Intelligence Led Policing Models

Intelligence Led Policing Models The objective of this syndicate research work is to find out that. Has police ordinance 2002 fulfilled its objectives? What are the missing and gaps in its conceptual framework and implementation process? Why community policing system has been left out of the ordinance? And will it contribute negatively or positively?This is basically aimed at analyzing the success or failure if the ordinance with special reference to its stated objectives.Further,this research work digs out the gaps between the real concept of the ordinance and its implementation?Besides,this study also finds out that for what reasons,one of the important policing systems-community policing system-has not been focused upon in the ordinance?More importantly and lastly,this research work analysis whether the ordinance has been story of success or failure by ignoring the essential element of community policing system in the police ordinance 2002? POLICING MODELS Intelligence-led policing (ILP) is a policing model that has emerged in recent years which is built around risk assessment and risk management. Although there is no universally accepted understanding of what intelligence-led policing entails the leading definition is that ILP is a strategic, future-oriented and targeted approach to crime control, focusing upon the identification, analysis and management of persisting and developing problems or risks. In simpler terms, it is a model of policing in which intelligence serves as a guide to operations, rather than the reverse. Calls for intelligence-led policing originated in the 1990s, both in Britain and in the United States. In the U.S. Mark Rieblings 1994 book Wedge The Secret War between the FBI and CIA spotlighted the conflict between law enforcement and intelligence, and urged cops to become more like spies. Intelligence-led policing gained considerable momentum globally following the September 11 terrorist attacks on the United States. It is now advocated by the leading police associations in North America and the UK. Although claimed as a policing framework that builds on earlier paradigms, including community policing, problem-oriented policing, and continuous improvement or partnership models of policing, it originated as a rejection of the reactive, crime focus of community policing with calls for police to spend more time employing informants and surveillance to combat recidivist offenders. Recently, intelligence-led policing has undergone a revisionist expansion to allow incorporation of reassurance and neighbourhood policing. United Kingdom Intelligence-led policing in the UK has been applied as a specialized police practice involving the identification and targeting of high-rate, chronic offenders and devising strategic interventions based on that intelligence.ILP originated as a problem-oriented strategy in the Kent and Northumbria Constabularies in combating motor vehicle theft and other property crime. Kent prioritized its calls for service, placing less priority on minor service calls and referring them to other agencies, which in turn provided police with more time to focus on the property crimes. Rather than reactively responding to individual incidents, a systematic analysis was conducted of offenses that identified a pattern showing that a small number of offenders were responsible for a disproportionately large number of motor vehicle thefts in the area. Also identified were repeat victims and problem areas. Using this knowledge to formulate a response, police could soon boast a significant drop in the automobile theft rate. Since 2000, ILP has been enshrined in Britain as the philosophy underpinning the National Intelligence Model. United States The post-9/11 environment in the US, the era of Homeland Security for American policing,[8] has increased demands for law enforcement to build global partnerships and to work more closely with local agencies to expand the capacity of the state to fight both crime and terrorism. Given the belief that 9/11 and other terrorist attacks could have been prevented if not for intelligence failures, a key difference with intelligence-led policing from earlier strategies is that intelligence is no longer considered a specialized function for crime analysts or intelligence units. Investigations following bombings of the rail systems in Madrid and London and the arrest of suspected terrorists in Canada, Britain, and Florida suggested that intelligence culled from a variety of sources and through strengthened inter-agency cooperation may be the key to identifying suspects and successfully intervening to prevent attacks. On March 16, 2005, Department of Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff outlined a risk-based approach to homeland security threats, vulnerabilities, and consequences when he said, Risk management must guide our decision-making as we examine how we can best organize to prevent, respond, and recover from an attack . . . . Our strategy is, in essence, to manage risk in terms of these three variables threat, vulnerability, consequence. We seek to prioritize according to these variables, to fashion a series of preventive and protective steps that increase security at multiple levels. In 2006 Mark Riebling of the Center for Policing Terrorism published a doctrine on Intelligence-Led Policing. Rieblings model leverages both Israeli counter-terrorist tactics, and the NYPDs Broken Windows policing theories. Among the Broken-Windows mechanisms, Rieblings doctrine blends problem solving, environmental design, community policing, and public-private partnerships. Analyzing the