Race, culture and identity ( social policy and criminology) Free Essay Example, 2750 words

Black, as a group category, refers to the black-skinned people of the African continent. As the Black became subjects to slavery and oppression, the identity of the Black as slaves is a result of socio-political action, which is colonisation. These two aspects are significant in the formation of self-hood as the morale of the Black is affected by the adverse treatment of their masters. As a result of slavery, Black-White antagonism develops and remains in White societies worldwide (Nagel, 1994, p. 153). According to Zach (2007, p. 102), race and ethnicity have distinct differences; ethnicity may be based on cultural traditions, while race refers to physical appearance. Race and ethnicity are essential factors influencing the development of identity (Chavez and Guido-DiBrito (1999, p. 40), and those concepts are necessary in understanding one’s self, society, and ancestry (Bernasconi, 2007, p. 123). With this definition, it can be said that racial and ethnic ascriptions determ ine the identity of a person. As mentioned by Ross (2003, p. 20), race, in the sociological context, is used as a technology in sorting people into different classes. As it relates to the Black subject, the word â€Å"race† becomes a symbol of historical and cultural injustice because of the prevailing misrepresentation of the African race, which signifies anger and dirt. We will write a custom essay sample on Race, culture and identity ( social policy and criminology) or any topic specifically for you Only $17.96 $11.86/pageorder now While it can be said that race and ethnicity can be interpreted in different ways, those two concepts are closely intertwined as these determine the identity of a person or group. As the Blacks face issues such as racial discrimination and slavery, being Black means more than just a difference in color. What It Means To Be â€Å"Black† The term â€Å"Black† refers to those people with African decent; they are regarded as the â€Å"other† color. As this paper focuses on the race, identity, and ethnicity of the Black subject, it is necessary to provide readings on the identity of the Black. In the words of Du Bois (2006, p. 9), being â€Å"Black† means containing within one’s self two conflicting personalities and ideals: â€Å"One ever feels his twoness, --an American, a Negro: two souls, two thoughts, two unreconciled strivings; two warring ideals in one dark body, whose dogged strength alone keeps it from being torn asunder. † This duality of nature confronts Blacks as they struggle to fit into two societies. Frank Fannon, in his essay The Fact of Blackness, describes his experiences as a Black in the light of the â€Å"white† power. According to Fannon (1952, p. 62), the African color seems like a corporeal malediction, which reminds Africans that there is more to color than its extrinsic value.

The Information Age How Safe Are We - 1525 Words

The Information Age: How safe are we? General Purpose: To inform. Specific Purpose: I want my audience to understand that there are significant dangers in the age of technology and the Internet particularly regarding the privacy of protected information. Preview: While the Internet, cellphones and ATM machines provide us with a very convenient lifestyle there are inherent dangers-mostly and especially financial dangers, to those who share their personal information online or on their home computers. Introduction: I. Attention getter: I was checking my email and I ran across a message from PayPal, a popular internet site for processing online payments, that indicated that my account was being frozen due to suspicious activity and then asked me to verify personal information. I know for a fact that PayPal never asks for personal information via email so, I was being targeted for a scam to gather personal information. I wondered, how safe am I really, how much of my information can be used against me? Against anyone? I decided to investigate the phenomenon of the invasion of privacy and the business of information gathering in order to determine the overall damage done to those of us who trust supposedly secure websites, devices and businesses. II. Introduction: I am positive that I am not the only one here who has been subject to scams, information gathering techniques or ads targeted at them via emails or cellphones based on electronically stored information obtained byShow MoreRelatedThe Health And Safety Code Section 85.007 Education Program1323 Words   |  6 Pagesduring their lifetime,† (NCSL). In our society today sex is a very open subject and is being observed by young adults in everyday life. Walking down the street we see half naked women plastered on billboards and street signs, leaving nothing to the imagination and making adolescents everywhere question why and wonder what that is. 