal and non verbal cues, along with the physical resistance to refuse sexual advances from a male. As discussed verbal cues are often confusing especially as ‘no’ can often mean ‘yes’. Consent is also usually signalled by doing nothing during sexual advances, therefore further issues may arise for the male in that lack of consent is not necessarily a spoken ‘no’. Men are also mo re likely to perceive a wide variety of non verbal, verbal and situational variables as cues for a female’s sexual interest (Koukounds, Letch, 2001). Non verbal cues are said to be the least direct and effective methods of resistance (VanWie, Gross, 2001). Environmental factors such as a college setting and, â€Å"perpetrator characteristics, personality and previous sexual experience enhance a man’s willingness to act upon his coercive beliefs and attitudes† (Berkowitz, Burkhart, Bourg, 1994 p.6). White, Donat, Humphrey’s (1995) suggest that it is not specific cognitive beliefs but negativity towards women that is associated with sexual coercion. Therefore holding supportive attitudes in the absence of other variables such as hostility may not contribute to sexual coercion. Attitudes of a coercive nature however do not just appear but they are in part due to socialisation. Attitudes are modelled and developed at home, school, by the media and our peers; they are also in part influenced by our own personality. Hostility towards females and sensation seeking is such aspects of personality that is linked towards sexual coercive behaviours (Berkowitz, 1992). Much of the sexual coercion literature has focused upon fraternity and sports team members with the majority suggesting that those who individuals who are associated with either group are more likely to commit sexual assault. This viewpoint has gained momentum within the popular media (Martin, Hummer, 1989) however from an academic perspective the results are mixed. Koss and Gains (1993) argue that both athletic membership and living in a fraternity were significantly related to the severity of the incident but only athletic membership was a significant predictor. However, Lackie and DeMan (1997) argues the opposite in that fraternity membership not athletic membership predicted sexual assault. One of the many reasons for this is that, some sports teams especially on modern university campuses are mixed sex or if they are single sex affiliated teams share transport and training resources. Also many fraternities do not represent the stereotypical view of hyper-masculine, alcohol fuelled environments and they actually promote equal rights and community service. However a number studies, (Boeringer,1999, Sawyer, Thompson, Chicorelli, 2002, Forbes, Adams-Curtis, Pakalka, White, 2006) have highlighted relationships between group memberships, acceptance of rape myths, objectification of women and admiration of violence. Each of these variables has been constantly related to sexual aggression and coercion. It is important however to understand that such attitudes are developmental and aggression towards females does not just manifest during college. Such attitudes develop throughout the life course and participation is sports, college experiences, the pressure from peers or male gender roles may reinforce these existing attitudes (Forbes, Adam-Curtis, 2001). Peers will provide justification and support for each other’s sexually aggressive tactics. Athletes were over responsible for 19% of sexual assaults despite only accounting for 3% of the overall university population (Crosset, Benedict, 1995). On the other hand self report questionnaires highlighted that sexual assault by members of athletic teams or fraternity memberships were no different than non members (Jackson, 1991). Closely tied in with the theory of masculinity is the role of males peers in socialisation and initiation of sexual beliefs (Brooks-Gunn, Furstenberd, 1989). ‘Frat’ membership is good reflection of the pressure applied to peers to hold narrow masculine views (Senn, Desmarais, Verberg, Wood, 2000). The link between ‘frat’ houses, sports team and sexual coercion may be a reflection of the psychological characteristics of the group such as hostility and dominance over women not the purpose of the group itself that is associated with sexual coercion. Further variables such as pornography usage have been linked to sexual assault and sexual coercion. Within some student populations and arguably some ‘frat’ houses or university halls of residence social affairs involve pornographic entertainment which may further reinforce sexually aggressive behaviour. The concern surrounding pornography usage is that substantial research (Williams, Cooper, Howell, Yuille, Paulhus, 2009) argues it promotes sexual misbehaviour. Such effects are arguably stronger when the exposure is self induced (e.g. DVD’s and internet based searches) rather than involuntary (e.g. pop ups and spam emails). Experimental studies (Williams et al. 2009) seem to suggest that exposing males to pornography increases fantasies, willingness to rape and acceptance of rape myths. Malamuth, Neil, Koss, (2000) argue that there is an association between pornography usage and sexually aggressive behaviours in that those who had higher levels of viewing were at a greater risk for being sexually aggressive. However they also suggest that those males who are already aggressive in nature are at a far greater risk than those who are not aggressive. Boeringer (1994) had previously concluded that males exposed frequently to violent pornography were six times more likely to report rape supporting attitudes and behaviours compared to a sample with low exposure. Exposure to pornography may reinforce the notion that having multiple partners is normal and having a steady relationship in undesirable. Pornography also fails to deal with real life relationship problems. Some issues such as affection, communication, dating scripts or the consequences of promiscuous sexual behaviour are avoided. Viewing material of this nature especially on a frequent basis exposes the individual to perverted sex acts that are otherwise unimaginable and instead are regarded as exciting thus desensitising the individual to the content. Some 12% of males imitated pornography during a sexually abusive incident (Bergen, Raquel Kennedy, 2000). It is important however to remember that a number of individuals watch pornography on a regular basis and no not engage in sex crimes. It is important however to argue that the relationship between pornography and sexual coercion is not simply due to levels of exposure and moderating factors must be considered. The combination of peers with attitudes that justify coercion, pornography usage and hyper-masculinity and an appreciation of violence often found in some sports teams may all interact and contribute to sexual coercion. The age at which individuals have their first sexual experience and the number of partners they have had may lead to more coercive attitudes and behaviours. Factors such as impersonal sex and lack of intimacy are associated with both promiscuity and sexual coercion. A number of studies (Forbes et al. 2001, Senn at al. 2000, Martin et al. 2005) have found those that had admitted to endorsing or perpetrating sexual coercion had more sexual partners and early age of first intercourse than a non coercive sample. Those males that are sexually coercive and have had a high number of partners will be active daters and the frequency of their sexual contact can increases their likelihood to commit sexually coercive acts (Byers Eno, 1991). In summary, â€Å"the more sexually the young man, the longer he is active and the greater number of sexual partners the more likely some assaultive behaviour will occur at least once† (White Koss, 1993 p.144 ). It is apparent that a number of different variables can contribute to the acceptance and reinforcement of sexually coercive behaviours. The complexity of this relationship can arguably only be understood by taking human evolution and natural selection into account. In line with previous research evolutionary theory argues sexual coercion occurs in aggressive males who are more eager to mate, are sexually assertive and are less discriminative when choosing a mate (Thornhill Palmer, 2000). Those male with a high sex drive that are thwarted by a female when they are sexually aroused may respond in a sexually coercive manner (Kanin, 1969). Females on the other hand have different