operations of the Israeli National Police in Tel Aviv, Riebling notes approvingly that investigation of the incident, even a traffic accident, is secondary to the number one goal-which is gathering intelligence. For instance, when they raided a bordello, where the patrons were primarily Arabs from different parts of the region, Israeli police were less concerned about the criminal activity, than with preparing intelligence reports on who these people were, and how they got into Israel. Issues Intelligence-led policing is still in its early stages and therefore lacks a universal conceptual framework that can be applied to disparate contexts as the new policing paradigm. Implementation can also be difficult, because it requires police managers to have faith in the intelligence process and in the judgments and recommendations of their intelligence staff. Some have also questioned whether the foundational ingredient intelligence has been properly considered, pointing out there is already information overload that police and security professionals have to contend with from the huge databanks that have been built up in the intelligence process, and that increasing raw data is not the same as generating knowledge or actionable intelligence. Finally, intelligence-led policing is part of the larger trend of blurring the distinction between national security and domestic policing, or the states military and police functions, and risks the same perils that have tarnished policing in the past, such as political interference, violating civil liberties, and a greater potential for the abuse of police power with the increased secrecy that intelligence work entails. The Community Policing Organizational Change Ideally, community policing should be adopted organization-wide and be reflected through department participation at all levels as well as through the organizations mission, goals, objectives, performance evaluations, hiring and promotion practices, training, and all other systems that define organizational culture and activities. One of the most important specific aspects of organizational change relevant to community policing is a flattened organizational structure. Community policing departments are often less hierarchical, supporting managements dispersion of decision-making authority to the lowest organizational level and holding those individuals accountable for the outcomes. A second important element of organizational change is fixed geographic responsibility. Officers or deputies are assigned to fixed geographic areas for extended periods, based on social and cultural considerations and on the assumption that this fosters better communication with residents; increases the po lice officers ability to understand, prevent, and respond to community problems; and enhances accountability to the citizens in that area. Problem Solving Community policing departments also actively address the underlying conditions that give rise to or facilitate crime or disorder in an effort to prevent future problems by identifying and analyzing problems and by developing tailored strategies that may include traditional and nontraditional responses that focus on deterring offenders, protecting likely victims, and making locations less conducive to crime and disorder. Departments should use a wide array of relevant traditional and nontraditional data sources to better understand and evaluate the nature of problems and work in conjunction with the community and other organizations to develop effective long-term solutions. Problem solving often manifests itself in the scanning, analysis, response and assessment problem-solving model. Departments first identify relevant or perceived crime problems (scanning), determine the nature and underlying conditions that give rise to those problems (analysis), craft and implement interventions t hat are linked to that analysis (response), and evaluate its effectiveness (assessment). The process is understood as continually involving feedback among the components. For instance, through in-depth analysis, agencies may come to define problems differently, effectively returning to the scanning phase. Likewise, an assessment may determine that a response was ineffective and that the problem requires additional analysis. External Partnerships Under a community policing philosophy, departments partner with other government, social service, and community agencies in attempts to identify and address persistent problems in the community. They form external partnerships in recognition of other agencies unique strengths, tools, and expertise that can be leveraged when addressing community problems. The police are only one of a host of local government agencies responsible for responding to community problems. Under community policing, coordination with other government agencies in developing comprehensive and effective solutions is essential. In addition, the police are encouraged to develop working partnerships with civic and community groups to accurately survey community needs and priorities and to use the public as a resource in problem solving and in developing and implementing interventions. Community Policing and Terrorism Prevention and Response Organizational Change A flat organizational structure may ensure more effective terrorist prevention and response. It has been demonstrated that local law enforcement officers are likely to come into contact with those who may be directly or indirectly involved in terrorist activities and most certainly will be among the first responders to any future terrorist attack. Empowering officers at lower levels with decision-making authority and