An Investigation Into the Differences Between Retail and Investment Banks Essay

Over the past decades, retail banks have remained the main commercial bank for consumers, rather than corporations or other banks. The investment bank has become more popular amongst individuals, corporations and governments which are interested in raising their profits. Retail banks and investment banks have different organizational structures and activities. So they have many differences, such as services, customers and profits. And this report aims to distinguish between the retail bank and the investment bank in order to identify their specific service areas. Firstly, the author will review some literature focusing on the definitions. Secondly, the author will illustrate the differences between them from their target activities and functions. Retail banks offer a range of services to individual customers and small businesses, rather than to large companies and other banks. These include: savings and transactional accounts, mortgages, personal loans, debit cards and credit cards. An investment bank is a bank which specializes in providing funds to corporate borrowers for startup or expansion and does not accept deposits but provides services to those who offer securities to investors, and to those investors themselves. It may also assist and support companies which are involved in mergers and acquisitions, and provides ancillary services such as market making, trading of derivatives, fixed income instruments, foreign exchange, commodities, and equity securities. From the definitions above, it clearly shows that the two types of bank provide substantially different services to customers. As a normal customer, I think the retail banks are better than the investment banks. And there are three advantages of the retail banks. Firstly, the retail banks have more branches than the investment banks. For example, Lloyds TSB Bank is a retail bank in the United Kingdom, and according to Lloyds TSB website, the bank has nearly 1,900 branches across the UK. This means that you can find the branches of TSB almost everywhere. So you can deal with some normal business easily, the branches of retail banks can be found almost everywhere. For example, you want to make emergency loans, you do not have enough time to find an investment bank to make loans, so you must choose the retail banks. Moreover, the retail banks can supply some services which the investment banks do not provide. When you want to transfer from one account to another account, you can not go to the investment banks, because the investment banks do not offer this kind of service. Therefore, if you want to deal with some normal business (such as savings, mortgages and credit cards) at a bank, it would be better to choose the retail banks. The Royal Bank of Scotland is one of the retail banking is part of the Royal Bank of Scotland Group, and together with NatWest and Ulster Bank, provides branch banking facilities throughout the UK. And it can provide almost every service that the retail banks have. So it has a good reputation in Scotland. Finally, the risk of retail banks is relatively lower than the investment banks. You can get money from the rate of interest which can be higher than the other banks. Such as Barclays Corporate which belongs to the Barclays Group and provide these kinds of services (such as savings, transactional accounts, mortgages, debit cards, credit cards). It offers a service called monthly savings which is its regular savings plan that allows you to save regularly over 12 months, and you can get higher interest rates are paid where no withdrawals have been made in the previous month. This means that you can get high fixed interest of up to 3. 25% AER / 3. 20% in months when no withdrawals are made. And the revenue of the retail banks is stability and fixed. So you do not need to pay more attention to the asset in the retail banks. These advantages of the retail banks are the reasons why the retail banks are better as a normal customer. As an advanced person or a company, I think the investment banks are better. There are also many advantages of the investment banks which usually provide services for the company. First of all, most of the investment banks are global company and it can provide services more widely than the retail banks. Such as Morgan Stanley is a leading global financial services firm providing a wide range of investment banking, securities, investment management and wealth management It reports US$779 billion as assets under its management. Its headquarter located in Midtown Manhattan , New York City. It has companies in 37 countries with over 1,200 offices, employees dedicated to local businesses, government agencies, institutions and individuals. So the investment banks can provide the services (such as trading of derivatives, fixed income instruments, foreign exchange and commodities) all over the world. Secondly, the revenue of the investment banks significantly more than profit of other types of banks. If you save your extra money in the retail banks, you can only get the interest from the rates. But if you sand your money to the investment banks you can get remarkable returns although it has a high risk. For example the Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. is an American investment bank and securities. And it provides mergers and acquisitions advice, underwriting services, asset management, and prime brokerage to its clients, which include corporations, governments and individuals. Amazingly, the company in US profits reached a record $ 13. 39 billion in 2010, on average common shareholders’ equity rate of return is 22. 5%. At last, the investment banks also can provide some special services that the retail banks do not offer. For instance, it can supply a particularly serving called â€Å"financial advice† what can make financial of a company more reasonability and determine the future line of development. UBS AG is a diversified global financial services company, with its main headquarters in Basel and Zurich, Switzerland and UBS is present in all major financial centers worldwide. With â€Å"Premier Advisory Services†, UBS offers you the opportunity to schedule individual one-on-one consultations with CEFS experts who understand your equity-linked compensation as an integrative part of your total wealth management, know about the different plan vehicles and can support you on issues such as â€Å"How can I best align my equity-linked compensation with my total wealth management† or â€Å"When should I exercise, which strategy is the best†.

