Administering the Death Penalty to Child Molestors Term Paper

Administering the Death Penalty to Child Molestors - Term Paper Example In a vast majority of cases, child molesters execute these behaviors knowing that they are unlawful but they cannot resist their intrinsic desire to indulge in such acts. There is also a category of offenders who do not consider such acts unlawful particularly when the child enjoys this kind of behavior. Summing up, child molestation is the execution of sexual offence against any child that is below the age of consent for sex. Child molestation is a crime that does not happen quite infrequently. â€Å"According to the U. S. Department of Justice Bureau of Justice Statistics, on any given day there are approximately 234,000 sex offenders who were convicted of rape or sexual assault and are in the custody or control of correction agencies† (â€Å"Sex Offender Statistics†). The U. S. Department of Justice Bureau of Justice Statistics records that as many as 4300 child molesters have been released from imprisonment in 15 states across the US in just one year, and out of these who have been released, about 3.3 per cent have been rearrested within just three years after the release for having caused another sex offense to a new child (â€Å"Sex Offender Statistics†). This percentage excludes the freed child molesters who did commit the crime after getting released once and did not get caught or imprisoned for the second offence. From these statistics, the ineffectiveness of the current state of punishment for the offence of child molestation is quite evident. This imparts the need for a radical change in the policy of punishment for the child molesters. The current policy that provides the child molesters with an opportunity to be released from punishment after some time is totally unacceptable because harming a child is a heinous crime for which t he offender must not be provided with any opportunity of rehabilitation. A vast majority of the child offenders are habitual criminals and there is little surety, if any, that they would not

Observing the Moon's Phases Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Observing the Moon's Phases - Assignment Example It takes almost one month (twenty seven days) for the moon to go around the earth, in direction relative to the stars; however, the moon takes almost twenty nine days to orbit around the earth relative to the sun; this is because as the moon goes around the earth, the earth at the same time is travelling around the sun; thus the moon will make an extra distance to make one round in regard to the sun (Wlasuk, 5). Looking at the moon at the same time each week and making sketches was of great help in understanding changes, in the moon’s phases, the moon rises from the west and sets east while the sun rises in the east and sets west. From the sketches, the moon moved approximately 92 degrees each week. Twice in the observation month moon appeared, start of the initial week, and the end of the second week; this happened when the moon was fully lit and facing the earth. That usually happens when the earth seats between the sun and the moon (this is referred to as the full moon) and the when the moon is between the earth and the sun (new moon). After one week since the observation of the full moon that occurred when the sun was opposite to the moon and rising in the west, at the exact moment when the sun was setting, the moon entered the quarter moon shape. From the earth, the moon was seen as a half circle because that was the only visible part that was lit. Naturally, that was the last quarter and it appeared after the full moon and before the new moon. After that, the moon became completely dark. This occurred because the moon moved between the sun and the earth and the moon’s side facing the earth darkened. This is referred to as the new moon phase. That phase of the moon was usually not observable. However it was possible to make an outline of the moon as part of the sunlight reflected off the earth and hit the moon. At that point, the sun and the moon were on the same side of sky (Wlasuk, 12). After the new moon, a week later the first quarter pha se of the moon was seen. Other phases of the moon were also seen, these phases developed in between the weeks. After the new moon, the beginning of that week a smaller phase less than half the moon was seen that phase of the moon is referred to as the crescent. Another observation made was that this phase was brighter due to gentle light reflected by the earth. That phase was known as the waxing crescent, and it appeared just after the new moon. The begging of the second week, after the first quarter moon phase, a bigger moon phase than half size of the moon was seen. This phase is referred to as gibbous. Waxing gibbous was a more illuminated and increasing phase of the moon that appeared just before the full moon phase. At the start of the third week, after the full moon phase appeared, gibbous phase reappeared; on the other hand, that phase was less illuminated and decreasing than observed previously. Waning gibbous was seen just after the full moon. After the last quarter of the moon, crescent phase was seen. This phase is known as waning crescent phase as it has decreased illumination and it appeared just before the new moon. In conclusion, it takes about a month for the moon to go around the earth, during this period the moon’s phase changes from fully lit to completely dark and back to full illumination again, moving about 13 degrees every twenty four hours and 92 degrees each week. The first quarter is about 7 days old while the full moon is 14 days old; the last quarter is