familiarizing them with making (and taking responsibility for) important decisions could be of value in any crisis. In a terrorist event, there may be little time for decisions to move up the chain of command. Officers who are accustomed to making decisions and retaining authority may be better prepared to respond quickly and decisively to any event. In addition, in terms of prevention, developing a flat organizational structure can help lower-level officers feel free to pursue leads or suspected terrorist activity. In addition, having fixed geographic responsibility may assist officers in identifying possible terrorist threats. Officers who work in a community or neighborhood for an extended time can develop specific intelligence concerning resident and community activities. This street-level knowledge is a vital part of counter-intelligence efforts. Problem Solving Problem-solving models are well suited to preventing and responding to terrorist activity. Departments can use many existing data sources ahead of time to develop detailed risk management and crisis plans. Identifying potential terrorist targets in local jurisdictions is an important first step. Police can determine what in their jurisdictions (dams, electric grids, chemical warehouses, large-scale public gatherings) are potential terrorist targets. Community policing encourages agencies to conduct complex analyses of the possible threats and of their relative likelihood of occurring. Finally, agencies in conjunction with other government, social, and community entities can develop detailed crisis prevention and response plans. Finally, the community policing model encourages continual refinement of these plans to suit changing conditions and threat levels. External Partnerships The threat of terrorism provides a unique opportunity to create partnerships with citizens, other government organizations, and other law enforcement agencies. Prior apathy toward these partnerships that may have existed is often reduced by the presence of terrorist targets and threats. Recent terrorist events and associated concerns may have created a sense of uneasiness and urgency in many communities. The specter of additional terrorist activity has created an opportunity to galvanize local police to work with their communities, other law enforcement agencies, and local, state, and federal entities. The community policing model encourages the development of such ongoing and effective partnerships, which can be invaluable in preventing terrorist activity because of increased opportunities for intelligence gathering and sharing. They can also be central to developing coordinated responses to any actual terrorist events. Community policing encourages agencies to establish and expand upon existing partnerships with a goal of developing model crisis plans and processes to deal with the aftermath of terrorist incidents. These plans and processes would consider the needs and concerns of all community stakeholders. Law enforcement and local government can come together with community partners to develop a plan on how to prepare for such a crisis, what to do in the event of such a crisis, and how to cope with its aftermath. Community Policing and Fear of Terrorism By definition, the primary goal of terrorism is to create fear and an atmosphere of uncertainty. This fear can greatly affect the quality of life of many individuals, extending far beyond those who are directly affected by a terrorist event. In the United States the police have increasingly been asked to address the fear of crime generally. The expansion of their role to include quality of life and partnerships with citizens, as emphasized by the community policing philosophy, has increasingly brought fear of crime under the purview of police professionals. As A. Steven Dietz stated in Evaluating Community Policing, Reduction of fear of crime has been associated with community policing programs since their inception. It is clear that reducing fear of crime has become an essential element and an often explicitly articulated goal of community policing. Thus, community policing finds itself well positioned to deal with issues of fear that can arise as a direct result of terrorist activi ty. In addition, dealing directly with citizen fear of crime is important, as unchecked fear of terrorism (or feelings of revenge) can manifest itself in hate crimes and illegal bigotry targeted particularly at people who are Muslim and of Middle Eastern descent. These are important social problems that law enforcement should be prepared to respond to and prevent. Organizational Change Adoption of the community policing philosophy partly involves reengineering department processes and resources away from randomness and reactivity and toward information- and service-driven community-based approaches. Police officers are often assigned to specific geographic areas to foster communication with residents and are accountable to those residents and their superiors for the safety and well-being of that area. Other aspects of the agency are realigned to support the most fundamental focus of all activities, the beat. As a result of this emphasis, police officers should be more attuned to rising levels of community concern and fear and, by virtue of the relationships they have established within the community, be in a position to respond effectively to those needs and concerns. Community policing has been found to engender trust and increased satisfaction among residents for the police, which in periods of heightened unrest can be parlayed into dealing more effectively with community fear that can be based on both rational and