Participative budgeting Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Participative budgeting - Essay Example In the case where Costa Rica, Chile and Mauritius were selected to investigate the performance of pro-poor outcomes, evidence showed that the project was indispensable not only to strengthen democracy in the countries but also to ensure that the most pressing needs of the population were reflected in the government spending (Liao and Zhang, 2012). Methods like public meeting, focus groups, simulation, committee and surveys have been used so that the citizens can participate in the budget adoption (Jason et al, 2009). However, public meetings are not very good at giving citizens direct influence but they can be used as forums for preliminary information sharing (OToole and Marshall, 1988). Citizen participation in budgeting, brings out potential goals like informing decision-making, educating participants on the budget, gaining support for budget proposals, influencing decision making and enhancing trust and creating a sense of community. In Brazil, the state and civil society have always been much more intertwined that the liberal conceptualization. Capitalism was implemented in Brazil by the Portuguese patrimonial state with loyal court as the center for the power (Novy and Leubolt, 2005). In Porto Alegre as all over Brazil, neighborhood movements emerged in the 1970s. Residents mainly of irregular, poorer districts rebelled against the government lack of interest in acting for their benefits. Participatory budgeting involves direct and indirect democracy since there is sharing of power with the people and thus it will satisfy the basic needs like in Brazil where improvement in education was seen (Mirko, 2014). Participatory budgeting was an attempt to elaborate an alternative model of governance. The strategy showed legitimacy in strengthening civil society in the local forms of socialism. Social innovation and an open

Strategic Management and Strategic Competitiveness Assignment - 3

Strategic Management and Strategic Competitiveness - Assignment Example This paper illustrates that strategic management entails the formulation as well as an implementation of key objectives that are adopted by managers on behalf of the shareholders. During this process, effective assessment of external and internal environments must be done. On the other hand, strategic competitiveness refers to the results that are achieved after a firm effectively formulates and implements appropriate strategies that are not easily copied by the competitors either because they are unique or there are costly to imitate. One of the major strategies that make Coca-Cola be a competitive company locally and in the international markets is the increased sales as the result of its expansion in many countries. Since the company was established in 1886, it has grown from a small firm based in Atlanta to the most valuable brand in the world. Coca-Cola Company brands are distributed in over 200 countries. Being the world largest brand, Coca-Cola has continued to enjoy impressiv e expansion globally. However, the company has very strong roots in Atlanta where it originated. The production of brands that depict comfort and leisure, aspects that are related to the American culture, the company produces brands that meet the needs of American people. In order to ensure that its products are effectively distributed in the international market, Coca-Cola Company has employed the services of various bottlers in various countries. The table below indicates some of the notable bottlers in the various Coca-Cola market segments. Apart from an effective entry of the global market, Coca-Cola Company has appropriately used technology in all its operations. For example, the company constantly rebrands its products. In 2009, the company introduced greener bottles. These are bottles that use less petroleum thus having less carbon impact. Likewise, the introduction of freestyle dispensers, that allow consumers to create their own beverage by combining more than 100 brands, i s a clear indication of the extent to which the company values technology.

Incremental Analysis Essay Example for Free

Incremental Analysis Essay Incremental in comprehensive analyses both serve similar purposes in decision making in the workplace. The argument is that incremental is more economical than and just as effective as comprehensive analyses. Since both are used to make important decisions within a company, which one will serve the best purpose while still being justifiable and cost effective to complete? Both will complete the same task, but one will do it better and we will be explaining why incremental analyses are the better ones to use. Incremental Analysis Incremental analysis is important and standardized approach to determine various business decisions concerning cost and revenue. This tool is very crucial and time saving; it leads in a systematic way to identify the probable effects of decisions on future earnings in order to make better decisions concerning the profitability of the company. Management utilizes incremental analysis to identify relevant information related to costs and revenues associated and impacted by the decision; this information is further compared to make the most profitable decision. Examples of decisions best made through incremental analysis include – whether to accept an order at special price, make-or-buy, sell or process further, retain or replace equipment, eliminate an unprofitable segment decision and allocate limited resources, and decisions (Kimmel et.al, 2011). Comprehensive Analysis Comprehensive analysis is the financial term used for evaluating every financial detail of the entire operation in a company. The purpose of conducting comprehensive analysis is to determine a company’s present financial position as well as its expected financial standing in the future. In conducting comprehensive analysis, both current and historical fiscal reports must be collected to analyze the status of the company’s investments. These reports are also needed to calculate the financial ratios of different companies. Determining the financial ratios is the next step when conducting comprehensive analysis as these ratios will determine the company’s performance and its effectiveness. The ratios will give a snap shot of the company’s overall financial condition, strengths and weaknesses of its financial activities which will help creditors and investors decide  whether company is worth investing in. And finally, compare the company’s ratio, to the ratio of