The Cars Engine essays

The Car's Engine essays The function of a cars engine is to make a car move. Engines come in a variety of strengths and speeds. All modern engines are made of essential parts. A description of the engines design illustrates its function. The core of the engine is the cylinder. The piston moves up and down inside the cylinder. The engine described here has one cylinder, but engines vary from four all the way to twelve. In a multi-cylinder engine the cylinders usually are arranged in one of three ways: inline, V or flat (also known as horizontally opposed or boxer). The spark plug supplies the spark that ignites the air/fuel mixture so that combustion can occur. The spark must happen at just the right moment for things to work properly. A piston is a cylindrical piece of metal that moves up and down inside the cylinder. Piston rings provide a sliding seal between the outer edge of the piston and the inner edge of the cylinder. The rings serve two purposes: they prevent the fuel/air mixture and exhaust in the combustion chamber from leaking into the sump during compression and combustion, and they keep oil in the sump from leaking into the combustion area, where it would be burned and lost. Most cars that "burn oil" and have to have a quart added every 1,000 miles are burning it because the engine is old and the rings no longer seal things properly. The combustion chamber is the area where compression and combustion take place. As the piston moves up and down, you can see that the size of the combustion chamber changes. It has some maximum volume as well as a minimum volume. The difference between the maximum and minimum is called the displacement and is measured in liters or CCs (Cubic Centimeters, where 1,000 cubic centimeters equals a liter). So if you have a 4-cylinder engine and each cylinder displaces half a liter, then the entire engine is a "2.0 liter engine." If each cylinder displaces half a liter and there are six cylinders arr...

Marginal Analysis Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 1

Marginal Analysis - Essay Example Please revise with a more specific explanation. Please revise to include a clear and direct relationship between marginal revenue and total revenue. B.1. The submission does not provide an adequate explanation of the relationship between marginal cost and total cost. Please revise to include a clear and direct relationship between marginal cost and total cost. F.1. The essay does not clearly explain what a firm would do with respect to output decisions if marginal revenue is less than marginal cost. Please revise to address whether the firm should increase or decrease production. Definition. Marginal revenue is defined as the additional revenue obtained from selling one more unit of the good that he produces (William Boyes and Melvin, Michael, 2002, p. 202-205). To better understand it, let us present it in the form of a graph.(see graph l) We have here a demand graph showing the quantity of a certain item the consumers are willing to buy at a certain price. At price of $10, people are willing to buy 100 pcs. Total revenue $1000 It is blue area under the demand curve. People will not buy more if the price is increased, and in order to sell more, price must be dropped. It is important to be aware of the demand curve to understand the marginal revenue because it will show how much the producer needs to lower the price in order to sell another item. Demand curve is the slope going down (D) The relationship that exists between the two is the additional revenue that is given by producing another unit of production. It can further be related as the unit revenue the last item has sold , or how much is the contribution to revenue of the last item sold The causaL relationship that exist is for each item sold, marginal profit = marginal revenue – marginal cost. And if MR IS greater than MC at a certain point of output, then profit is positive; and the same relationship exists when MR is less than MC result is