reproductive strategies as they are more selective because they contribute more long term effort to the reproduction of the offspring (McKibbin, Shackelford, Goetz, Starratt, 2008). Such difference may be attributed to the gender differences in attitudes towards casual sex and some males desire to have multiple partners. Evolutionary psychologists propose a number of different explanations of individual difference in sexual coercion. Those males that have low parental investment due to the nature of their unstable environment such as university may trigger development patterns leading to a high mating effort. These individuals may have multiple partners due to their desire for greater investment in reproduction. This potential for reproduction ‘pays off’ as a greater number of partners may result in a greater number of offspring. Such behaviour patterns are supported by risk taking strategies that are apparent in sexually coercive behaviour. Adaption theory suggests that sexual coercion is a conditional strategy. Its main argument is that those males who have low mating value and have failed with non sexually coercive tactics use conditional mating strategies such as sexual coercion in order to improve their number of sexual partners because these behaviours are now adaptive (Gladden, Sisco, Figueredo, 2008). Further arguments surround the notion that sexual coercion is a by-product of trait differences between genders to ensure that males do not miss sexual opportunities. Selection for a greater variety in sexual encounters (casual sex) by males and for some to act aggressively could result in sexual coercion as a side effect of these traits. From an evolutionary perspective those individuals that adapt behaviour to context adaptive problems (domain specific adaptive mechanisms) tend to out compete rivals that pursue invariant behaviour tactics. It may be in these specific context cues trigger coercive behaviours such that a male who was coercive as a by product of an interest in casual sex maybe also be high in aggression and be willing to use force as they lack normal inhibitions. On the contrary those males that use coercion because they have low status may have normal inhibitions against forcing women however may alter these inhibitions when the female acts inappropriately according to gender stereotypes i.e. initiates the date or invites him back to her home. Based on this argument it appears that different predictors of sexual coercion will correlate preferentially with different types of offences. By expanding this research to consider more fundamental evolutionary constructs such as mating effort and sex strategies, it may be possible to think about sexual coerciveness theoretically. Hypothesis It is predicted that a higher score on a measure of self-reported sexually aggressive tactics will be positively correlated with greater impulsivity, more stereotyped sexual attitudes, active sports team participation, greater pornography use, higher levels of mating effort and residing within university halls of residence. It is further predicted that males will believe using sexual coercive behaviours is more acceptable than females and they will admit to higher levels or perpetration than females. Method Design The study will be a within-subjects correlational study, and examines the use and acceptance of sexually coercive tactics among university students. The study will use higher self-rated scores on measures of sexual coercion as the criterion variable and sexual experience, impulsivity-sensation seeking, sexual beliefs and whether the participant lives in halls, is a member of a sports team, if they use pornography and mating effort as the predictor variables. Participants Participants were recruited via opportunistic sampling around various public areas of a University campus and online via a social networking website. Participants in this study composed of University students ranging from first years to postgraduate level. A total of 130 students participated in the study 73 male and 57 female. The participants included in the analyses were aged between 18 and 26 the overall mean age was 22.2 years (SD= 1.58). Furthermore about 43 % were said to be in a long term relationship, 43 % dated casually, 15 % didn’t date and only2 % were married or engaged. The vast majority of participants (96 %) indicated they were heterosexual, with 2 % being homosexual and 1 % being bi sexual. Materials Within the questionnaire battery participants were asked to provide demographic information which included; gender, age, the age at which participants willingly has sexual intercourse, the number of sexual partners they have had, whether they lived in halls of residence, whether they were part of a single or mixed sex sports team, and whether they used pornography. Further measures include: The SES Scale (sexual experiences scale, Koss Oros, 1982). A 10 item scale was used to measure the participant’s involvement in acts of sexual coercion. From this measure it is possible to collect data regarding four different types of sexual aggression (sexual contact, sexual coercion, attempted rape and rape). As this scale is currently devised for male participants a revised version for females will created simply by changing the use of male to female. This will be altered as it may be possible for some females to use sexually coercive behaviours. The respondents answer ‘yes’ of ‘no’ to a series of items in a self report format. With regard to rape it will not be possible for women participants to respond ‘yes’ however the scale will be able to identify other sexually coercive behaviours The measure is used to detect sexual assault even when the perpetrator is unaware that his behaviour constitutes a crime. The SES is one of the most frequently used measures of assessing sexually aggressive behaviours and reliability and validity are very good. The SES was found to be of good internal consistency reliability with a Cronbach alpha =.89, and has re-test reliability of .93 (Koss Gidycz, 1985) and validity of .61(Koss Gidycz, 1985). The scale has been used with women were the internal consistency was found to be .74(Koss Gidycz, 1985). The Impulsive Sensation Seeking subscale of the Zuckerman-Kuhlman Personality Questionnaire (ZKPQ-ImpSS; Zuckerman, Kuhlman, Joirement, Teta, Kraft, 1993). A 19 item impulsivity sensation seeking subscale requires participants to answer true or false to whether they felt the statements were descriptive of themselves. Higher scores indicate participants who have higher levels of sensation seeking. Research has found the scale has a Cronbach alpha of .77 and a test retest reliability of .80 (Zuckerman, 2002). The Sexual Strategies Questionnaire (SSQ Struckman- Johnson and Struckman-Johnson, 1991). Participants are asked to consider 10 different items in relation to a date scenario vignette. Item are devised to measure acceptability of different sexually coercive tactics. Within the scale there are 10 levels of sexual coercion, the least severe being use of isolation (item 1) ranging to moderately severe, alcohol used as a specific tactic (item 6) and most severely the use of Understanding Predictors of Sexually Coercive Behaviour Understanding Predictors of Sexually Coercive Behaviour Abstract Purpose: In order to end or at least improve education and reduce sexual coercion, it is crucial to identify the variables that play a part in such behaviour. Method: One hundred and thirty students (57 female and 73 males) ranging in age from 18 to 26 were randomly approached at one of three university campuses and completed a questionnaire battery. Results: Overall 91.7% of respondents reported to have never been sexually coercive. Logistic regression analysis, using a dichotomised criterion of coercion, established that frequent pornography and potential sports team membership increased the potential of coercion. Conclusion: Introduction Over the past three decades a plethora of research has concentrated upon the factors involved in and the repercussions of sexual assault, victimisation and perpetration (Abbey, McAuslan, 2004). Sexual experiences and behaviours are often complex involving; moral and gender stereotyped beliefs, social learning, peer interaction and biological factors. An important part of maturity is developing appropriate sexual beliefs that enable the adolescent to control sexual urges and to manage the consequences when such urges are not