another organization with similar production processes to determine if the company will succeed or needs enhancement. Disagree/ or Agree According to our research we have come to an agreement that Incremental Analysis is the best decision and focus tool that we have. The reasoning is because it reveals faster results and cost less. Another two are when reports are shown and analysis are done it reveals the same results. It also focus on a specific subject or topic. Incremental analysis also pulls reports and help management make decisions whether to accept orders, to make a product or purchase, sell and process products furthers, or even the retaining and replacement of equipment that are used by the business. References JIm, B., Hughes, M.C. (2014, April). What is comprehensive analysis. Wise Geek, (). Retrieved from http://www.wisegeek.com/what-is-comprehensive-analysis.htm Virtual Advisors Inc. (2011) Analyzing your financial ratios retrieved from http://www.bbt.com/bbtdotcom/business/small-business-resource-center/growing-a-business/financial-ratios.page

Culture Impact On International Business Cultural Studies Essay

Culture Impact On International Business Cultural Studies Essay Culture always makes a great impact on international trade. Although there are similarities between various cultures, but there are also obvious differences, the ever-present different cultural backgrounds affect international trade. Different cultural products in international trade will have the name, trademarks, advertisements, and verbal and written communication translation impact. Therefore, cultural factors should be taken into account in the international trade, in order to avoid misunderstandings which may result in economic losses. In international trade, cultural background, language and customs and other cultural differences become the invisible barriers as cross-cultural communication in international trade. To analysis the differences of language and cultural factors and their impact, the crucial element to open the international market and expand International trade successfully is implementing cross-cultural exchange effectively. Many powerful companies failed in international business, the main reason are not the shortage of capital or technology, but due to ignoring the cultural differences impact on trade and communication. In the face of this, we should be aware of the importance of culture, find out the aspects of culture that impact on the international trade, and know how these points work. Relevance of Culture The impact on international trade of ubiquitous cultural factor is recessive and potential. Culture has the characteristic of group. As the common pattern of behaviour which accumulated in the history, people approve and follow their own culture they live with. Culture hybrid is the catalyst of economic development while culture conflict is the cancer cell of economic cooperation. 2.1 Concept of Culture Culture is the way in which a group of people solves problems and reconciles dilemmas. (Alfons Trompenaars, Charles Hampden-Turner, 1993, P6) Culture is formed by the ideas, concepts, behaviour, customs, habits, representatives of a group in a given period and the overall sense from this group out of all the activities. 2.2 Values of Culture According to the importance of culture, it is necessary to know the culture well. When acquiring a language and know the accuracy meaning in the culture, we can communicate with others through it. By understanding the customs, we can anticipate how business partners and customers are likely to respond. By learning the partners or customers culture values, we can distinguish between what is considered right or wrong, acceptable or offensive. To know the different ways of thinking in different culture, we can identify with other managers, provide knowledge to meet and negotiation with them. 2.3 Levels of Culture As we learn from the lecture, we know there are at least three levels of culture: National/Regional Culture-Culture within a country/regional Corporate Culture-Culture within a specific organization Professional Culture-Culture of particular functions within an organization 3.0 How does culture work As we know, culture is a broad concept. So it can affect international trade in many ways both internal and external the enterprise. 3.1 National/Regional Culture Language Cultural difference is an important factor that restricts the translation of the words. Because translation involves different using principle of two different languages. In the translation process, if you dont know the different culture very well, this often occurs that the meaning is quite the opposite with the real meaning which can lead to the misunderstanding. For example, when the General Motors Corporation enters the market of Belgium, the slogan was Body in Belgium, but when translating the slogan into Flemish language, the meaning was corpse by Fisher. The strange slogan led to embarrassment and the customers confusion. Things followed were the dramatically slip of the sales volume until the administration became aware of this problem. This situation shows the significance of understanding the language in the different culture background. Custom Different countries have different customs, the tradition way of life, the hobby of people, the taboo, etc., all these show the culture diversity of the world. A bitter case shows the consequences of disrespect of custom. Lawrence Stessin, the anthropologist, pointed this in his report. A business man from North California wanted to purchase a textile machines company from Birmingham in UK to open the European market. Not long after he took over the company, the manager from America want to rectify a problem about the British teatime. Lawrence said, in British, every worker had the teatime of half an hour. During the time, workers can taste some wine in the large ounce container on their own preferences. The manager proposed reducing the teatime to 10 minutes and union agreed. But a week later, the workers rioted in the factory. They broke the windows, destroyed the machines and hooted the administrators. The manager tried to redeem for the loss, he installed the vending machines with the low capacity cups instead of the large ounce containers. Based on the American custom, the rules requested more contribution and loyalty of the workers bu t disrespected the local custom, the company ended in bankruptcy. Values As the result of the difference of countries historical development, the formation of culture differs a lot in the long history. People also have