Qualitative research and questionnaire design Essay

Qualitative research and questionnaire design - Essay Example In its simplest sense, emotional branding pertains to that type of strategy which gives paramount importance to the emotions, most especially that of the consumers. Nowadays, members of the corporate world have recognized the importance of Corporate Branding. Big companies such as Victoria’s Secret, Coca-Cola, Godiva and Starbucks have all resorted to the use of emotional branding to attract more customers. Basically, emotional branding denotes one thing: that is, to place the customers at the core of the marketing strategy rather than focusing too much on the product (Berrada 2010; Gobe 2010). Pertinently, it is the goal of emotional branding to ensure the development of customer loyalty by making sure that the brand dominates its competitors with respect to the attention given by the customers (Travis 2000). Generally, emotional branding gives importance to the five senses of the consumers. Hence, advertisements focus on these, making sure that the customers connect not just with the product being advertised but to the brand as well. Hence, through emotional branding, the consumers are perceived to have the capacity to connect more to the brand. In this regard, the connection of the customers and the brand results to a greater profit for the company or manufacturer concerned (Gobe 2010; Taher 2006). The use of emotional branding then appeals to the internal aspect of the consumer. It is basically more concerned with the use of abstract concepts yet at the same time, yields to results that are concrete (Berrada 2010; Norman 2005). Evidently, not much research has been successful in determining why emotional branding results to customer satisfaction. It was considered as the marketing trend of the current generation (Gobe 2010; Passikoff 2006). Because of the competition dominating in the business arena, companies must not only tell their consumers what they need; instead, they must focus on the different reasons why the latter needs to obtain this (Desg rippes, Hellman and Gobe 2007; Norman 2005) This research generally focuses on emotional branding in the case of one of the most successful brands in the whole world: Starbucks. Undeniably, Starbucks has been considered as one of the most successful companies that have carried out the emotional branding strategies. Its products appeal to its consumers, enjoy high name recall, and finally, experience high degrees of customer loyalty (Gobe 2010; Mennen 2010; Passikoff 2006). In fact, Starbucks has been considered as the benchmark for mainstream coffee houses in view of its ability to market its products by promoting the social status that it gives. In this regard, this research draws on the perceptions of the customers of Starbucks with respect to aspects of emotional branding carried out by the corporation as well as the successfulness of the said strategies in the attainment of the following results: (1) appeal of the products to the customers, (2) high name recall, and (3) customer loyalty (Dorfmeister 2003; Gobe 2010). To attain the said objectives, this research employs the use of the qualitative approach to research, focusing on the use of the interviews in the form of questionnaires to obtain the pertinent data for this research. Literature Review Having established the main objective that this paper seeks to attain, this section then focuses on the review of pertinent literature with respect to emotional branding. Generally, this literature review focuses on three pertinent issues,

The Protection of Animal Rights According to Carl Cohen Research Paper

The Protection of Animal Rights According to Carl Cohen - Research Paper Example Carl Cohen is a professor of philosophy. He is well known for his prominent contribution in philosophy. Carl argues that animals have no rights. He says that animals are not part of a community of moral agents. He continues to mention that animals are incapable of answering on moral issues. These animals, therefore, do not and can not have rights. Cohen’s views use of animals in lab experiments as not a violation of animal rights. The reason being they have no capacity to make moral claims. Cohen asserts that, although animals have no rights it’s, our duty not to cause unnecessary suffering to animals. Before we preside further, we should have a clear definition of rights and duties. A Right is a potential claim, practised in a moral community. Duty is a social obligation to perform something for legal or moral reasons. These definitions will help in building a defence case against Carl’s argument that animals don’t have rights. According to Carl, for one to have moral claims he or she must have autonomy. The demand for moral claim shows that you have a right. This implies that if you lack autonomy, you don’t have rights. This view lacks truth in it. The argument brought by Cohen is that some humans lack rights, for example, the Senile. The right of someone should be the duty to others. For example, if you have a right to privacy it would be the duty of your neighbour not to interfere with your privacy. In a world where people who have duties and not adhere to them, the people have no rights. It should be noted that the duty of someone does not entail the right of another.

