14-year old girl was found unconscious near Expo Center Essay

KARACHI: An earthquake of magnitude 4.6 on the Richter scale rocked the coastal city of Karachi and adjacent areas late on Monday night. According to the seismic center, the epicenter of the quake was 10 kilometers deep in Hub, Balochistan he police on Monday night identified those six deceased people whose bodies were found dumped . Khan was strangled to death by unknown people along with his wife Nadia Amer and three sons – Roman Khan, Adam Khan and Haider Khan – and his 24-year-old servant. According to sources, Ameerullah Khan, a millionaire, was the the owner of real estate worth millions of rupees in Peshawar. Reportedly, he was not only engaged in a dispute with his brother and brother-in-law over the ownership of the property but was also receiving threats from land mafia. KARACHI: Eid-ul-Azha today (Tuesday) is being celebrated in Saudi Arabia besides Gulf, European, Far Eastern countries, US and Europe, Eid-ul-Azha will be celebrated in Pakistan tomorrow Wednesday, while the Pakistani expatriates in US and Europe like our northern areas would also be celebrating two eids, as some of them slaughtering sacrificial animals on Tuesday, while others would be doing so on Wednesday. See more: Sleep Deprivation Problem Solution Speech Essay ISLAMABAD: Pakistani troops early Tuesday morning responded to the unprovoked firing by Indian forces across the Line of Control (LoC) and reduced them to silence, The sources further said that Pakistan’s tit-for-tat retaliation forced the enemy to retreat to its bunkers. LONDON — Malala Yousafzai, the Pakistani schoolgirl who wasshot in the head by the Taliban for her advocacy of girls’ education, was awarded the Sakharov Prize for Freedom of Thought on Thursday by the European Parliament. Ms. Yousafzai was chosen as the winner of the $65,000 Sakharov Prize by the heads of the political groupings in the 766-member European Parliament. LONDON — The Pakistani police arrested Pervez Musharraf, the nation’s former military ruler, on Thursday, opening a new criminal prosecution against him that frustrated plans by his supporters to fly him out of Pakistan. Muhammad Rizwan, a senior Islamabad police official, told reporters that Mr. Musharraf would remain under house arrest at his villa outside Islamabad, where he has been confined since April. It is not clear, however, whether the court order represents a major obstacle to Mr. Musharraf’s plans to leave Pakistan, or a temporary one. deadlysiege of the Red Mosque in Islamabad in 2007. A Pakistani court granted bail on Wednesday to Pervez Musharraf, the country’s former military ruler, clearing the way for him to leave the country as early as Thursday, his lawyers said. Mr. Musharraf, 70, has been under house arrest at his villa outside Islamabad since April, facing criminal charges in three cases related to his nine years in power, from 1999 to 2008. Mr. Musharraf had already been granted bail in two of the three cases, and the decision on Wednesday to grant bail in the third — related to the death of Akbar Khan Bugti, a Baluch nationalist leader killed in a military operation — opens the door for him to avoid prosecution entirely. Mr. Musharraf’s lawyers said that his bail payment of $20,000 could be processed as early as Thursday morning; he could then leave Pakistan immediately.

The Ethics of Food Advertising Targeted Toward Children: Parental Viewpoint

O Springer 2009 Journal of Business Ethics (2010) 91:299–311 DOI 10. 1007/s10551-009-0084-2 The Ethics of Food Advertising Targeted Toward Children: Parental Viewpoint ABSTRACT. The children’s market has become significantly more important to marketers in recent years. They have been spending increasing amounts on advertising, particularly of food and beverages, to reach this segment. At the same time, there is a critical debate among parents, government agencies, and industry experts as to the ethics of food advertising practices aimed toward children. The present study examines parents’ ethical views of food advertising targeting children.Findings indicate that parents’ beliefs concerning at least some dimensions of moral intensity are significantly related to their ethical judgments and behavioral intentions of food advertising targeting children as well as the perceived moral intensity of the situation. KEY WORDS: parents, children, ethics, food advert ising The children’s market has become signi? cantly important to marketers (McNeal, 1998). Many marketers spend millions of dollars on advertising to reach this growing segment (Jardine and Wentz, 2005). More speci? cally, food and beverage companies in the USA spend an estimated US $10–12 billion targeting hildren and adolescents (McKay, 2005). According to the Kaiser Family Foundation, children are exposed to more than 7,600 commercials on candy, cereal, and fast food in any given year (Kotz, 2007). The effects of advertising on children have been highly debated among various groups, including parents, researchers, industry experts, and government agencies. One of the primary debates has been the potential impact of food advertising directed at children. A variety of institutions are involved in this debate. Some of these organizations such as public advocacy groups criticize the food companies and elevision networks concerning the increased amounts spent as well as the types of promotional efforts targeted Aysen Bakir Scott J. Vitell at children (York, 2007). Furthermore, statistics provide substantial concern about obesity, showing that approximately 50% of elementary-school children and 80% of teenagers will battle obesity during their lifetime. There is also debate among practitioners on advertising practices directed at children, with even marketing professionals indicating concern about advertising targeted at children. When interviewed, 35% of them consider the general ethical and moral tandards in the industry to be ‘‘lower than in the past,’’ with 40% believing that these standards are about the same (Grimm, 2004). Thus, only 25% believe the standards are improved. Some companies have already started taking actions to deal with criticisms and even with government warning. In Europe, soft-drink companies have developed self-regulatory measures to stop advertising junk food and to help tackle child obesity. To avoid stricter laws, soft-drink companies have pledged to stop marketing towards children under 12 years old. The companies also have pledged to limit soft-drink sales at schools (Wentz, 005). Other countries in Europe, however, have been taking an even stricter stance on regulations; for example, starting in 2005, Ireland introduced a ban on celebrities who appear in food and beverages targeted at children (Jardine and Wentz, 2004). Furthermore, some companies have also responded to government calls by promoting active lifestyles when targeting children in food ads. McDonald’s, in the UK, ran a campaign that featured Ronald McDonald and used animated fruit and vegetable characters which were called Yums. These characters urged children to eat right and stay active (Jardine and Wentz, 2004).Given all these statistics showing the potential impact of food advertising targeting children, parents 300 Aysen Bakir and Scott J. Vitell are concerned over whether or not marketers have been conducting ethical practices in promoting their products. However, this issue has not received signi? cant attention in the marketing literature. This paper attempts to ? ll this apparent gap by examining parents’ ethical views of food advertising targeted at children. In doing so, it also examines the potential impact of parents’ attitudes toward food advertising and toward the use of nutrition information on their thical judgments and behavioral intentions. Marketing ethics and advertising to children Advertising to children has long been one of the most controversial areas of marketing. The debate ranges from whether or not it is even ethical to advertise to children and includes the types of advertising practices that might be considered ethical. At the center of this debate is food advertising targeted at children. The impact of advertising to children has been shown in previous studies (Goldberg and Gorn, 1974; Gorn and Goldberg, 1977). Findings include the fact that low-income children exposed to a commercial just nce had favorable attitudes towards the advertised product (Gorn and Goldberg, 1977). Furthermore, these authors found that exposure to television ads among 5- and 6-year-old children directly in? uenced breakfast food and snack preferences (Goldberg et al. , 1978). Finally, exposure to advertisements has also been shown to in? uence the frequency of snacking among children (Bolton, 1983). Advertising has been criticized for promoting materialism, persuading individuals to buy things they do not need, and providing false or misleading information (Pollay and Mittal, 1993). Parents’ concerns toward the impact of advertising directed at hildren have risen signi? cantly in the last decade (Hudson et al. , 2008). These concerns have also been expressed by academicians (Moore, 2004). However, only a limited number of studies have examined ethical issues aimed at the children’s