Ethics Audit Question Essay Example for Free

Ethics Audit Question Essay Board Does the board have a clear and concise plan of action to deal with problems that arise from regular assessment? This question is important when assessing an organization’s ethical performance. This question will help the organization create a plan of action to deal with any problem that may arise. Staff- Are all staff members educated equally about how to advance in the organization? This question would help the organization make sure that they are treating all employees the same, as well as giving them all the same opportunities. The question would also aid in the assessment of the organizations ethical performance. Donors and Fundraisers- Does the organization give the donors the proper instructions or information on how to write their donations as tax write offs or deductions? In an ethical performance review, the organization will show that it cares about the donors, and is following government procedures. Clients/Customers- Is there a policy in place to ensure that all clients are given the same amount of time to be helped and processed? In an ethical review this shows that all clients are treated equally without prejudice or bias regardless of age, ethnicity, race, origin, or sex. Volunteers- Are all volunteers treated the same, and given equal opportunities for employment in the organization? It is important for the organization to show their volunteers that they are valued and important to the organization. Society- Is the organization doing everything it can, to meet the expectations of the public it serves? It is important for the organizations ethical committee to know that the organization is doing all that it can to serve the public’s needs. The public will feel like they can trust the organization.

John Keats Romantic Escapist English Literature Essay

John Keats Romantic Escapist English Literature Essay Like all romantic poets, Keats seeks an escape in the past. His imagination is attracted by the  ancient Greeks  as well as by the glory and splendour ofMiddle Ages. He rarely devotes himself to the pressing problems of the present. Hyperion, Endymion and Lamia are all classical in theme, though romantic in style. Keats this finds an escape into the past from the oppressive realities of the present.   Also Keats themes are romantic in nature. Most of his  poetry  is devoted to the quest of beauty. Love, chivalry, adventure, pathos these are some of the themes of his poems. Another strain that runs through his poetry is the constant fear of death, which finds very beautiful expression in his sonnet, When I Have Fears. Another theme of his poetry is disappointment in love, which can be seen in La Belle Dam Sans Merci. Like all romantics, Keats loves nature and its varied charms. He transfigures everything into beauty that he touches with magic hand of chance. He says in Ode to Nightingale,   Tis not through envy of thy happy lot, But being too happy in thine happiness, Beauty is Keats religion and he is very romantic is his frank pursuit of beauty and in that pursuit of beauty, he completely forgets himself and the world around him.   The romantic quality in literature has been defined by Pater as, The addition of strangeness to the beauty. All sorts of poetry deals with beauty in one way or the other, but romantic poetry goes a step ahead and imparts strangeness to the beauty. Keats sees beauty in ordinary things of nature. Earth, to him, is a place of where beauty renews itself everyday, the sky is full of huge cloudy symbols of high romance. Keats loves beauty in the flower, in the stream and in the cloud but he loves it in each thing as a part of Universal Beauty, which is infinite the mighty abstract idea of Beauty. Thou was not born for death, immortal bird The song of the nightingale becomes a symbol of the universal spirit of beauty. The nightingale is, for Keats, the symbol of unlimited joy, infinite happiness and universal spirit of beauty. Pursuit of the unknown, the invisible and infinite inspires the creation of all the romantic poetry of the world. Last but not least, both in terms of diction and metres, Keats poetic style is romantic. Though it has classical finish, it possesses that romantic tough of suggestiveness by which more is meant than meets the ear. Keats has employed various kinds of metres and stanzaforms in his poetic work. He is one of the greatest sonneteers in  English language  and his Odes with their musical flow in long stanzas, stand as unique specimen of romantic poetry. Keats was true romantic poet, because his attention was not only beauty but also truth. He saw beauty in truth and truth in beauty. Beauty is truth, truth beauty, that is all Ye know on earth, and all ye need to know. He persistently endeavoured to reconcile the world of imagination with the world of reality. Therefore, Middleton Murray calls Keats a true romantic. A pure poet feels and expresses his joy in beauty, but when he feels this joy, he realizes also a new aspect of beauty, which is truth. In this identity of beauty and truth, lies the harmony of universe. Keats realizes this harmony when he says that truth and beauty are the same thing. Wordsworth and Shelley both had theories but Keats has none. We cannot accuse Keats of any withdrawal or refusal; he was merely about his business and his business was that of a pure poet. (T. S. Eliot) For Keats, the necessary quality of poetry is submission to the things as they are, without any effort to intellectualize them into something else. Keats often says that the poet must not live for himself, but must feel for others, and must do good, but he must do so by being a poet, not by being a teacher or moralist. There is no didacticism in Keats as there is in Wordsworth. He delivers what he sees; the pleasures of seeing nature and beauty. Where are the songs of Spring? Ay, where are they? Think not of them, thou hast thy music too. At one time he regrets about the songs of Spring and but then he sees the beauties of Autumn and involves himself in them. He instantly forgets the pain of losing songs of Spring and starts admiring Autumn.   