Fertility decline has repercussions far beyond those of changing Essay

Fertility decline has repercussions far beyond those of changing population growth rates. Discuss - Essay Example the current situation of Iran and Saudi Arabia as it pertains to the decline, and will also contrast the situation in these countries in respect to demographic behaviour and specific repercussions. Fertility decline has repercussions far beyond those of changing population growth rates. Already clear is the increasing influence of the media in Islamic countries. This is quite obvious from role the media played in Iran’s family planning. It is due to the media’s influence that smaller families became more popular in the first place. Thus, it is quite simple to see that Muslims are becoming more focused on the media, especially as it pertains to family and social developments. Saudi Arabia is another Middle Eastern country that is situated across the Persian Gulf. Saudi Arabia has also experienced a recent decline in fertility, but for different reasons, and there are contrasting political, social, and economic situations between Iran and Saudi Arabia. During the seventies and early eighties, the Islamic Republic of Iran had a pro-natalist policy, meaning that it encouraged families to have larger families. In the late eighties, the Iranian cities began to be seriously overpopulated. This problem directed The Islamic Republic of Iran to take action by way of family planning in 1989, which led to a dramatic drop in fertility. Saudi Arabia has been influenced by economic hardship as well, and the Total Fertility Rate (TFR) has recently begun to decrease. Politically, the Saudi Arabian government has not directly influenced fertility rate in any way, however, indirect political influence is a possibility The increasing education of women in Islamic countries seems to play a large part in the fertility decline. The more educated the woman, the fewer births she is likely to have. Iran has recently begun to increase the amount of education available to women. As the amount of education rises, less births occur. In Arabia, the educational status of women has