controlled. Problems begin to arise when individuals apply pressure or force in a coercive manner in order to obtain sexual intercourse. Sexual coercion is persistent within society and both males and females serve as victims as well as perpetrators (Sigleman, Berry Wiles, 1984). However, more often than not offenders are young, male and anti-social (Ellis Walsh, 2000). A vast spectrum of research (Koss, Gidycz, Wisniewski, 1987, Forbes Adams Curtis, 2001, Warkentin Gidycz, 2007, Martà ­n, Vergeles, Acevedo, Sà ¡nchez Visa, 2005, Lacasse Mendelson, 2007) also suggests that a large proportion of sexually coercive behaviours occur within university settings. Some suggest that the sexually promiscuous environment promotes sexually coercive behaviours and attitudes resulting in a number of sexual assault and date rape offences (Douglas, Collins Warren, 1997, Brener, McMahon, Warren, Douglas, 1999, Koss, Gidycz, Wisniewski, 1987). Research using student samples also seems to suggest that males who play sports, use pornography, have hyper-masculine sex beliefs and mating strategies will report using and accepting sexually coercive behaviours (Martà ­n, Vergeles, Acevedo, Sà ¡nchez Visa, 2005, Lacasse Mendelson, 2007). Further problems arise with what constitutes sexual coercion and when does coercion become attempted rape or rape. Legal definitions are often confusing and broad, the general population usually define rape as vaginal, oral or anal intercourse or attempted intercourse against a person’s will or if the person is unable to give full consent (Humphrey Kahn, 2000; Abbey, BeShears, Clinton-Sherrod McAuslan, 2004). Sexual abuse which incorporates sexual coercion is generally defined as behaviour that covers a range of sex acts which includes physically forced sexual contact and verbally coercive intercourse. Due to the ambiguous definitions police reported prevalence often underestimates the problem (Senn, Desmarais, Verberg, Wood, 2000). Further to these issues some victims fail to realise that they are in fact themselves victims (Pollard, 1992). If the perpetrator is known to the victim they are often reluctant to label the incident as rape. There are also conflicting views to what constitutes ‘intercourse’. Sonenstein, Ku, Lindberg, Turner, Pleck, (1998) argued that men attribute vastly different definitions to the word ‘sex’ when compared to women. Bogart, Cecil, Wagstaff, Pinkerton, Abramson, (2000) and Sanders, Reinish (1999) both found that over half of their participants would not define oral sex as sex. Even more participants did not class an act to be ‘sex’ if one or both of those involved did not have an orgasm. As a consequence of these ambiguous definitions some sexual behaviours may not be perceived as sexual acts and both the victim and perpetrator may be under estimating the seriousness of some behaviours. Research in this subject area has tended to use large representative samples (Abbey et al. 2004). A smaller number of studies have used self reports to estimate the prevalence of sexual coercion. The majority of research has concentrated upon the student population as many studies have shown a generalised problem among university students (Abbey et al. 2004, Martin et al. 2005). Sexual abuse and coercive behaviours will arguably be prevalent in the student population as individuals are still trying to form their identities. Adolescents have powerful motives for sexual intercourse due to pressure from social stereotypes and peers as sex is often viewed as a male conquest. Sexual coercion is said to be a social problem that reflect the stereotypes portrayed by a sexist society (Brownmiller, 1975). Maskay and McCreary-Juhasz (1983) argue that most students will be pressured to engage in sexual activity by either internal or external forces. Arguably males are more likely to hold sexists attitudes and condone sexually coercive behaviours which may be why they are predominantly perpetrators (Monson, Langhinrichsen-Rohling,, Binderup, 2000). Female students have continuously been highlighted as being at high risk of coercion in to unwanted sexual behaviour (Mouzon, Battle, Clark, Coleman, Ogletree, 2005) as females aged 16 to 24 experience rape at a level four times higher than the general female population (Parrot, Cummings, Marchell Hofher, 1994). In a vast range of research that has been conducted with university students what became apparent is that rape perpetration ranges from 6% to 15%, sexual assault ranges from 22% to 57% and 85% of females reported that their date was a perpetrator of sexual coercion(Abbey et al. 2004). These varying estimates may be in part due to differing methodologies or the varying definitions of sexual coercion. However what remains clear is that sexual assault and coercion is a serious problem even if we only consider the lower estimates. Coupled with these estimates, 25-60% of male students admitted they would force a female to have sex if they thought they wouldn’t be caught (Russell, 1993, cited in Emmers Sommer, Allen, 1999). Despite a wide range of research in this area over the past decade it has become apparent that there are difficulties in eliciting reliable accounts of sexual coercion and therefore intercourse. Some participant may minimise the number of sexual partners where as in many societies young males exaggerate sexual experiences because it as seen as a measure of manhood (Boohene, 1991). As a whole sexual victimisation has been a serious problem on university campuses. Despite efforts from the universities highlighting the risks students put themselves at not much has changed and the prevalence of such behaviours has shown little fluctuation over this time period. It is important to note that sexual aggression varies greatly among different universities (Koss, et al.1987). It seems viable that in order to attempt to tackle this ongoing problem the factors or social situation that influence or exacerbate such behaviours need to be identified. All men are arguably exposed to similar social experiences, however only a small proportion of these go on to engage in sexually coercive behaviours. The question must be why does this minority conduct these behaviours and accept sexual coercive tactics, what are the mediating factors and how can it be prevented? The literature examining the use and acceptance of sexual coercion suggests that certain variables remain consistent (Emmers-Sommer, Allen, 1999). Despite over 47 variables being associated with sexual coercion (Frank, 1989) they generally fall in to one of two categories; psychological and physical pressure (Struckman-Johnson, 1988). Psychological takes the form of verbal pressure, where as physical involves threat of harm to an individual if they refuse to engage in intercourse. Koss (1989) referred to psychological as being implied force and physical as being explicit force. Several studies have concluded that verbal coercion is often the most commonly used coercive tactic (Mouzon et al. 2005). Within a university setting it was apparent in the majority (58.6%) of coercive incidents, the male carried on even though the female had stated ‘No’ (Muehlenhard Linton, 1986). Verbal coercion is a negative level of persuasion that can take the form of; blackmail, persuasion, lies, false promises, guilt or threats to end a relationship (Walner-Haugrud, 1995). Many males use verbal coercion as it leaves the victim with a lack of choices to pursue that don’t have severe social or physical consequences (Heise, Moore, Toubia, 1995). Sexual intercourse may actual seem like the easiest option in order to escape constant pressure or to avoid negative consequences including threats to a relationship (Livingston, Buddie, Testa VanZile-Tamsen, 2004). The anticipation of a negative reaction from their partner was significantly associated with a woman’s decreased ability to refuse sex and over 40% of females engaged in intercourse due to constant pressure (Koss, 1985) . However when females are seen to ‘give in’ to intercourse due to the social and emotional pressures it is debated whether this is true victimization (Muehlehard Peterson, 2004). Regardless of this viewpoint the presence of verbal coercion is consistent in dating relationships, 93% of coercive acts reported by females involved a male that was known to them (Testa Livingston,1999). With regard to university campuses, social circles constantly overlap thus increasing the likelihood the victim, her friends or