segment (Ahuja et al. , 2001; Hudson e t al. , 2008). Despite these increased concerns and the ensuing debate, parents’ ethical views of food advertising targeting children have not been examined in the marketing literature. Ethical judgments and behavioral intentions Understanding how parents view and make decisions about ethical issues targeted at children is important to marketers.Several factors might in? uence ethical decision-making, including situational factors (Hunt and Vitell, 1986) and individual differences (Hunt and Vitellm, 1986; Jones, 1991). Ethical (or unethical) behavior is in? uenced directly by the ethical judgments and behavioral intentions of the individuals. An individual’s ethical judgment is de? ned as ‘‘the degree to which he or she considers a particular behavior morally acceptable’’ (Bass et al. , 1999, p. 189). Ethical judgments have been considered a central construct in several ethical decisionmaking models (Dubinsky and Loken, 1989; Hunt and Vitell, 1986; Jones, 1991).These decision-making theories provide an understanding of how an individual’s behavioral intentions and ethical judgments are relevant to making decisions in situations involving ethical issues; for example, the theory of reasoned action suggests that individuals act in a manner consistent with their attitudes. On the other hand, other factors might cause individuals to develop behavioral intentions that might be inconsistent with their attitudes (Fishbein and Ajzen, 1975). Past research has also shown that individuals are more likely to state their behavioral intentions if they perceive the situation as ethical (Bass et al. , 1999).Furthermore, Hunt and Vitell (1986, p. 9) de? ned behavioral intentions as ‘‘the likelihood that any particular alternative will be chosen. ’’ The authors also suggest that ethical judgments would impact the individual behavior through behavioral intentions. Overall, ethical judgments and behavioral in tentions are important constructs to gain insights regarding advertising directed at children. Attitude toward food advertising As noted, research examining parents’ attitudes toward advertising, particularly to food advertising, directed at children is limited. Past studies examined the relationship between family communication atterns and parental reactions toward advertising (Rose et al. , 1998), and parental involvement The Ethics of Food Advertising Targeted Toward Children and authoritative parenting and attitude toward advertising (Carlson and Grossbart, 1988). Only one study examined the relationship between attitude toward food advertising and parental styles (Crosby and Grossbart, 1984). The authors found differences regarding attitudes toward food advertising based upon parental styles, with more authoritative parents being more concerned about children’s food advertising as compared with more permissive parents.Governments and health advocates in different countries are trying to introduce stricter regulations on food advertising targeting children since they blame marketers for increased levels of childhood obesity. In France, food marketers are faced with choosing between paying a 1. 5% tax on their ad budgets to fund healthy-eating messages or else adding a health message to commercials. In Canada, one-third of children between 2 and 11 years old are overweight and some marketers are promoting healthy lifestyles for children. Given the different proportions of childhood obesity problems from ne county to the next, multinational food marketers such as McDonald’s now have differing strategies in each country based on how they must undertake this global challenge (Jardine and Wentz, 2005). Clearly, advertisers have been questioned about their ethical standards. Although there is increased discussion among parents regarding the potential impact of advertising and concern about how ethical (or unethical) advertising practices are towards children, this issue has not been adequately researched. Since the relationship between parents’ attitude toward food advertising and ethical judgments and behavioral intentions f the advertising tactics targeted at children has not been examined in the marketing literature, this study focuses on those parental perspectives. Therefore, based upon the previous discussion, it is hypothesized that: Parents’ attitude toward food advertising will be positively related to their ethical judgments of the food advertising targeted at children. H2: Parents’ attitude toward food advertising will be positively related to their behavioral intentions of the food advertising targeted at children. H1: 301 Attitude toward use of nutrition information Concerns about children’s nutrition include multiple actors. Some of these concerns are centered on nutrition de? ciencies in children’s diets due to economic factors, poor eating habits, and inadequate nutrit ional knowledge of parents. The government has taken several steps to deal with children’s nutrition problems by being involved in school lunch programs, regulation of children’s advertising, and nutrition education in schools (Crosby et al. , 1982). Research has also shown the positive impact of parental in? uence and nutrition education (Grossbart et al. , 1982). Parents’ attitudes toward the use of nutrition vary from one parent to the other.Furthermore, parents, particularly mothers, wield a signi? cant impact on children’s consumption of a balanced diet and exposure to a variety of foods. Previous research has shown that mothers who endorsed nutrition information had more positive attitudes toward nutrition and expressed more concerns about food advertising targeted at children (Crosby et al. , 1982). Therefore, it is further hypothesized that: Parents’ attitude toward the use of nutrition information will be positively related to their ethica l judgments of the food advertising targeted at children. H4: Parents’ attitude toward the use of nutrition nformation will be positively related to their behavioral intentions of the food advertising targeted at children. H3: Moral intensity Jones (1991) de? nes moral intensity as ‘‘the extent of issue-related moral imperative in a situation’’ (p. 372). Furthermore, he suggests that ethics-related contexts vary with their level of moral intensity. Jones (1991) identi? ed six categories (magnitude of consequences, probability of effect, temporal immediacy, concentration of effect, proximity, and social consensus) of the moral intensity construct. The ? rst four items refer to the various dimensions of harm the action might cause.More speci? cally, magnitude of consequences refers to the cumulative 302 Aysen Bakir and Scott J. Vitell harm (or lack thereof) the action might cause. Probability of effect refers to the likelihood that the action will caus e harm (or lack thereof). Temporal immediacy refers to ‘‘the length of time between the present and the onset of consequences of the moral act in question (shorter length of time implies greater immediacy)’’ (Jones, 1991, p. 376). The concentration of effect refers to the number of people who would believe that the action would cause harm (or lack thereof). Proximity is the ‘‘feeling of nearness social, cultural, psychological, or physical)’’ (Jones, 1991, p. 376) that the individual has for those affected by the action in question. Finally, social consensus is the extent of the feeling that action taken is good (or not). Moral intensity is a multidimensional construct that measures the moral intensity of the situation. Ethical decision-making process must be in? uenced by the perception that the potential action has a moral or ethical facet that needs to be evaluated (Barnett, 2001). For marketing practitioners, studies have shown that perceived moral intensity affects the perception of ethical problems in various situations Singhapakdi et al. , 1996a; Singhapakdi et al. , 1999). Furthermore, past studies also have shown that moral intensity in? uences behavioral intentions of the individuals in ethics-related situations (Robin et al. , 1996; Singhapakdi et al. , 1996a). Also, Hunt and Vitell (1986) suggest a theoretical link between intentions and ethical judgments. Therefore, moral intensity would also be expected to in? uence ethical judgments. The relationship between moral intensity and ethical judgments and behavioral intentions has also been empirically shown (Barnett, 2001; Vitell et al. , 2003). Thus, it is hypothesized that:Parents’ attitude toward moral intensity will be positively related to their ethical judgments of the food advertising targeted at children. H6: Parents’ attitude toward moral intensity will be positively related to their behavioral intentions of the food advertisi ng targeted at children. H5: contexts (e. g. , Singhapakdi et al. , 1996c; Singhapakdi et al. , 1999). Forsyth (1980) suggests that idealism and relativism can be considered as individual differences that might impact individuals’ judgments of moral issues. Idealism measures an individual’s acceptance of universal moral absolutes. This construct focuses on the assumption that, if ight actions are taken, this will lead to desired outcomes. On the other hand, relativism measures individual’s rejection of universal moral tenets (Forsyth, 1980). Therefore, the