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People say sex education encourages youth to engage in sexual activities rather than preventing sex. This is true; however, studies show that whenRead MoreRoad Safety Campaigns : How Safe Are You?1679 Words   |  7 PagesRoad Safety Campaigns: How safe are you? Every day many people become involved in road accidents. Some get killed, some just become injured where they have no use of a body part anymore. What really is the problem with the cause of these road accidents? Do people think that teenagers shouldn’t drive till they are older than sixteen? Do people think that as an elderly person they shouldn’t drive if they have certain health conditions? All of these questions can be answered but, they haven’t becauseRead MoreRoad Safety Campaigns : How Safe Are You?1533 Words   |  7 PagesRoad Safety Campaigns: How safe are you? Everyday many people become involved in road accidents. Some get killed, some just become injured where they have no use of a body part anymore. What really is the problem with the cause of these road accidents? Do people think that teenagers shouldn’t drive till their older than sixteen? Do people think that as an elderly person they shouldn’t drive if they have certain health conditions? All of these questions can be answered but they haven’t because thisRead MorePreventing Fatal Driving Accidents by Teaching Teenagers How to Drive1067 Words   |  5 Pagesaccess to full driving privileges at an early age, some of these collision are life change or result in death. To reduces numbers of fatalities, we most coach our youth to be safe driver. First step, as adult/parent(s) is let the child show initiative in driving. This is important because the teen might not have an interest in driving, when you(as the parent/adult) thinking they should be learning to drive . Wait on the teen to show an interest in learning how to drive. 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Living Home vs Living Away Home Free Essays

Have you ever think on living away home? Or you prefer to live at home with your family? A lot of people, mainly students, have this question in mind. But to answer it is better to made a balance between what you will find living away and what you have living at home; but it is a difficult task because you will find a lot of differences and similarities in both situations. One obvious difference is food. We will write a custom essay sample on Living Home vs Living Away Home or any similar topic only for you Order Now Food is a minimal basis to have into consideration in our life. At home, well, you will probably were with your parent’s so they know where they can buy the cheaper and better food; whereas, if you live on your own away from home, you don ‘t anyone who could go to buy food at the right place or even, to advise you where to go to buy. In home you can also have your parent’s who cook instead of you and they also are the ones paying the food; on the contrary, living away meaner to learn how to cook and to pay your groceries. Other areas of difference between live at home and living away home involves money and rent. When you are at your parent’s’ house don t have to centered in saving big sums of money because the only things in what you are going to spend your money on is in your yens because you don ‘t have to pay any rent or any kind of expenses: you don ‘t have to pay community expenses, trash service, health insurance†¦ Because these expenses are in charge of your parent’s; in comparison, living away on your own you have to pay a rent and all kind of living expenses such as community charges, health insurance, social security expenses, and all of this sort of expenses for which you must to save a big sum of money to pay them. Another important difference is the state of freedom. At home you are always bound to the rules that your parent’s established and they, most of the time, are going to pay attention to you trying to know what you are doing, telling you how things must be doing under their rules because you are under the same roof as them; therefore, living away from home you can established your own rules and can do mostly anything you want to do. In spite of these differences, these two apparently opposite situations share several important experiences. Living at home and living away from home are alike in their comparability when you arrive after a day working or even studying and need a nap or even to relax yourself seeing the TV, reading, listening to music, gaming†¦ People and meet with your friends to go to the cinema or going shopping. Also, you will have shops around your home that let you buy things you need. Living at home can be compared to living away from home in the possibility of paving a room of your own where you can relax, study or stay with your friends seeing films, playing some game or chatting. There is not such a huge rift between living at home and living away from home, both situations has its good things and its bad things. Probably people think that it is more secured living at home because it is a place that they know and don ‘t want to risk themselves going to a place that can be good or bad for them. But there is no much difference between the two situations. How to cite Living Home vs Living Away Home, Papers

