The New Deal Saving Liberal Democracy Politics Essay

The New Deal Saving Liberal Democracy Politics Essay In 1932, in the midst of the economic depression Franklin D. Roosevelt was elected American president. He won the election with outstanding success, receiving 472 out of the possible 531 votes with the Electoral College and inflicting the worst defeat since 1912 upon his Republican rival1. The reason for this was the enthusiastic support given by the general population to his proposal of a New Deal a highly experimental programme of legislative reforms with no defined ideology, intended at stimulating economic recovery. Having to face a continuously worsening economic depression, with over 13 millions unemployed, Roosevelt acted quickly, and within the first hundred days of his presidency passed startling bursts of reform legislation2 which in effect prevented the collapse of the economy and began to tackle some of the most pressing social problems, primarily unemployment. Though, as Conkin states, the New Deal did not provide any new clarification of the dilemmas of liberal democracy3, if one assumes that the prime basis for liberal democracy is a prosperous society, then he is justified to claim that by preventing economic collapse, Roosevelt thus saved liberal democracy in America. For the purpose of this essay, let us accept the encyclopedic definition of liberal democracy as a representative democracy where the ability of elected representatives to exercise decision-making power is subject to the rule of law and moderated by a constitution which emphasizes the protection of the rights and freedoms of individuals and minorities (also called constitutional liberalism), and which places constraints on the extent to which the will of the majority can be exercised. Recently, the term liberal democracy came to acquire a socialist, or perhaps event communist undertone in America, but since this can be rather classified as a misunderstanding of the term, it will be neglected. Essentially, the question posed consists of two major issues; firstly, one must consider the extent to which the New Deal policies corresponded with the liberal democratic ideology, and secondly whether the New Deal actually saved American liberal democracy. The second question essentially consists of several issues; the extent to which the liberal democracy was under threat in America, the role of the New Deal in saving it, the role of other factors, and the extent to which the New Deal was a radical innovation as opposed to being simply a natural continuation of previous policies, in which case it could not be honored for saving liberal democracy. Effectively, the aim of the following essay is to suggest that the New Deal was not liberal democratic in its nature and that if it did support liberal democracy in America, which incidentally was not critically threatened, it did so as a by-consequence of trying to improve the economic situation and solely from an economic, as opposed to a political, perspective. In addition, the importance of the Second World War as a contributive factor to economic recovery will be underlined. So let us address the first question: How Liberal was the New Deal itself? From a political perspective the New Deal can hardly be classified as Liberal Democratic in nature since it did not aim to promote a representative democracy where the ability of elected representatives to exercise decision-making power is subject to the rule of law and moderated by a constitution. In fact, it did the exact opposite when Roosevelt proposed the Court reform bill4 by which he was planning to allow for the packing of the Supreme Court and which also presumed a reduction of the Courts power. Since the Court was the principal guard against the governments violation of the constitution, it clearly went directly against the liberal democratic principles. The problem was that the Court declared unconstitutional several of Roosevelt projects, and he saw it as one of the main obstacles is his way to pass legislation; he was thus determined to reform it thus overcoming its opposition. The New Deal on the whole saw an expansion of the presidential functions5 and a decline of the party system, since Roosevelt considered traditional party politics an obstacle to the modernization of American government6. Since this meant weakening the power 1 Leuchtenburg p.17 2 Badger p. 7 3 Auerbach p. 19 4 Leuchtenburg p. 237 5 Ibid. p. 327 6 Milkis p. 480 of elected representatives of the people, in also stood in contradiction with democratic principles; instead of democratic liberalism Roosevelt was aiming at militant liberalism7. In the economy, a rather pragmatic as opposed to ideological approach was adopted, and Roosevelt clearly diverged from the liberal Keynesian policies of creating full employment by means of public work schemes; one of Roosevelts main convictions was the necessity to balance the budget, and thus, governmental spending was minimized8. Hence, to help cover the costs of the emerging welfare system, taxes were increased9. So in what sense was the New Deal Liberal Democratic? The bases for the argument promoting such a view were the welfare policies one of the basic pillars of liberal democracy since more progress was made in public welfare and relief than in the [previous] three hundred years10. However, this area too was not without controversy since on the one hand as Irwin Unger argues that New Deal [was] the immediate source of the liberal welfare state11, but on the other, C. Gardner stresses the fact that it did not solve any of the fundamental problems 12. Numerous welfare policies were introduce, namely the National Youth Asssociation which was a considerable success helping young people find work13, the Home Owners Loan Corporation which protected Americans who has been hit by depression from losing their property and relief programmes such as the Federal Emergency Relief Administration, the Civil Works Administration and the Civilian Conservation Corps. The greatest single reform however w as the Social Security Act which included unemployment compensation, old-age and survival insurance, public assistance programs for dependant children and the blind14, housing projects, economic relief programs15. Though overall liberal, it had several flaws; national health insurance was absent and family allowances, public assistance and unemployment insurance remain ungenerous by international standards16 whilst many categories of workers were excluded from the Act all together17. Excluded too was the black population, which became another controversial issue, since liberalism actively promotes the protection of minorities. The NRA saw the blacks being paid less than the white, the TVA largely avoided employing blacks and the AAA was not effective in protecting the interest of black sharecroppers and tenant farmers. On the whole, Roosevelt did attempt to promoted racial equality as for example by promoting blacks to secondary posts in government18; yet as many of his critics poi nt out, he did not introduce a Civil Rights Legislation19 fearing opposition from the Southern states, and hence only few welfare projects, namely the NYA, benefited the black population. Similarly, the promotion of womens rights was undertaken women being included in government for the first time20, but only on a small scale. Hence, it is debatable whether the New Deal can be classified as liberal democratic, since only from a social perspective can it truly be considered such. So how could it save liberal democracy? In order to assess that, let us first identify the threats that were present. When the New Deal was first introduced, the economy was continuously declining; the banking system was collapsing as banks were failing, demand was falling, agricultural overproduction depreciated prices and droughts further undermined the income of the farmers who were struggling to pay their taxes and debt obligations, in towns unemployment rose to 15.9% in 193121 and wages were cut, production was shrinking in most fields and workers suffered from malnutrition and destitution. In we accept that economic prosperity or at least minimal wage available to the majority of the population is a necessary requirement for Liberal Democracy, then one could easily claim that from an economic perspective the latter was increasingly under threat in America at the beginning of the 1930s, as economic plight was severe and conditions were only deteriorating. One could go as far as claiming that unless a series of effective economic reforms was introduced, the economic system