Corporate governance and firm performance

Corporate governance and firm performance Introduction Corporate governance is concerned with the process and structures through which members interested in the overall well being of the firm take measures to protect the interests of the stakeholders. (Ehikioya, 2009). Corporate governance generally refers to the external rules and regulations and internal system that are designed to minimize agency problem and is the system by which companies are directed and controlled (Cadbury 1992, Cited in Lam and Lee, 2008) Good Corporate governance is centered on the principles of accountability, transparency, fairness and responsibility in the management of the firm. (Ehikioya, 2009). Accountability comes from both within and outside the company. Responsible management works entirely in the interests of the owners. Board composition plays an important role in keeping the company transparent in its affairs. Board structure is important to keep the interests of management and owners aligned (Byrnes et 2003, cited in Ehikioya, 2009). The institution of corporate governance in a firm is an attempt to ensure the separation of ownership and control, and this often results in Principal-Agent problems (Byrnes et 2003, cited in Ehikioya, 2009). Managers always have incentives to misuse a firms assets by undertaking projects that benefit themselves more personally but its impact on shareholder wealth works adversely (Jensen and Meckling, 1976; Fama and Jensen, 1983; cited in Brown and Caylor, 2004) and same goes with (Shleifer and Vishny, 1997) Researchers have mixed opinion in Principal-Agent problem. According to (Jensen and Mecklings 1976 cited in Lia,Wang and Deng, 2009) managerial agency costs always increase with the separation of ownership and management. Managers, as the agents of shareholders, are inclined to waste the corporate resources to satisfy their exploitative purposes. In contrast, stewardship theorists counter-argue that managers are inherently trustworthy and are good stewards of company resource (Donaldson, 1990 cited in Lam and Lee, 2008). Central to the boards effectiveness is the question of board structure (size and independence). In addition to board size, board independence should also have an impact on firm value and performance. Inside directors provide firm and project specific knowledge that assists the board in understanding the detailed aspects of the firms business. In contrast, outside (or independent) directors contribute expertise and objectivity that ostensibly mitigates managerial entrenchment and expropriation of firm resources (Bhagat and Black, 2002). The governance literature generally suggests that as boards become increasingly independent of managers, their monitoring effectiveness increases thereby decreasing managerial opportunism and enhancing firm performance. (Harforda, Mansib, and Maxwellc, 2006). Gov-Score is used in different researches to assess the governance and firm performance has been used with 51 factors (Brown and Caylor, 2004) or less i.e. 37 (Nishat and Shaheeen, 2005). This paper will use the GOV-SCORE with 38 factors and including new factor i.e. more than one family member on board The paper proceeds as follows: Section II is the Literature review, Section III will discuss rationale of study, Section IV will include theoretical framework, Section V hypotheses development and theoretical background, Section VI data and methodology, Section VII sample, instrument and structure of instrument, Section VIII Work cited and then Appendix. Literature Review: Corporate governance is the process and structure through which a firms business and affairs are managed by enhancing business prosperity and corporate accountability with the ultimate objective of enhancing shareholders wealth (Mir and Nishat, 2004). A well defined and functioning corporate system helps a firm to attract investment, raise funds, and strengthen the foundation for firm performance and good corporate governance shields a firm from vulnerability to future financial distress (Ehikioya, 2009). Effective corporate governance minimizes control rights of stockholders and their creditors to give on managers and increasing the probability that managers should invest in positive