acquaintances will now the perpetrator. Dating situation can often be ambiguous with pressure from societies expectation of gender stereotyped roles and traditional dating scripts. These expectations and pressures can often lead to attitudes of rape justifiability and victim willingness. Males are often viewed by a western society as being dominant and aggressive. Therefore some males want to uphold this view often resulting in hyper-masculinity. Malamuth, Linz, Heavey, Barnes, Aker (1995) argue the views of these males will be strengthened especially in a university setting. Their ‘Confluence model’ states that variables such as sexual promiscuity or hyper-masculinity will influence sexually coercive behaviour and attitudes. Some male’s think they are justified in being coercive towards their date especially if they the female accepted the date, they have paid for the date or the female invited him back to her residence (Feltey, Ainslie Geib, 1991). Such behaviours are justified as being acceptable as certain males believe because the female has ‘allowed’ him to take the ‘lead’ role then she must be willing to engage in intercourse or he is justified in pursuing intercourse without consent as she ‘owes’ him (Parrot, 1990). Surprisingly some females agree that a man is justified in having sex with a female against her will if she willingly goes back to his house (Muehlenhard, 1988). Even when dating scripts are reversed and the female initiates or pays for the date some males still perceive this as the female’s willingness to engage in intercourse. These males are likely to assume that females who initiate or take control are experienced or ‘easy’. The males described in these situations are more likely to blame the female if sex occurs, are more likely to endorse rape justifiable attitudes and are less likely to perceive that coercion took place (Parrot, 1990). Reassuringly, 98% of university students agreed that using coercion to obtain sex is not acceptable regardless of other dating factors (Cook, 1995). Some behaviours do not have the ambiguity of whether they are coercive or not for example the use of force, threat or weapons are unequivocal examples of sexual coercion. Koss et al. (1987) argued that over half of their student sample were sexual victimized and 6% stated they had been raped in the past year whilst at university. Fisher, Cullen, Turner (2000) reported much lower figures of around 11% for sexual victimization and 2% raped in the past 7 months. These differences could indicate a decline in sexually coercive behaviour however it may be more likely due to differing definitions of sexually coercive behaviours and the different time frames used. Taking even the lower estimates it appears that a significant proportion of students have endured some form of sexual coercion during a relatively small time frame. However research has continually highlighted that the number of reported incidents of sexual coercion by females will always out weight the number of self reports by males (Koss et al.1987). Therefore it appears that there are marked gendered differences in the way both sexes perceive and report sexually coercive behaviours. The gendered differences in attitudes towards sexual behaviour general highlight that males are more sexually permissive and more interested in casual sex and women tend to have an emotional tie (Forbes, Adam-Curtis, 2004). Despite some decline in these gender differences, the issue of casual sex remains the same. Males are twice as likely as females to approve of casual sex and four times as likely to think attractiveness is a sufficient enough reason to have sex (Feignbaum Weinstein, 1995). Males also believed it is ‘normal’ for intercourse to occur after eight dates whereas females argued it would be nearer to 12 (Cohen Shortland, 1996). This sample of male students may therefore have unrealistic dating scripts. Expecting intercourse to occur four dates sooner than females may result in the female perceiving the males advances as being sexually coercive whereas the male believe his behaviours are the next ‘logical’ step. Such differences in sexual expectations may be a major contributing factor to the discrepancies between recorded and self reported behaviours. Discrepancies may also be attributed to some men perpetrating multiple acts as recidivism rates are often low. Rubenzahl (1998) reported that within his student sample 29% reported being sexually coercive on more than five occasions. The underlying differences in attitudes towards sexual coercion may lie with the conditioning of males and females, and their assumed gender identity. Embracing the identity of being masculine or feminine will have an effect upon perceptions of appropriate or inappropriate behaviour, and the decisions regarding engaging in intercourse. As gender identities are diametrically opposed, society views real mean as those who have sex and women, who are ladies, do not (Muehlenhard, McCoy, 1991). Males who adopt this gender identity have more traditional values and expectation. As discussed previously, these males will ask for the date, pay for the date, initiate sex and ultimately endorse sexually coercive strategies. Such males are also more likely to believe that females engage in ‘Token Resistance’, in that they say no in order to preserve their feminine identity, even though they are willing to engage in sexual intercourse. Others believe that token resistance may actually be a change of intention rather than a self protective factor (Shortland, Hunter, 1995). Around 40% of college women admitted they had engaged in token resistance, even though they planned to have sexual intercourse (Shortland, Hunter, 1995) and 17% make regular practice of it (Muehlenhard Hollabaugh, 1988).Therefore, even if the female truly means ‘No’, a minority of males will still pursue intercourse as they perceive it to be the female being coy or bluffing to protect h er reputation. Given that males and females are expected, by the rules that govern society, to act in opposing ways and that some males believe because of these expectations, females say ‘no’ when they in fact mean ‘yes’, it is hardly surprising that coercive behaviours become problematic. Confusion for males will obviously arise when females they have previously engaged in sexual intercourse with have used token resistance. Problems will arise when the same male engages with other females, yet uses his previous experience as a rule of thumb. Some women use verbal and non verbal cues, along with the physical resistance to refuse sexual advances from a male. As discussed verbal cues are often confusing especially as ‘no’ can often mean ‘yes’. Consent is also usually signalled by doing nothing during sexual advances, therefore further issues may arise for the male in that lack of consent is not necessarily a spoken ‘no’. Men are also mo re likely to perceive a wide variety of non verbal, verbal and situational variables as cues for a female’s sexual interest (Koukounds, Letch, 2001). Non verbal cues are said to be the least direct and effective methods of resistance (VanWie, Gross, 2001). Environmental factors such as a college setting and, â€Å"perpetrator characteristics, personality and previous sexual experience enhance a man’s willingness to act upon his coercive beliefs and attitudes† (Berkowitz, Burkhart, Bourg, 1994 p.6). White, Donat, Humphrey’s (1995) suggest that it is not specific cognitive beliefs but negativity towards women that is associated with sexual coercion. Therefore holding supportive attitudes in the absence of other variables such as hostility may not contribute to sexual coercion. Attitudes of a coercive nature however do not just appear but they are in part due to socialisation. Attitudes are modelled and developed at home, school, by the media and our peers; they are also in part influenced by our own personality. Hostility towards females and sensation seeking is such aspects of personality that is linked towards sexual coercive behaviours (Berkowitz, 1992). Much of the sexual coercion literature has focused upon fraternity and sports team members with the majority suggesting that those who individuals who are associated with either group are more likely to commit sexual assault. This viewpoint has gained momentum within the popular media (Martin, Hummer, 1989) however from an academic perspective the results are mixed. Koss and Gains (1993) argue that both athletic membership