would collapse bringi ng an end to liberal democracy; the scale of the economic plight was reflected in the general mood of despair and the belief that depression was permanent22 as well as increasingly emigration of workers and a drastic fall in birth rate. 7 Ibid. p. 486 8 Skocpol p. 40 9 Louchheim p. 150 10 Leuchtenburg p. 332 11 Auerbach p.18 12 Auerbach p. 20 13 Louchheim p. 296 14 Skocpol p. 38 15 Louchheim p. 260 16 Skocpol p. 37 17 Louchheim p. 151 18 Ibid. p. 260 19 Leuchtenburg p. 186 20 Ibid. p. 33 21 Badger p. 18 22 Leuchtenburg p. 29 However, surprisingly perhaps, the democratic government itself was not political threatened in any significant way. Whilst in Europe extremist parties made enormous gains in parliament and their popularity boosted up, America saw no such development and in the elections of 1932, Communists -the most extreme party prepared to challenge liberal democracy only polled 120 000 votes23. Moreover, general mood idleness prevailed and no major protests parallel to those is Europe were seen. Farm strikes, communist demonstrations and miners strikes did occur24, yet did propose an alternative communist political system, but rather simply expressed their grievances. In there was a threat, it came from the suggestions to strengthen the powers of the executive, radical enough to propose dictatorship; a dictatorial of twelve men, a supercouncil or simply a single dictator25. However, these suggestions did not generate violent opposition to the present democratic government. Though Hoovers govern ment was blamed for the depression and as William Dodd put it both political parties have been bankrupted26, the American people did not seem to lose faith in democracy as a political system and when Roosevelt proposed a new proposed a new program, they supported it with faith and enthusiasm. The reason why extremism did not threaten liberal democracy in America as it did in Europe was mainly due to the fact that America was founded upon the principles of liberty and freedom, and never experienced effective dictatorial rule as did most European countries under their monarchs. Hence, in the political sense, the New Deal cannot claim to have saved liberal democracy, since no critical threat actually existed. Ironically however, one could claim that New Deal created such a threat when in 1934 when strikes and riots began to spread27. The protests acquired a much strong communist inclination and Longs Share Our Wealth organization promoting wealth redistribution attracted increasing support28 whilst on Labour Day the textile workers carried out the largest strike ever in America. However, these threats were effectively handled by the government by force in the case of major strikes29; and the general public continued to fear Communist, which meant that no critical threat developed. Also, by adopting a more left-wing approach to the economy, the New Deal managed to undercut radical reforms30 destroying the attractiveness of radical parties. The development of left-wing radicalism can be explained by de Tocquevilles theory that evils become intolerable when avenues of escape are opened31; when the workers were given certain privileges, they began to want more. Hence, if the New Deal is to be acclaimed for handling a political threat to Liberal Democracy, it can only be with respect to the threat it generated itself. This is further supported by the argument that the New Deal created a real threat of dictatorship on Roosevelt part, since, as James Farley notes the presidents attempt to dominate his party indicated his thirst for personal power32 and some congress members genuinely feared his despotism33. Hence, major threat to Liberal Democracy was that of economic collapse, and it is by preventing such a development that the New Deal can claim to have saved the system. However, the issue is far more controversial, so let us now examine the economic policies of the New Deal and determine their influences. During the first hundred days, Roosevelt passed several important pieces of economic legislation; first was the Emergency Banking Act. This in effect revived the collapsing banking system and induced confidence in the population that banks were now safe34, thus being a crucial development as it inspired the general population with faith that the economic depression was about to end and re-established normal monetary relations within the country. Roosevelts next move was to balance by budget by means of the Economy Act; this reassured the business community of Roosevelts fiscal conservatism, and thus promoted the restoration of business relations. He then managed to counter deflation by taking America off the gold standard35, passed the National Recovery Act proposing minimal wages and maximum working hours, established the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission to oversee the stock market and introduced the Tennessee Valley Authority which was aimed at generating both electricity fo r the South and employment opportunities36. 23 Ibid. p. 26 24 Ibid. p. 25 25 Ibid. p. 30 26 Ibid. p. 27 27 Badger p. 303 28 Leuchtenburg p. 98 29 Ibid. p. 113 30 Auerbach p. 23 31 Auerbach p. 24 32 Leuchtenburg p. 278 33 Milkis p. 483 34 Leuchtenburg p. 43 35 Ibid. p. 51 36 Ibid. p. 54 Since one of the major problems caused by the depression was the plight in agriculture, the first hundred days also saw the introduction of the Agricultural Adjustment Act; this aimed to increase crop prices37, and protect farmers from uncertainties by subsidies. Though successful in bringing relative stability and prosperity to the farming community farm income rose by 50% during Roosevelts firm term38 and rural debt decreased the Act was a controversy due to the methods it employed. Crop destruction and the slaughtering of livestock to raise prices39 at a time when many families could not afford food, was seen by some as anti-social and overly-capitalist. In general, the first hundred days brought economic recovery, and saved the economy from collapse. However, not all projects were completely successful, e.g. the National Recovery Act was violated by many enterprises, and most of the changes did not in any way permanently alter the economic structure, which allowed for the same problems that caused the depression to arise later. Also, the withdrawal of capital from the economy into reserve funds may be helped to prologue the depression40. In did however induce a variety of stabilizers into the economy41 and introduced one lasting strategy the establishment of the federal government in the role of a broker and arbitrator between the different competing interest groups thus promoting private enterprise and completion, as well as succeeded in improving the overall working conditions42. One can claim that by saving America from collapse the first hundred days of the New Deal proved that democratic reform represented a viable alternative to totalitarianism43 thereby saving liberal democracy. However, one must keep in mind that it was economic recovery, not the saving of liberal democracy which was the main driving force behind the legislations. One must also consider that the success of the first hundred days was however short-lasting, and in 1937 the economy again plunged into recession after a period of revival. The economic situation deteriorated to such an extent that some of the population faced starvation44 and the problems of unemployment, though reduced, presisted. This was partly due to the failure of certain policies in the long-term, which were rather successful in the short term; in other words, the New Deal did not introduced any economic changes that would be far-reaching enough as to change the cyclic nature of the economy45 and thus did not prevent the natural recession of mid-1937. At this point it is vital to stress the importance of the Second World War for the American economy. Since the New Deal largely failed in the long term, one could easily expect that the economic problems and unemployment would persist unsolved for many years to come; the sole reason why this did not happen was the start of the Se cond World War. The war forced the government to allow large expenditures and provided an impetus for economic activity, growth and recovery (for the first time unemployment figures fell to less than 2 million) ultimately, the economic demands of the war provided demand for many industries, rising their levels of production and dragging capital into the economy. Final recovery from the depression was thus only achieved during the war, and many argue that without the opportunities that it