different opinions and values on the same thing. In international trade activities, people with different culture background show the obvious differences on the concept of time, decision-making and conflict management approach. Americans believe in free competition and individualism. Personal courage to assume responsibilities is a virtue in Americans eyes and its the positive performance. So in a negotiation, the representative wields the power to make his own decision within the authorized scope. On the contrary, Chinese people pay great attention on collective decision-making and emphasise the team wisdom. As the proverb says, Two heads are better than one. Especially in Japan, a collective country, team interests are higher than everything at any time. The difference between Asian and Western values leads to the different understanding to some things, which sometimes results in the barriers in the trade and verbal communication. Mode of thinking American linguist Robert B Kaplan(1966) proposed the Cultural thought patterns in inter-cultural education through the research of abroad students who speak different mother tongue. He believes that thinking is spiral Oriental while Western thinking is linear in. Once an American corporation wanted to enter the market of south China, they sent a representative to deal with the business. Also, China side wants to enlarge its trade. Since both sides were satisfied with the deal, the negotiation should be favouring. But the process of negotiation was not so simple. It was problem here that the different thinking way. To show humility and amiable, the Chinese manager always used some fuzzy words, like maybe, perhaps, whatever, etc.. All these made the American manager doubted whether the Chinese manager were pure-hearted to make the deal. So they didnt sign the contract in China. To show the respect to others, the Chinese manager didnt express his will to deal. After going back to America, the manager wrote a letter to China and directly express that he wanted to cooperate with China. The Chinese are happy to accept and wrote back. But in the long letter, he put the key point in the end with the long-winded matting before. At last there was no tr ansaction because of the misunderstanding which resulted from different mode of thinking. 3.2 Corporate Culture The relationship between staff-Tom Peters, American writer on business management practices, said that the only real resource to the enterprise is human. Therefore, the harmonious atmosphere among staff is quite important to the development of enterprise. It is quite normal for a transnational enterprise to hire talented persons. While unseemly ways of arranging employees led to a series of problem in an enterprise. To some extent, the appearance of these people leads to internal staff personnel psychological confrontation. This is a process of coordination and adjustment. But the administration ignored this serious point and just paid more attention to these talented persons. During this period, the spirit and morale of the old staff were affected. They became less loyal and negative and resulted in the decline in performance. Another situation will lead to the discord among employees. As a Chinese, we are used to it while which may offend people in other countries. Suppose there are three employees, A, B and C. When A and B are talking about something, C comes and interrupts their conversation or joins their talking. It is normal in China and people can accept. In western, however, people think they were not respected or even offended. They cant accept this behaviour. So if this situation happens in an enterprise with employees from different countries, the harmonious atmosphere will be broken and lead to the performance. The relationship between higher and lower levels-the relationship between boss and employee is interaction and help each other forward. In the Chinese and Western culture, this relationship shows some difference: Role difference-In China, the mainstream of Chinese culture emphasizes the group and social values. People pay more attention on the affiliation between individual and group. The actions and observation must be in accordance with the expectation of group. In contrast, western people emphasize individual rights and independence. For example, to respect peoples rights and freedom, the speaker always uses the phrasing like Would youà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦? Could youà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦.? Shall Ià ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦? etc. No matter how the relationship is between two persons. This different position of role leads to the misunderstanding between boss and employee from different culture background. Daily conversation-Because of the difference of different culture, a polite term in one culture may be considered as the impolite, inappropriate language in another culture. In China, people used to show the respect only to eldership or higher authorities. Among the western people, they always call each others first name, whether you are my eldership or boss or teacher. Instead of being impolite, they think its the way to show intimate among people. For example, in a transnational enterprise, the manager is a Chinese and the employee is a British. The manager will assign a task to the employee without the words like please thank you which may depresses the employee in some extent. The opposite situation, if the manager is a western people while the employee is a Chinese. Its normal when the manager call the name of the employee. As the junior employee, Chinese people always say its too late, youd better to go home or something like that to show concerning. But the manager may feel being interfered because time to go home is his own right. Nonverbal communication-during the conversation, not only the express are different, but also the space distance in different culture background. In UK, people divided the distance into four types: intimate distance, personal distance, social distance, public distance. In France, people will hug and kiss the face. While in China, there is no definite distance in social intercourse. The type of body touch is shaking hands or hugging which mostly happens among the same gender. Expect lovers, the situation of kissing and hugging will never happen among the opposite gender. And females always go out hand in hand if they are good friends which may be misunderstood in western countries. 