net present value projects for the firm gain (Shleifer and Vishny, 1997). Prior studies have predominantly focused on US companies, while those are related to Asian countries are rather few (Kiel and Nicholson, 2003 Cited in Lam and Lee, 2008). The notion that corporate governance affects positively corporate performance is based on the fact that management in shareholder-friendly firms, in making corporate decisions, do what shareholders themselves would have done, had they been in charge of corporate decisions ( Kanellos and George, 2007). It was found (Ehikioya, 2009) that where the CEO also acted as chairperson and more than one family member had a place on the board of directors this had an adverse effect on firm performance. Corporations can be said like a republic. The major and highest level of authority is stockholder (Owners). These voters have the right to vote and elect their representatives which serve as directors, who delegate their most of their power to bureaucrats (managers). As in any form of government (republic), the real power-sharing depends upon the set of rules called governance. On one extreme, which is inclined toward a democracy, have little power for management and enable stockholders to immediately and easily replace directors of the company. On the other hand, it is vice versa to the democracy (Gomper, Ishii, Metrick, 2003). CEO duality is another concern in corporate governance. In USA 70-80% of them combined the roles of CEO and Chairperson. (Rechner and Dalton, 1991; Rhoades et al, 2001, Cited in Lam and Lee, 2008). However the prevalent corporate governance practice in Europe separates the CEO and chairperson (Coles et al 2001; Higgs, 2003; Zardkhoohi, 2005, Cited in Lam and Lee, 2008). This Duality position places CEO in powerful position of managing the operations of the firm and also overseeing the direction the firm will take into the future (Petra and Dorata, 2008). It is often alleged that boards of directors are more independent as the proportion of their outside director increases (Jhon and Senbet 1998, Cited in Brown and Caylor, 2004). Strong positive relationship between the portion of independent directors on the board and profitability ratios in continental Europe countries (Krivogorsky 2006, Cited in Li, Wand and Deng, 2008). A higher proportion of the independent directors may lead to lower probability of financial distress (Li, Wang, Deng, 2008). However, there is no relation between the proportion of outsider directors and various performance measures (i.e., SGA expenses, sales, number of employees, and return on equity) (Fosberg 1989, Cited in BRown and Caylor, 2004). and (Bhagat and Black, 2002) find no linkage between the proportion of outside director and Tobins Q, ROE, asset turnover and stock returns. Thus the relationship between the proportion of outside directors, a proxy for board independence, and firm performance is mixed (Brown and Caylor, 2004). Researchers (Gomper, Ishii, Metrick, 2003) and (Bebchuk, Cohen, Ferrell, 2004) showed in their studies that with stronger stockholder rights have higher Tobins Q, their proxy for firm value, suggesting that better-governed firms are more valuable our second measure of firm performance. Most of the empirical work for exploring possible relationship between corporate governance and firm performance is done for single jurisdiction. For US Firms a broad measure of Corporate Governance Gov-Score is prepared by (Brown and Caylor, 2004)with 51 factors, 8 sub categories for 2327 firms based on dataset of Institutional Shareholder Service (ISS). Their findings indicate that better governed firms are relatively more profitable, more valuable and pay more cash to their shareholders. (Gomper, Ishii, Metrick, 2003) Earlier (Mir and Nishat, 2004) empirically tested the relationship between the structure of corporate governance and firm performance in Pakistan, and (Nishat and Shaheeen, 2005). Mir and Nishats study included a different set of performance parameters which include ROE, net profit margin, sales growth, Tobins Q and dividend yield. Moreover (Mir and Nishat, 2004) used secondary data from the annual statements. While (Nishat and Shaheeen, 2005) study was based on secondary as well as on primary survey of different companies listed with Karachi Stock Exchange (KSE). This study is different to (Nishat and Shaheeen, 2005) as it extends the GOV-Score factor to 38 by adding the More than family members on the board to (Nishat and Shaheeen, 2005)s study which was 37 factors. Rationale: As the global debate on corporate governance heats, the importance of this topic to any country-particularly any developing country-cannot be ignored. Being one of the important countries of South Asia, with immense trading potential and ideal geopolitical location, Pakistan has proactively pursued various policy reforms to stimulate its economic activity, in recent years (Mehwish Mumtaz, 2005). Pakistan stock market is one of the