The idea of  French revolution  had awakened the youthful passions of both Wordsworth and Coleridge; they had stirred the wrath of Scott; they had worked like yeast on Byron. They had brought forth new matters for Shelley who re-moulded them and turned them into prophecy of the future. There was only one poet, Keats, of that age who they could not affect in any way whatsoever. Keats was so preoccupied with beauty that he turned a blind eye to the actualities of life around him. (Stopeford Brooke) It is true that Keats poetry does not express the revolutionary ideas of his age, but Keats was a pure who expressed in his poetry the most worth while part of himself and it was his vision of beauty, which was also truth to him. If his aim was to pursue beauty, which was also truth to him, he cannot be called an escapist, for in pursuing beauty, he pursued truth.   The poetry of Keats shows a gradual process of development. His earlier experiments in verse are products of youthful imagination, immature and overcharged with imagery. The young poet has abnormal sensibility, but lacks experience of life. Endymion opens with the famous line A thing of beauty is a joy forever, it is full of glorious promise but it is lost in shadows and uncertainties, because it is not based upon experiences of life. In the Odes, Keats poetry assumes a deeper tone. There he faces the sorrows and sufferings of life. He would wish for a life of joy and happiness, like that of nightingale. Fade far away, and quite forget What thou amongst the leaves hast never known, The weariness, the fever, and the fret, There, where men sit and hear each other groan; (Ode to Nightingale) Thus he longed to escape from realities of life, but it was a passing mood that seized him when he was contrasting the lot of man with that of the nightingale. Sorrows and sufferings are inevitable in life and he fully realized that escape from realities of life was neither possible nor desirable. In Hyperion, he wrote: None can usurp the height à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦. But those to whom miseries of the world Are miseries, and will not let them rest. In a sonnet, he says: How fevered that man who cannot look Upon his mortal days with temperate blood. Keats was trying to attain serenity of mood in the midst of all the sufferings which he was undergoing in his own life and which he saw all around him. This mood of serenity is expressed in Ode to Autumn, which accordingly to Middleton Murray, The perfect and unforced utterance of the truth contained in the magic words (of Shakespeare): Ripeness is all. For Keats, earlier hankering for the world of Flora and Pan for unreflecting enjoyment of sensuous delights is past; he now subjected himself persistently and unflinchingly to life. He faced life with all uncertainties and contradictions, its sorrows and joys. The lines Where beauty cannot keep her lustrous eyes, Or new love pine at them beyond tomorrow. (Ode to Nightingale) are thrilled with aching hopelessness. In Ode to Melancholy, he says, dwells with beauty beauty that must die Melancholy arises from transience of joy and joy is transient by its nature. Therefore Keats accepts life as a whole with its joys and beauty as well as its sorrows and despair. To quote the words of Middleton Murray about Ode on a Grecian Urn, These lines contain deep wisdom purchase at the full price of deep suffering. They are symbol and prophecy of a comprehension of human life to which mankind can attain. Keats study of Lemprieres Classical Dictionary fully acquainted him with the Greek mythology; and he loved every bit of it, and freely used it in his poetry. The stories of Endymion, Lamia and Hyperion, are based upon Greek legends. In his Ode to Psyche and  Ode on a Grecian Urn, the subjects are Greek, and the poet while expressing his passion for beauty transports himself in his imagination to the days of ancient Greeks. But the most important factor is Keats Hellenism was his own Greek temper the inborn temperamental Greekness of his mind. The power of seeing things with a childs amazement and forgetfulness was the temper of Keats, as it was the temper of Greeks i.e.; half-worship added half-joy. The instinctive Greekness of Keats mind lies in his passionate pursuit of beauty, which is the very soul of his poetry. His passion for beauty finds a concrete expression in his Ode to Psyche: Yes, I will be thy priest and buld a fane In some untrodden regions of my mind, Where branched thoughts, new grown with pleasant pain Instead of pine shall murmur in the wind. The Greek did not burden their poetry with philosophy or spiritual message. Their poetry was incarnation of beauty, and existed for itself. Similarly, Keats was pure poet. He enjoyed unalloyed pleasure in nature, which for him, did not carry any philosophical or spiritual message. Concluding it, Keats, possesses the qualities of romantic and pure poet he loves nature, which is seen by him with Greek temper. He never thinks about past and future and his only concern is the present time; the present moment of beauty and truth. In his early poetry, one can perceive him as an escapist because there was joy and delight and overcharged imagination because of inexperience youth. But with gradual development of thought and experience, he comes to the conclusion that sorrows and joys are always together; rose cannot be taken without its thrones. One can clearly sees in his Odes that he is not an escapist but he is accepting the realities of life. There is something of the innermost soul of poetry in almost everything he wrote. (Tennyson)