irrational concerns. Problem Solving Community policing encourages a deeper understanding of the fear that may result from terrorist events. The first step is to determine whether fear is a problem in the community and to determine the extent of the problem. Police can conduct citizen interviews, surveys, and face-to-face interactions to determine levels of citizen fear. Then they can analyze the underlying conditions that give rise to or encourage fear. Perhaps it is a result of a specific terrorist-related fear such as living near what is perceived to be a potential terrorist target, or the fear may involve fear for loved ones who reside in high-threat areas. Finally, perhaps the fear is a more general fear of terrorism. In any event, law enforcement should work to understand the extent and nature of fear in their community if they want to develop effective responses. Law enforcement should then work in partnership with other community groups to develop responses aimed at decreasing levels of fear if they are negatively affecting quality of life and are determined to be highly exaggerated. Community policing efforts to deal with citizen fear of crime have included foot and vehicle patrols in high-crime neighborhoods, as well as community meetings, citizen patrols, neighborhood cleanup programs, opening neighborhood substations, and citizen awareness campaigns. Clearly, citizen fear of terrorist events is somewhat different than fear of crime generally. However, some of the same techniques may also be useful for reducing this type of fear. For example, citizen awareness campaigns can inform citizens about what the local police and city government are doing to prevent and prepare for possible terrorist events. Crisis response plans can be discussed in addition to general prevention activities. Citizens can be informed about what they themselves can do-such as preparing emergency survival kits for their own homes-to prepare for possible terrorist events and can be informed of evacuation routes to use in the event of a large-scale disaster. Finally, law enforcement agencies should assess the effectiveness of any fear-reduction efforts and modify their responses accordingly. External Partnerships The emphasis on building strong community partnerships encouraged by a community policing philosophy may also help reduce citizen fear of terrorist events. These partnerships may be able to directly reduce fear by increasing citizen feelings of efficacy, increasing the bond among neighbors themselves, and involving citizens in prevention and preparedness activities. Encouraging citizen involvement in neighborhood watch, youth education, and cleanup programs can increase social cohesion among citizens and has been found to result in decreased fear of crime. It is likely that these increasing feelings of efficacy in response to terrorist events may have similar effects. Citizens can be involved to differing degrees in prevention and preparedness discussions. Traditional Policing Historically, local law enforcement in the 1930s and 1940s was characterized by the beat cop, who knew every resident and business owner in an assigned area. Likewise, this officer became aware almost immediately when a crime occurred and generally found out quickly from members of the community who committed it. This timely apportionment of justice helped to create a strong bond between members of the community and the officers who patrolled their districts. However, this policing model harbored significant drawbacks. Officers often gained appointments through corrupt political deals, were poorly trained, and rarely displayed a professional appearance or demeanor. PROFESSIONAL POLICING MODEL As a result, the 1960s and 1970s saw the dawn of the professional policing model. These new officers used the most up-to-date technologysuch as high-speed cruisers, forensic laboratories, mobile radios, and 911 emergency systemsto serve the sprawling suburban environment that came to characterize much of the American landscape. Considering the vast areas covered by a limited number of officers, response times were exceptionally quick. Such areas as recruiting practices, training, and professionalism were vastly improved. But the professional policing model possessed its own inherent shortcomings. Officers became less a part of the communities they served. In fact, they were intentionally placed outside of the community as a reaction to the potential for corruption that existed in prior policing models. And, even though response times were exceptional, calls for police service still brought officers to the scene after a crime had been committed. This incident-oriented policing model placed an impressive array of resources at officers disposal to locate offenders, but made little attempt to reduce actual crime numbers. COMMUNITY-ORIENTED POLICING MODEL Community-oriented policing combines the familiarity, trust, and sense of ownership characterized by the beat cop with the professionalism and expertise of the professional policing model. Officers working in this mode conduct their patrols from a problem-oriented, rather than incident-oriented, perspective. Accordingly, the focus becomes preventiverather than reactivepolice work. Officers involved in community-oriented policing have access to residents on a personal level, which helps to build a better relationship between the community and the police department. Residents see the police as more than just anonymous blue suits driving down the street in patrol cars. The community is more involved with the officers, and in turn, becomes the eyes and ears of the department in the neighborhood.