leading emerging markets in the world. It has gone through series of reforms and structural changes since 1991 (Nishat and Shaheeen, 2005). Financial reforms during 1990s have influenced the pattern of capital structure, dividend policy and compliances to corporate governance (Nishat, 1999 Cited in Nishat and Shaheen, 2005). Better Corporate Governance is supposed to lead to better corporate performance by preventing expropriation of controlling shareholder and ensuring better decision-making (Nishat and Shaheeen, 2005), (Shleifer and Vishny, 1997). Most of the research in the area of corporate governance is done for developed economies, as rich data is only available for these economies where active market for corporate control exists and the ownership concentration is low (Bohren and Odegaard 2001, Cited in Shaheen and Nishat, 2005). This study will fill the gap by analyzing the relationship between corporate governance and firm performance for the firms as previous studies lack a factor in GOV-SCORE i.e. more than one family member on board while measuring level of governance. As this variable was found very first time by Benjamin Ehikioya as in his study (Ehikioya, 2009). Theoretical Framework: Hypotheses and Theoretical Background: According to above mentioned literature following hypotheses are formed. H1: Better-governed firms have better operating performance Better and effective corporate governance minimizes the control rights of both stockholders and creditors confer on managers which increases the probability that managers will invest in positive NPV projects (Shleifer and Vishny, 1997) leading it to better operating performance, which is our first proxy to firm performance H2: Better-governed firms are more valuable (Gomper, Ishii, Metrick, 2003) and (Bebchuk, Cohen, Ferrell, 2004) show that firms with stronger stockholder rights have higher Tobins Q which is the proxy of firm value and suggest that better governed firms are more valuable which is second proxy for firm performance. H3: Better-governed firms pay more cash to stockholders Firms with smaller dividend payout have low earning growth, suggesting that better-governed firms payout more cash to stockholders, which our third proxy to firm performance (Arnott and Asness 2003, Cited in Nishat and Shaheen, 2005). Data and Methodology: Gov-Score will be used to measure the strength of a firm governance on the patterns of (Brown and Caylor, 2004), (Nishat and Shaheeen, 2005) and (Y Attiya and R Iqbal, 2007). Computation of Gov-Score for 20 firms using data obtained from annual reports. The primary data will be collected through questionnaire containing 38 factors as either 0 ot 1depending on whether the firms governance standards. Then sum of each 38 binary variables to derive GOV-Score. This paper consider four performance measures spread across three categories: operating performance, valuation and shareholder payout. This paper selects two operating measures i.e. ROE and profit margin. One valuation measure i..e. Tobins Q and single measure of stockholder payout i.e. dividend yield. This paper adopts methodology used by (Nishat and Shaheeen, 2005) which involves two types of cross-sectional analyses. Firstly, correlation between Gov- Score with each industry-adjusted fundamental variable using Pearson and Spearman correlations. Then order Gov-Scores from highest to lowest (i.e., from best to worst governance), and analyze if firm performance differs in the extreme governance deciles. Next to assess which categories and factors are associated with expected/unexpected (good/bad) performance, we correlate the four performance measures with seven governance categories and 38 governance factors. Sample and Instrument: The sample size will be 20 firms listed in Karachi Sock Exchange. Convenience sampling technique will be used. A structured questionnaire will used containing 38 factors of governance spread across seven categories Works Cited Kanellos and George. (2007). Corporate Governance and Firm Performance: Results from Greek Firms. Arnott and Asness 2003, Cited in Nishat and Shaheen. (2005). Corpoirate Governance and firm performance AN exploratory Analysis. Bebchuk, Cohen, Ferrell. (2004). What matters in Corporate Governance. Bhagat and Black. (2002). The Non-orrelation Between Board Independence and Long Term Firm Performance. Journal of Corporation Law , 231-274. Bohren and Odegaard 2001, Cited in Shaheen and Nishat. (2005). Corpoirate Governance and firm performance AN exploratory Analysis. Brown and Caylor. (2004). Corporate Governance and Firm Performance. Byrnes et 2003, cited in Ehikioya. (2009). Corporate governace structure and firm performance in developing economies: evidence from nigeria. Cadbury 1992, Cited in Lee, Tin Yan Lam and Shu Kam. (2008). Chief executive officer duality and firm performance: Hong Kong. Corporate Governnace , 299-315. Coles et al 2001; Higgs, 2003; Zardkhoohi, 2005, Cited in Lam and Lee. (2008). Chief