Tuesday, December 24, 2019

Barriers and Limitations in the Treatment of Alcohol and...

Alcohol and Substance Abuse Treatment Barriers and Limitations in the Community Background of the Problem and Situational Overview Individuals plagued with alcohol and other substance-abuse problems face numerous barriers along the way to their recovery (Cunningham, Sobell, Sobell, Agrawal Toneatte, 1993). At the micro-level, some of the primary barriers relate to the potential threat to their employment and income as a result of acknowledging their problems. They include the financial risks associated with disclosure of the problem to employers. At the macro-level, there are relatively few high-quality opportunities for community-funded programs, particularly for middle and upper-middle-class working individuals. Those barriers include the relative unavailability of publicly-funded programs that are well-regulated and staffed by professionals with licenses in substance abuse fields. At the psychosocial level, there are significant barriers in the form of societal behavioral norms that pose barriers of different types based substantially on gender (Beckman Ama ro, 1986). They include general societal behavioral norms that promote alcoholism and substance abuse and particular psychosocial interpersonal dynamics at work and in the home that present different types of barriers to effective treatment based largely on gender (Beckman Amaro, 1986; Jessup, Humphreys, Brindis Lee, 2003). Micro-level Barriers One of the most significant micro-level barriers forShow MoreRelatedDrug Policy And Funding Has Not Changed Much Over The Past Two Decades1505 Words   |  7 Pagestoward a comprehensive approach; one that focuses on prevention, treatment and enforcement (p.1). One approach to this is allotting billions of dollars to the Federal Drug Control Budget. As of 2014, the majority of funding for this budget went into supply reduction (59.9%), demand reduction (40.1%), and domestic law enforcement (36.8%). Only 35 percent of the funding was provided for treatment of drug abuse, and 5.1 percent for drug abuse prevention (Sacco, 2014, p.16). These numbers have not changedRead MoreSuzy Case Study Essay866 Words   |  4 Pagespredispositions to substance abuse within her family, citing both her mother and father’s struggles with substance abuse. During the very first session, Suzy expressed concerns related to her ability to even come to counseling without sedating medication (Laureate Education, Inc., 2012). Potential Pharmacological Treatment Plan Based on the case study, and at this point in the therapeutic relationship, there has only been bits and pieces revealed regarding Suzy’s alcohol abuse. 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Monday, December 16, 2019