conceptualization of these constructs might suggest that individuals who are more idealistic would be more likely to have higher ethical judgments and behavioral intentions. Previous research provides some support for these relationships (Singhapakdi et al. , 1996c). Relativism is de? ned as a belief that moral standards are relative to one’s culture or society. Forsyth (1992) also indicates that relati vistic individuals might ormulate their decisions based on skepticism and evaluate situations based on other than ethical principles. Furthermore, relativistic individuals evaluate what is right or wrong based on the speci? cs of the situation (Park, 2005). Forsyth (1992) also indicates that idealism and relativism are not contrary concepts, but rather independent of each other; for example, an individual might have high scores both on idealism and relativism, which indicates that the person might simultaneously accept absolute moral rules and yet also evaluate the alternatives available based upon the speci? c situation and its possible onsequences. Therefore, parents would evaluate each of the advertising tactics directed at their children on a situation-by-situation basis. Since food advertising directed at children has received signi? cant attention recently due to the health concerns of children and increased obesity rates (York, 2007), speci? c types of advertising tactics suc h as potentially developing unhealthy eating habits might be received more negatively due to their apparent impact on children. Therefore, it is hypothesized that: Parents’ idealism will be related to their ethical judgments of the food advertising targeted at hildren. H8: Parents’ idealism will be related to their behavioral intentions of the food advertising targeted at children. H7: Idealism and relativism Idealism and relativism have been used to measure moral philosophies in various marketing-related The Ethics of Food Advertising Targeted Toward Children Parents’ relativism will ethical judgments of the geted at children. H10: Parents’ relativism will behavioral intentions of targeted at children. H9: be related to their food advertising tarbe related to their the food advertising Method Sample The survey was sent to parents at several schools ocated in the Midwest. The researchers contacted the schools and got permission to send the survey to paren ts at the schools that agreed to participate in the study. The number of schools that participated in the study provided signi? cant diversity in terms of economic background. The majority of the sample included educated and employed middle-income families. Of the 1,020 surveys sent, 189 surveys were completed, for a response rate of 18. 52%. Of the 189 surveys, 28 surveys had missing data for individual questions. Among the respondents, 78% were mothers and the rest of were fathers. Table I isplays the complete demographics of the respondents. Procedure Once the school principals gave permission, the researchers contacted the teachers from kindergarten to eighth grade. The teachers in each grade sent the questionnaires home to parents with the children. Once the parents ? lled out the questionnaires, the children returned the completed questionnaire to the schools. Measures and reliability The dependent variables were behavioral intentions and ethical judgments. The independent var iables were moral intensity, idealism, relativism, attitude toward food advertising aimed at children, and ttitude toward the parents’ use of nutrition information. 303 TABLE I Demographics of the respondents Variable Parent Mother Father Age of the parent 29 years old or under 30–39 years old 40–49 years old 50–59 years old Education level of the parent High-school degree Some college degree College graduate Some graduate study Graduate degree Household income (US $) 100k Work status of the parent Working full time Working part time Not working No. of children One child Two children Three children Four children More than four children % 78. 1 21. 9 4. 8 48. 9 39. 8 6. 5 5. 4 19. 4 38. 7 5. 4 31. 2 12. 2 14. 5 26. 6 3. 9 22. 8 67. 9 17. 1 15 18. 7 42. 2 27. 3 7. 5 4. 3 Moral intensity This scale measures parents’ attitude toward moral intensity in a given situation. This construct was developed by Jones (1991) and includes six dimensions. However, the scale used to measure the construct was developed by Singhapakdi et al. (1996b). Responses were measured by a seven-point Likert-type scale, ranging from 1 (strongly disagree) to 7 (strongly agree). The harm dimension included three variables: magnitude of consequences, temporal immediacy, and concentration of effect. The other two items were proximity and social consensus.The reliability of the harm scale was 0. 85 for the 304 Aysen Bakir and Scott J. Vitell ?rst scenario, 0. 91 for the second scenario, and 0. 86 for the third scenario. Idealism and relativism This scale measures the extent of individual’s acceptance of moral absolutes, whereas the relativism scale measures the extent of individual’s rejection of universal moral principles. The two scales were developed by Forsyth (1980). The ten items for each scale were measured utilizing a seven-point Likerttype scales, ranging from 1 (strongly disagree) to 7 (strongly agree). The reliability of the scale was 0 . 83 or idealism and 0. 84 for relativism. Attitude toward food advertising This scale measures parents’ attitudes toward food advertising directed at children. The scale is adapted from a Carlson and Grossbart (1988) study and includes six items. The parents’ extent of agreement was measured by a ? ve-point Likert-type scale, ranging from 1 (strongly disagree) to 5 (strongly agree). The reliability of the scale was 0. 80. Attitude toward use of nutritional information This scale measures parents’ use of nutritional information. The scale was originally developed by Moorman (1998) and includes four items.The parents’ extent of agreement toward the use of nutritional information were measured by a ? ve-point Likert-type scale, ranging from 1 (strongly disagree) to 5 (strongly agree). The reliability of the scale was 0. 82. Scenarios This study utilized three scenarios to measure parents’ behavioral intentions and ethical judgments relative to speci? c situations. Ethical judgments and behavioral intentions were then measured by using a seven-point Likert scale asking the respondents the extent they agree/disagree with the questions. For measuring ethical judgments, the following statement was used, ‘‘I consider the action taken to e very ethical,’’ whereas for measuring behavioral intentions, the following statement was used, ‘‘I would be likely to take the same action in this situation. ’’ Therefore, a greater degree of agreement with the action taken indicates that the respondents had higher ethical levels of behavioral intentions and ethical judgments. At the end of each scenario, the action taken by an advertiser was presented. The scenarios focused on addressing some of the current advertising practices used to target children. The ? rst scenario addresses the use of ‘‘advergames’’ targeting children. Children are playing these games n the Inter net in a branded context. The games provide product-related information and even ask children to contact their friends. The second scenario focused on some of the highly debated advertising practices at schools. A food company sponsors programs at schools and child care centers. During visits, the company provides entertainment with well-known characters and exposes children to samples of their potentially unhealthy food products. The third scenario centers on a candy and cereal company who is considering selling books that spotlight the client’s brand. Children can play and learn counting by using sugar-? led sweets and cereals. The books use the company’s brand as an example in their plays and counting. The scenarios were pretested. The results indicated that most respondents believed that the actions taken by the advertisers in all of the scenarios were unethical. The majority of the respondents also indicated that they disagreed with the actions taken in the three scenarios. Data analysis and results The hypotheses were tested separately for each of the three scenarios. Analysis of variance (ANOVA) was used to test the hypotheses. H1 measured whether parents’ attitude toward food advertising is ositively related to their ethical judgments of the food advertising targeted at children. The three scenarios tested did not indicate signi? cant differences. The ANOVA results were: scenario 1: F(7, 152) = 26. 836, p < 0. 926; scenario 2: F(7, 158) = 11. 334, p < 0. 933; and scenario 3: F(7, 160) = 21. 468, p < 0. 724. Thus, parents’ attitude toward food advertising was not related to their ethical judgments of the food advertising targeted at children. H2 measured whether parents’ attitude toward food advertising is positively related to their behavioral intentions of the food advertising targeted at children.Again, none of the three scenarios resulted in signi? cant differences. The Ethics of Food Advertising Targeted Toward Ch ildren 305 TABLE II ANOVA analysis: scenarios 1, 2, and 3, dependent variable: ethical judgments Variable Moral intensity: Moral intensity: Moral intensity: Idealism Relativism Attitude toward Attitude toward Scenario 1 p Value harm consensus proximity food advertising use of nutrition Scenario 2 p Value Scenario 3 p Value 0. 