The Green Party Of Canada :: essays research papers fc

The Green Party of Canada   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Canada had nine registered political parties in the 1993 federal election. Each one of these parties was trying to place their candidates into Parliament as members. In this particular election there were the usual dominating parties that ran, the Liberals and Conservatives. Also vying for seats were seven minority parties which included the Green Party, the Christian Heritage Party, the National Party of Canada, the Abolitionist Party, the Commonwealth, The Canada Party, the Liberaltarian Party, the Marxist-Leninist Party, and the Natural Law Party. Each of these minority parties had then and still do have their own values, goals, and political expectations. Most minority parties try to guide themselves along on the basis of these beliefs, especially around election time when they work hardest to raise issues of policy alternatives trying to make a mark on the political scene in Canada despite their limited support and resources.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The Green Party of Canada is one particular minority party that presented themselves to the political scene in Canada about 15 years ago, in the early 1980's (Darfler). The small group of individuals belonging to the Green Party is an interesting bunch. They're all ages and come from a wide variety of views and opinions. Even together as a party they vary in their individual values and beliefs compared to other political parties in Canada. The party faithful is unlike most other parties in many ways, the most noticeable difference is having tried to invert a system which is bottom-up, meaning that all the real power and responsibility are held at the level of the local chapters. This is unique to the Green Party because most political organizations operate on a top-down basis, with a middle group within the party hierarchy that is in charge of their own membership, income, policies and incentives (Darfler). They together as a united party hold their own political sights for the future. The Green Party members for the most part believe that it is time to take a more sensible approach to running the affairs of the people and to do that we must base our political and economic beliefs on fact. In Canada, the Green Party values such things as ecological wisdom, social justice, grass roots democracy, non- violence, decentralization, feminism, and future focus/sustainability (htp.//www.green.ca). If you agree that the government should focus its attention toward these values, then you yourself are probably Green. All of these values are joined by a common value system which is determined by a set of underlying theories about the nature of reality and the people placed in it. The Green Parties political thought will probably never become entirely known as

Child Prodigy Essay

| Child Prodigies: A Blessing or a Curse? | Term Essay| | | Mona S. November/28/2012 | Child Prodigy: A Blessing or a Curse? A child prodigy is an individual, who at a very early age (mostly under the age of 10) is a master of one or a couple of skills or arts. These individuals or children display expert ability or a deep grasp of the fundamentals in a field usually only undertaken by adults. Using a specific term which expresses or defines a child prodigy can change attitudes portrayed towards such individuals such as gifted, talented, superior, rapid learner, able student, bright, exceptional, and even genius.Although there are many terms used to define a child prodigy, the most accepted and preferred terms used are gifted or exceptional (Laycock, 1957). Barbara Clark (1997) identifies a child prodigy as an exceptionally gifted individual who seems to have different value structures, which usually allow them to cope with the conflict or difference they find between their perceptio n of life and that of the average person. According to D. Feldman (1993), a child prodigy may have a reasonably high, but not necessarily exceptionally high, IQ.Prodigies tend to be unusually focused, determined, and highly motivated to reach the highest levels of their fields. They are often marked by great confidence in their abilities, along with a naive sense of these abilities. Thomas & Crescimbeni (1966) refer to the gifted or child prodigies as individuals that have an IQ of 115 and higher. However, that could only be implied to highly intellectual individuals as there are many different forms of child prodigies.I am interested in child prodigies for many reasons as it plays a huge role on how they are raised and how they socialize with others. To others a child prodigy might be a blessing but to child prodigies it is a curse depending on how they are treated. Here are some reasons as to why it is perceived that way: Most child prodigies are denied from having a normal and he althy childhood especially by their parents as they want them to focus on improving their â€Å"gift† and sometimes it happens for the child’s own benefit or in other cases to be used