executive officer duality and firm performance: Hong Kong. Corporate Governnace , 299-315. Donaldson, 1990 cited in Lam and Lee. (2008). Chief executive officer duality and firm performance: Hong Kong. Corporate Governnace , 299-315. Ehikioya, B. I. (2009). Corporate governace structure and firm performance in developing economies: evidence from nigeria. Corporate Governance Vol. 9 No. 3 , 231-243. Fosberg 1989, Cited in BRown and Caylor. (2004). Corporate Governance and Firm Performance. Gomper, Ishii, Metrick. (2003). CORPORATE GOVERNANCE AND EQUITY PRICES. Harforda, Mansib, and Maxwellc. (2006). Corporate Governance and Firm Cash Holdings. Jensen and Meckling, 1976; Fama and Jensen, 1983; cited in Brown and Caylor. (2004). Corporate Governance. Jensen and Mecklings 1976 cited in Lia,Wang and Deng. (2009). Iindependent directors, Ownership agency costs and financial distress: evidence from chinese companiess. Corporate governance , 622-636. Jhon and Senbet 1998, Cited in Brown and Caylor. (2004). Corporate Governance and Firm Performance. Kiel and Nicholson, 2003 Cited in Lam and Lee. (2008). Chief executive officer duality and firm performance: Hong Kong. Corporate Governnace , 299-315. Krivogorsky 2006, Cited in Li, Wand and Deng. (2008). Iindependent directors, Ownership agency costs and financial distress: evidence from chinese companiess Mehwish Mumtaz. (2005). Corporate GovernanceAdopt or Adapt. Dissertation, Judge institute of Management Sciences, University of Cambridge Research. Mir and Nishat. (2004). CORPORATE GOVERNANCE STRUCTURE AND FIRM PERFORMANCE IN PAKISTAN- AN EMPIRICAL STUDY. Nishat and Shaheeen. (2005). Corpoirate Governance and firm performance AN exploratory Analysis. Nishat, 1999 Cited in Nishat and Shaheen. (2005). Corpoirate Governance and firm performance AN exploratory Analysis. Petra and Dorata. (2008). Corporate Governance CEO compensation. Corporate Governance , 141-152. Rechner and Dalton, 1991; Rhoades et al, 2001, Cited in Lam and Lee. (2008). Chief executive officer duality and firm performance: Hong Kong. Corporate Governnace , 299-315. Shleifer and Vishny. (1997). Asurvey of Corporate Governance. NBER Working Paper 5554. Y Attiya and R Iqbal. (2007). Relationship between corporate governance and its Indicators and firm value: A case study of KSE

The Keys to Job Satisfaction Essays -- Work, Employment, Relationships

Job Satisfaction Workplace Relationships If a company is interested in growth and profit, it must establish positive relationships and good rapport with its employees. People will be happier in their jobs if the environment that surrounds them is made comfortable and positive. Three main factors aid positive workplace relationships: trust, respect and teamwork. Positive workplace relationships are easy to develop when time is taken with each factor. Overall, these factors benefit everyone. People are the "heart" of an organization and care should be taken to foster a positive work environment. Workplace relationships are important in job satisfaction. In fact, studies show that an employee's direct supervisor has the most influence on whether he or she finds a job satisfying, says Lenburg. "Working with a manager who "understands" them, and gives them some choices in their work lives, tends to improve the satisfaction level of most employees" (Hochgraf, 1998). Productivity tends to improve when employees are treated with respect and consideration. Managers need to remember that every worker is different and that priorities of people vary from one individual to another. Managers should be open to the desires of their employees as individuals. If employees feel they are listened to they will feel that they are being respected and that they are important. Job satisfaction will tend to increase in these circumstances. Teamwork is also important when considering job satisfaction. If teamwork is not evident, or worse, deteriorates from the old norm, employee relationships begin to suffer. Teamwork requires people to work together to make decisions and resolve disagreements. Teamwork among staff members strengthens workpla... ...ional.com/eprise/main/web/us/smi/en/candidates_career_dev_job_satis Kovacs, Joy A. "Examining the Difference in the Relationships between Job Satisfaction and Perceived Dimensions of Employment". Web. 1 May 2015. http://www.users.drew.edu/jkovacs/psyc/psyc102/research.html Reiner, Michael D. and Jihong Zhao. "The Determinants of Job Satisfaction among United States Air Force Security Police." Review of Public Personnel Administration (summer 1999): pp. 5-17. Timm, Paul R. and Brent D. Peterson. "Motivating with Compensation and Other Rewards." People at Work - Human Behavior in Organizations, 5th ed. Ohio: South Western College Publishing, 2000. Ting, Yuan. "Analysis of Job Satisfaction of the Federal White-Collar Work Force: Findings from the Survey of Federal Employees." American Review of Public Administration 26, no. 4 (December 1996): 439-456.