Using The Case Scenario Of Bertram Family Social Work Essay

Using The Case Scenario Of Bertram Family Social Work Essay Part 1: Indicate two sociological theories that can be used to help your understanding of the service users situation In taking the time to observe how sociological and psychological influences may impact on a service user or client group, the social worker can remain mindful of the wider context of a situation and not just take what she sees at face value. This knowledge allows the social worker to remain objective and to make informed decisions in order to maintain professionalism in her work. By applying Sociological and Psychological theory to the Bertrams case study I aim to explore the wider social context, outside influence and psychological implications from the past and present. Through this exploration I will uncover the varying viewpoints and sometimes contradictory nature of these theories. To gain a Sociological perspective on the case study I will be applying Functionalist and Feminist theories. I will be able to scrutinise the Bertrams current situation and apply the theory in order to gain a wider understanding of the social context. In order to maintain a balanced viewpoint, Psychod ynamic theory and Maslows hierarchy will enable me to consider the psychological impact with a focus on human and emotional development. By examining a situation from a Sociological perspective we can take into account how various aspects such as class, social structure, religion, disability can impact people from a wider social context. This is essential in gaining a holistic picture the situation. Functionalism By applying a Macro theory to the case scenario it allows us to look at the large scale features of society and how individual actions affect society as a whole and vice versa. Functionalism will enable me to contemplate the structure of society and how the Bertrams fit within that structure. Functionalist theorists regard society as a system with interlocking parts. It is believed that each part needs to function effectively in order for society, as a system, to work as a whole. It is often rationalised using biological analogy. The social role of individuals is an integral part of the theory. Each person is thought to have their individual role to play within society. From a functionalist perspective it is very clear that Mrs Bertram is not fulfilling her role as a wife. Due to her alzemers she is unable to carry out the duties that would have been expected of her. Durkheim believed that everyone had their place, and a womans place was in the home. In the context of the 40s, 50s wh en Functionalism was at its peak, this viewpoint would not have been uncommon, if a little out-dated by todays standards. None the less, it is not through choice that she has become dysfunctional within society. She has legitimate claim for not being able to carry out her societal role and Functionalism would automatically see her take on the sick role. This would enable her to function again within the system under a different guise. It could also be observed that Mr Bertram is a dysfunctional member of society. With his reckless behaviour, his outrageous spending, and the lack of care for his wifes basic needs he is no longer fulfilling his role of husband. A main proponent of Functionalism was Emile Durkheim (1858-1917). He saw marital vows as obligations. When I perform my duties as a brother, a husband or a citizen and carry out the commitments I have entered into, I fulfil obligations which are defined in law and custom which are external to myself and my actions (Durkheim, 1982). He believed that if a member of society was deemed as dysfunctional, then he was considered to be a deviant member of society. Deviance occurs when people are not functioning correctly, according to the norm. This could be through crime, or anything which affects their ability to carry out their societal role. Deviance needs to be controlled or managed. If it was established that Mr Bertram was in fact deviant then he may need some persuading that by providing the care and attention that his wife needs his wife would not be removed from the situation. Through this resolution, therefore, they would both be able to function appropriately. It could be observed that Mr Bertram had an alcohol dependency. If this was established then Mr Bertram too may take on the sick role. In which case a different method for resolving the issues within the house would need to be adopted. Talcott Parsons (1902-1979) believed that sickness was a social concept rather than a biological concept. So being ill meant acting in different, deviant ways to the norm. Being sick was therefore a form of social role (Haralambos and Holborn, 2004). Parsons believed the rights of a sick person to be exemption from normal social obligations, the right to be looked after and blamed for their social deviance as long as they were genuinely sick. Obligations of a person playing the sick role would be to understand that they have to get well as soon as possible in order to continue their normal function and in order to do this they must receive professional help. Mr Bertrams condition would need to be treated or managed in order to enable him to function ag ain. In that case Mr and Mrs Bertram would be able to stay at home under treatment and the issues about care could be dealt with accordingly. He would no longer be considered deviant member of society. A criticism of the sick role would be that it is very difficult to apply to long term illness like that of Mrs Bertram. It is built on the assumption that the person gain help in order to gain function. This would not be possible for Mrs Bertram. Feminism From a Radical Feminist perspective it could be observed that Mrs Bertram has been oppressed by her husband. Through her devotion and his dominance she has succumb to subordination. Radical Feminists use the patriarchal social system as a concept to explain gender inequality. Patriarchy is the dominance of men over women in society. They view men as responsible for the exploitation of women from which they benefit greatly, through free domestic labour, sexual duties and so on. The case study describes how Mrs Bertram was swept off of her feet and totally devoted to Mr Bertram. In their current situation, Mrs Bertram is at home in squalled conditions and desperately in need of help. Mr Bertram is avoiding the situation by using diversionary tactic, selfishly seeking social