and living in a fraternity were significantly related to the severity of the incident but only athletic membership was a significant predictor. However, Lackie and DeMan (1997) argues the opposite in that fraternity membership not athletic membership predicted sexual assault. One of the many reasons for this is that, some sports teams especially on modern university campuses are mixed sex or if they are single sex affiliated teams share transport and training resources. Also many fraternities do not represent the stereotypical view of hyper-masculine, alcohol fuelled environments and they actually promote equal rights and community service. However a number studies, (Boeringer,1999, Sawyer, Thompson, Chicorelli, 2002, Forbes, Adams-Curtis, Pakalka, White, 2006) have highlighted relationships between group memberships, acceptance of rape myths, objectification of women and admiration of violence. Each of these variables has been constantly related to sexual aggression and coercion. It is important however to understand that such attitudes are developmental and aggression towards females does not just manifest during college. Such attitudes develop throughout the life course and participation is sports, college experiences, the pressure from peers or male gender roles may reinforce these existing attitudes (Forbes, Adam-Curtis, 2001). Peers will provide justification and support for each other’s sexually aggressive tactics. Athletes were over responsible for 19% of sexual assaults despite only accounting for 3% of the overall university population (Crosset, Benedict, 1995). On the other hand self report questionnaires highlighted that sexual assault by members of athletic teams or fraternity memberships were no different than non members (Jackson, 1991). Closely tied in with the theory of masculinity is the role of males peers in socialisation and initiation of sexual beliefs (Brooks-Gunn, Furstenberd, 1989). ‘Frat’ membership is good reflection of the pressure applied to peers to hold narrow masculine views (Senn, Desmarais, Verberg, Wood, 2000). The link between ‘frat’ houses, sports team and sexual coercion may be a reflection of the psychological characteristics of the group such as hostility and dominance over women not the purpose of the group itself that is associated with sexual coercion. Further variables such as pornography usage have been linked to sexual assault and sexual coercion. Within some student populations and arguably some ‘frat’ houses or university halls of residence social affairs involve pornographic entertainment which may further reinforce sexually aggressive behaviour. The concern surrounding pornography usage is that substantial research (Williams, Cooper, Howell, Yuille, Paulhus, 2009) argues it promotes sexual misbehaviour. Such effects are arguably stronger when the exposure is self induced (e.g. DVD’s and internet based searches) rather than involuntary (e.g. pop ups and spam emails). Experimental studies (Williams et al. 2009) seem to suggest that exposing males to pornography increases fantasies, willingness to rape and acceptance of rape myths. Malamuth, Neil, Koss, (2000) argue that there is an association between pornography usage and sexually aggressive behaviours in that those who had higher levels of viewing were at a greater risk for being sexually aggressive. However they also suggest that those males who are already aggressive in nature are at a far greater risk than those who are not aggressive. Boeringer (1994) had previously concluded that males exposed frequently to violent pornography were six times more likely to report rape supporting attitudes and behaviours compared to a sample with low exposure. Exposure to pornography may reinforce the notion that having multiple partners is normal and having a steady relationship in undesirable. Pornography also fails to deal with real life relationship problems. Some issues such as affection, communication, dating scripts or the consequences of promiscuous sexual behaviour are avoided. Viewing material of this nature especially on a frequent basis exposes the individual to perverted sex acts that are otherwise unimaginable and instead are regarded as exciting thus desensitising the individual to the content. Some 12% of males imitated pornography during a sexually abusive incident (Bergen, Raquel Kennedy, 2000). It is important however to remember that a number of individuals watch pornography on a regular basis and no not engage in sex crimes. It is important however to argue that the relationship between pornography and sexual coercion is not simply due to levels of exposure and moderating factors must be considered. The combination of peers with attitudes that justify coercion, pornography usage and hyper-masculinity and an appreciation of violence often found in some sports teams may all interact and contribute to sexual coercion. The age at which individuals have their first sexual experience and the number of partners they have had may lead to more coercive attitudes and behaviours. Factors such as impersonal sex and lack of intimacy are associated with both promiscuity and sexual coercion. A number of studies (Forbes et al. 2001, Senn at al. 2000, Martin et al. 2005) have found those that had admitted to endorsing or perpetrating sexual coercion had more sexual partners and early age of first intercourse than a non coercive sample. Those males that are sexually coercive and have had a high number of partners will be active daters and the frequency of their sexual contact can increases their likelihood to commit sexually coercive acts (Byers Eno, 1991). In summary, â€Å"the more sexually the young man, the longer he is active and the greater number of sexual partners the more likely some assaultive behaviour will occur at least once† (White Koss, 1993 p.144 ). It is apparent that a number of different variables can contribute to the acceptance and reinforcement of sexually coercive behaviours. The complexity of this relationship can arguably only be understood by taking human evolution and natural selection into account. In line with previous research evolutionary theory argues sexual coercion occurs in aggressive males who are more eager to mate, are sexually assertive and are less discriminative when choosing a mate (Thornhill Palmer, 2000). Those male with a high sex drive that are thwarted by a female when they are sexually aroused may respond in a sexually coercive manner (Kanin, 1969). Females on the other hand have different reproductive strategies as they are more selective because they contribute more long term effort to the reproduction of the offspring (McKibbin, Shackelford, Goetz, Starratt, 2008). Such difference may be attributed to the gender differences in attitudes towards casual sex and some males desire to have multiple partners. Evolutionary psychologists propose a number of different explanations of individual difference in sexual coercion. Those males that have low parental investment due to the nature of their unstable environment such as university may trigger development patterns leading to a high mating effort. These individuals may have multiple partners due to their desire for greater investment in reproduction. This potential for reproduction ‘pays off’ as a greater number of partners may result in a greater number of offspring. Such behaviour patterns are supported by risk taking strategies that are apparent in sexually coercive behaviour. Adaption theory suggests that sexual coercion is a conditional strategy. Its main argument is that those males who have low mating value and have failed with non sexually coercive tactics use conditional mating strategies such as sexual coercion in order to improve their number of sexual partners because these behaviours are now adaptive (Gladden, Sisco, Figueredo, 2008). Further arguments surround the notion that sexual coercion is a by-product of trait differences between genders to ensure that males do not miss sexual opportunities. Selection for a greater variety in sexual encounters (casual sex) by males and for some to act aggressively could result in sexual coercion as a side effect of these traits. From an evolutionary perspective those individuals that adapt behaviour to context adaptive problems (domain specific adaptive mechanisms) tend to out compete rivals that pursue invariant behaviour tactics. It may be in these specific context cues trigger coercive behaviours such that a male who was