presented, the economy under the New Deal would not be able to fully recover; A. L Hamby claims that had not World War II intervened à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ the New Deal might well have been considered a failure46. However, one must not underestimate the importance of the New Deal in developing the economy to a stage where it could take effective advantage of the opportunities provided by the war. In effect, the New Deal and the Second World War were two essential steps towards total recovery which could on ly be completely when coupled. Now let us briefly look at the relation between the New Deal and policies that preceded it; many argue that the New Deal was a continuation of the Progressives policies from the before the First World War; this argument is supported by the fact that the government included many old progressives such as Roosevelt himself, and many of the policies, namely the Social Security Act carried a great degree of resemblance to the welfare policies that were being introduced under the progressives47. However, this view by and large 37 Louchheim p. 237 38 Ibid p. 237 39 Leuchtenburg p. 73 40 Louchheim p. 151 41 Hamby p. 4 42 Leuchtenburg p. 69 43 Hamby p. 5 44 Leuchtenburg p. 249 45 Ibid. p. 265 46 Hamby p. 8 47 Ibid. p. 2 incorrect since the Progressives were closely associated with the laissez-faire which the New Deal abandoned, and were motivated in their welfare policies by Victorian humanitarianism48, whereas the New Deal politicians adopted their policies out of economic necessity and liberal considerations. The New Deal differed from the programs of the Hoover administration too, since it was not limited by narrow ideological vision and could embark on rather more radical policies49 which was essential if the economy was to be saved from collapse. Now let us conclusively assess the influence of the New Deal on Liberal Democracy. The New Deal was introduced as response to an economic depression and its policies were thus targeted at solving immediate economic problems rather than saving Liberal Democracy; thus the aims of the New Deal were not liberal. It was only the welfare policies introduced under the New Deal which were of a liberal nature, and even those were adopted out of necessity rather than because of ideological considerations. However, it is correct to acknowledge that the New Deal clearly saved the faith in liberal democracy by proving that a democratic government can fight an economic crisis successfully; it significantly revived the economy and in W. Leuchtenburgs view saved capitalism50 in America. Saving that the New Deal saved Capitalism rather than Liberal Democracy more correct also for the reason that whilst capitalism was threatened by the deteriorating economic depression, Liberal Democracy did not face any significant political threats thanks to the firm democratic tradition. However, if you accept the assumption that capitalism and a prosperous economy are essential foundations for a liberal democratic society, then it is fair to claim that to a large extent the New Deal helped prevent the collapse of the liberal democratic system in America.

Study of Employee Behavior causing Accidents at the Workplace

Study of Employee Behavior causing Accidents at the Workplace Safety behavior is the key for reducing the injuries at the workplace and indirectly influencing the outcomes of the event before the injuries or accidents occurred (Johnson, 2003). There are many studies in occupational safety concluded that the root of the accident causes is human behavior (Geller, 2000; Cooper, 1998, 2000; Johnson, 2003). Therefore, it shows the relationship between the human and their behavior on causing the accident at the workplace. Studies indicate that more than 85% of workplace injuries and accidents can be linked to human error of commission or omission (LaBar, 1996). Granot (1998) also admits it in his review that industrial disaster is truly about people and their behavior. Most of studies in human safety behavior issues concerning only on the concept of safety culture (safety climate), defined as the product of individual and group values, attitudes, perceptions, competencies, and patterns of behavior that determine the organizations safety performance (Health and Safety Commission, 1993, p.23). Rasmussen (1990) expresses concern that despite the growing complexity, size and change in todays technical system, they continue to depend on human involvement for their safe operation. Previous researcher such as Mullen (2002), Subramaniam (2004) and Mahmood, Isa, Mustafa, Aziz Salleh (2009) did study several factors that have direct relationship with safety behavior such as organizational factors, safety commitment and human factors but they did not stressed out any variables that could mediated the relationship between those variables. Therefore, no study conducted to identify whether these relationship could be mediated by another factors such as attitudes, perceptions, knowledge, beliefs and personality. This study will not only help to improve the safety behavior at the workplace but it will also increase Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) knowledge and perception towards safety behavior. The purpose of this study is to investigate what are the main factors that influence human safety behavior among SMEs manufacturing chemical products in Northern Area of Malaysia. It is also seeks to identify the crucial parts in safety and health that is human factors which will influence the safety measures at the workplace. Besides that, it is also to identify the factors that need to be improved to achieve excellent standards of safety management at SMEs. To dig deeper into the causes of accidents at the worksite, one must understand the role of human factors, which are often the cause of human error. It is also to understand the factors that influenced the safety measures at the workplace. Industry Background Small and Medium Enterprise (SMEs), plays a major role in the Malaysian economy. The development of SMEs has received much attention since the implementation of the New Economic Policy (1971 1990). It was then emphasized in the Second Long Term Malaysian Plan (1991-2000). A survey done in 1994 found that there were 12,000 SMEs established in Malaysia made up of 88% small enterprises and 12% medium-sized enterprises. These SMEs employed 33% of the workforce in the manufacturing sector. The importance of small and medium-sized businesses in helping the economic development of our nation cannot be refuted. Besides creating job opportunities, SMEs play a crucial role in contributing to the prosperity of big and multinational corporations. They enhance the industry through their creativity and innovation. In Malaysia, various agencies adopt different definitions of SMEs depending on their business interests. However one common definition is that provided by the Small and Medium Industries Development Corporation (SMIDEC) which defines SMEs according to two main factors i.e. annual sales turn over and number of full time workers. Medium sized business is a business establishment with an annual sales turnover of between RM10 million and RM25 million and which employs more than 150 full-time workers while a small sized business is a business establishment8 with an annual sales turnover of not more than RM10 million and which employs not more than 50 full time workers. SMEs offer different and unique challenges to the manager who is generally the owner of the business. Considering their importance to the countrys economic development agenda, the governments commitment to the development of SMEs has been clearly evident since the early 1970s (Saleh Ndubisi, 2006). Various forms of assistance have been given by the government to ensure the successful development of SMEs. Examples of the assistance are access to market and financial support, RD, the use of ICT, technology to enhance productivity and quality control as well as access to skilled labors (SME Performance Report, 2005). As a result of the growth of SMEs, safety measures should be taken into account seriously. It is because accidents at workplace can be prevented if employers and employees are more sensitive or have good safety behavior (Makin Sutherland, 1994; Christian, Wallace, Bradley, Burke, 2009). Moreover, to get better understanding of safety behavior, employers need to cater the human factors that can contribute to accidents at workplace and the employees to have some responsibility towards their own safety. Accidents at workplace involve monetary cost as the amount