Prepare A Report of Financial Analysis On Barratt Developments Plc

Question: Required to prepare a report on Barratt Developments Plc that would be of interest to a potential shareholders using financial details and ratios. Answer: Introduction Company name and External Auditor The purpose of this report is to assist the investors in providing useful information which would help them in the decision of investment in the shares of Barratt Developments Plc. The information has been provided in the form of analysis of the financial statements of the company for the period ending 30th June, 2015 given in the annual report audited by Deloitte LLP. Financial ratios and change in the financial statements items have been calculated for the analysis. Brief Description of the Company Barratt Development Plc is one of the leading house builders operating across Britain. The company operates through four brands namely, Barratt Homes, David Wilson Homes, Barratt London and Wilson Bowden Developments. The first three are house building brands whereas the last one is for commercial developments. The company operates only in Britain and has delivered 16,447 total homes as of 2015. The distinguishing feature of the company is its capability to deliver developments at all level of complexity ranging from standard housing to large and highly complex schemes. The company employs a total of 5971 employees. Details of Chairman, CEO and Directors Title Name Chairman John Allan Chief Executive Officer Mark Clare Chief Finance Officer David Thomas Chief Operating Officer Steven Boyes Non Executive Director Tessa Bamford Non Executive Director Nina Bibby Senior Independent Director Mark Rolfe Non Executive Director Richard Akers General Counsel and Company Secretary Tom Keevil Market Capitalisation The total Market Capitalisation of the company for the year ended 30th June, 2014 was 368, 08, 83,246.08 (3.73*984983475) and for the year ended 30th June 2015 was 533, 56, 26,274 (5.36*99542663). Financial Details and Ratios 3.1 Table of % change in Income Statement items given in Annexure 3.2 Table of % change in Balance Sheet items given in Annexure 3.3 Table of % change in Cash Flow Statement items given in Annexure 3.4 Table of Financial Ratios given in Annexure The figures included in the annexure are as on 30th June 2014 and 2015 as per the annual report. Analysis and Interpretation Financial Statements The financial year 2015 has been a great year for Barratt Developments Plc. in terms of increase in revenue and profits. The revenue increased by 19% in 2015, mainly because of the strong housing market in Britain. Britain is recovering from the slowdown hence; the demand for housing is more than the supply, thereby, giving a lot of scope for the company to increase their revenue. Also, the house prices have gone up due to a shortfall in supply and availability of low interest mortgage finance. The cost of sales has also increased but the increase is less than the increase in revenue. This has been achieved by the company due to its efforts towards improvement in operational excellence by reducing cost of raw materials procured. The gross profit has increased by an impressive 35% and the operating profit has also increased by a remarkable 41%. This has been possible because of lower operating costs which include both cost of sales and selling and administrative expenses and increased revenue. The net profit has increased by a whopping 47% as the interest expense has gone down. The company has had a strong Balance Sheet in 2015. The current assets have increased by 21% as the cash balance has increased by 31%. Also other current assets like inventories and receivables have increased. The current liabilities have also increased by 22% mainly due to an increase in taxes payable, trade and land payables and accruals and deferred income. The short term debt has reduced. The non current assets have remained stable with a fall in 3.2% due to a fall in deferred income taxes. The non current liabilities have increased by 25% due to an increase in trade and other payables and a marginal increase in long term debt by 1 million. The Equity has increased by 10.5% due to an increase in the retained earnings by 18%. The share capital has also increased by 1 million. The cash position of the company has been strong in 2015. There has been an increase in cash from investing and financing activities by 216% and 38% respectively. The cash flow from investing activities has increased due an increase in the investments accounted for using the equity method; there was a decrease in these investments in 2014 by 59 million. The financing activities is negative but better than 2014. The inflow has been only in the form of issue of share capital of 1 million whereas the outflow is of approx 145 