coercive as a by product of an interest in casual sex maybe also be high in aggression and be willing to use force as they lack normal inhibitions. On the contrary those males that use coercion because they have low status may have normal inhibitions against forcing women however may alter these inhibitions when the female acts inappropriately according to gender stereotypes i.e. initiates the date or invites him back to her home. Based on this argument it appears that different predictors of sexual coercion will correlate preferentially with different types of offences. By expanding this research to consider more fundamental evolutionary constructs such as mating effort and sex strategies, it may be possible to think about sexual coerciveness theoretically. Hypothesis It is predicted that a higher score on a measure of self-reported sexually aggressive tactics will be positively correlated with greater impulsivity, more stereotyped sexual attitudes, active sports team participation, greater pornography use, higher levels of mating effort and residing within university halls of residence. It is further predicted that males will believe using sexual coercive behaviours is more acceptable than females and they will admit to higher levels or perpetration than females. Method Design The study will be a within-subjects correlational study, and examines the use and acceptance of sexually coercive tactics among university students. The study will use higher self-rated scores on measures of sexual coercion as the criterion variable and sexual experience, impulsivity-sensation seeking, sexual beliefs and whether the participant lives in halls, is a member of a sports team, if they use pornography and mating effort as the predictor variables. Participants Participants were recruited via opportunistic sampling around various public areas of a University campus and online via a social networking website. Participants in this study composed of University students ranging from first years to postgraduate level. A total of 130 students participated in the study 73 male and 57 female. The participants included in the analyses were aged between 18 and 26 the overall mean age was 22.2 years (SD= 1.58). Furthermore about 43 % were said to be in a long term relationship, 43 % dated casually, 15 % didn’t date and only2 % were married or engaged. The vast majority of participants (96 %) indicated they were heterosexual, with 2 % being homosexual and 1 % being bi sexual. Materials Within the questionnaire battery participants were asked to provide demographic information which included; gender, age, the age at which participants willingly has sexual intercourse, the number of sexual partners they have had, whether they lived in halls of residence, whether they were part of a single or mixed sex sports team, and whether they used pornography. Further measures include: The SES Scale (sexual experiences scale, Koss Oros, 1982). A 10 item scale was used to measure the participant’s involvement in acts of sexual coercion. From this measure it is possible to collect data regarding four different types of sexual aggression (sexual contact, sexual coercion, attempted rape and rape). As this scale is currently devised for male participants a revised version for females will created simply by changing the use of male to female. This will be altered as it may be possible for some females to use sexually coercive behaviours. The respondents answer ‘yes’ of ‘no’ to a series of items in a self report format. With regard to rape it will not be possible for women participants to respond ‘yes’ however the scale will be able to identify other sexually coercive behaviours The measure is used to detect sexual assault even when the perpetrator is unaware that his behaviour constitutes a crime. The SES is one of the most frequently used measures of assessing sexually aggressive behaviours and reliability and validity are very good. The SES was found to be of good internal consistency reliability with a Cronbach alpha =.89, and has re-test reliability of .93 (Koss Gidycz, 1985) and validity of .61(Koss Gidycz, 1985). The scale has been used with women were the internal consistency was found to be .74(Koss Gidycz, 1985). The Impulsive Sensation Seeking subscale of the Zuckerman-Kuhlman Personality Questionnaire (ZKPQ-ImpSS; Zuckerman, Kuhlman, Joirement, Teta, Kraft, 1993). A 19 item impulsivity sensation seeking subscale requires participants to answer true or false to whether they felt the statements were descriptive of themselves. Higher scores indicate participants who have higher levels of sensation seeking. Research has found the scale has a Cronbach alpha of .77 and a test retest reliability of .80 (Zuckerman, 2002). The Sexual Strategies Questionnaire (SSQ Struckman- Johnson and Struckman-Johnson, 1991). Participants are asked to consider 10 different items in relation to a date scenario vignette. Item are devised to measure acceptability of different sexually coercive tactics. Within the scale there are 10 levels of sexual coercion, the least severe being use of isolation (item 1) ranging to moderately severe, alcohol used as a specific tactic (item 6) and most severely the use of

Poile Sengupta and the Theatre of Protest

Poile Sengupta and the Theatre of Protest Abstract Drama is a reflection of life as we know it. Hence it becomes a very effective tool to gauge the changes in social perspectives. In India, the later decades of the twentieth century have seen comparatively more women producing some very intense work. Most plays written by women during these decades are honest, reflexive, often violent and at times extremely disturbing. They try to seek an answer to the question of power imbalance that is prevalent in our society. In this paper I have tried to analyse current trends in Contemporary Indian Drama in English especially with regard to Women’s Drama i.e. plays written by women playwrights, about women and their experiences. I’ve chosen Poile Sengupta as a representative playwright and analysed her plays for my study. Keywords Protest, Society, Theatre, Women. Poile Sengupta and the Theatre of Protest. A few years back, I was watching a movie My Big Fat Greek Wedding wherein a mother advises a grown up daughter saying, â€Å".You must always remember, a Man is the head of the family and the woman is the neck. It is the neck that turns the head in the direction it wants to see, whatever it wants seen..† It was at this precise moment that this journey of mine began. A journey to find out the truth behind the words as well as to see if they held true in our world /culture as it is so similar to that of the Greeks. Objective I chose to study Drama as it is the closest art form to life as we know it. And I chose contemporary women playwrights for study so as to be able to gauge the relevance of the words in a world that I am a part of. The objective of this paper is to analyse a new trend in theatre – the Theatre of Protest and showcase its relevance in the plays of Poile Sengupta, one of the foremost contemporary Indian playwrights. Traditionally women have never had, nor were allowed a voice of their own. â€Å"Because a woman has patience, She is not allowed to speak; And she never learns the words.