of compensation paid out to employees cost more than what it is perceived. The amount has been high in the last few years and this costs a lot of money to the economy, which can otherwise be used for other productive purposes such as an investment in new technology to boost productions. In 2003, compensation due to accidents amounted to a staggering RM 745 million. The amount increased to RM 817 million in 2004 and continued to rise to RM 883 million in 2005 (Labor and Human Resources Statistics 2001-2005, 2009). According to Thye (2009), 70% of all occupational diseases are due to the chemical exposure, which results in problems like skin diseases, poisoning and respiratory disorders. Previous studies showed that the occurrences of diseases and sickness were partly due to the improper use of personal protective equipment, from selection of such equipment to its washing or disposal (Thye, 2009). Therefore, this study will focus on SMEs manufacturing chemical products for agricultural industries and cleaning services. It is because from the data obtained most of the SMEs company at the Northern Region are producing chemical products for the agricultural and cleaning services. Problem Statement One of the topics in human resource management that is gaining attention is safety management. Generally, previous studies on safety focused on areas such as safety and health legislative compliance (Townsend, 1998), OSH implementation (Surienty, Hong Hung, 2010), OSH performance (Surienty, Hong Hung, 2010) safety climate (Zohar, 2000; Flin, Mearns, OConnors Bryden, 2000; Dedobbeleer Belan, 1991) and safety culture (Abd. Aziz, 2008; Clarke, 1999; Cooper, 1998; Cox Flin, 1998). In term of the context of the study, previous research have concentrated more on investigating safety behavior and lifestyle involving employees in construction sites (Aksorn Hadikusumo, 2007; Tam Fung, 1998; Toole, 2002) and less research focusing on manufacturing. Review of related literature revealed studies that emphasized on human factors and safety behavior are relatively spare. For example, Granot (1998) in his review of human factor in industrial disaster comprises that human beings are at the heart of disaster. They frequently play an active role in causing industrial failure through their shortcoming and fallibility. Human error can occur in every stage of industrial activities. Similarly, Yon (2007) states that consideration in studying human factors that influence safety behavior and lifestyle at the workplace has been a crucial reason for the researcher to study further on these matters. Yons (2007) study involved SMEs in Penang which focused on the factors that associated to the chemical safety. The factors are management of chemicals, employees cooperation, training and education, process hazard analysis and hazard identification, safe work procedures and practices, chemical safety data sheets, personal protective equipment progra mmes, emergency measures and first aid, operational control measures, medical surveillance programme, monitoring of workers exposure, warning sign and recordkeeping. Yon (2007) admitted that human is the key factors to ensure safety at the workplace but since her study are not focusing on the human factors, no further discussion was made. Eventhough human factors can be one of the factors on that studies, little consideration had been given. Workers play an important role in causing occupational accident but many researches continue to see human factor in a very narrow perspective. Previous researcher such as Mullen (2002), Subramaniam (2004) and Mahmood, Isa, Mustafa, Aziz Saleh (2009) did study several factors that have direct relationship with safety behavior such as organizational factors, safety commitment and human factors but they did not stressed out any variables that could mediated the relationship between those variables. Therefore, no study conducted to identify whether these relationship could be mediate by another factors such as attitudes, perceptions, knowledge, beliefs and personality. One of the models that emphasized on safety behavior is a model proposed by Subramaniam (2004). According to his model, safety behavior is the outcome of predisposing, enabling, and reinforcing factors. However, his model is lacking because the model did not take into account several important variables such as personality, communication, and knowledge and his model only proposed a direct relationship between human factors and safety behaviors. His study conducted at residential colleges in a local Malaysian university. Therefore, this study will conducted on the working environment because the situations are more expose to the hazard. This study will utilized his model and proposed predisposing factors as intervening variable in order to help gain further understanding of the antecedents of safety behavior at SMEs. In terms of theoretical perspective, Ajzens (1980, 1991) theory of planned behaviour (TPB) appears well-suited to the explanation of the link between human factors and safety behaviour in this study. This theory derived from previous research that started out as the theory of attitude, which led to the study of attitude and behavior. The theory was, born largely out of frustration with traditional attitude-behavior research, much of which found weak correlations between attitude measures and performance of volitional behaviors (Hale, Householder, Greene, 2003, p. 259). The key application of this theory is prediction of behavioral intention, spanning predictions of attitude and predictions of behavior. The subsequent separation of behavioral intention from behavior allows for explanation of limiting factors on attitudinal influence (Azjen, 1980). This theory will help refining the model that will be used to explain variance in the aspect of safety behavior. The TPB draws our attenti on to the role of subjective norms and the intervening construct of intentions, which in this case are the enabling and reinforcing factors as intervened by predisposing factors, which are useful additions to the network of variables that interact to influence safety behaviors. Why human factor should be related to safety behavior? Employee with high level of reinforcing and enabling factors will reflect a highly awareness (predisposing) employee. On the other hand, safety behavior is regarded as desirable among employees. So, we can expect that employees with high level of enabling and reinforcing factors that mediated by predisposing factors should be related positively to safety behavior. Meanwhile, SMEs in Malaysia continue to face many challenges both traditionally and new challenges. Previous studies by Watfa, Awan and Goodson (1998) showed that occupational safety and health conditions at the small medium enterprises (SMEs) were a cause for concern. One of the many challenges that SMEs face is the high workplace accidents rate which may reflect badly to the way safety and workers well-being are being handled by Malaysian SMEs. It is further supported by the Director General of Department Occupational Safety and Health Malaysia (DOSH), Che Man (2010) who estimated about 80 to 90 percent of the accidents reported to workmen compensation scheme (SOCSO) is from SMEs. Also, the Chairman of National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH), Thye (2009), studies showed that the occurrence of diseases and sickness in workplace were partly due to improper use of personal protective equipment, from selection of such equipment to its washing or disposal. He also s tated that almost 70% of all occupational diseases are due to chemical exposure, which results in problems like skin diseases, poisoning and respiratory disorders (Thye, 2009). The enforcement of applicable occupational safety and health legislation is also often limited to large enterprises due to inadequate inspection capacity of the SMEs by the competent authorities. Thus, millions of workers in SMEs are not sufficiently protected by the existing legislation. In addition, workers in informal sectors are often out of reach of most of safety and health programs. Hence, given the importance of safety behaviors among employees working with SMEs, this study will focuses on examining the effect of human factors; enabling and reinforcing factors mediated by predisposing factor on safety behaviors. This study is relevant in order to investigate the extent of safety implementation in manufacturing setting in particular in SMEs. In focusing on the human factors, the consequences in their aftermath also have to be considered. It is to see how they cope