3.3 Professional Culture Within an organization, both professional culture and organizational culture can shape the decisions, output and something else in it. The organisational culture is a system that has an impact on the whole organization. While the professional culture lays particular emphasis on individual effort. The coexistence of these two cultures can plan the development of organization much better. If the organization can recruit participants who have the characteristics it requires, it does not have to develop these characteristics through training and education.'(Amitai Etzioni, 1961) If the organizational culture is fixed, the goals, the competitor, the position are definite, the organization has to recruit employees with the specific characteristics. Here, the professional culture does make sense. As a collective country, Japanese employ own the high loyalty to their organization. The unique loyalty can be seen as the professional culture within an organization. The loyalty plays a particular and significant role in the enterprise. The intrinsic motivation of the workers loyalty originates from the trust mechanism. Therefore, the Japanese workers loyalty is one of the most important reasons that the Japanese corporate achieve success. A Chinese business man established a restaurant in Japan several years ago. In the first few years, he hired Chinese people because they are his compatriots. Before long, however, the employees were replaced by Japanese gradually. Some guests from China want to know the reason. He told them that Japanese are easy to manage. More importantly, the Japanese employees are always concerning more about the restaurant. Once he became the staff, he was a member of this team. The team grew better so that the staff got better. A manager of human resource department in a Japanese transnational enterprise once said, as individuals, Chinese people have the excellent working capability. But as a member of the organization, they lack compatibility and sufficient responsibility. This enterprise recruited 20 IT employees from China. And the administration wanted to inculcate a spirit of loyal to organization. But too much emphasis on this point sometimes led to their negative mentality. There is another phenomenon that we can only see in Japan. Some Chinese consultants had the business transactions with a Japanese newspaper office. They found strange that they could rarely see the boss himself appearing in the office during the several years. All the internal things were assigned to the manager. The boss was always staying at home by remote control. Everything was in perfect order. All the employees worked hard and dedicate without lazing. They all treated the enterprise and boss as their family because they know better the company was, much more money they could earn. Once a Japanese manager was asked a question, Why dont you start your own business and be your own boss with your talent? In that company, he deals with all the affairs. He can earn much more if he start his own business. But he said that he has been in the company for more than three decades from a staff to a manager. His growth cant be without the training and cultivate of the boss and enterprise. They are a big family. In Japan, employees are loyal to the company. Even if another company will pay more and provide better treatment, they wont change their minds easily. How to measure an employees loyalty? When buying things for the company, the staff never receive kickbacks; never use the company telephone to make personal international call; to be the first one to come, the last one to go back; meticulous, and so on. In the eyes of Japanese workers, these things are unalterable. The best way to show the employees loyalty is the company of their choice, or single-mindedness. And the boss defines the loyal staff as actively perform the spirit of sacrifice. Since the 90s from last century, Japans bubble economy collapsed. The problem of employees loyalty emerged. Japanese human resource instruction conducted a survey in 2002. Among Netherlands, Mexico, United States, Germany, Italy, Japan and some other countries, the employees loyalty of the first three countries was 73%, 72%, 68% respectively. That of Japan was only 50%. They were shocked by the results. This result indicates that the positive influence of professional culture needs a steady surrounding. Conclusion In the East-West cooperation business process, cultural backgrounds, different cultural mentality, customs, are often overlooked by many people. While the cultural factor is the key factor that determines the success or failure of business activities. Quite different from the normal trade, the international trade within different culture background request more. Dealers should know each others culture and custom very well. Its the guarantee of success. In international business, we should pay more attention to differences in cross-cultural communication. Correctly deal with cultural differences and prevent the barriers that may be caused by cultural patterns and cultural prejudices. Among the staff, everyone should respect each other and treat equality. The key to success in cross-culture communication is treating the culture difference properly; try to exclude cultural superiority, cultural patterns and cultural prejudices of the interference. This is the only way to carry out the international trade activities in cross-culture communication successfully. We can establish the international culture exchange centre; carry out the multi-level forms of culture display and exchange to eliminate the concept of custom, language and art appreciation and other aspects of trade barriers. The formulation of foreign trade policy for the enterprises should be syncretised with that the local culture. We cant always challenge a culture if its not suited to our system. It is necessary to create the countrys cultural products for sale, but also the manner and extent of pricing that people can accept, and try to find suitable local custom channels to purchase objects willing to accept the publicity. These links are indispensable, and only all of them are put together organically, the barriers can be broken. In conclusion, we stress that culture is the primary factor in business trade, and the major barrier is the difference between historical cultures. Cultural factors are unavoidable. Cultural universals are dominant, and cultural differences can be bridged by international trade. Moreover, with the development of cultural interpenetration, the influence of cultural differences will become smaller. The cross-culture communication activity will become easier than before.