million accounted by dividends paid and loan repayment. The cash inflow from operations has reduced by 58% mainly due to an increase in inventory by more than 100% and increase in taxes paid. There has been a remarkable increase in net cash by 500% in 2015 as compared to 2014 with a positive cash balance of 86 million, thus making it a cash rich company. From the above analysis of the items of the financial statements, we see that the Income Statement has improved considerably, the Balance Sheet has remained mostly stable with only major movement in inventories, and the Cash Flow Statement has also improved significantly. Financial Ratios Profitability Ratios The profitability ratios have improved in 2015 as compared to 2014. The gross profit margin has improved by 2.2% due to an increase in revenue and a fall in cost of sales. The operating margin is 15.3%, an increase of 2.4% from 2014. The interest expense has reduced as the company has paid back some of its debt and there are no short term debts. The Return on Equity is 12.1%, an increase of 3% from 2014. The increase is due to an increase in the net income attributable to the equity shareholders. The share capital has increased by only by 1 million whereas the net income has increased by 47%, thus increasing the returns on equity. The company has not paid high dividends; rather they have retained the profits which they will use for growth of the company, thus promising a bright future for the shareholders. The Return on Capital Employed (ROCE) for the company is 13%, an increase of 2.5% from 2014. This capital employed has reduced by 23 million due to a decrease in debt of the compan y by approx 24 million whereas the equity has increase only by 1 million. The increase in ROCE is due to an increase in EBIT by 41%. This means the returns on the capital employed have improved significantly. The overall profitability of the company has been very good in 2015 and 2015 has been the year of highest ever profit before tax. Efficiency Ratios The Total Assets Turnover ratio is 0.6 for both 2014 and 2015 with a slight increase in 2015 by 0.04 points. The revenue as well as the total assets both has increased with increase in revenue being slightly more than the total assets. There has been almost no improvement in the efficiency with which the company is utilizing its assets to generate revenue. The Industry Standard for a Construction Industry Assets Turnover Ratio is 0.8, so we can say that Barratt Developments is not up to the industry standards and the company should try to utilize its assets better. The Inventory Turnover has is 0.7 for the company whereas the industry standard is more than 1. We can say that the company has managed its inventory better than the other companies in the industry. The number of days of inventory turnover has increased by 10 days but the increase is very less as compared to the increase in inventory, thus signifying improving inventory turnover. The Receivables Turnover has reduced in 201 5 to 24.6 lower by 6 points. But the industry turnover for receivables turnover is 15; hence, the company is not up to the industry standards. It is not utilizing its receivables properly to generate revenue. The company is providing more credit than what the other companies in the industry are giving. The receivable turnover days has increased to 15 days which means on an average it takes 15 days for the company to recover its sales revenue. The company needs to work on its inventory and receivables management to match up to the industry standards. Liquidity Ratios The Current ratio of the company is 3.3 in 2015 almost similar to what it was in 2014. The current ratio should be more than 1 as per industry standards; hence the company is quite liquid as per industry standards. The current assets are sufficient to pay for the companys liabilities. Looking at the Quick Ratio, which is only 0.4 because most of the current assets of the company are in the form of inventory. A lot of cash is tied up in the inventory making the company less liquid in short term i.e. the company is not in a position to release cash immediately. However, this is the nature of a construction industry as the product they sell i.e. homes and buildings have a long construction period which is why the product of the company is mostly in WIP and it may take years for a product to complete, thus increasing the inventory. The Interest Coverage Ratio has improved by 300% in 2015 due to an increase in operating income and a decrease in interest expense. The company is comfortably able to pay for its finance charges from its operating income, thus making the company liquid. Financial Stability Ratio The Gearing ratio of the company is 0.05 in 2015 a slight increase from 2014. The company has very low debt as compared to the equity share capital. In the year 2015, the company has further reduced its short term debt by 24 million and increased the equity by 10.5%. The company relies mostly on its equity capital