with them when its occurred. Any perspective should not to be overlooked when it deals with human factors because as stated earlier human play an important role in causing an accident at the workplace. Research Questions Whether dimensions of reinforcing factors (communications, societal influences and modeling) are related with safety behavior? Whether dimensions of enabling factors (resources, policies and skills) are related with safety behavior? Whether dimensions of predisposing factors (knowledge, attitudes, beliefs, values, perceptions and personality) mediated the relationship between the reinforcing factors (communications, societal influences and modeling) and safety behavior? Whether dimensions of predisposing factors (knowledge, attitudes, beliefs, values, perceptions and personality) mediated the relationship between the enabling factors (resources, policies and skills) and safety behavior? Research Objectives Generally, the purpose of the study is to find out whether the human factors will influence the safety behavior at SMEs. To identify whether dimensions of reinforcing factors (communications, societal influences and modeling) are related with safety behavior. To study whether dimensions of enabling factors (resources, policies and skills) are related with safety behavior. To examine whether dimensions of predisposing factors (knowledge, attitudes, beliefs, values, perceptions and personality) are related with safety behavior. To examine whether dimensions of predisposing factors (knowledge, attitudes, beliefs, values, perceptions and personality) mediated the relationship between the reinforcing factors (communications, societal influences and modeling) and safety behavior. To evaluate whether dimensions of predisposing factors (knowledge, attitudes, beliefs, values, perceptions and personality) mediated the relationship between the enabling factors (resources, policies and skills) and safety behavior. Scope of the Study The scope of the study is focusing on the human factors that will influence safety measures at SMEs in Northern area. It will focus on two main factors that influenced workers safety behavior mediated by predisposing factors. The factors are predisposing, reinforcing, enabling. Besides, the researcher also found other variables that are communication or co-ordination problems and poor social climates. These variables are not being used in this study because it is unsuitable with the working environment at SMEs in Northern area. The population for this study includes the SMEs in Northern area employees who are working in manufacturing sector. Significance of the study Generally, this study will help to improve the safety behavior at the workplace but it will also increase SMEs knowledge and perception towards safety behavior. Furthermore, it will also help to improve the safety implementation at their company. This research also can help SMEs to understand factors that contribute to the accidents and develop control strategies to prevent accidents happened at the workplace. To ensure the safety environment and culture at the workplace, employees need to be educate about the human factors that related to their behaviors in order to prevent accident and work related injuries. It is important for the employees to aware that accident can be prevented if they are really working forward to it. Finally, it can also contribute to an academic knowledge for future researcher where it is expected to highlight the relationship between human factors and safety behavior. Definition of Key Terms Safety behavior can be defined as personal actions that prevent physical injury to self (Nursing Outcome Classifications, 2009). Human factors is defined as environmental, organizational and job factors, and human and individual characteristics which influence behavior at work in a way which can affect health and safety (Health and Safety Executive, 1999) Predisposing factors are the characteristics of the individual such as belief, attitudes and values that facilitate or hinder self-protective behavior. Predisposing factors are conceptualized as providing the motivation for a specific behavior (Subramaniam, 2004). Reinforcing factors involve any reward or punishment that follows or is anticipated as a consequence of the behavior (Subramaniam, 2004). Enabling factors are defined as factors antecedent to behavior that allow motivation or aspiration that is to be realized (Subramaniam, 2004). Small and Medium Enterprise (SMEs) are separately defined by SMIDEC. Small sized business is a business establishment with an annual sales turnover of not more than RM10 million and which employs not more than 50 full time workers while medium sized business is a business establishment with an annual sales turnover of between RM10 million and RM25 million and which employs more than 150 full-time workers. Conclusion This chapter has placed of introduction, problem statement, companys background, research questions, research objectives, significance of the study, and limitations of the study and organizations of the study. The next chapter will tackle the previous literature related to this study such as safety behavior, predisposing, enabling and reinforcing factors. CHAPTER 2 LITERATURE REVIEW Introduction The literature review discussed about all the variables in this research study, which is predisposing factors, reinforcing factors and enabling factors. It is important in order to study the human factors that will influence the safety measures at the workplace. This is also to provide overview from the past research that related to this study. The researcher is using the secondary data as their resources. The literature reviews are used to develop theoretical framework and hypothesis of the study. It also exists in synthesizing the methodology as well as findings. Safety Behavior Hassan, Basha and Hanafi (2007) stated that safety behavior is reflected by good attitude. They also stressed out that many incidents/accidents that occurred in the workplace especially in the building construction sites were due to inadequate adherence of workers to work procedures. Therefore, the interactive relationship between peoples behavior, their attitudes and perceptions they hold, and the situation or environment in workplace should be taken into account (Dedobbeleer et al, 1991). Much of this literature has focused on the concept of safety culture (safety climate), defined as the product of individual and group values, attitudes, perceptions, competencies, and patterns of behavior that determine the organizations safety performance (Health and Safety Commission, 1993, p.23). Rasmussen (1990) expresses concern that despite the growing complexity, size and change in todays technical system, they continue to depend on human involvement for their safe operation. Granot (1998), stated that industrial disaster is truly about people and their behavior. Hale and Glendon (1987) cited the Confederation of British Industry phrase the root of the problem is human behavior. Human Factors Health and Safety Executive (1999) in its publication Reducing Error and influencing behavior has defined human factors as environmental, organizational and job factors, and human and individual characteristics that influence behavior at work in a way, which can affect health and safety. Attention towards human factors role in accident causation has increased recent years and it can be seen by the evolution of models accident causation (DeJoy, 1990). It is important in order to understand the impact of human factors in causing an accident at the workplace. DeJoy (1996) in his study has developed a human factors model that consists three categories of causal factors that consists predisposing, reinforcing and enabling factors and he also provide a control strategies that include in his model: engineering, self protection, and organizational management. Subramaniam (2004) then, adopt this model to study the relationship between human factors and fire safety behavior and lifestyle at re sidential colleges in a local Malaysian university. Eventhough he is adopted DeJoys human factors model, he does not include the control strategies and only study a direct relationship between human factors and fire safety behavior and lifestyle. Hence this study will modified the model in order to provide a more comprehensive model in understanding the human behavior at the workplace. Predisposing Factors According to Subramaniam (2004), person characteristics such as belief, attitudes and values are predisposing factors that facilitate or hinder self-protective