000 0. 095 0. 288 0. 206 0. 200 0. 926 0. 093 F(7, 152) = 26. 835 0. 000 0. 037 0. 772 0. 166 0. 006 0. 933 0. 822 F(7, 158) = 11. 334 0. 000 0. 000 0. 255 0. 633 0. 60 0. 724 0. 127 F(7, 160) = 21. 468 TABLE III ANOVA analysis: scenarios 1, 2, and 3, dependent variable: behavioral intentions Variable Moral intensity: Moral intensity: Moral intensity: Idealism Relativism Attitude toward Attitude toward Scenario 1 p Value harm consensus proximity food advertising use of nutrition Scenario 2 p Value Scenario 3 p Value 0. 000 0. 000 0. 091 0. 732 0. 162 0. 854 0. 223 F(7, 153) = 18. 707 0. 000 0. 002 0. 539 0. 186 0. 036 0. 643 0. 116 F(7, 157) = 17. 721 0. 000 0. 005 0. 809 0. 567 0. 081 0. 554 0. 004 F(7, 160) = 16. 315 The ANOVA results were: scenario 1: F(7, 153) = 8. 707, p < 0. 854; scenario 2: F(7, 157) = 17. 721, p < 0. 643; and scenario 3: F(7, 160) = 16. 315, p < 0. 554. Thus parents’ attitude toward food advertising was not related to their behavioral intentions relative to the food advertising targeted at children. Tables II and III display these ? ndings. H3 measured whether parents’ attitude toward the use of nutrition information is positively related to their ethical judgments of the food advertising targeted at children. The three scenarios tested did not indicate signi? cant differences. The ANOVA results were: scenario 1: F(7, 152) = 26. 35, p < 0. 093; scenario 2: F(7, 158) = 11. 334, p < 0. 822; and scenario 3: F(7, 160) = 21. 468, p < 0. 127. H4 measured whether parents’ attitude toward the use of nutrition information is positively related to their behavioral intentions relative to the food adverti sing targeted at children. There were no signi? cant differences regarding the ? rst two scenarios, but there were signi? cant differences on the third scenario among parents’ attitude toward the use of nutrition information and its relation to their behavioral intentions of the food advertising targeted at children. The ANOVA esults were: scenario 1: F(7, 153) = 18. 707, p < 0. 223; scenario 2: F(7, 157) = 17. 721, p < 0. 116; and scenario 3: F(7, 160) = 16. 315, p < 0. 004. H5 measured whether parents’ attitude concerning moral intensity is positively related to their ethical judgments of the food advertising targeted at children. Moral intensity was measured by three separate dimensions: harm, social consensus, and proximity. There were signi? cant differences on the harm construct among three scenarios. The ANOVA results were: scenario 1: F(7, 152) = 26. 836, p < 0. 000; scenario 2: F(7, 158) = 11. 334, p < 0. 000; 306Aysen Bakir and Scott J. Vitell and scenario 3: F(7, 160) = 21. 468, p < 0. 000. Furthermore, there were signi? cant differences on the social consensus construct for the second and third scenarios. The ANOVA results were: scenario 1: F(7, 152) = 26. 836, p < 0. 095; scenario 2: F(7, 158) = 11. 334, p < 0. 037; and scenario 3: F(7, 160) = 21. 468, p < 0. 000. Finally, there were no signi? cant differences on proximity among three scenarios. The ANOVA results were: scenario 1: F(7, 152) = 26. 836, p < 0. 288; scenario 2: F(7, 158) = 11. 334, p < 0. 772; and scenario 3: F(7, 160) = 21. 468, p < 0. 55. Thus, overall H5 was at least partially supported. H6 measured whether parents’ attitude concerning moral intensity is positively related to their behavioral intentions relative to the food advertising targeted at children. Parents’ attitude toward the harm and social consensus dimensions indicated signi? cant differences among three scenarios. The ANOVA results for harm were: scenario 1: F(7, 153) = 18. 707, p < 0. 000 ; scenario 2: F(7, 157) = 17. 721, p < 0. 000; and scenario 3: F(7, 160) = 16. 315, p < 0. 000. The ANOVA results for social consensus were: scenario 1: F(7, 153) = 18. 707, p < 0. 00; scenario 2: F(7, 157) = 17. 721, p < 0. 002; and scenario 3: F(7, 160) = 16. 315, p < 0. 005. On the other hand, parents’ attitude toward proximity did not indicate any signi? cant differences among three scenarios. The ANOVA results for proximity were: scenario 1: F(7, 153) = 18. 707, p < 0. 091; scenario 2: F(7, 157) = 17. 721, p < 0. 539; and scenario 3: F(7, 160) = 16. 315, p < 0. 809. H7 measured whether parents’ idealistic moral philosophy is related to their ethical judgments of the food advertising targeted at children. Parents’ idealism was not signi? cantly related to their ethical udgments. The ANOVA results for idealism were: scenario 1: F(7, 152) = 26. 835, p < 0. 206; scenario 2: F(7, 158) = 11. 334, p < 0. 166; and scenario 3: F(7, 160) = 21. 468, p < 0. 633. H8 mea sured whether parents’ idealistic moral philosophy is related to their behavioral intentions of the food advertising targeted at children. Again the results were not signi? cant. The ANOVA results for idealism were: scenario 1: F(7, 153) = 18. 707, p < 0. 732; scenario 2: F(7, 157) = 17. 721, p < 0. 186; and scenario 3: F(7, 160) = 16. 315, p < 0. 567. H9 measured whether parents’ relativistic moral hilosophy is related to their ethical judgments of the food advertising targeted at children. H10 mea- sured whether parents’ relativistic moral philosophy is related to their behavioral intentions of the food advertising targeted at children. H9 and H10 were partially supported. Parents’ relativism was signi? cantly related to ethical judgments and intentions for the second scenario. The ANOVA results for idealism were: scenario 1: F(7, 152) = 26. 835, p < 0. 200; scenario 2: F(7, 158) = 11. 334, p < 0. 006; and scenario 3: F(7, 160) = 21. 468, p < 0. 060. Th ere were no signi? ant differences among parents’ relativism regarding the behavioral intentions for the ? rst and the third scenarios. The ANOVA results for relativism were: scenario 1: F(7, 153) = 18. 707, p < 0. 7162; scenario 2: F(7, 157) = 17. 721, p < 0. 036; and scenario 3: F(7, 160) = 16. 315, p < 0. 081. Discussion This paper examined parents’ views of the ethics of food advertising targeted at children. The marketing literature, surprisingly, has not examined this topic. This study attempts to ? ll this gap by examining how parents view various types of food advertising directed at children. Children as consumers have ecome signi? cantly more important to marketers in the last decade. Marketers have heavily promoted their products to this segment and spent millions of dollars on advertising to reach this segment (Jardine and Wentz, 2005). Food advertising represents a signi? cant portion of all advertising spending for marketers while food advertising targete d at children has received signi? cant criticism from both parents and public policy-makers. The ? ndings of the study provide interesting insights. Parents were asked to respond to three different scenarios outlining various food advertising strategies directed at children.Furthermore, parents’ ethical judgments and behavioral intentions were measured for the three scenarios. One of the independent variables was parents’ attitude toward food advertising. The ? ndings indicated that parents’ attitude toward food advertising did not affect their ethical judgments and behavioral intentions concerning speci? c food advertising directed at their children. One of the reasons for not ? nding a signi? cant relationship might be due to the measurement of other food advertising practices targeted at children in the scenarios that was not included in the The Ethics of Food Advertising Targeted Toward Children cale measuring attitudes toward food advertising. This ? nding provides important implications for marketers which might indicate that parents evaluate speci? c food advertising targeted at children independently of their potential views on general food advertising directed at children. Thus, marketers who are cognizant of the potential harm of advertising to children might still be highly regarded by consumers even if the consumer, in general, has negative or skeptical views of advertising to children. Parents’ attitude toward the use of nutrition information displayed interesting ? ndings.The third scenario, in particular, focused on speci? c implications of a food product that might have unhealthy eating implications for children. Parents’ attitude toward the use of nutritional information for this scenario was related to their behavioral intentions. On the other hand, there were no signi? cant relationships between an attitude toward the use of nutrition and ethical judgments of food advertising targeted at children for any of the scenarios, including scenario 3. Parents might have not perceived using well-known characters to distribute food company products at schools and child care acilities to have any potential harm. The lack of a relationship between an attitude toward the use of nutritional information and ethical judgments of food advertising targeted at children should be considered on a scenario-by-scenario basis; for example, for the ? rst scenario, it might be that parents did not really think the advergames and the use of well-known characters to distribute food company products at schools and child care facilities presented