activity and pleasure through drink. This further increases her oppression as she is fully dependent on her husband to provide the care and attention which she is desperately in need of. Shulamith Firestone, an early radical feminist writer argues that men control womens roles in re-production and child bearing. Because women are biologically able to give birth to children, they become more dependent materially on men for protection and livelihood (Giddens, 2006). Feminists could argue that for this reason Mrs Bertram has become vulnerable within her setting and just accepts this way of life. Jessie Bernard argued that Men need marriage more than women (pg 208 Gender). Perhaps this reliance on the domestic labour, comfort and sexual duties of a wife, which has been lost my Mr Bertram through his wifes condition is attributing to his behaviour. Mrs Bertram is no longer fulfilling her duties as a wife and this could be disrupting his routine. It would appear that Mr Bertram has never had to control the household, take care of his wife or finances, and may lack the ability or may simply consider it beneath him. It could affect his masculinity to have to carry out such c hores and duties believed to be part of a womans role. This may also be the reason why he is reluctant to accept help with the situation. He may feel he is being barraged and dictated to by his step daughters which may be resulting in a greater defiance. It is not clear from the case study, the nature of their relationship either. He may feel that family and professionals are undermining his authority as head of the household. Mr Bertram may be compensating for his lack of masculinity at home, by using his social appearance, bravado, drinking and defiance. This time away from the house for him may reaffirm his role as a dominant male within society whilst his dominant role as a man disappears at home. He no longer has command over his wife, no longer gets respect, adoration that he was once used to. Men are considered to have more influence within society; Mr Bertram has no influence over this situation or over his wife. Part 2: Using the scenario describe two psychological theories that can be used to help your understanding of the service users situation Humanistic theory Maslows hierarchy of needs Humanistic psychologist Abraham Maslow (1908 1970) argued that humans throughout life not only want to have their basic survival needs met they strive for more in terms of personal growth. He believed that once basic needs for survival had been met that human development progressed toward higher psychological needs. He argued that people are motivated by the conscious desire for personal growth (Rathus, 2004). Maslow believed what separated us from our so-called lower animals was our capacity for self-actualisation (Rathus,2004). He believed that this self- actualisation was as important as basic needs but could not be met unless other stages of human needs were completed. He organised these stages into the hierarchy of needs, often presented in pyramid format. Each stage must be satisfied in order to progress to the next. At the bottom of the hierarchy are physiological needs. These are the basic human needs we all have in order to survive, like food, water, shelter, oxygen. Once t he first basic need has been satisfied, the following stage is safety needs, the need for security. The following stage in the hierarchy is love and belonging; the need to give and receive love, to overcome loneliness and achieve a sense of belonging in life. The fourth stage is Esteem needs; to feel self-confident, respected and not to feel inferior. Self-actualisation is the final stage in the hierarchy and can only be reached when all foregoing needs are satisfied and the person feels he has achieved everything he wants to in life and is the best that he can be. In the case of the Bertrams it is clear that Mrs Bertram is currently not even meeting the bottom of Maslows hierarchy of needs. It is noted that their flat is in an appalling state, she is unable to feed herself and left on her own for most of the day. You would expect most of her needs to be met within the context of her marriage to Mr Bertram; however, since he has neglected his role as a husband, he has placed her in a position of significant danger. Since not even her basic physiological needs are being met in the current situation then at present there would not be an opportunity to progress through the hierarchy of needs. If Mrs Bertram was placed in residential care then her physiological needs would be met. She would have food, water and care of her basic needs. She could then perhaps progress to the following stage of safety. She would no longer be at risk of hurting herself and she would be in a more secure environment. Although it could be argued that for an advance Alzheimers sufferer, the unfamiliar setting would disorientate her and she might not actually feel secure there. Because of her diagnosis, Mrs Bertram is unlikely to meet the third stage of love and belongingness. Her advanced Alzheimers may mean that she fails to recognise her husband, family members and have a declining ability to communicate. Mrs Bertram would never reach self-actualisation. The best that could be achieved would be basic survival and safety needs, whether this was achieved at home with the compliance of her husband, or in residential care. Although it could be debated that residential care would not be the best opt ion. As the GP states in the case scenario, a move to residential care might well kill Mrs Bertram. It would appear from the case scenario that Mr Bertrams basic needs are being fulfilled. However it is uncertain as to whether his s safety and security needs are being met. He certainly would not get a sense of love and belonging from his wife, in the latter stages of sever dementia. I would observe, however, there is some attempt from Mr Bertram to achieve a sense of self-esteem, since he spends the majority of his time with his compatriots at the golf club. It is clear that in this relationship and the current situation faced by the Bertrams that he too has no way of reaching self-actualisation. Maslow observes that it is mainly social factors that hinder the personal growth of humans. Potentially at least the first two stages of Maslows hierarchy could be reached within the context of their marriage, with the right services in place. Psychodynamic theory Through the Psychodynamic theory of personality we could