for funding its operations. Though this makes the company quite stable from shareholders point of view, but the company is unable to use the debt to gain tax benefits and has very low gear. Investment Ratio The Dividend Yield Ratio is 2.2% in 2015, an increase of 0.7% from 2014. The increase is due to a market capitalisation increase and an increase in dividends paid. It is good news for investors as there is an appreciation in the market value of the share and also an increase in the dividends paid, thus giving them more cash returns. Performance and Position up to December, 2015 Looking at the above analysis, we can say that the company has a strong profitability and stability. Even the liquidity is good looking at the nature of the industry the company is. The returns to shareholders are also satisfactory. The performance of the company has been quite satisfactory in 2015 with increasing profits and a strong balance sheet. A potential investor could look at investing in the company as it gives goods return on stocks and the fundamentals of the company are also strong with a strong future outlook instigated by a clear strategy and continuous improvement in management and operational capabilities. Possible Improvements to the Companys Annual Report Disclosure of dividends policy and practice Currently the annual report of Barratt Developments Ltd. does not have a dividend policy disclosure in the Accounting Policies. There is a mention of the dividend policy on page no. 17 of the annual report, but a detailed policy is not given. The policy is needed in the annual report as it reflects the companys cash and capital management process. Both debt and equity investors are interested in knowing how the company balances between the various competing priorities like investment needs, targets of credit rating agencies and other forms of return to stockholders. The policy could be either Progressive or payout ratio. Also, the disclosure would include how the company worked in order to deliver according to the policy. The above policy will appear on page no. 112 117 in the Accounting Policies section of the annual report. Reporting of Pay and Performance Currently the pay is reported in the Remuneration report section of the annual report. FRC lab suggests that the remuneration information should be clear and simple. The investors favour scenario charts being prepared which will access the relationship between the remuneration of the CEO and the company performance. The company is expected to provide three scenario bar charts i.e. when performance meets, exceeds and falls below the target. The bar chart will have the breakup of total remuneration into fixed, annual variables and long term incentives. Currently, the annual report of the company provides only the details of each of the executive directors salary; the scenario charts are not included. The above reporting of pay and performance will be done in the Remuneration Report given on page no. 75. Presentation of the Operating Cash Flow Currently the details of the operating cash flow by the indirect method are being shown in the notes to the financial statements. According to FRC lab reports, the indirect method of reconciling the profit or loss to the operating cash flow should be shown in the main part of the Cash Flow Statement. This is helpful to the investors when they view the annual report on the electronic media. The above suggestion of reporting the Operating Cash Flow in the main Cash Flow Statement would be given in the Financial Statements section of the annual report present in page no. 111. Appendix a) Consolidated income statement /consolidated statement of comprehensive income Consolidated statement of financial position Consolidated cash flow statement b) Financial details and Ratios References Barratt Developments Plc, (2015), Barratt Development Plc Annual Report and Accounts, 2015 Morningstar, (2015), Barratt Developments Plc Financials, accessed on 20th January, 2016, available https://financials.morningstar.com/ratios/r.html?t=BDEVion=gbrculture=en-US Ive, G., Murray, A., (2013), Trade Credits in the UK Construction Industry: An Empirical Analysis of Construction Contractor Financial Positioning and Performance, BIS Research paper no. 118, Department of Business Innovation and Skills CSImarket, (2016), Construction Services Industry: Efficiency Information and Trends, accessed on 20th January, 2016, available at, https://csimarket.com/Industry/industry_Efficiency.php?ind=205 FRC, (2012), Lab Project Report: Operating and Investing Cash Flows, The Financial Reporting Council Limited FRC, (2015), Disclosure of Dividends policy and practice, The Financial Reporting Council Limited FRC, (2013), Lab Project Report: Reporting of Pay and Performance, The Financial Reporting Council Limited Yahoo finance, (2016), Barratt Developments Plc, Historical Prices, accessed online on 20th January,availablehttps://in.finance.yahoo.com/q/hp?s=BDEV.La=05b=30c=2014d=05e=30f=2015g=m