any potential unethical practices. Particularly, advergames are new promotional tools used on the Web to attract adults and children within a branded context.Advergames are somewhere between advertising and computer games and include product-related information from the companies with the use of games or part of a game (Nelson, 2002; Mallinckrodt and Mizerski, 2007). Past studies also suggest that advergames might be more persuasive for young children than traditional advertising (Oanh Ha, 2004). Parental awareness of advergames targeting children needs further investigation in future research. Future research should also examine how parents use nutritional information in their food purchase decisions to have a better understanding of the relationship between attitude 307 oward use of nutrition information and ethical perspectives regarding food advertising. Moral intensity signi? cantly affected parents’ ethical judgments and behavioral intentions. This ?nding offers signi? cant implications for marketers and public policy-makers. Parents indicated concerns regarding the potential harm of various food advertising targeting children in the three scenarios. It is important that marketers should be more careful when they create their advertising tactics targeting children. It might also be that more regulations might be needed to address parent al concerns regarding the potential effects of food dvertising. The moral intensity measure of proximity was not signi? cantly related to the ethical judgments and behavioral intentions of parents. Proximity measures the ‘‘feeling of nearness (social, cultural, psychological, or physical)’’ (Jones, 1991, p. 376) that the individual has for those affected by the action in question. It might be that parents considered the action taken unethical whether the results affected their friends/relatives or not. The ?ndings relative to social consensus and its effect on their ethical judgments and behavioral intentions were signi? cant, in most instances.Thus, parents did consider what others might think about a speci? c situation when forming their ethical judgments and intentions. The ethical perspectives of idealism and relativism also provide some insights regarding parents’ ethical judgments and behavioral intentions. Findings indicated that there is no s igni? cant relationship between parents’ attitude toward idealism and their ethical judgments and behavioral intentions. Parents, in this study, may not have perceived the scenarios as situations that should carry universal moral absolutes. On the other hand, parents’ attitude toward relativism signi? antly affected their ethical judgments and behavioral intentions but only for the second scenario. Relativism might be more likely to in? uence opinions on a situation-by-situation basis. The second scenario in particular expressed potential unhealthy effects on children. Therefore, parents might have perceived this scenario as involving questionable ethical practices. Our study has some limitations. Although parents were instructed to ? ll out the questionnaire individually or as a couple, we could not verify whether or not they communicated with each other. This raises the 308 Aysen Bakir and Scott J.Vitell possibility of a potential demand artifact. Secondly, although survey methods provide important information on individuals’ perceptions and beliefs, qualitative methods would bestow more detailed information on parents’ perceptions and attitudes. Future research should focus on more qualitative techniques to have a deeper understanding of perceptions and attitudes. Third, our ? ndings provide insights only from parents in the Midwestern USA. These ? ndings are not yet generalizable to other cultures or subcultures. Understanding parents’ perspectives on advertising directed at children is important.Future research should focus on a more detailed parental perspective to uncover how parents make judgments on whether advertising directed at children is ethical or not. Qualitative studies might provide more in-depth understanding. Uncovering these issues might minimize the discrepancy between parents and marketers. The debate on the effects of food advertising targeted at children has intensi? ed in the last several years among academicians, public policy-makers, and marketers. Companies need to respond better to the food-related debates in society, particularly to those related to healthy eating and ethical food marketing.In conclusion, our ? ndings assist both research and theory in the children’s advertising ? eld. With the increasing prominence of ethics in business/ marketing research, this study presents important ?ndings that advance our understanding of the potential antecedents to the ethical decision-making process for parents in situations involving advertising directed toward their children. We trust that the results generated by this research can be successfully used to guide future ethics research projects in this growing ? eld. Appendix A: scenarios Scenario 1 A food company whose products are, in part, argeted at children is planning to use ‘‘adver- games’’ (online games in which a company’s product or brand characters are featured). It is also consi dering encouraging children to contact their friends about a speci? c product or brand as part of their new advertising campaign. The company is considering using the internet, rather than more traditional media such as television, due to the highly debated relationship between aggressive food advertising and increased obesity among children. Action: The company decided to use Internet advertising for their new campaign. Scenario 2An advertising agency recommended that their client sponsor programs at schools and visit child care centers. These sponsored programs would make a ?nancial contribution to each school and child care center. During these visits the company would provide entertainment with the company’s wellknown characters and provide a sample of the company’s food products to children. If they do this, children who are less than 5 years old would be introduced to a range of products that might be considered ‘‘unhealthy. ’’ Action: T he sponsor decided to conduct these visits to the child care centers/schools and provide a sample of their products.Scenario 3 A candy and cereal company is considering selling books that spotlight the client’s brand. These children’s books provide content on ‘‘counting and playing. ’’ Children can play checkers with various fruit-? avored candies and can learn to count using various forms of calorie and sugar-? lled sweets and cereals. The books use the company’s brand as an example for the ‘‘counting and playing’’ content. Action: The candy and cereal company decided to sell these books to children. The Ethics of Food Advertising Targeted Toward Children Appendix B: scale items 309 APPENDIX B continued Moral intensity 4.The overall harm (if any) done as a result of the action would be very small Harm 2 The action will harm very few people, if any Harm 3 The action will not cause any harm in the immediate futu re Proximity If one were a personal friend of the person(s) harmed, the action would be wrong Social Most people would agree that the action is consensus wrong 5. Harm 1 6. 7. 8. Idealism 9. 1. A person should make certain that their actions never intentionally harm another even to a small degree 2. Risks to another should never be tolerated, irrespective of how small the risks might be 3. The existence of potential harm to others is always rong, irrespective of the bene? ts gained 4. One should never psychologically or physically harm another person 5. One should not perform an action which might in anyway threaten the dignity and welfare of another individual 6. If an action could harm an innocent other, then it should not be done 7. Deciding whether or not to perform an act by balancing the positive consequences of the act against the negative consequences of the act is immoral 8. The dignity and welfare of people should be the most important concern of any society 9. It is never necessary to sacri? ce the welfare of others 10.Moral actions are those which closely match ideals of the most ‘‘perfect’’ action 10. Attitude toward food advertising 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 2. 3. There are no ethical principles that are so important that they should be part of any code of ethics What is ethical varies from one situation and society to another Moral standards should be seen as being individualistic; what one person considers to be moral may be judged to be immoral by another person There is too much food advertising directed at children Advertisers use tricks and gimmicks to get children to buy their products Advertising to children makes false claims about utrition content of food products There is too much sugar in the foods advertised to children Advertising teaches children bad eating habits Advertising directed at children leads to family con? ict Attitude toward use of nutritional information Relativism 1. Different types of moralities can not be compared as to ‘‘rightness’’ Questions of what is ethical for everyone can never be resolved since what is moral or immoral is up to the individual Moral standards are simply personal rules which indicate how a person should behave, and are not to be applied in making judgments of othersEthical considerations in interpersonal relations are so complex that individuals should be allowed to formulate their own individual codes Rigidly codifying an ethical position that prevents certain types of actions could stand in the way of better human relations and adjustment No rule concerning lying can be formulated; whether a lie is permissible or not permissible totally depends upon the situation Whether a lie is judged to be moral or immoral depends upon the circumstances surrounding the actions 1. 