† Narrator in Mangalam Women, as per social construct and social device, were considered inferiors and had to play domestic roles in the family and familial role in the society. Cultural restrictions, traditional barriers, religious norms, poverty, illiteracy, subjugation and suppression have been the blocks on the way for women to pen down and articulate their points of views History is proof that male writers have often written about women. In many of their works, the central character is a woman. However, in these works, the women characters are almost always seen primarily in relation to men, and they are usually of interest largely in terms of their romantic and sexual relationships. Women writers, likewise, often deal with the topics of Love, sexuality and marriage, but they deal with other aspects of a womans life as well. The women playwrights in India have focused on their appearance on stage and breaking all the myths and barriers they have boldly taken steps to represent themselves. They do not have to be dependent on the male playwrights to be represented and act according to their choice anymore. Women have found drama as a means of expression of their innermost feelings, and exposition of personality. They have been able to reach common people through staging and characterizing themselves in the plays from their own point of view. These women writers consciously or unconsciously establish themselves through a cultural identity and the outcome of their literary art is to journey towards self identity. They long and focus for an ultimate change in the society. Theatre of Protest The new trend that leads Indian English drama is undoubtedly plays of women, by women for everyone. Women’s theatre has emerged as a distinct dramatic force which stages the various issues of contemporary Indian society. Women dramatists have courageously written serious and social plays portraying day to day life of women in the family, profession, community, and the society at large.It is in these texts that one feels the pulse of the people of the country, their daily struggles, their problems and difficulties as tangible realities. The issues raised in these plays are amazing in their variety and range, especially with regard to the women’s experiences. Such plays are a source of empowerment; they enable women to speak out. It is at the intersection of art, activism, and social relevance. Such theatre acts as an instrument of real change in women’s lives. It is an exploration of women’s own unique idiom their own form, their language, and ways of communication. It is a challenge to the established notions of theatre. It can thus be attributed as a ‘Theatre Of Protest’ because women writers expressed their resentment against the politics of exploitation on the ba sis of gender discrimination. These plays do not confine themselves only to the domestic sphere or love and romance. They touch upon every domain of life and offer a range of analyses of the position of women and different strategies that need to be adopted to negotiate social change. In fact, through their examination of the material circumstances of human life, the work of these dramatists demands a reconsideration and reformulation of the comfortably established paradigms of society. As Tutun Mukherjee, eminent Critic and professor at Hyderabad Central University says about these Women Playwrights, â€Å"Their plays have no author-defined conclusions, no resolutions, and no happy/sad endings. They do not aim at mental or emotional peace but close in irresolution, just as life’s experiences often do. The plays disturb and roil the equilibrium; they provoke and demand response. They try to forge a new kind of audience that will not expect to be entertained but will participate in the dialectics since the issues concerning women and children are of the kind that have invariably been and continue to be side-stepped and neglected by the society.† Thus, in some form, each of these plays deal with some form of resistance, sometimes trying to analyze women’s sexual exploitation in the domestic and public sphere, sometimes accepting women’s own complicity in such exploitation. In either way, they try to define women’s theatre against male-dominated ideologies and try to represent the under-represented aspect of sexual abuse in women’s lives. Themes There are many issues that bar women from writing plays as gender differences, religious barriers, cultural restrictions, lack of economic support, prevailing prejudices against women (women cannot produce good plays), family responsibilities and above all lack of standard education. In spite of these restraints, a few women playwrights have succeeded in their endeavours to write and produce plays in India and have been acclaimed internationally as well. Dina Mehta, Manjula Padmanabhan, Poile Sengupta and Tripurari Sharma are some of the names to mention who have been working tirelessly in the field of drama and have published many plays. These plays are linked by a commonality of themes and their intention bound by a common vision. A recurrent theme is that of psychosexual abuse and how women cope with sexism in everyday life. The spotlight is on women marking out their anguish, the pain, and often the inferiority that they suffer. Raju Parghi in his article ‘Indian Drama and the Emergence of Indian Women Playwrights: A Brief Survey’ claims that plays written by women can be broadly categorized into four broad categories. He says, â€Å"The themes of the plays written by women mostly deal with the issues related to women, at the same time they also depict children’s world and the issues related to men. The women playwrights are conscious of contemporary issues blended with troubling past memories, expectation of better and blissful future attempt to present balanced views on both society and family. Their multifarious themes can be compressed under four broad categories of plays. The Plays of Relationships include themes like motherhood, intricate baffling relationship of men and women, incest and adultery. The Plays of Violence focus on various types of violence as physical, emotional, psychological, and the exploitation of women at home and in profession. The Plays of Resistance present the themes of , voicing against rape, injustice and inequality, poverty illiteracy and gender discrimination. The Plays of Revolution suggests the themes of voice of the voiceless, political issues, religious and supe rstitious practices conservative values and traditional restrictions.† Poile Sengupta Poile (Ambika) Sengupta is one of India’s foremost playwrights in English. She has written many plays and all her plays have been performed every now and then in Banglore. Mangalam, was written in 1993 and produced the next year. Her other plays include Inner Laws,(1994), A Pretty Business (1995), Keats was a Tuber (1996), Collages (1998), Alipha and Thus Spake Shoorpanakha, So Said Shakuni (2001) and Samara’s Song(2007). Mangalam was published by Seagull in Body Blows (2000). In the Preface to an anthology of her plays, Poile Sengupta says, â€Å"when I write, I do so with the consciousness, the sensibility that is mine. However I’ve always been troubled about the status of women, and children, who seem to be the worst sufferers in any conflict, whether familial, social or political.† She also claims to enjoy the challenge of fashioning the grammar of an English sentence into what is essentially an ‘Indian’ syntax. Her first play Mangalam won The Hindu Madras Players Play-scripts Competition in 1993. It is a remarkable play that revolves around a dead person. The interaction among the characters probes the past that hides many skeletons. Each character is nuanced and individualised and each memory adds flesh and blood to the absent Mangalam. The invisible is made visible through memories. Mangalam is the female character in the play within the play, whose death becomes, in a way, the basis for much of the action. Throughout the first Act, we can feel her ‘absent presence’, through references to the time of her life when she was alive. At first, we are told that she probably committed suicide by swallowing pills, but we are not given any reason for her having done so. It is only the narrator’s choric commentary that provides insights like â€Å"Women die many kinds of deaths; men do not know this.†(102). Gradually we learn that she was carrying someone else’s child when she got married to Dorai. Her sister Thangam’s response to this accusation is, â€Å"Did you ever think that it could have been forced upon her?†(122). Not willing to relent on this, Dorai is keen on presenting himself as the victim, until Thangam retorts, â€Å"What about that married woman who used to come to the temple everyday and take prasaadam from your father? She took prasaadam from you also, didn’t she?†(121). While any hints of a woman’s unchaste conduct can malign her reputation for life, a similar act on a man’s part, is forgivable and can be easily ignored. Dorai, however, still has the audacity to justify himself, â€Å"It’s different for a man†(121). The shamelessness with which such private aspects of a woman’s life are openly discussed, slandering her reputation even after her death, is nothing more than a war of ideologies between the characters, none of whom are really sensitive to the loss of Mangalam. The female voice offstage comments: â€Å"Because a woman is strong, she is not to be protected; others violate her, and she must pay for their trespass.