The Role of Women in The Zoo Story Essay -- Zoo Story Essays

The Role of Women in The Zoo Story Although the women characters in "The Zoo Story" are never front and center staged, they have leading roles in shaping the conditions and sensibilities of Jerry and Peter. The women referred to by each of the male characters affects, or has affected, their perceptions and routines in life. Jerry has had many encounters with various women, while Peter speaks only of three. The quantity of women roles in each man's life is not the dominate cause of their behaviors; it is the quality of the women. In "The Zoo Story" the women "backstage" are unseen influences that cloud reality for Jerry and Peter. The few women in Peter's life keep him relatively tamed. He is the male underdog of the household, surrounded by a wife and two daughters. Indicated by the dialog, Peter does not appear to be an assertive man. The women of the house are the dominate decision-makers. . .cats instead of dogs, two parakeets (one for each daughter), two television sets (one for the children). They represent the middle-class, happy family, ...

The Consensus Perspective Essay -- Crime

Criminologists have long tried to fight crime and they have developed many theories along the way as tools to help them understand criminals. In the process of doing so, criminologist have realized that in order to really understand why criminals are criminals, they had to first understand the interrelationship between the law and society. A clear and thorough understanding of how they relatively connect with criminal behavior is necessary. Therefore, they then created three analytical perspectives which would help them tie the dots between social order and law, the consensus, the pluralist and the conflict perspectives. Each provides a significantly different view of society as relative to the law. However, while they all aim to the same exact purpose which is to help us understand crimes from a social viewpoint, the consensus perspective is more effective as it presents a more radical and logical view of how society interacts with the law. For instance, the consensus view focuses m ore on norms, unification, and equality. At the same time, it questions individuals ‘self-control as causes of crime. As Michalowski described it, most members of a society believe in the existence of core values (Schmalleger, 2012). The consensus view is about nothing but values, the different that are commonly known as right and wrong. The teaching of those values start at a very early stage of one’s life and we tend to adapt to them quite effectively. Most importantly, they become part of our lives to a point where we do not very much need a piece of paper to demonstrate it, we just grow to know that, for example, the killing of another person is wrong and respect for others is right. Those are the things that we know and believe and what makes it ... ...at it really is. It presents society as a united force respecting and following the norms as to every member can be satisfied. It is equal and common as to what is what and what to expect. It also projects that there probably would not be laws if it were not for the norms, as we, as a society agree on what is unacceptable and considered a violation. Finally, the consensus perspective sees violators of the norms as weak people with very low self-control. Bibliography Agnew, R. (2011). Toward a Unified Criminology: Integrating Assumptions about Crime, People and Society (New Perspectives in Crime, Deviance, and Law Series). New York: NYU Press. Luckenbill, E. H. (1992). Principles of Criminology (The Reynolds Series in Sociology). New York: Altamira Press. Schmalleger, F. (2012). Criminology Today: An Integrative Introduction. New Jersey: Prentice Hall. The Consensus Perspective Essay -- Crime Criminologists have long tried to fight crime and they have developed many theories along the way as tools to help them understand criminals. In the process of doing so, criminologist have realized that in order to really understand why criminals are criminals, they had to first understand the interrelationship between the law and society. A clear and thorough understanding of how they relatively connect with criminal behavior is necessary. Therefore, they then created three analytical perspectives which would help them tie the dots between social order and law, the consensus, the pluralist and the conflict perspectives. Each provides a significantly different view of society as relative to the law. However, while they all aim to the same exact purpose which is to help us understand crimes from a social viewpoint, the consensus perspective is more effective as it presents a more radical and logical view of how society interacts with the law. For instance, the consensus view focuses m ore on norms, unification, and equality. At the same time, it questions individuals ‘self-control as causes of crime. As Michalowski described it, most members of a society believe in the existence of core values (Schmalleger, 2012). The consensus view is about nothing but values, the different that are commonly known as right and wrong. The teaching of those values start at a very early stage of one’s life and we tend to adapt to them quite effectively. Most importantly, they become part of our lives to a point where we do not very much need a piece of paper to demonstrate it, we just grow to know that, for example, the killing of another person is wrong and respect for others is right. Those are the things that we know and believe and what makes it ... ...at it really is. It presents society as a united force respecting and following the norms as to every member can be satisfied. It is equal and common as to what is what and what to expect. It also projects that there probably would not be laws if it were not for the norms, as we, as a society agree on what is unacceptable and considered a violation. Finally, the consensus perspective sees violators of the norms as weak people with very low self-control. Bibliography Agnew, R. (2011). Toward a Unified Criminology: Integrating Assumptions about Crime, People and Society (New Perspectives in Crime, Deviance, and Law Series). New York: NYU Press. Luckenbill, E. H. (1992). Principles of Criminology (The Reynolds Series in Sociology). New York: Altamira Press. Schmalleger, F. (2012). Criminology Today: An Integrative Introduction. New Jersey: Prentice Hall.