2. 3. 4. 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Moorman, C. : 1998, ‘Market-Level Effects of Information: Competitive Responses and Consumer Dynamics’, Journal of Marketing Research 35(February), 82–98. Nelson, M. R. : 2002, ‘Recall of Brand Placements in Computer/Video Games’, Journal of Advertising Research 42(2), 80–92. Oanh Ha, K. : 2004, ‘Neopets Sites for Children StirsControversy’, Knight Ridder Tribune Business News, September 14. Park, H. : 2005, ‘The Role of Idealism and Relativism as Dispositional Characteristics in the Socially Respon- The Ethics of Food Advertising Targeted Toward Children sible Decision-Making Process’, Journal of Business Ethics 56, 81–98. Pollay, R. W. and B. Mittal: 1993, ‘Here’s the Beef: Factors, Determinants, and Segments in Consumer Criticism of Advertising’, Journal of Marketing 57(July), 99–114. Robin, D. P. , R. E. Reidenbach and P. J. Forrest: 1996, ‘The Perceived Importance of an Ethical Issue as an In? uence on the Ethical Decision-Making of AdManagers’, Journal of Business Research 35(1), 17–28. Rose, G. M. , V. D. Bush and L. Kahle: 1998, ‘The In? uence of Family Communication Patterns on Parental Reactions toward Advertising: A Cross National Examination’, Journal of Advertising 27(4), 71–85. Singhapakdi, A. , S. Vitell and K. L. Kraft: 1996a, ‘Moral Intensity and Ethical Decision-Making of Marketing Professionals’, Journal of Business Research 36, 245–255. Singhapakdi, A. , S. Vitell and K. L. Kraft: 1996b, ‘The Perceived Role of Ethics and Social Responsibility: A Scale Development’, Journal of Business Ethics 15(11), 1131–1140. Singhapakdi, A. S. Vitell, K. C. Rallapalli and K. L. Kraft: 1996c, ‘The Perceived Role of Ethics and Social Responsibility: A Scale Development’, Journal of Busine ss Ethics 15(11), 1131–1140. Singhapakdi, A. , S. J. Vitell and G. R. Franke: 1999, ‘Antecedents, Consequences and Mediating Effects of 311 Perceived Moral Intensity and Personal Moral Philosophies’, Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science 27(1), 19–36. Vitell, S. , A. Bakir, J. Paolillo, E. R. Hidalgo, J. Al-Khatib and M. Y. A. Rawwas: 2003, ‘Ethical Judgments and Intentions: A Multinational Study of Marketing Professionals’, Business Ethics: A EuropeanReview 12(2), 151–171. Wentz, L. : 2005, ‘Pop Stops Kids’ Marketing In Europe’, Advertising Age, January 30 issue. York, E. B. : 2007, ‘Another Study Slams Food Ads Aimed at Children’, Advertising Age, September issue. Aysen Bakir Department of Marketing, Illinois State University, Campus Box 5590, Normal, IL 61790-5590, U. S. A. E-mail: [email  protected] edu Scott J. Vitell School of Business Administration, The University of Mississippi, Universi ty, MS 38677, U. S. A. E-mail: [email  protected] olemiss. edu Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission.

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Weak pyschomotor is another trait that students with NLD have(Telzrow Bonar, 2002). These students usually show signs in having a hard time with playing certain games such as skipping rope or riding a bike. NLD students have a hard time with life skill tasks such as dressing themselves and other self care skills. Deficiency in math is another area that students with NLD have a problem with. Students with NLD usually do well in reading and spelling but math is a huge hurdle they have to accomplish. The symbols and procedures in math are a hard concept for students who have NLD to understand. Difficulty in complex tasks are another problem for students with NLD. These students have a hard time in social setting because of this problem. They usually demonstrate that they have a hard time with problem solving. The problem solving skills also effects poor judgment skills. These students are very impulsive with their behavior and do not have a sense of personal space. A student with NLD has a hard time verbally communicating what the problem is and how to explain what they really meant or need(Telzrow Bonar, 2002).. Students with NLD can get the help they need. If a student with NLD has problems with psychomotor there are things in the classroom to help students with this problem. If the student has an issue finishing a writing task then you can give the student extra time to finish the writing task. If the student has a real issue with writing and the student is good a typing then you can let the student type instead of writing. Another way to help students with psychomotor is to give a them a multiple test instead then an essay test. Teachers need to make sure that lectures dont have that many note taking tasks. These are a few strategies to help and relieve stress for students with psychomotor problems(Telzrow Bonar, 2002).. It is important for these students to focus on learning and not be stressed out about tasks that they can not complete. Teachers can use these strategies for students that have deficiency in math. Students that have a deficiency in math can use manipulatives to help these students. One way example of a manipulative that a student can use is a calculator. Using a calculator can help students do math problems and learn how to to add, subtract or multiply. Having students memorizing additions problems, subtracting problems and multiplication problems. Direct instruction on math on step by step with verbal instruction. Showing students one on one instruction on math concepts and checking strategies to help students get better and confidence in math(Telzrow Bonar, 2002). Students with NLD have issues with problem solving skills. These students need to focus on various social situations. One good way for these students to learn problem solving skills is to role play. Role play is a good way to show students examples of problems that arise in certain situations. By role playing students are able to learn how to take action on their own and to also build confidence(Telzrow Bonar, 2002). The more practice in role play the more the student is to learn how to do the problem solving on their own. Another way to learn problem solving skills is to set rules for these student to follow. Setting rules will help students learn what is appropriate and what is not appropriate. This will help set guidelines for student to follow and learn in the process. Social skills are another issue that students with NLD. Role playing is very important for these students to learn from. These students need direct instruction on how to make appropriate eye contact, how to greet others and to learn other appropriate social skills. It is also important for these students to learn how to make and keep friends. It is also important for these students to learn how to act appropriately act in a work setting. If these students want to succeed in life learning how to act in a working environment is key. Learning how to behave appropriately in a work setting will help them keep a job and live a successful independent life. The last issue that a student with NLD usually deals with is psychosocial adjustment problems. These students need to learn how to control impulsive behavior and inattention. Students that have a hard time with dealing with this issues and need to learn how to self-monitor themselves. NLD students need to learn how to slow down and be aware of what they are doing instead of just reacting(Telzrow Bonar, 2002). Another problem these students have is not thinking for speaking. These students need to learn ways to think about what they want to say before just saying it. Students that display these issues need to learn relaxation skills to help reduce anxiety.  These students need to learn how to ask for breaks or help when they are feeling stressed out. The author has gone over what NLD symptoms and characteristics of what to look for in students that may be suffering fro this problem. The author has also gone over strategies to help students that have NLD. The strategies and methods that were mentioned are tools to not only help the students but to help the students learn the proper tools to help themselves outside the classroom. With any student that is having a hard time in school it is the teachers job to make sure that students needs are being met. Students that have NLD need strategies and methods to help them so they can focus less on their problems and more on learning(Telzrow Bonar, 2002). By using strategies on students with NLD this will help these students learn the tools that they need to deal with the world around them. References Telzrow, C. F., Bonar, A. M. (2002). Responding to students with nonverbal learning disabilities. Teaching Exceptional Children, 34(6), 8-13.