Curricular Ramifications Free Essays

The employment of computer technologies in elementary school education has significantly increased across the globe. The benefits and advantages of computer-based learning have been comprehensively discussed, yet it is also important to enumerate the ramifications associated with this endeavor. However, it is imperative to determine whether this technologically intense activity is appropriate for application to young children attending elementary school education. We will write a custom essay sample on Curricular Ramifications or any similar topic only for you Order Now This paper will identify several issues that are associated with the use of computers in teaching basic lessons to young school children. One of the most alarming reports regarding the ramifications of computer-based instruction at the grade school level is that the brains of young children are inundated with so much information at an early age (Healy, 1998). It has been earlier established that the brains of young children are still undergoing further development and thus it is best to allow time and the normal activities to enhance the young individual’s brain capacity as he grows through adolescence and adulthood. The exposure of young children to computer programs is thus a novel experience that has not been fully examined with regards to its long-term effects of human behavior and cognition (Kay, 1992). It is acceptable that adults employ computers at work and at home, yet allowing young children to use computers at such an early age may be rushing their underdeveloped brains to mature at a faster pace. Another issue associated with the employment of computers in elementary school education is that the quality of software programs may significantly vary, depending on the designer or creator of the program. There are currently so many software programs that assist a computer user in uploading, integrating and consolidating different types of information on a computer. It is thus possible that the computer program that is used by a certain elementary school has not been reviewed and endorsed by the school district and thus the school children may be affected in terms of their learning skills and behavior. The ideal computer program that could assist in teaching grade school children should not only include lessons on how to count or read, but also instill good morals, as well as conduct (Cassell and Jenkins, 1998). It may thus be possible that the computer program employed by a certain school was simply purchased based on the price of the software packaged. There are so many versions of tutorial software that are featured with violent activities that attempt to teach children how to count or read. It is therefore important that computer programs are designed as a simulation of classroom lessons, which will always include teaching of proper attitudes and behaviors. Another issue that may result from the use of computer programs in teaching lessons at the elementary school level is the decrease in interpersonal interactions among students (Whitley, 1997). One features of elementary school education is that these children are allowed to interact with other children of the same age, as they also learn lessons from their teachers. The employment of computers in teaching lessons to these young children therefore removes the social interactions that are important in shaping the personality of a child. Computer programs will thus accumulate more time spent sitting on a desk and staring at a computer screen. The young schoolchildren will thus lose significant time in playing and interacting with other children. Computer-based learning may also decrease the opportunities for a young child to learn the concept of cause and effect, which is strongly linked to social exchange with other children. It is generally observed that compassion is often learned at children and this is mainly through seeing what happens when one child is affected by a particular stimulus in the environment. In the case of employment of computers in elementary schools, children will be left with less time interacting with children and thus they might not learn how to appropriately interact with other people. The effect of this setting may not be immediately seen unless they have already grown older as full adults (Whitley, 1997). Another issue associated with computer programs in the elementary school level is gender difference in the use and appreciation of computers (Barker and Aspray, 2006). According to earlier reports, grade school-age boys are more comfortable in using computers than girls, thus reflecting the concept of male dominance in computer technology use (Butler, 2000). This gender difference may therefore affect the performance and learning capacity of the female school children, as these do not fully appreciate the reason why they have to use computers in learning specific lessons at school. In addition, there are reports that describe that elementary school-age girls develop an increase in their negative perception of computers when they reach the age range of 12 to 13 years of age (Kay, 2006a). On the other hand, boys of this same age range show an increase in their interest on computers, and thus reflect the significant improvement of their test scores from computer lessons and activities (Kay, 2006b). It has been suggested that this correlation between boys and computer use is influenced by the sense of confidence that this gender feels as they use such technological gadgets. Another obstacle that is associated with the use of computer technology in elementary school instruction is the difficulty of teachers in integrating this technology in their curriculum (Jenson and Rose, 2003). It is critical to understand that computers have only been employed in most human activity in the last twenty to thirty years. In addition, it has only been in the last 15 years that communication methods such as the email and short message service have been fully appreciated by society. It is thus possible that there are certain teachers in elementary schools around that world that are still not comfortable with using computers in their teaching curriculum. There are some teachers that would rather stick with the old classical method of instruction, especially when they have been teaching young children with only the basic lessons of reading, mathematics and writing (Howe, 1997). In the case where the Department of Education or the school district obliges all elementary school teachers to integrate computer programs in their teaching curriculum, this may present some form of stress of certain teachers that are not used to this technology. It is thus important that teachers be highly trained with regards to the use and the recognition of the advantages of including computers in their curriculum. It will be disappointing to see reports in the futures which describe teachers that are misguiding young school children in their classroom lessons because the teacher himself is not familiar with using a computer program. Given these ramifications on the curriculum of elementary schools, it is thus important that the decision and choices made with regards to computer use be thoroughly reviewed and assessed. Elementary schoolchildren’s brains are highly malleable and thus it is critical that the appropriate and relevant measure are undertaken in order to ensure good educations among these young individuals. References Barker, L. J. and Aspray, W. (2006). The state of research on girls and IT. In: Cohoon, J. M. and Aspray, E. (eds. ). Women and Information Technology. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, pages 3–54. Butler, D. (2000). Gender, girls, and computer technology: What’s the status now? Clearing House, 73, 225–229. Cassell, J. and Jenkins, H. (1998). From Barbie to Mortal Kombat: Gender and computer games. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press. Jenson, J. and Rose, C. B. (2003). Women@work: Listening to gendered relations of power in teachers’ talk about new technologies. Gender and Education, 15, 169–181. Healy, J. (1998). Failure to Connect: How Computers Affect Our Children’s Minds – For Better or Worse. New York: Simon Schuster. Howe, K. (1997). Understanding Equal Educational Opportunity: Social Justice, Democracy and Schooling. New York: Teachers College Press Kay, R. H. (1992). An analysis of methods used to examine gender differences in computer-related behaviour. Journal of Educational Computing Research, 8, 323–336. Kay, R. H. (2006a). Addressing gender differences in computer ability, attitudes and use: The laptop effect. Journal of Educational Computing Research, 34, 187–211. Kay, R. H. (2006b). Evaluating strategies used to incorporate technology into preservice education: A review of the literature. Journal of Research on Technology and Education, 38, 383–408. Whitley, B. E. (1997). Gender differences in computer-related attitudes and behaviors: A metaanalysis. Computers in Human Behavior, 13, 1–22. . How to cite Curricular Ramifications, Papers