to obtain fame and fortune.It might be a good thing, especially for child prodigies that are â€Å"gifted† in the arts field, to improve and practice on it for future use but it must be done in a healthy and proper way so that children can have a childhood which would help them interact and engage within a society in a normal and functional way, however, denying child prodigies from having a normal, play balanced childhood might eventually turn out disastrous as they will not know how to engage or behave in an acceptable behaviour within their society and it would probably cause them to develop a non-friendly, egoistic, and obnoxious attitude towards others as they believe they are better than the rest. This might cause their lives to brake or be unfulfilled for many reasons that I will expand on throughout this essay. And there is also the widespread belief that young geniuses are pushed and nudged to extremes by one or both parents. Von Karolyi and Winner (2005) believe that the ‘talented’ train and practice extensively, and this practice is necessary for the development of performance. However, thoughtful practice is a very special form of activity that differs from mere experience and mindless drill. Unlike playful engagement with peers deliberate practice is not inherently enjoyable.It also differs from successful performance in front of an audience, which is rewarded with applause, praise and receiving prizes. According to Yoga (2008), parents who wish or hope that their child is a prodigy need to rethink that whole notion especially due to the recent reports that have been portrayed within the media about child prodigies. When a child receives a reputation for excellence, originality, and brilliance for their gift, parents become so please d with the child’s performance and deny any involvement and although this might cause the child to feel delighted with their successful outcome, they face the difficulty of defining their own contributions and would eventually acquire feelings of doubt and ambiguity about their own abilities.What makes things worse is that parents’ standards keep increasing after each accomplishment which causes new projects difficult to start and this would only make the child feel that their finishing product will never be good enough therefore causing them to pick simple tasks where they will not worry about failing in. Goal setting may become defensive, aimed at protecting against feelings of failure or low ability (Covington and Beery, 1976). Competition encourages and motivates gifted children to perform to the best of their high ability, and the recognition they receive for their successes provides the motivation for continued competition. However, there are some negative side e ffects of extreme competitiveness.Child prodigies have to deal with a lot of stress and pressure on their performance because of the expectations that the people around them have of them and from the repeated adult praise such as being perfect, best, or the smartest. The world imposes adult expectations on them, and they are really only children. The challenge of allowing and encouraging gifted children a childhood remains the challenge to the parents and teachers of such children. In my opinion, too many children are pushed too soon into a world that they shouldn’t really be expected to live in. It’s up to the parents to shelter them from harm, and gently show them or introduce them to the real world and its negative side with clear and loving understanding.I don’t know any child prodigies personally, but I am guessing that for a long time they live in a protected bubble where everyone thinks they are special for their talent and not for being a person, when th ey grow up there talent is not as noticeable anymore and therefore their novelty appeal has worn off, they are then expected to live in the â€Å"real world† with no understanding of what it entails and how to interact on a social level. Parents would unintentionally be treating their â€Å"gifted children† differently from their â€Å"normal† children which would only cause sibling rivalry which can be minimized and adjusted but will not disappear. Usually sibling rivalry occurs due to the competition for parent’s attention and sometimes their resources.Cornell (1986) found that â€Å"non-gifted† siblings of gifted children were less well-adjusted than a control group of other non-gifted children. Some child prodigies feel entitled to special treatment yet rarely get it. This could include being excused from certain activities or classes to be given the opportunity to work on their â€Å"gift†. By receiving such special treatments child pro digies could fall in two paths, one of which they are being bullied by others due to their special treatment. Gifted children today experience many disruptions in their lives. Some of these disruptions are relatively unique to them, such as needing to hide how well they do at school as a means to fitting into an anti-intellectual school environment (Coleman & Cross, 2001).All children are affected adversely by bullying, but gifted