Factors Driving Hiv Aids Epidemic Health And Social Care Essay

Factors Driving Hiv Aids Epidemic Health And Social Care Essay This report aims to understand social and behavioral factors driving the HIV/AIDS epidemic. Inequalities fuel the spread of HIV/ AIDS on many different levels such as poverty, gender, education and health. Poor and vulnerable populations are most at risk from HIV/AIDS whereas wealthy countries that can afford access to anti retro viral drugs , have functioning health care systems and education policies in place; have a significantly lower rate of infection. The stigma surrounding HIV compounds these effects and the vulnerable remain marginalized and most at risk. The Nature of HIV/AIDS: A Global Pandemic: HIV/AIDS is a new epidemic in our history There currently is no cure and no vaccine for HIV/AIDS. HIV is transmissible through sexual contact both homosexual and heterosexual, injecting drug users and other rare occurrences of transmission such as blood transfusions. HIV has a long period of infection and between infection and illness. The world wide population of people living with HIV in 2008 was 33.4 million, with 31.3 million being adults, 15.7 million being female and 2.1 million being children under 15 years of age. In 2008, 2.7 million people were newly infected with HIV; 2.0 million people died from AIDS related illnesses and today it remains one of the leading causes of death globally. There is large variation between countries and regions of HIV/AIDS prevalence and according to epidemiological patterns; the disease is evolving with changing epidemic patterns in different regions globally. In Australia at the end of 2008 18,000 people were living with HIV. The transmission of HIV in Australia is primarily through sexual contact between homosexual men however the infection has also been transmitted through heterosexual contact and injecting drug users. In Thailand the population living with HIV/AIDS is 610,000, HIV/AIDS is primarily transmitted through heterosexual contact, injecting drug users and sex workers. In Thailand more than 1 in 100 adults of a population of 65 million is infected with HIV, and AIDS has become a leading cause of death. Sub-Saharan Africa is the most heavily affected HIV/AIDS area, in 2008 two thirds (67%) of the HIV/AIDS infected population worldwide remained in Sub-Saharan Africa. Sub-Saharan Africa in total has 22.4 million people living with HIV/AIDS. Heterosexual exposure is the primary mode of transmission of HIV with females being more heavily affected by HIV. In the year 2008 there were 1.4 million AIDS related deaths in Sub-Saharan Africa. The Life Course of HIV/AIDS Infection: The greatest challenge facing developing countries is the HIV/AIDS pandemic and the realization that it threatens not only human life but decades of development (Polgar, 2002). The disease attacks and destroys families and communities that place heavy financial burden on the economy (World Health Organization, 2010). Globally, the most vulnerable are the poor, women and young girls, prostitutes, injecting drug users and children of infected mothers. Dependent upon the mode of transmission, location and availability of treatment, the survival rate is between 1 to 11 years. A reduction of 80% of the disease has been achieved with treatments such as the anti-retroviral drugs, but the long term effects can cause secondary infections and malignancies that are associated with a compromised immune system. The increased spread of HIV/AIDS has affected social networks by conflict and displacement. Biologically women are more susceptible to contracting HIV than males due to hormonal changes, v aginal microbial ecology and physiology, and a higher prevalence of sexually transmitted diseases (Quinn Overbaugh, 2005). The individual determinants of female vulnerability to HIV include gender inequity, poverty, cultural and sexual expectations, violence and lack of education. A large majority of older people that are living in low or middle-income countries can account for 70% of the ageing population worldwide (World Health Organisation, 2010) The opportunity to build the infrastructure necessary to address this demographic trend is much briefer because population ageing is occurring faster in countries, such as South Africa. There is a high risk of people falling into poverty in older age that may increase with reduction of family size. The prevalence of HIV/AIDS and the high mortality rate among adults has increased in numbers and skipped whole generations. Increasing numbers of the younger generation have died in the AIDS epidemic, leaving the surviving adults to take on the responsibility in caring for the sick, especially the poorer families (Stover et al, 2002 pp.73-77) The economic affects of HIV/AIDS at the Micro and Macro Levels: Developing countries bear the burden of the cost of HIV/AIDS. HIV not only negatively impacts households but also business and the pool of available workers. The result is a reversal of development and the United Nations (2007) argue that HIV/AIDS is the single most significant factor in this. (United Nations Development Programme, Human Development Report, 2007). The damage that the epidemic has done to the economy, which, in turn, has made it more difficult for countries to respond to the crisis illustrates this negative development. Those who contract the disease are generally young and come from the most productive age group in society (18-40 year olds). The income of the family is eroded, not only due to the loss of the sick members income, but also because other family members stop working to care for their ill family members (Aus.Aid, 2001). Any savings a family has is soon eaten away by increased health related costs and the decreased income. The children are then forced into work and education is abandoned resulting in a cycle of poverty and disease that it is difficult, if not impossible to get out of. This results in a knock on effect in the broader community by reduced spending and lower demand for goods, which in turn may affect business output and the entire countries economic growth (Dhai, 2008). HIV/AIDS also affects the labour force. As the virus devastates an entire generation of people, skilled and experienced workers are lost, resulting in decreased productivity and reduced business prosperity. Amongst those who are able to work, productivity is likely to decline as a result of HIV-related illness. This in turn can affect the international competitiveness of a country and, foreign investment resulting in new opportunities, will go elsewhere. The World Bank identifies determinants for economic growth and HIV has undermined some of the most important; social capital, human capital and household savings (Bonnel, 2000). Falling tax revenue means decreased government revenue. This, combined with pressure to spend on health care to respond to the expanding epidemic often results in negative national growth. Thus, in countries that can least afford it HIV/AIDS has reduced economic growth and increased poverty (Bor, 2007). Poverty in turn, fuels the spread of the disease. Discrimination and Stigma of HIV/AIDS: In recent years there has been increasing recognition of the importance of analyzing the social and environmental aspects surrounding individuals living with HIV/AIDS. One social aspect in particular that has received a lot of interest within research is HIV/AIDS related stigma and discrimination. It is widely recognized that the negative social responses to this epidemic can have an extremely negative impact on the lives of people living with the disease (Parker and Aggleton, 2003). One person to voice the extensive impact of stigma and discrimination in relation to HIV/AIDS was Jonathan Mann, the founding director of the world health organizations former global program on aids. Mann distinguished between 3 different phases of the HIV/AIDS epidemic in any community. The first being the epidemic of HIV/AIDS infection, secondly HIV/AIDS itself as a disease and thirdly, the epidemic of social, cultural, economic and political responses to the disease which, he stated , was characterize d in a large part by extremely high levels of stigma, discrimination and collective denial. He claimed this to be as central to the global AIDS challenge as the disease itself (Parker Aggleton, 2003). Stigma and discrimination are part of complex systems of beliefs that people have relating to illness and disease and, can be caused by a number of factors including a lack of knowledge about the disease, and fear of contamination. It can also derive from other existing inequalities relating to race, gender, class and sexuality (Parker Aggleton, 2003 ; Anderson, Elam, Gerver, Solarin, Fenton Easterbrook, 2008) Stigma and discrimination cause numerous social inequalities and reinforce negative stereotypes which can lead to status loss and unequal outcomes for those with the disease (Castro Farmer, 2005). Stigma and discrimination are also associated with increased levels of anxiety, depressive symptoms, engaging in avoidant coping strategies, loneliness and suicidal ideation (Courte nay-Quirk, Wolitski, Parsons, Gomez Seropositive Urban mens study team, 2006). The Global Challenges of HIV/AIDS and the Living Environment: The course of HIV/AIDS can vary considerably among individuals with the disease, and when analyzing these differences a number of factors should be taken into account. It is important to not only reflect on the behavior and actions of the individual, but to also to consider the environmental factors surrounding them as they can have a significant effect on the likelihood of individuals seeking and receiving appropriate care. The challenges to receiving care can vary greatly depending on a large number of factors including, but not limited to, location, gender, culture and socio-economic status. However, there are a number of environmental factors that appear to have the greatest effect on the course of the disease. A study named the HIV aware/not in care project (cited in Nichols, Tchounwou, Mena Sarpong, 2009) identified a number of these Environmental barriers to productive living and care. These barriers included difficulty in receiving care, negative provider patient relationshi ps, lack of family support, funding for care and societal attitudes toward HIV/aids. A similar study named the effects of environmental factors on persons living with HIV/AIDS. Nichols et al.