Youth Sub Culture

Research on contributing factors to negative Research on Contributing Factors to Negative Youth Subculture and Preventing It 26 November 2012 Table of Contents Introduction3 Youth Needs Met In Subculture3 Supporting Youth Before Negative Subculture Does7 Conclusion9 Introduction Youth subculture is a subculture by youths with distinct styles, behaviors and interests. It offers a particular culture to the youth who are looking for someone or some group that they can identify with. The characteristics of the youth subculture differs, it can be expressed through their fashion, speech style, perception and social groups.Lots of times the youth subculture can be around a certain type of music. There are many kinds of youth subculture out there that allow youths to not only identify with it but to also normalize their expressions according to the subculture they identify with. Some subcultures cultivate the youths to express themselves artistically, such as punk, hip-hop, graffiti, beat bo xing, cheerleading and Goth; some normalize their expression of identity, like gangs, nerds, obsession with a sports team, and Emos (Wood, 2003).However, the danger is when youths are involved in negative subculture like gangs, punk, Goth, hooligans, or even Emos; these subcultures will nurture an antisocial behavior that cause harm to self or others. Around the ages, ten to sixteen years old, they are experiencing a lot of physical, emotional, mental and social changes, thus these are few of the contributing factors to the interest of subculture that will be discussed later on in this paper. This paper will study about the contributing factor and effects of the ever-changing negative youth subculture and how help them.Youth Needs Met In Subculture Daniel Seigel (2001) communicates that a person’s identity is shaped based on the interaction of how a person’s relationship is harnessed and made sense in the brain. At age of a teenager, a youth, according to Erikson (Stev ens, 2008), is in a stage, which a child is neither a child nor an adult. Life gets more complex as there is an inner desire to attempt to create their own identity. Therefore they struggle with social interactions and test their own moral issues.They have a strong desire to be separated from their own family in order to explore and to identify themselves as an individual but deep down inside, there is a want for that protection of the boundaries provided by the family. Youths are constantly in conflict with themselves let alone with their family and friends. The search is continuous until the inner self is satisfied. It is during this period (Hardy & Laszloffy, 2005) which makes this stage of life vulnerable to negative youth subculture.Without the right people supporting the youth, they tend to end up with role confusion. Thus, how these youth make sense of their identity (Seigel, 2001) is based on how people build relationships with them. Building relationships is to feed the nee ds of the inner desire of a person. The subculture provides the needs that a youth crave for which cannot be found in the home. Due to that reason some youths are drawn to a specific subculture. There are a lot of psychological factors that negative subculture provides to the seeking youth which will be discussed in this paper.Subcultures are different from country to country because youths are still very much dependent on the social-economic and political influence of the area that they are in. The social-economical and political influence youths indirectly through the structure of the family and they can also influence them directly (Falk & Falk, 2005). For example, the political issue of family control like practicing the once child policy in China in 1978 and advocating the ‘Stop at Two’ policy in Singapore in 1975, affects the parenting method towards their children.Controlled by the government on childbirth, these children became more precious (Settles & Sheng, 20 08; Ang & Dion H, 2006), therefore the parenting methods changes to help their children to perform at their best. Some parents become more authoritarian to see the children perform well in the society, however it is also one of the emotional neglects. Inside, they are filled with rage, despair and hopelessness in self; so when the youth finds the negative subculture that provides the emotional needs that the youth yearns for, they take comfort in the new subculture this child has found.Negative subcultures that appeal to these youth are mainly gangs (Kirby, et al. , 2000). The negative subculture encourages these youth to stand up and fend for them selves, to be resilient by going against the wishes of the family and be rebellious towards authority. With the building of these habits in them, the child will slowly develop antisocial behavior like Conduct Disorder (CD), Oppositional Defiant Disorder (ODD) and Attention Deficit Disorder (ADD).In contrary of this, there is the other par enting effect such as over protective and pampering attitude towards their children. This causes the other kind of subcultures, namely bullies and bimbos. These youths looks and expects the social circle that they are in to give them the same protection, fame and attention that they have gained in their home. The rich, spoilt and showy or smart and sporty kind attracts a certain group of youth who desperately wants the same privilege in the clique and submit to these youths.Some of the subculture derived from these can be positive if the value of the subculture is healthy, for example sports group that believes building healthy lifestyles can build the youth’s self confidence, self awareness and physical fitness. However if the sports group is about building fame, the youth will strive hard to fit in for fame and will develop antisocial behavior like Conduct Disorder (CD). Such negativism in a subculture will lead these youth to develop a chance of depression and risk. Econom ics is also one of the contributing factors in subculture. It affects the rich and the poor.Nowadays most youths will try all means and ways to earn money (Haenfler, 2006). Survey mentioned that some youths, works part time to earn money, some demand from their parents and some work in gangs selling drugs, sex, pirated or illegal items, and even through selling of stolen goods. Research from 1979 till 2009 found that gangs who address the financial needs in a youth are commonly found in either the middle class or the lower class families all over the world (Falk & Falk, 2005) (Williams, 2007) (Wood, 2003) (Kirby, et al. , 2000) (Hardy & Laszloffy, 2005) (Haenfler, 2006).The biggest contributing factor to a youth is the family. Having a family in Singapore is not cheap; the cost of living in Singapore is high. An household income of a basic needs for a family in 2011 is 35% for a mid-income family with salary of $2000 – $3999; The 39% of the salary is spend on child’s b asic education; 4% goes to Central Provident Fund Board (CPF) 75% of the salary earned by are contributed to these parts and parents worked very hard just to send them for tuition (Perception of Policies in Singapore Survey (POPS)(2): Survey on Marriage and Parenthood (M7P) Package 2008, 2011)(MSS Monthly Payment, 2012).Due to the high demand of living expenses in Singapore, Parents must work very hard to earn a living in Singapore and some parents from that group will have a high tendency to neglect the child’s emotional needs (Ng, Ho, & Ho, 2011). Although some hire maids to help provide basic needs to the family like cleaning, cooking and to attend to the youth, there are some youths who still feel neglected because the maids do not understand their needs. These children will then turn to gangs around their neighborhood.Some youth come from broken families like abuse, gangs, addicts and homosexual; some youths come from families that are made up of single parent, mix and i deal parents. Families play an important role in providing that security, love, attention and boundaries that a youth need during the search for their identity. When all these needs are met, it develops a good and secure child-parent attachment (Bowlby, 2006). When any of these are lacking, and are not found from the supportive environment such as school and social services, these youths are vulnerable to be drawn into negative youth subcultures.They will fit themselves according to the youth subculture that meets their craving needs. In Singapore, negative youth subculture that these youth could fit themselves into either Goth, gangs, addicts and lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, questioning, intersex, and asexual (LGBTQI). It can also happen to youth who comes from an ideal family like the case of Ted Bundy who was executed in 1989 (Michaud & Aynesworth, 2000) Education and Social are another contribution in developing subculture. Singapore has very high standards in terms of e ducation and is well known or their high achievers. It is known to be one of the most drilling education systems in the world. Therefore, youths who are not able to catch up and score good grades are easily put down socially. If a particular group of youths, who are smart, straight A achievers, studies very hard, whose primary hobby is to study or has high IQ are considered nerds. Although this subculture was not created by them but it was label by those who do not have that ability to produce remarkable results (Falk & Falk, 2005).There are the other extreme end who considered themselves as failures for they are not able to achieve results expected from them and are constantly being put down by schoolmates finds security in gangs. Gangs are able to normalize the expectations people have on them and to create new expectations that are achievable and against people who hurt them (Hardy & Laszloffy, 2005). Socially, youths want to be identified, thus there are also a lot of stress in the social game play known as peer pressure. Youth are constantly under peer pressure. There are a lot of social and moral values that are being tested in friendships.Some youths are able to stand firm on their own values and make appropriate choices, however there are some youths who are dependent on their friends. They can be so dependent on their friends that they are afraid to loose them; therefore they become easy targets for manipulation and are easily pushed into undesirable subcultures (Falk & Falk, 2005) (Bowlby, 2006). The similarities of all the youth subcultures posses are to provide a protective environment, giving these youths an identity, autonomy and distinctiveness. In return of being in the subculture, they also require youths to be committed and accountable to the leader.However the downside of it is the existing force of peer pressure, the degrees of pressure differs from each subculture, and to perform and meet expectations. The difference between a subculture a nd a negative subculture is that the subculture has the potential to support the well being of the youth but the negative subculture has the potential to develop antisocial behavior, depression and risks. Supporting Youth Before Negative Subculture Does The Singapore government understood the need to support the well being of the youths because these youths are the next generation that will succeed the current generation.Many studies were made to understand the sociology of youth subcultures in Singapore. They also recognize the growth of the diverse subcultures and are fully aware about the negative subcultures impacting youths. There are a total of 1,082,300 youths in Singapore in 2011. 3. 