Hip Mask Representing An Iyoba Essay

The exquisiteness of the material and the sophistication of the carving indicate that it was created by the exclusive guild of royal ivory carvers for the king. This exquisite piece is made out of ivory, iron and cooper. This piece also contains pieces of inlaid metal and elaborate coral carvings. The piece dimensions are as followed; H. 9 3/8 x W. 5 x D. 3 1/4 in. (23. 8 x 12. 7 x 8. 3 cm). The mask is a sensitive human idealized portrait, depicting its subject with softly modeled features. This piece is framed with an elegant tiara-like coiffure and openwork collar. The pupils were inlaid with iron metal, the forehead has carved scarification marks and also she is wearing bands of coral beads below the chin. In the necklace you can see miniature motifs that represent heads of the Portuguese soldiers depicted with beards and flowing hair. In the crown tiara-like coiffure are carved more Portuguese heads alternated with figures of stylized mudfish, which symbolizes Olokun, the Lord of the Great Waters. You can see that some of the necklace portion is damage or missing and this could be due to the age and fragility of the coral. This piece is from early African art also known as â€Å"Queen Mother Pendant Mask: Iyoba†. Today, you can find this piece at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York. Although images of women are very rare this piece has come to symbolize the legacy of a dynasty that continues to the present day. In many of the African cultures the head is a very important, powerful and symbolic piece. The head was consider to be the symbolic center of a person’s intelligence, wisdom, and ability to succeed in this world and/or to be a tool to be able to communicate with spiritual forces in the ancestral world. In Art of History, published in 2011, both Professor Marilyn Stokstad and Michael W. Cothren claim that â€Å"one of the honorifics used for the king is the â€Å"Great Head†. The head leads the body as the king leads the people. All of the memorial heads include representation of coral-beaded caps, necklaces and royal costume. Coral, enclosing the head and displayed on the body, is still the ultimate symbol of the oba’s power and authority. † In an article titled â€Å"Iyoba Idia: The Hidden Oba Of Benin† published in 2006, issue 9 of Jenda: A Journal Of Culture And African Women Studies – Nkiru Nzegwu wrote â€Å"Iron and copper inserts were embedded in these cavities in the original model and formed part of the decoration. Some have claimed that these cavities were receptacles for embedded magical potions, and there is a historical explanation for them. The striations were the result of incisions a local doctor-diviner made to disfigure Idia and render her unattractive to Oba Ozolua. As narrated by the present Oba Erediauwa, Idia’s parents did not wish her to become an Oba’s wife, and the oracle they consulted advised that they mar her beauty to make her ugly to the Oba (Kaplan 1993, 59). The two incisions not only scarred her face but, to make assurance double sure, they also contained potent medicinal potions which the consulting physician-diviner had assured them would repel Oba Ozolua. The royal explanation is that the plan failed because the Oba sensed that something was wrong before he even saw Idia and quickly neutralized the effects of the medicine. † This is a pendant or ornament mask that represents an iyoba (queen mother-the oba’s mother), the senior female member of the royal court. It’s believed that this piece was produced in the early sixteenth century for the King or â€Å"Oba† Esigie, the king of Benin, who ruled from 1504 to 1550. This piece is to honor his mother, Idia. There are different versions of the purpose of this piece. The most common ones is that this was used a as belt ornament and it was worn at the oba’s hip. The Oba may have worn it at rites commemorating his mother, although today such pendants are worn at annual ceremonies of spiritual renewal and purification. Esigie had the support of Ida and the Portuguese soldiers in the expansion of his kingdom. Ida is remembered for raising an army and using magical powers to help her son Esigie to defeat his enemies.