children differ from other children in significant ways, and what they experience may be qualitatively different. The personality traits and interests of many gifted children may make them targets of bullying by their classmates. At the same time gifted children may be more susceptible to the emotional damage that bullying can inflict. Usually the bullying will occur verbally in order to avoid a lot of trouble from physically abusing their targets and would include segregating the gifted child from peers and other activities, whether it is within class or outside. The gifted children would be called names such as â€Å"teacher’s pet† or â€Å"smarty-pants†. These days bullying can be done very easily that it would spread virally, i. e. cyber bullying.Some gifted children tend to be more timid than other gifted or non-gifted children due to lack of socialization if parents insist on them practicing their â€Å"gift† all the time for their future’s sake therefore they might keep it to themselves about being bullied and sooner or later without seeking help, or even though they do seek for help they are ignored by the adults within the society who believe that the bullying will eventually stop which it does not, it might cause the gifted children to commit suicide as they are tired of the endless bullying. Sometimes the bullying can also cause the gifted child to feel hatred or lose interest in their â€Å"gift† and would not want to engage in such activities again. The same thing can happen if t he child is forced to practice their â€Å"gift† all the time, such as the piano, and is denied their childhood or freedom and is treated as a tool for fame and success.Another path the child prodigy could fall under would be self-social segregation where the child prodigy would not want to spend time with the other normal children as they view themselves to be way better than others. Sometimes, when denied the access for special treatment, it might frustrate and cause them to be even more aggressive, driven, and overachieving than they are by nature. As the child is dehumanised and instrumentalized or taught to ignore reality and to occupy the parental fantastic space, such an unfortunate child feels almighty and all-knowing, perfect and brilliant, worthy of adoration and entitled to special treatment. The empathy, compassion, a ealistic assessment of one's abilities and limitations, realistic expectations of oneself and of others, personal boundaries, team work, social skil ls, perseverance and goal-orientation, not to mention the ability to postpone gratification and to work hard to achieve it are all lacking or missing altogether. Sex or gender differences do matter in accordance to being gifted. Reis and Callahan (1989) emphasize the importance of distinguishing between sex or gender differences, i. e. relating the biological and the sociocultural differences. The possibility of gender differences in interests, and perhaps even in cognitive activity, which would lead girl and boy prodigies toward different domains for study and mastery. These differences might also be biologically based to some extent; they are undoubtedly heavily patterned and reinforced by cultural values.Whatever their origins, it appears at first blush that girl prodigies are better represented in some fields than others, and further exploration of why this might be the case is in order. When we know more about such relationships, we may understand more about gender differences or at least individual differences in the development of specific talents. Why prodigies are found in some fields and not others, and whether certain fields attract more children of one gender than the other, is a matter for further attention. Being gifted or a prodigy also differs on what culture you are from, i. e. if a specific culture views you as a prodigy or not, as well as your socio-economic status because they might be rarely identified or described as gifted or talented if they are from a poor rural area.Peers of economically deprived or culturally different gifted children usually do not place a huge value on school achievement. Family, cultural, and language differences and testing circumstances must be considered as values and beliefs can affect ability testing. An understanding of different cultures is an important factor in both identifying who is gifted and how to set up a program that would help nurture their gift in a non-smothering manner. According to Bernal, 197 9; Bruch, and Curry, 1978, an interesting way to find such gifted people in these cultures would be to meet with students named by peers as out-of-school â€Å"leaders† who can explain characteristics of culturally valued giftedness within their own peer culture.Overall, I would like to state that child prodigy might be something good but only if the child was handled with care and love and given a lot of freedom of choice and opportunity to pursue their dreams otherwise they would be perceived as tools or mini adults with no mind or will of their own that are forced to do what pleases others. Brainstorm/Web Chart