Sunday, December 8, 2019

External Reporting Issues Incitec Pivot Limited

Question: Discuss about the External Reporting Issues for Incitec Pivot Limited. Answer: Introduction The report focuses on the subject of accounting and the issues that the accountant faces while reporting the account details of a company. This report aims to identify and analyze the critical accounting issues faced by Incitec Pivot Limited. During this report, the discussion and critical analysis are made on the 2015-2016 annual reports of the company. There are mainly four parts included in the report. At the end of the report, conclusion is derived by considering the overall findings of the study. Preuse of the annual report of Incitec Pivot Limited Identifying the rules and regulations that govern the annual report of Incitec Pivot Limited As per the 2015-2016 annual report of Incitec Pivot Limited, the company has followed the rules and regulations provided by the Australian Accounting Standard Board. At the same time, the Chief Financial Officer has also disclosed that the company has maintained the rules provided in the Corporation Act 2001, while preparing this annual report. As per the Corporation Act 2001, Sect314, the annual report of the company must include the directors report and auditors report in its annual report. The company has maintained this rule and at the same time, the company has also maintained the principles under Australian Securities Exchange Corporate Governance. In order to prepare the financial statements, the company that is Incitec Pivot Limited has maintained the AASB 101. Concept of materiality and its place in conceptual framework Materiality is an important concept of accounting that suggests the companies to disclose all the necessary information and disregard all the trivial information in the annual report. In the other words, materiality is an accounting tool that signifies the accounting transactions in the financial statements of the companies. The company Incitec Pivot Limited has also followed the principle of materiality, which can be identified in the 2015-2016 annual report of the company. Analyzing the materiality policy at Incitec Pivot Limited In the annual report of Incitec Pivot Limited, all the important matters like, sustainability information, materiality review, information about the stakeholders and the financial performance of the company has been disclosed. As per the 2015-2016 annual report, the company has prepared the financial statements that are free from financial misstatement in order to achieve the trusts of the external stakeholders. The material information of the company helps the external report users to understand the current state and future prospect of the company. Examining the major account items in detail Analyzing the possibility of misstatement to maintain the materiality policy The 2015-2016 annual report of Incitec Pivot Limited it has been identified that the company has disclosed all the essential information of the business. It is expected that the information provided by the company is authentic and there is no misstatement of the financial information. However, there can be misstatements of the financial information of the company. This is because sometimes little information is there which is confidential and in order to maintain the confidentiality, the company does the misstatement. However, as per the auditors report stated in the annual report of Incitec Pivot Limited, the financial report of the company is free from material misstatements. Therefore, it can be stated that the annual report of the company did not include any misstatement of financial information. Balance between ethical standards and materiality obligation Maintaining the ethical standards and materiality obligation together while preparing the financial report is not easy. The accounting standards suggest the companies to maintain the materiality obligation, however, sometimes to save the future business performance it becomes very difficult for the accountant to disclose the information truly. Due to this, the companies sometimes disclose some information, which are false. However, maintaining high ethical standard along with the materiality obligation is not impossible. The companies can maintain that by following the standards properly and preparing appropriate plan for the financial year. Explaining whether the annual report of Incitec Pivot Limited serves the best interests of the users The annual report of Incitec Pivot Limited provides the best interests of the users and preparers. In the annual report of the company each information about the business activity of the company is given. At the same time, the company has provided some of the future steps that the company has planned to take in the coming financial year. The policies taken by the company and the principles maintained are disclosed within the annual report. Therefore, it can be said the users can use this annual report to gather the necessary information about the company. The financial report of the company that is Incitec Pivot Limited follows the materiality standards stated under the accounting standards and principles. The maintenance of materiality helps to disclose all the information in detail. Due to this, the external users of the report can identify the performance and operational details of the company. The external users can know the extent to which the company has operated its business ethically and legally. The application of the materiality standards helps the organization