behavior. He also stated that predisposing factors can be conceptualized by providing a motivation for a specific behavior. Predisposing factors consists items such as knowledge, attitudes, beliefs, perceptions (Subramaniam, 2004). Knowledge Knowledge agreed well defined as an organized combination of ideas, rules, procedures and information (Subramaniam, 2004). Safety and health knowledge takes on particular importance to workers, especially for the manual workers. Inadequate safety knowledge, pointing to deficiencies with education and training engaging in unsafe acts and the actions, behavior, capabilities and communication of the work team are affected by or shaped by their attitudes, motivations, knowledge, skills, supervision, health and fatigue (Haslam, Hide, Gibb, Gyi, Pavitt, Atkinson and Duff, 2004). Attitudes Most of the researchers agreed that attitudes are also one of the main roots that cause the way how the individual behave. Glendon and Mc Kenna (1995) suggests that attitudes are related to safe and unsafe behaviors. It is agreed that the attitudes will facilitate on how the individual will react or behave. Ajzen and Fishbein (1980) also agreed that attitudes are learned, involved a tendency to act and are consistent and specific to particular stimuli. The current study found that worker safety attitudes (workers concern for safety conflict between productions and safety) was significantly predictive for unsafe behaviors, but only the latter was predictive of workplace accident (Clarke, 2004). Gellor (2001) has investigated the safety triad theory in which he thought that maintaining a continuous process to three domains, which are environment, person, and behavior. Person will reflect the competency of a worker where as the behavior illustrates the attitudes of workers in carrying o ut job safely (Gellor, 2001). Beliefs Beliefs can be concluded as individual strong feeling that something true and real. Mullen (2004) emphasize that individual tend to believe that it is acceptable to continue to engage in unsafe behavior due to the overly optimistic belief that they are immune to or greatly underestimate (Chapin, 2001) the risks associated with the behavior. It can be indicate that an individual feels secure on the routine they had gone through. The individual beliefs that it wont happen to me has been found to be a reason of the unsafe behavior (Mullen, 2004). Perceptions Granot (1998) emphasize that resignation to fate in certain traditional cultures makes it harder to mitigate dangers in some societies than in others. Individual perceived accidents as fate or it is written in their journey of life in some religion supported by Granot (1998) that event occurred is the role of destiny in some Mediterranean cultures, the will of Allah among Muslims or Karma in Hindu Tradition. Reinforcing Factors Reinforcing factors involve any reward or punishment that follows or is anticipated as consequences of the behavior (Subramaniam, 2004). According to Subramaniam (2004), reinforcing factors involved items such as feedback, societal influences, societal opportunities, modeling, and repercussion. In this study, researcher has considered to analyze only three items that is feedback, societal influences, and modeling. It is because previous study by Mullen (2004) has revealed these factors (feedback, societal influences, and modeling) has become the most influenced factors towards safety behavior (Mullen, 2004) Feedback/Communications Zohar (2002) argues that supervisors who demonstrate greater individualized consideration in their supervisory practices encourage open, informal safety communication, which in turns affects injury rate. Researchers agreed that an open conversation between co-workers, supervisor and management about safety issue will lead to the safety behavior. Ineffective communication regarding safety issues occurs between workers within an organization as well as between workers and subcontractors often found to be a factor in the cause of workplace accidents (Ayers and Kleiner, 2000). Hassan et.al (2007) in his analysis of study stated that line management involvement such as relationship with worker, talk on safety and advice on safety matter is related to the workers safety behavior and motivation. According to Cudworth (2010) in her articles on positive impact of communication on safety at Shell stated that communications within the organization plays the vital role to ensure the safety perfo rmance is at the zero level. Societal influences Many of the relevant definitions of safety culture emphasis share attitudes, values and beliefs and stress the interactions with the organizations safety structures and control systems and appropriate behavioral norms (Reason, 1998; Uttal, 1983). Furnham (1997) explains that in terms of the societal, environmental, and historical influence on the organization or group; for example, the evolution of an organization might have some effect on its culture. It means that the environment of work also give effects towards safety behavior. For example, co-workers, supervisor views on the safety itself whether they are concern or not. Modeling It was perceived by the individual that they had to experience some type of shock or close call that would raise their awareness of safety and make them realize the potential consequences of unsafe behavior (Mullen, 2004). It means that from the events that already occurred, it will develop self-protective behavior to inhibits accidents from happen to themselves. Mullen (2004) again stated that management and co-workers play major roles to the workers whether an individual will engaged in unsafe behavior. It shows that individual action also depends on what they saw on other behave and finally it became their norms of working procedures whether it is safe or unsafe. Enabling Factors Subramaniam (2004)has defined enabling factors as factors antecedent to behavior that allow motivation or aspiration that is to be realized. He has classified enabling factors into four items, which are resources, access, policies, and skills. Therefore, the researcher has adopt three items (resources, policies and skills) from the models for further investigation. Resources The desired goal of a safety program cannot be achieved when resources are lacking. An effective safety program is the result of a commitment by top management to give an appropriate level of resources. Management must consider and allocate sufficient resources to carry out day-to-day activities in order to accomplish short and long-term goals (Aksorn et al., 2007). Resources can be considered as the tools and equipment such as Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) and machinery provided by the management to help them carry their works properly. All equipment tends to wear out with use and requires careful monitoring. Many industrial disaster result from equipment failure (Granot, 1998). Policies Safety does not have to come at a price. When there are cost implications, regulatory bodies and trade associations need to work to make sure there is a level playing field with respect to tendering (Haslam et al., 2005). Developing a safety policy is one of the crucial tasks faced by the company because all the rules and procedures are dealt with their employees. It is important to make sure that the policy are really works and became one of the agents to prevent accident at the workplace. Clarke (2006) suggests that safety interventions need to focus on how individuals perceive their immediate work environment as well as improving safety policy and procedures. Skills Skills are the most crucial items to be deeply looking to ensure that the risk of workers to get involved in the occupational accident can be reduce and behave towards safety. Goldenhar, Williams, and Swanson (2003) found a significant direct effect between job certainty and self-reported occupational injuries and/or near misses for a sample of construction workers. A lack of job clarity may have a direct effect on injuries as this leads to the individual operating in unfamiliar situations, increasing the likelihood of accidents (Hemingway and Smith, 1999). Relationship between Predisposing Factors and Safety Behavior Predisposing factors as mentioned earlier includes knowledge, attitudes, beliefs, perceptions and personality. According to Subramaniam (2004) in his research findings, predisposing factors significantly are positively correlated with the fire safety behavior. Eventhough the study are focusing on the fire safety behavior, the relationship are still relevant to be measured in the safety behavior. Inadequate education and training contributed to approximately 70 percent of a sample of construction accidents studied as a research report published by the HSE (2003b). Attitudes also play a major role in predispose the safety behavio