Here is a Brainstorm of ideas or a web chart of my term topic paper â€Å"Child prodigy: A blessing or a curse† References Bernal, E. M. (1979). The education of the culturally different gifted. In A. H. Passow (Ed. ), The gifted and the talented (pp. 395-400). Chicago: National Society for the Study of Education. Bruch, C. B. , ; Curry, J. A. (1978). Persona l Learnings: A current synthesis on the culturally different gifted. Gifted Child Quarterly, 22, 33-32 Clark, B. 1997). Growing up gifted: Developing the potential of children at home and at school. Upper Saddle River, N. J: Merrill. Cornell, D. G. , ; Grossberg, I. N. (1986). Siblings of children in gifted programs. Journal for the Education of the Gifted, 9, 253-264. Coleman, L. J. ; Cross, T. L. (2001). Being gifted in school: An introduction to development, guidance, and teaching. Waco, TX: Prufrock Press. Covington, M. V. ; Beery, R. G. (1976). Self-worth and school learning. New York: Holt. Feldman, D. H. (1993). Child Prodigies: A Distinctive Form of Giftedness. Gifted Child Quarterly, 37, 4, 188-93. Laycock, S. R. (1957). Gifted children.Toronto: The Copp Clark Teacher's Handbook Series. Reis, S. M. , & Callahan, C. M. (1989). Gifted females: They’ve come a long way—or have they? Journal for the Education of the Gifted, 12, 99-117. Thomas, G. I. , & Crescimbeni , J. (1966). Guiding the gifted child. New York: Random House. Von. Karolyi, C. and Winner, E. 2005. â€Å"Extreme giftedness†. In Conceptions of giftedness, Edited by: Sternberg, R. J and Davidson, J. E. 377–394. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. (2nd edn) Yoga, S. S. (2008, April 14). Child prodigy: Two sides of genius. The star online. Retrieved from http://thestar. com. my/lifestyle/story. asp? file=/2008/4/14/lifefocus/20902655&sec=lifefocus

The JavaScript Ternary Operator as a Shortcut for If/Else Statements

The conditional ternary operator in JavaScript assigns a value to a variable based on some condition and is the only JavaScript operator that takes three operands. The ternary operator is a substitute for an if statement  in which both the if and else clauses assign different values to the same field, like so: if (condition)result something;elseresult somethingelse; The ternary operator shortens this if/else statement into a single statement: result (condition) ? something : somethingelse; If condition is true, the ternary operator returns the value of the first expression; otherwise, it returns the value of the second expression. Lets consider its parts:   First, create the variable to which you want to assign a value, in this case, result. The variable result will have a different value depending on the condition.Note that on the right-hand side (i.e. the operator itself), the condition is first.The condition is always followed by a question mark (?), which can basically be read as was that true?The two possible results come last, separated by a colon (:). This use of the ternary operator is available only when the original if statement follows the format shown above  Ã¢â‚¬â€ but  this is quite a common scenario, and using the ternary operator can be far more efficient. Ternary Operator Example Lets look at a real example. Perhaps you need to determine which children are the right age to attend kindergarten. You might have a conditional statement like this: var age 7;var kindergarten_eligible;   if (age   5) {kindergarten_eligible Old enough;}else {kindergarten_eligible Too young;} Using the ternary operator, you could shorten the expression  to: var  kindergarten_eligible (age 5) ?  Too young  :  Old enough; This example would, of course, return Old enough. Multiple Evaluations You can include multiple evaluations, as well: var age 7, var socially_ready true;var kindergarten_eligible (age 5) ? Too young  : socially_readyOld enough but not yet ready Old and socially mature enoughconsole.log ( kindergarten_eligible ); // logs Old and socially mature enough   Multiple Operations The ternary operator also allows the inclusion of multiple operations for each expression, separated by a comma: var age   7, socially_ready true; age 5  ? (alert(You are old enough.),location.assign(continue.html)) : (socially_ready false,alert(Sorry, but you are not yet ready.)); Ternary Operator Implications Ternary operators avoid otherwise verbose code, so on the one hand, they appear  desirable. On the other hand, they can compromise readability  Ã¢â‚¬â€ obviously, IF ELSE is more easily understood than a cryptic ?. When using a ternary operator  Ã¢â‚¬â€Ã‚  Ã‚  or any abbreviation  Ã‚  Ã¢â‚¬â€Ã‚  consider who will be reading your code. If less-experienced developers may need to understand your program logic, perhaps the use of the ternary operator should be avoided. This is especially true if your condition and evaluations are complex enough that you would need to nest or chain your ternary operator. In fact, these kinds of nested operators can impact not only readability but debugging. As with any programming decision, be sure to consider context and usability before using a ternary operator.