3 out of 1,000 youths are sexually active and are married under parental consent due to pregnancy, and the juveniles (Youth Statistic in Brief 2011, 2011) and youth-at-risk who are arrested are 4,174 youth.Singapore has also stepped up to give ample services and support to youths so that they wi ll deviate from the negative subcultures that are active in Singapore. Ministry of Social and Family Development (MSF) has come forward with a system for youths who are ODD and CD. They are given a second chance by going through Guidance Program, for offending youth and Beacon Works or Pre Complaint Counseling for youth Beyond Parental Control before charging them (Management of Juvenile Delinquency in Singapore, 2010).Singapore has provided a lot of support in helping the youths to either stay away from negative youth subcultures or to help youths detach from it. Some service supports provided to these youth are Youth Care Corners, National Youth Council program, Teen Challenge, Beyond Social Service and ConcernSg. They provide subcultures like creative arts, sports and gaming supervised by social workers. The other supports that can help the youths stay away from negative youth subcultures are family involvement. It is important to understand the youth’s love language in or der to fill up their love tank.Studies shown that the foundations of developmental pattern in a child are how parents build good child-parent relationship and good child-parent relationship develops a secure attachment (Bowlby, 2006). Parents are also able to understand their youth and who they are because parents are very much involved in building relationships with the youth. It is crucial at this point because youths are looking for their identity based on their relationship with people around them. The decisions made by the youths are also very much based on the relationship between people and them because relationship shapes their mindset.Therefore to build a youth of resilient and good values are very much based on family (Seigel, 2001). There are a few steps that are commonly practiced in bringing up a youth. One of them is to find common interests between you and your youth. If there is no common interest, at least be interested in their interest. Through common interest, th e youth finds connection and a voice to express their thoughts. Aspire your youth’s interest and tap on their motivation to learn because interest adds enjoyment to life (Hurlock, 2001).Talk to them like and adult, and discuss matters calmly so that the youth can understand your point of view. Piaget’s theory on cognitive ability is in two parts; the period of sensorimotor intelligence and the period of conceptual intelligence. This helps a person to mature in the development of understanding. So before your youth are able to understand you, you must first understand them by listening through non-judgmental conversation and then advise them appropriately from your understanding. Such processes helps youths to harness the development of understanding maturely (Ang & Dion H, 2006) (Falk & Falk, 2005).Social development and adjustment is also crucial for them. Their social circles are ever changing, thus the only people that are constant in their social circles are normal ly their family members. The other step is to participate in their social relationship. Get to know their friends, allow them to share their experience and feelings about their friends. You will find that some of their friend will change depending on the interest and maturity of understanding between them. As the youths meet social expectations, they tend to have difficulty in learning how to be approved.Here parents are encouraged to support them in values that are being instilled. Praise them for overcoming their challenges and get them to talk about their challenges and walk with them though it (Stevens, 2008) (Seigel, 2001) (Hardy & Laszloffy, 2005). The last and the most important part of the youth’s growth is their physical development. At this age, there are hormonal changes, physical changes and because of the media influence of a size zero figure, and most youths either have obesity or anorexic disorder. As parents, help them to love themselves by regulating their em otion.Emotional balance can be controlled in two ways, control the environment, providing positive environment, and the other is to help the youth develop emotional tolerance. You can help your youth to release pent-up emotional energy by giving space for the youth to calm down after emoting negative emotions and talk about their feelings and generate ways to cope negative emotions (Hurlock, 2001) (Bowlby, 2006) (Falk & Falk, 2005). Emotional balance is essential so that they are able to cope with hurtful words hurled at them because of their physic.Help them to cope with the emotions of growing up, and to look at themself from a positive point of view. When youths are happy they tend to appreciate the uniqueness of himself or herself as an individual. Conclusion Singapore provides lots of parenting programs such as Parenting with Confidence by Focus on the Family, Parenting Seminars by Ed Unloaded and organizations such as Ministry of Social and Family Service. Singapore has steppe d up in advocating good parenting styles because they acknowledge that it will determine and help steer youths away from negative youth subculture.It also builds resilience in the youths to stand up and fend for themselves when other youths from negative youth subcultures approaches them. Therefore it is important of us to keep ourselves abreast with the youth culture and help our youth to make wise choices before participating in any youth subculture. REFERENCES Williams, J. P. (2007). Sociology Compass. Youth-Subculture Studies: Sociological Traditions and Core Concepts , 572-593. Wood, R. T. (2003). 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