(2009); found that the environmental factors that had the most negative effect on patients living with HIV/AIDS were transportation, surroundings, government policies, attitudes and the natural environment. Both studies demonstrated that if these environmental factors are addressed, there negative effect is reduced which often improves the lives of people living with HIV/AIDS. HIV/AIDS and Social Justice : Social justice is quite simply defined as being the right to fairness and reasonableness, especially with the way people are treated or how decisions regarding their health are made. Every human being has a right to good health. To remove this right is an act of social injustice (Gostin Powers, 2006). In western countries, such as Australia, anti-retroviral drugs are available on the PBS for the treatment of HIV. How can this be fair, when there are countries with millions of people suffering from HIV/AIDS and, who, do not have access to these life changing drugs. Out of 6 million people worldwide that require anti-retroviral drugs, only 8% are receiving them (Galvao, 2005). This is highlighted by the research showing that in sixty five countries throughout the world, that are of low or middle income, with a combined population of four billion people, patenting is very rare and there are limited drugs available, one of which is the anti-retroviral drugs needed for treatment of HIV/A IDS (Attaran, 2004). This, quite simply, is a prime example of the drug manufacturers being concerned only for their profit, not for the health of the people that this drug would benefit. The universal declaration of human rights, as stated in (Heywood, 2010) declares that a standard of living that is adequate for the health and well being of oneself, which includes basic housing, food and treatment to medical care, is a right that should be available to everyone, regardless of geographic location. HIV/AIDS and the Health Care System: Many factors contribute to the rate of clinical progression of HIV /AIDS and that can include age, gender, cultural beliefs, discrimination and stigma, host susceptibility, immunity, co-infections and access to appropriate healthcare. Globally, tuberculosis is the largest co-infection health concern and can be directly cause by HIV/AIDS. The morbidity rate is extremely high in developing countries and approximately a third of all HIV- positive individuals will develop tuberculosis before they die. The overlap between the epidemiology of HIV and tuberculosis has put a huge burden on the health systems especially in Africa. A reduction of both these infections can only be achieved by locating and screening cases, reducing reactivation and transmission of tuberculosis and reducing HIV transmission (Godfrey-Faussett Ayles, 2003). Although there has been a substantial improvement to healthcare, some nurses believe there is still a degree of risk when caring for those infected with the AIDS virus. Some of the personal and social factors that may contribute to this are the associated stigma of the disease, attitudes of the health professionals and community, acquired AIDS knowledge and personal safety (Preston Esther M. Forti, 2000). Available healthcare, increased life expectancy and better health outcomes are determined by social environments and life style behaviours. The necessary improvements can only be made by health development and simple policy changes. These changes, such as redistribution of income, targeting of taxation systems and implementing social programs focus towards primary care as well as community participation (Peters Garces, 2009). Approaches to prevention and the spread of HIV can be influenced by the social, cultural and religious beliefs in a country. The majority of people living wi th HIV/AIDS in the poorer countries seek international advocacy to assist financially and provide access to the antiretroviral drugs. By assisting partner countries, the Australian Government has implemented strategies to significantly reduce and reverse the spread of HIV and AIDS (Meier, 2007). DISCUSSION: For the past decade women have born the brunt of the HIV/AIDS epidemic. In Africa women constitute 60% those infected with AIDS. In many societies women have a lower social and economic standing than men simply because they are women. In Africa this makes women more at risk of being infected with HIV, and then HIV causes women to fall deeper into poverty in a terrible cycle. Women often lack the social and economic power to insist on practising safe-sex leaving them vulnerable to HIV transmission from their sexual partners. In comparison it is interesting to note that in Thailand and Cambodia, as a result of education programs, condom use amongst sex workers has risen to 90% and these behavioural changes have had a positive impact on the spread of the disease. In Australia, HIV/AIDS has had little impact on the female population and remains predominately confined to the gay community and intravenous drug users . Women have a higher social standing in the community, are able to demand safe sex practices with partners and are educated, as a result of government programs about the virus. As a result the infection rate amongst Australian women is relatively low with 18,000 people infected but only 1200 of those are women . (un.aids.org, 2008). This comparison shows how beneficial education programs can be, even in countries where women struggle to achieve a higher social and economic standing and how raising the standing of women will assist in the shrinking of the spread of the disease. Women in developing countries also bear the burden of care that results from the virus. Often they are infected with the virus by their sexual partners and also are left to provide for the household if the male dies. This leaves women in developing countries trapped in a vicious cycle. The poverty they face leaves them vulnerable and often in a position where they are unable to demand safe sex practices. Removing the stigma associated with HIV enables women to seek medical care and the life prolonging drugs that allow them to remain the sole provider and carer for the family. The disease is not just about health, Its also about education. Education is an agent of change bringing economic independence to both males and females. Education is seen as a basic human right but many people in developing countries lack access to even basic literacy and numeracy skills. In many societies sex is a difficult subject to address and it needs to be openly and publicly discussed to educate vulnerable groups about minimising the risk of transmission and remove some of the stigma that surrounds HIV. In Australia, public health education campaigns were used early in the diseases lifespan to educate the population about the safe sex message and methods of transmission. As a result of these campaigns a public discourse was opened, sex became a more acceptable topic of discussion and some of the stigma surrounding the disease was removed. The use of condoms became socially acceptable and widely demanded. Thailand, too, tackled these difficult social issues and the results are evident in the decline of new infection rates, especially amongst women. However, African nations were and are slow to act. Condom use remains a difficult topic to address; this is compounded by many religious groups who refuse to advocate for condom use. Whilst developed countries are better able to fund these campaigns and provide free condoms; the social and economic cost to Africa and other developing nations may have been greatly reduced if action in this area was swift. Embroiled in gender and education is poverty. Poverty restricts access to health care, education and economic independence. Poverty prevents governments taking effective action on a national level, restricts health care access on a community level and impacts on the everyday lives of those living with the disease. By addressing poverty in communities most at risk, people will remain in their communities and not travel away for work and bring the disease back. It would be hoped this lessens the spread of HIV. Increased access to health care allows those already living with HIV to access drugs and those at risk of the disease to become educated on paths of transmission. We have discussed how wealthy nations have minimised the rate of infection through education and public health campaigns but these rely on the funds being available to initiate such programs. Universal access to life saving drugs is a concept that is widely discussed in relation to HIV/AIDS and whilst this would undoubtedly be beneficial it requires political and business leaders to show goodwill. Yet it would also bring many challenges; how would these drugs be distributed? In many countries health care workers are dying of HIV and health care systems and distribution networks are almost non existent. Who would educate the general public about the treatments and monitor compliance? In countries like Papua New Guinea, the mountainous terrain and numerous languages add another barrier to effective education and distribution of treatments. At some point since HIV/AIDS was first identified it stopped being solely a health issue and became an issue of inequality. Inequalities between developed and developing countries mean that the disease has hit hardest where the people can least afford it. Gender inequalities have meant that women find themselves in a position that leaves them vulnerable to being infected. Economic inequalities make access to drugs difficult . Poverty results from the disease and also fuels the disease. Lack of access to education leaves people unable to break free of the poverty cycle and helps fuel the stigma that surrounds the disease. Lack of political will and action has condemned millions of people to a cycle of disease and poverty. Greed on behalf of large pharmaceutical companies has denied millions of people life improving drugs. Never before has an illness affected entire countries from the poorest person to the most powerful and every facet of that country from the economic system, through to the health care and education systems. HIV/AIDS is not just an illness, it is also socially determined and as such a vaccine or a cure is only part of the required solution.