Becoming and effective scholar practitioner

The scientific revolution has been concerned with scientific discoveries for the growth of the scientific discipline. Scientific experiments and researches were conducted for the pursuit of knowledge, to gather information to support theoretical assumptions, to test objective hypothesis which was directed at finding a means of understanding man and the world we live in.In this period, scientific endeavors was conducted because a scientist had a question he desires to find answers to and experimenting in the strict academic rigors was the only way to do it.The knowledge gained from these experiments enabled man to develop the atomic bomb, to fly airplanes, to invent the telephone, to recognize that hysteria is a mental disease and that human beings came from the apes. The scientific discoveries of those times were pursued for the sake of discovery, for widening what was previously known and accepted (Lambert & Brittan, 1987). After this long period, it was only then that science becam e an applied science. Scientific endeavors were now geared towards how the experiment or research study influenced certain aspects of human life.For example, the science of psychology came at the forefront of social awareness when tests were developed to classify the intelligence level of American soldiers. The objective of scientific disciplines then became the application of the scientific method/process to improve man’s quality of life. Thus, the focus was how technological advancements made work less physically demanding, how household appliances helped overworked housewives, how intelligence tests improved instructional quality and the educational system, how counseling and psychotherapy enabled people to lead more meaningful lives and etc.With every scientific application of a certain field, social ramifications and ethical issues arise(Lambert & Brittan, 1987), for example, the increasing practice of having humans as subjects in experimental studies which exposed them to psychological trauma was questioned in terms of its ethical or unethical status. The use of intelligence testing to label children or adults as idiots, to classify homosexuality as a mental disorder and a host of now defunct and challenged assumptions was a manifestation that social responsibility and social awareness was increasing.People were beginning to question the validity and reliability of experimental studies, the preference for quantitative studies using statistics enabled practitioners to be within the scientific and objective traditions which also contributed to the highly quantitative research methods. Psychology can be classified as a modern science; it has found its strength in the application of its scientific nature to almost every facet of human life that it has become so popular and everyone to some degree practices psychology (Stoltenberg, Pace, Kashubeck-West, Biever, Patterson & Welch, 2000).However, there is a clear distinction between scholar-practitioners and practical psychology. Scholar-practitioners do not stop with simply practicing their field of specialization, but they rather seek to test, to develop and to explore the past, the present and the future of psychological inquiry (Peterson, 2000). Scholar-practitioners effect social change by their work and their adherence to the scientific tradition of academic investigation.For example, a scholar-practitioner of psychotherapy finds that the previous techniques he had adhered to is not as effective as it used to be, so he tries out a different method and then painstakingly record every session and then formulate an improved or an entirely new technique. He then develops it into a working theory and then test it out on his practice for years and until he finds evidence to support his claims, he then publishes it in peer-reviewed journals where it will be subjected to the scrutiny of other scholar-practitioners who have years of experience, continued their professional growth and adhered to the scientific method.The scholar-practitioner’s work does not end here, he will continue to test, modify and write about his theory for the rest of his life. With the study of school psychology of learning difficulties, we are now able to identify, diagnose and provide interventions for learning challenged children, in the past these children have been labeled as slow learners, disabled, abnormal and thus there were no adequate programs to answer their needs (Prilleltensky, 1997).Scholar-practitioners who specialize in counseling may have come across teens and adults who are undecided about their sexuality, this brought into social consciousness that homosexuality or bisexuality is not a disease and that it is often a choice that individuals make in terms of their sexual preference, backed by years of data and research, the public has become more receptive to homosexuals than before, although much more is needed to help them feel normal and not as deviants. How do scholar-practitioners choose the topic or the question that they would like to work on?The key is the strong attunement of the scholar-practitioner to the contemporary issues of the present society, in the field of study, in the psychological discipline. Being knowledgeable of what pressing concerns the discipline of psychology is facing will help the scholar-practitioner steer his work in answering the need for studying and investigating this aspect. It is also important that with an inquisitive and critical mind is the training and the ability to work within the scientific model.It is also important that scholar-practitioners adhere to the concept that psychology is a science and not a part of the popular culture as it has been utilized by money making self-help book authors. A scholar-practitioner enriches his knowledge and skills of the filed of specialization through his practice, but what enables him to dissect, to theorize, to formulate hypotheses and to effect change is the mastery and experience of scientific research methods.When the scientific mind works together with the practical application, the practitioner grows in leaps and bounds in terms of his professional acumen and as a person of honesty and integrity. References Lambert, K. & Brittan Jr. , G. (1987). An introduction to the philosophy of science 3rd ed. California: Ridgeview Publishing Company. Peterson, D. (2000). Scientist-practitioner or scientific-practitioner? American Psychologist, 55;2, 252-253. Prilleltensky, I. (1997). Values, assumptions, and practices: Assessing the moral implications of psychological discourse and action. American Psychologist, 52; 5, 517-535. Stoltenberg, C. , Pace, T. , Kashubeck-West, S. , Biever, J. , Patterson, T. & Welch, I. (2000). Training models in counseling psychology: Scientist-practitioner versus practitioner-scholar. The Counseling Psychologist, 28, 622-640.