Automobiles as a Symbol of Prosperity in 1920’s America Essay -- Ameri

Automobiles as a Symbol of Prosperity in 1920’s America The automobile was one of the biggest and most important features of the 1920’s. Automobiles not only were a symbol of social status, but also had become so popular that nearly every family owned a car. Automobile production and sales fueled the economy and created an item that remains the centerpiece of daily life. Just as computers are now a part of daily life, the automobile did the same thing in the 1920’s. As men returned from war, the new and hot item to own was a car. Ford and GM’s Chevy became the biggest automobile manufacturers. In fact, by 1923, Ford Model T’s accounted for just under 52% of automobiles in the market while Ford held over 62% of the market. The production of Ford automobiles had reached nearly 2 million. In 1924, you could buy a Model T for $290 dollars. Nowadays, that is probably a monthly payment. Yet some cars were very expensive, with a Rolls Royce costing 15-17,000. Yet, automobiles were not the rage throughout the world. The automobile was just another sign of American youth, vibrancy, and prosperity. In 1920, US automobile production was nearly 2.3 million. The next largest producer was France, making 400,000 units. The total automobile production was just under 2.4 million. Obviously, Americans were really the only people buying cars. Automobile production was not the only major element of the automobile revolution. In fact, the automobile led to many other things. For the first time, most automobiles were bought on credit. By 1926, two thirds of purchased cars were bought on installment plans. This led the way for credit purchases of other major appliances. Automobiles also e... ...eline of automobile facts for the 1920’s. Includes information about statistics and formation of companies. INTERESTING FACTS  · The Model T was the first car produced on an assembly line  · The Big Three automobiles producers were Ford, GM and Chrysler.  · Ford was founded in 1903 by Henry Ford  · GM was founded in 1897 by Ransom Olds  · Reorganization of Maxwell Motors created Chrysler Corporation  · In 1926 GM introduced Pontiac  · In 1928 Chrysler introduced Plymouth  · The Model T was Ford’s big seller  · You could buy a Model T for $290  · Ford acquired Lincoln in 1922  · Americans preferred closed cars over touring cars (open tops)  · GM earned over 80 million in profits in 1923  · Americans drove 198 billion miles in 1929  · Gatsby owned a Rolls Royce

The Objective of Total Quality Management Essay -- Total Quality Manag

The Objective of Total Quality Management Total Quality Management(TQM) is an organisational process that actively involves every function and every employee in satisfying customers needs, both internal and external. TQM works by continuously improving all aspect of work through structured control, improvement and planning activities that are carried out in concern with guiding ideology that focuses on Quality and Customer Satisfaction as the top priorities. There has been many arguments that TQM succeeds only by incorporating a concern about quality for the customers throughout the organisation. The truth of this statement and those facts that disagree with this statement will be look into and discuss in more detail to achieve the success of TQM. TQM recognises that the Customer is at the center of every activity. The customer may be external or internal. The key is to determine the gap between what the customer needs and what the system delivers. Once the gap is recognised, it would be systematically reduced and results in never-ending improvement in customer satisfaction at every level. TQM depends on and creates a culture in an organisation which involves everybody in quality improvement. Everyone in the company can affect quality but must first realise this factor and have the techniques and tools which are appropriate for improving quality. Thus TQM includes the marketing and dissemination of quality and methods not only within the organisation and customers but also to suppliers and other partners. The general view to achieve success in TQM could be summarised as below: Quality as strength Quality in all processes The importance of management The involvement, commitment and responsibility of everybody Continuous improvement Zero defects Focus on prevention rather than inspection Meeting the needs of target customers Recovery Benchmarking A prerequisite for successful quality improvement is first, to understand how quality is perceived and valued by customers. 4 ‘Q' Design Quality Technical Quality Production Quality Delivery Quality Functional Quality Relational Quality Image Experiences Expectation Customer Perceived Quality ... ...ccess. Ownership and the Elements of Self-Management Total quality programmes are founded on the principal that people want to own the problems, the process, the solution and ultimately the success associated with the quality improvement. Psychologically, the ownership advocated by TQM ties in the development in organisational design away from traditional models of imposing management control over employees' behaviour. Recognition and Rewards TQM system considers the rewards and recognition to be critical to a company's programme, particularly when greater involvement of staff is required. Positive reinforcement through recognition and rewards is essential to maintain achievement and continuous improvement through participative problem-solving projects. The Quality Delivery Process TQM is not just the awareness of quality for the customers. It demands the implementation of a new system. Finally, the main objective of TQM may put the customer at the center of every activity and consider the process as customer driven, but all other factors which do not involve the customers have to be taken into consideration for the successful implementation of TQM.

Art vs. Poetry :: essays research papers fc

Could I be an artist? I always thought I had some flare for the arts. I’ve always been considered a creative person. I decided to put my creativity to a different use, however. I opted for a career in helping others get the most out of their careers. Tonight will be my testimony to helping the real artists get recognized. Tonight is Gallery Night.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The weather station did not indicate anything about rain this evening. So, of course, I did not prepare for such a downpour. My lack of preparation has left me with matted, soaking wet hair and my old gym sneakers that I keep in my trunk- rather than the cute brown pumps I started out in that blended perfectly with my skirt. Now, I’m just a mess and look completely unprofessional for Gallery Night. My Public Relations firm has been organizing this event for the past month. Tonight is a big deal. I can’t believe how awful I look for such a high-profile and anticipated night.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Regardless of my appearance, I shook hands, exchanged stories, and matched wits with clients and colleagues all evening. Everyone walked around the room observing the various artistic pieces contributed by numerous â€Å"starting-out† artists. People were being drawn to those certain pieces that caught their immediate attention. One painting that I was fascinated by was vibrantly colored - almost like a comic book. It was a bright red heart with a silver and blue sword piercing it from above. There was a hand clenching the sword’s fore grip. The part of this particular painting that really struck me was the faintly illustrated couple dancing on the blade of the sword, as if the blade were a mirror. Overall, I was amazed at the use of color, defined lines, and emotion that this artist conveyed in his painting. The wall adjacent to me was full of photographs; some were full color, some in sepia, and others black and white. I glanced at this middle-aged woman, dripping in pearls and cashmere, who had one hand on her heart, and the other held her complimentary champagne close to her body as she stared at this one photograph, a black and white photo of a single muddy footprint. I was astounded at how in awe she appeared to be, almost as if she could burst into tears at any moment. I had to know what she saw in this photograph that had her so awestricken.