†(123). It is at the end of the first Act, that we get to know that Mangalam was molested by her own sister Thangam’s husband, alongside which news, Dorai’s daughter Usha too arrives, having left her husband’s house, because the oppression there, had got the better of her. Domestic space, which is the marker that tradition sets for the preservation of women’s chastity (Sita was abducted when she crossed the boundary marked by Lakshman), has now become a space of sexual violence and has led to an impasse for women. Act Two is, in a way, a comment upon Act One, because one realizes that the first Act was a play within the play one is reading. However, the same themes recur here, too. In fact, Sengupta uses the same actors in this Act as in the previous one, to depict the ruthless repetition of exploitation, even though in the second Act, ‘modernity’ has set in. Suresh is a modern-day ‘rake’ who values only conquest over women. This is why his sister Sumati is led to remark, â€Å"†¦the moment a woman doesn’t fit into the category of being a mother or a sister, she’s baggage†¦sexual baggage.†(129). Very soon, Thangam learns that her husband Sreeni has been having a clandestine extra-marital affair with another woman, which leaves a sense of hopeless reconciliation in the reader’s mind. It gets further aggravated when Radha tells Vikram: â€Å"[Sumati] had gone out with [a] man and I think he was violent with her. She didn’t r ealize†¦he suddenly†¦Ã¢â‚¬ (146). Towards the end, just when Thangam has gained courage enough to leave her husband, a sudden terrified scream is heard, which one soon learns, is Sumati’s, trying to escape from the advances of her uncle. Another play titled Keats was a tuber was short-listed for the British Council International New Playwriting Prize in 1997. Very realistic and humorous, it presents a group of English teachers in a provincial college and brings into play our ambivalent attitude to English and the way it is generally taught. The mindless memorizing of facts, often not the essential ones, is what gives the play its title. The students memorize the line ‘Keats was a tuberculosis patient’ by breaking it into two meaningless portions: â€Å"Keats was a tuber, Keats was a tuber† and â€Å"culosis patient, culosis patient†¦.† The memorized line does little to explain Keats’ poetic genius and illustrates the mechanical and spiritless teaching that drains a language and a literature of their beauty and appeal, and in no way aids learning. As the human relationships unfold in the play, Sengupta makes brilliant use of the English language – with each character demon strating an individualizing inflection as a bridge between those who teach and those who are taught. Some of her other very well known works are Inner Laws (1994), a satirical sit-com about five mothers-in-law and their five daughters-in-law whose names are drawn from the epics; and a woman-centred play called A Pretty Business (1995). Her play Dream makers of Calcutta with its backdrop of football was published in Telegraph in 1998. Sengupta explains that she wrote Collages in 1998 after she met a dear old lady at the British Council Library who talked to her for hours as though she was desperate for someone to talk to. She seemed a sad and lonely woman. The play too is grim and reflective in its tone and style. A 1999 play, Samara’s Song , deriving its name from an Iraqi city, is a mournful socio-political reflection on the violence that wipes out all traces of culture and civilization. In its wake comes the sense of irreparable human loss. The play Alifa (2001) recalling the first word in the alphabet in Hindusthani, dramatizes the obstacles in the way of women’s e mpowerment. There are just two characters, a woman and a man, totally unrelated and unknown to each other and extremely different in temperament and character yet at certain points their narratives intersect. The stage lights up one and the other alternately as they tell their stories. The play is both appealing and relevant. Sengupta’s Thus Spake Shoorpanakha , So Said Shakuni (2001) is an ambitious play which takes its characters from two different epics. They meet as two travelers at an airport. Gradually they start talking and reveal their innermost thoughts about the way they have been ill-treated by history. Sengupta explains that she was fascinated by a folktale about Shakuni’s brothers being imprisoned and killed by the Kauravas when Hastinapur kingdom was extended to Qandahar in the northwest. Only Shakuni had survived and he swore revenge upon the Kauravas. His dice were made of his brothers’ bones. Shoorpanakha, on the other hand, represents all those women who are bold enough to remain single and declare their desire for male companionship without taking recourse to false modesty. Such women threaten the male world so they are described as â€Å"dangerous rakshasis† (un-Aryan demonesses) who must be controlled/contained/ punished before they can upset the patriarcha l set-up. When these two characters meet in a contemporary situation, another crisis begins to threaten the world. Finally it is Shoorpanakha who dissuades Shakuni from provoking another bloodbath. Conclusion The Indian women playwrights consider drama a more serious tool of expression and representation. They have dealt with certain issues which the men playwrights have failed to do. They have adopted the genre as a more practical means to present serious familial, social cultural and political issues, the heinous crimes and practices of the society in satirical way. Their aim is to bring awareness of certain harsh realities, to protect every individual’s basic rights, to live freely, and to respect every individual irrespective of different gender caste or creed. The above mentioned four types of plays can be again compressed into one umbrella term as ‘The Plays of Change’ a new trend that perhaps goes hand in hand with the theatre of women. As Poile herself says through the narrator in Mangalam â€Å"As for the women, the gods said Let them be strong, rooted like trees For it is they who shall hold The ends of the world together, And there will be storms And the winds will blow very strong But the women will stay like trees, They will hold the world together .† References Kaushik, Minakshi (2012), Struggle and Expression: Selected Plays by Manjula Padmanabhan, Poile Sengupta and Dina Mehta, Galaxy: International Multidisciplinary Research Journal, 1(1). Mukherjee, Tutun (2005), Ed. Staging Resistance: Plays by Women in Translation, OUP, New Delhi. Mukherjee, Tutun (2007), Finding a Voice: Forging an Audience: Women Playwrights in English, Muse India (Web-Zine,), Issue 14. Parghi, Raju(2010), Indian Drama and the Emergence of Indian Women Playwrights: A Brief Survey, Impressions : An e-journal of English Studies, 1(1) Sengupta, Poile(2010), Women Centerstage : The Dramatist and the Play, Routledge, New Delhi. Singh, Anita(2009), Feminist Interventions: A Reading of Light’s Out, Getting Away with Murder and Mangalam, Muse India, Issue 26.

Change Management Essay -- essays research papers

  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Companies and organizations are changing continually to be more efficient in what they do. Change is not always readily accepted. Many people like to stay where they are and become comfortable with their current position. Business writers and managers have stated that unless organizations continue to change, they will become stale and inefficient. There have been many change management initiatives such as Total Quality Management, Six Sigma, and the Japanese Kaizen. Although these initiatives carry different names and slightly different processes, they all have a few elements in common. The most important elements for successful change management, as emphasized by the course text Human Resources Management in Canada and John P. Kotter’s article Leading Change: Why Transformation Efforts Fail, are time, sufficient communication, and understanding the urgency for change.  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Change is gradual; it takes time for things to change. It has been said that, â€Å"Rome wasn’t built in a day.† This is true for the business world as well. We simply cannot expect things to change overnight. Kotter has argued that it would more reasonable to allow a few years in order to fully allow the change process to unfold. Management should give themselves a large window of time to schedule in change. If they believe that they can make a large change over-night, they are merely fooling themselves of their capacity to manage. No matter how good a ma...