speculate about Mr Bertrams past and how that has influence on his behaviour in the present. It would be difficult to achieve a comprehensive result in regards to Mrs Bertram because of her Alzheimers. Since her behaviour is wholly attributed to her condition. Studying Sigmund Freuds (1856 1939) theories, with a focus on psychosexual development, would be the most relevant to apply to the case scenario. Psychodynamic theory had been developed and evolved over the years. Freuds idea of Psychodynamic theory depicted humans as largely driven by unconscious motives and desires. He proclaimed that humans come into conflict when their basic instincts come up against social pressure to follow, laws or moral codes. At first this conflict is external, but as we develop it becomes internalised (Rathus, 2004). Freud explains the conflict of personality using psychic structures. The id, which Freud believed is present at birth and located in the unconscious mind, and revolves around our basic biological drives and instincts. It operates on what Freud called the pleasure principle. It demands instant gratification regardless of laws or moral rules. Another feature in the structure of personality is the ego. Formed from the id, developed through learni ng and experience. This is the part where conscious thought takes place (Beckett and Taylor, 2010). The ego operates on the reality principle. This takes into consideration what is practical and possible in gratifying needs (Rathus, 2004). When the ego senses improper impulses arsing it can sometimes deploy a number of defence mechanisms. The third psychic structure is the superego. This is formed throughout early childhood and is developed through standards, values, parenting and moral standards. Psychodynamic theory emphasises the way in which the mind stimulates behavior, and both mind and behavior influence and are influenced by the persons social environment (Payne, 2005) Freud believed there were four stages in psychosexual development. The first stage took place during the first year of a childs life. This is known as the oral stage. Much of the childs development is explored by putting things into the mouth and sucking, biting chewing. Freud believed it was possible to have arrested development through trauma. And be fixated on one of the stages. From the case study we could surmise that Mr Bertram is fixated on the oral stage of psychosexual development through his drinking. We could speculate that he may have had a significant trauma at that stage which has left him with a possible alcohol dependency, thus fixated on the oral stage. It could perhaps be identified that Mr Bertram is using psychological defence mechanisms in order to avoid the situation that he is currently facing. Part 3: Reflect on your own background describe it and indicate 1 sociological and 1 psychological theory that can be applied to you, giving examples The relationship I have with my father has often been fraught, difficult and tense. As a sufferer of a severe mental disorder, my father has often displayed irrational, delusional, paranoid and sometimes violent behaviour. Throughout his life he has had frequent hospitalisation. For me this is something I have grown up with and am used to dealing with on a day to day basis. I am acutely aware of how our relationship differs to that of my friends for example. I have as close a relationship as possible with him, and to that end I usually bear the brunt of his paranoia and aggression when he is unwell. I have witnessed first-hand the stigma attached to mental illness. I find it extremely difficult to trust anyone enough to tell them about the situation, and I strongly feel I shouldnt have to tell everyone that meets him, this only leads to labelling him as mentally ill, thus changing the way in which they treat him; which only compounds his paranoia. Some Sociological theorists believe that mental illness is a social construction in order to rationalise bizarre or irrational behaviour that cannot be in any other way explained. This is known as labelling theory. Scheff (1966) argued that people are labelled as mentally ill because their behaviour does not make sense to others. Scheff points out that labelling of a person as mentally ill is facilitated by stereotyped imagery learned in early childhood and continually reaffirmed, inadvertently, in ordinary social interaction and through the mass media. Thus, when a persons violation of social norms or deviance becomes a public issue, the traditional stereotype of crazy person is readily adopted both by those reacting to the deviant person and, often, by the deviant person as well (Lamb. 2002). Erving Goffman suggests that when someone is labelled as mentally ill then they are treated differently. When an interaction takes place with that person it is with this knowledge of the menta l illness, therefore creating what Goffman called a spurious interaction (Haralambos and Holborn, 2004). From a behaviourist view, Schizophrenia could be viewed as a kind of learned behaviour. From this perspective, people engage in schizophrenic behaviour when it is more likely to be reinforced than normal behaviour (Rathus, 2004). This could be the result of being raised in an unrewarding or punitive situation. It could also be observed that this kind of behaviour is reinforced within the hospital setting, where the schizophrenic behaviour is reinforced through attention from professionals within that setting. Cognitive theory argues that behavior is affected by perception or interpretation of the environment during the process of learning. Apparently inappropriate behavior must therefore arise from misinterpretation. Therapy tries to correct the misunderstanding, so that our behavior reacts appropriately to the environment (Payne, 2006) I believe the experiences I have had with my father give me the ability to understand mental illness without stigmatising. It also helps me empathise with the sufferer and the family. An empathetic approach to someone who was hearing voices for example, would be to understand that to the person affect, they are very real. I fully understand the importance of having the right services in place in order for that person to thrive. My experience allows me to observe the wider context of a situation and realise that it is not only the primary sufferer of the condition that is affected. The wider family needs to be considered as they have a huge role to play in the well-being of the person concerned.