Interview: Police and Law Enforcement Essay

For your Unit 9 Interview Analysis you will conduct two interviews with practicing professionals in the field of law enforcement. These individuals may occupy positions in federal, state, county, or municipal police agencies, probation, parole, or prosecutors’ offices. It is preferable that you conduct the interviews in person, but telephone interviews will be acceptable if in-person interviews cannot be arranged. Focus on the following questions in your interviews: Why are ethics and character so important in the field of law enforcement? Do the interviewees feel that police are more ethical today, or were they more ethical ten years ago? Why do police officers become involved in misconduct? Do the interviewees feel that there is enough training offered in ethics at the police academy level? If not, why is that? Should ethics training be offered as an on-going process for law enforcement officers? Do the interviewees feel that education and/or training in ethics would reduce incidents of police corruption? Report the results of these interviews in a paper that answer the proposed questions. Apply information that has been read and discussed in class on various ethical issues to your paper to form a synthesis of practical law enforcement ideologies. Be sure to discuss with the interviewees at least four contemporary ethical issues that they are dealing with as criminal justice practitioners. Finally, offer your own insights on the perspectives of the individuals you interviewed and materials covered in the text readings and Seminar discussions. The paper will be a minimum of 10, double-spaced pages using a 12-point font. It must be in American Psychological Association (APA) format. Submit your Assignment to the Dropbox by the end of Unit 9 in the basket titled Unit 9: Interview Analysis Why are ethics and character so important in the field of law enforcement? Do the interviewees feel that police are more ethical today, or were they more ethical ten years ago? Why do police officers become involved in misconduct? Do the interviewees feel that there is  enough training offered in ethics at the police academy level? If not, why is that? Should ethics training be offered as an on-going process for law enforcement officers? Do the interviewees feel that education and/or training in ethics would reduce incidents of police corruption? Report the results of these interviews in a paper that answer the proposed questions. Apply issues read and discussed in class to your paper to form a synthesis of practical law enforcement ideologies. Finally, offer your own insights on the perspectives of the individuals you interviewed and materials covered in the text readings and seminar discussions.

English Term Paper Essay

I. Introduction: Technology is people using tool, resources, and processes to solve problems or extend their capabilities. Technology has existed as long as people have existed. It is always changing and never tends to stand still. Through the use of technology, a student can easily get the corresponding feedback for his works. He makes use of technology in getting correct answers and start solving again. The integration of technology results to a more student-centered education. It serves as an instrument on gaining access and manipulating information where students become actively involved in the process of learning. It is very obvious that the people especially students of our generation are now attached to computers, specifically to those computer games that are famous nowadays. Instead of reading books or browsing the net for school reports, we can’t deny that student tends to go online or play the computer first. Computer games are video games played on a general-purpose personal  computers rather than a dedicated video game console or arcade machine. It is very evident that a lot of students are developing bad habits that are caused by those computer games with violence as the main theme of the game. Most of the time, students keep on spending large amount of time in front of the computer doing unnecessary things, specifically playing computer games which usually leads into being a computer addict. Addiction is the continued use of a mood altering substance or behavior despite adverse dependency consequences. Computer games addiction has no physical component or objective diagnosis, but many of the consequences are similar to alcoholism or drug addiction. This type of addiction mostly affects the behavior of a person which may lead to a more serious case. Computer games addict mostly isolate themselves from normal human contacts. They change a lot and begin to ignore the others. An addict sometimes gets bankrupted or broke due to spending a lot for their vices. They also begin to be detached from their own families and violence is being spotted already. II. Objectives and Questions: This research aims to: 1. Know different computer games that the students are getting addicted to. 2. Identify the effects of computer games to the studies of the students. 3. Provide or suggest different ways to avoid computer games. This research aims to answer the following questions: 1. What are the effects of computer games to the studies and characters of the students? 2. What are the possible solutions that can help the students avoid computer games? 3. What are the different computer games that the students are getting addicted to? 4. What are the ways to prevent computer addiction? 5. Why can’t students resist playing computer games? III. Significance of the Study: In this study, we can help the students know the effects of computer games to their study habits and also their daily lives. Also to let them know the effects of getting addicted to it, the time they spent in front of the computer may be reduced. The time for more productive activities will be recognized and study habits may be more successful. We also wish to let people learn in this study to control their computer addiction and let them have the knowledge to know the advantages and disadvantages of computer games. IV. Scope and Delimitation This study only covers students from the high school department of St. Mary’s College of Meycauayan, school year 2012 – 2013. Our group will be doing surveys from random students of the said department. This research only aims to help students reduce or prevent their unwavering love for those computer games which somehow distracts their study habits. We do hope that this research could help them. V. Terminologies 1. Technology – a capability given by the practical application of knowledge 2. Addiction – is the continued use of a mood altering substance or behavior despite adverse dependency consequences, or a neurological impairment leading to such behaviors. 3. D.O.T.A – Defense of the Ancients (DotA) is a multiplayer online battle arena mod for the video game Warcraft III: Reign of Chaos and its expansion, Warcraft III: The Frozen Throne, based on the â€Å"Aeon of Strife† map for StarCraft. The objective of the scenario is for each team to destroy the opponents’ Ancients, heavily guarded structures at opposing corners of the map. 4. Violence – the intentional use of physical force or power, threatened or actual, against a person, or against a group or community, that either results in or has a high likelihood of resulting in injury, death, psychological harm, maldevelopment or deprivation. Chapter II: Review of Related Literature I. Related Literature â€Å"Nowadays, Googling and Facebooking are the most common daily activities in our society. 16 out of 16 first year students surveyed by the researchers at Mapua Institute of Technology said that they always do Googling and Facebooking. The huge time that collegestudents waste increases.Computer Addiction 4Students aside from doing school project also try to update with  the celebrity gossips andvisit the sites where they can easily find news about favorite celebrities and reading magazines.Sometimes they are obsessed with glamorous life of celebrities that make them forget what they should do as students. The addicted students always feel anxious or depressed when their computer time is shortened and they also easily become angry when being disturbed(Derevensky & Gupta, 2004). Students tend to surf the net first and gather many info on news,celebrity gossip, and organizing data, which is too much that not all of the information can beused (Derevensky & Gupta, 2004). Internet addiction disorder refers to the problematic use of the Internet, including thevarious aspects of its technology, such as electronic mail (e-mail) and the World Wide Web(American Psychiatric Association, 2000). Students nowadays do have a known disorder, whichis the IAD (Internet Addiction Disorder). They may not be able to know that they have thisdisorder until they realized that playing or using computer is more prioritized than doing schoolworks. Students get so obsessed with online gaming like Defense of the Ancient, Left for Dead,Cabal, etc. that they tend to sacrifice their academic sides just to go to computer shops and play,not noticing the time while using the computer (Sharples, 2009;Self-Help: Computer Addiction,2008). According to the survey conducted by the researchers at Mapua Institute of Technology, 9out of 16 students are at risk of being hooked with the computer games and have academicfailure for the first quarter of school year 2009-2010. They make conscious efforts just to be withtheir computers and continue failing. Also for the fact that they miss events or opportunities withfamily and friends also with non-computer related tasks because of the time spent on theComputer Addiction 5computer.† â€Å"Computer games addiction is not a physical disease or mental illness. It does not have an entry of its own in the DSM-IV. It describes a behavior that has become increasingly familiar with the rise of computer game popularity. A person with this type of addiction sets aside practically all other activities in favor of playing computer games almost endlessly.†