to gain the trusts of the external users of the report. Therefore, materiality helps to enhance the usefulness of the financial report of the company. Apart from that, the application of materiality also affects the General Purposes of Financial Reports or GPFR. The GPFR of a company is to meet all the information needs of the external users. Therefore, if the company applies the materiality standards, then it can enhance the value of its GPFR, otherwise, the GPFR of the company will be useless for the external users of the financial reports. Reviewing the reasons for which the accountants become nervous about the application and connection between materiality and ethical behavior in financial reporting In a company, there may be some information that cannot be disclosed in the financial reports because of the confidentiality of the business operation. However, in order to meet the principle of materiality the accountants of the company are bound to disclose the information. Many times, the accountants cannot disclose all the true information of the company in the financial report because of the order given by the higher authority. Sometimes, it also happens that the accountants disclose the false information in the financial report. These types of steps push the accountants towards unethical behavior. On the other side, as per the accounting standards, the maintenance of materiality standards or principle is mandatory for the accountants[12]. Therefore, it becomes very difficult for the accountants to manage both sides. If the accountants follow the order of the higher authority, then sometimes they need to take unethical steps but if they follow the accounting standards, then sometimes the interests of the company remain unfulfilled. Due to this, the accountants feel nervous at the time of application and connecting the materiality and ethical behavior. Motivations and Consequences In order to make the decision-making process of the accountants easier, the management of the company can motivate the accountants and the other employees to follow the rules and regulations provided by AASB and IFRS and can influence them to work ethically. The management can motivate the accountants and other employees by the following ways: The management can arrange for a meeting and can discuss on the importance of the rules and the ways through which the accountants can follow the rules and regulations of AASB and IFRS regarding materiality by managing the confidential matter of the company. The management can increase the remuneration of the accountants, so that they become agreed to take the higher responsibility for preparing the financial reports of the company. Higher remuneration will motivate the accountant to take critical decision. If the company take the above motivation strategies then it will be possible to manage the materiality along with the confidentiality of the company. The accountants and other employees of the company will be more interested to work at the workplace and as a result the financial performance of the company will be improved. Conclusion In this report, it has been identified that the company that is Incitec Pivot Limited has disclosed the necessary information in the 2015-2016 annual report. The auditors report that is stated in the annual report of the company has clearly mentioned that the company has fulfilled all the accounting standards. The report has also identified that the annual report of Incitec Pivot Limited has served the best interests of the external users and so the value of GPFR of the company has enhanced. At the same time, the report has also disclosed that the accountants of the companies feel nervous while rearing the financial reports because it becomes very difficult for them to maintain the materiality and ethical behavior together. Reference list: Amiram, D., Chircop, J., Landsman, W. R., Peasnell, K. V. (2015). Mandatorily Disclosed Materiality Thresholds, their Determinants, and their Association with Earnings Multiples.Available at SSRN 2631876. Bernstein, A., Beeferman, L. (2015). The materiality of human capital to corporate financial performance.Available at SSRN 2605640. Eccles, R. G., Youmans, T. (2015). Materiality in Corporate Governance: The Statement of Significant Audiences and Materiality.Harvard Business School General Management Unit Working Paper, (16-023). Edgley, C., Jones, M. J., Atkins, J. (2015). The adoption of the materiality concept in social and environmental reporting assurance: A field study approach.The British Accounting Review,47(1), 1-18. Fasan, M., Mio, C. (2016). Fostering Stakeholder Engagement: The Role of Materiality Disclosure in Integrated Reporting.Business Strategy and the Environment. Incitecpivot.com.au. (2016). Incitecpivot.com.au. Retrieved 7 August 2016, from https://www.incitecpivot.com.au/ Khan, M., Serafeim, G., Yoon, A. (2015). Corporate sustainability: First evidence on materiality.The Accounting Review. Moroney, R., Trotman, K. T. (2015). Differences in Auditors' Materiality Assessments When Auditing Financial Statements and Sustainability Reports.Contemporary Accounting Research. Nishant, R., Goh, M., Kitchen, P. J. (2016). Sustainability and differentiation: Understanding materiality from the context of Indian firms.Journal of Business Research,69(5), 1892-1897. Pina, V., Ivanov, M., Torres, L. (2016). Financial Transparency of Local Governments in Eastern EU Countries.Revue Internationale des Gouvernements Ouverts, 191-202. Singh, M., Peters, S. J. (2015). Materiality: Investor Perspectives.