Womens Role :: Exploratory Essays Research Papers

A housewife and mother are words that describe the typical woman in the 1950's. The mother and wife was seen to have a very specific set of responsibilities to fulfill. Those roles and responsibilities have drastically changed since then. An excerpt, from a 1950 home economics textbook, was founded on "How to Be a Good Wife." It gave nine suggestions to women on how she could please her husband. Before her husband came home from work, she was expected to have dinner ready and on the table. She was also anticipated to prepare herself by putting make up on, doing her hair, anything that could make her look refreshed upon his arrival ("The Good Wife"1). Not only was she to pamper herself, but she was supposed to coddle her children, whether it be giving him/her a bath or changing his/her clothes. Since she was a housewife, she was to insure the house was spotless. The noise level was to be minimized. This did not only mean for the children to be quiet, but rather all noise from the washer, dryer, dishwasher, and vacuum were to be eliminated ("The Good Wife"1). The woman was to remember that her husband just spent a long, hard day at work. If he wasn't present, she would have no source of income and therefore would be at a state of financial ruin. Therefore, she was to avoid bothering him with problems or complaints. Her duty was to listen to him ("The Good Wife" 2). She was to guarantee that the evening would be peaceful, relaxing, and catered towards him. The main goal for the woman was to make the house a place of serenity and order where her husband could renew himself in body and in spirit. Women's roles were confined to a small list of responsibilities. As a result, they were seen as a minority. Society convinced women that they weren't capable of performing any work outside of the home. They were to stay home to cook, clean, take care of the children, and any other aspect involving the home. This was their sole responsibility. There wasn't anything else they were allowed or expected to do. Unfortunately this frame of mind developed in women and until only recently has this mindset been challenged by the female gender.

Respect for Nature in Rime of the Ancient Mariner Essay -- Rime Ancien

Respect for Nature in Rime of the Ancient Mariner  Ã‚  Ã‚   "The Rime of the Ancient Mariner is a parable of a seaman's crime against nature (pointlessly killing an albatross) and his repentance by blessing the lowly water-snakes.   Setting the poem in the Middle Ages in the then-unknown seas near Antarctica, the poet is able to make his narrative credible and give the reader what is called 'the willing suspension of disbelief.'   "    This seven part ballad begins as a tale told by an "ancient Mariner" who has grabbed hold of a Wedding Guest and captivates his will by sharing his wild tale at sea: "The Wedding-Guest stood still, And listens like a three years' child: The Mariner hath his will."   The ancient mariner tells us about a great Albatross, "At length did cross an Albatross, Thorough the fog it came; As if it had been a Christian soul, We hailed it in God's name." The Albatross brought "a good south wind" and enjoyment for the mariners. But then, for no reason, the ancient Mariner says that "With my crossbow I shot the Albatross" and from then on, Nature had her fury on...

Gender & Jim Crow: Book Review Essay -- essays research papers fc

In Glenda Elizabeth Gilmore’s book Gender & Jim Crow, Gilmore illustrates the relations between African Americans and white in North Caroline from 1896 to 1920, as well as relations between the men and women of the time. She looks at the influences each group had on the Progressive Era, both politically and socially. Gilmore’s arguments concern African American male political participation, middle-class New South men, and African American female political influences. The book follows a narrative progression of African American progress and relapse. Gilmore argues that African American male political participation between 1890 and 1898 represented a movement toward greater inclusion. She claims that African American males in politics strove for the balance of power between political parties in North Carolina, and that the Populist-Republican victory in 1896 kept African American votes in contention and maintained some African American men in political office for a short period of time. There was an agreement between African Americans and whites that the â€Å"Best Men,† middle class African Americans, were to be the only African Americans to hold office. This was because by being dubbed the â€Å"Best Men,† they had met certain standards and were suitable for office according to the white politicians. The â€Å"Best Men† clashed with the South’s â€Å"New White Man,† who sought to re-monopolize voting rights and political power, as well as to completely dominate African Americans. Gilmore attri butes the â€Å"New White Man’s† goals to these men’s bitterness towards their fathers who were blamed for the defeat in the Civil War, southern underdevelopment, and black progress. Nonetheless, African American men rapidly increased power in politics when many positions became publicly elected. Gilmore reasons that the progress of African American men in politics caused upwardly mobile and middle-class New South men, Southern Progressives, to formulate disenfranchisement and Jim Crow laws, and to later blame the deficient â€Å"cracker† for acting on their verbal violence. She also says that white supremacists reacted to white women’s movement into public space, urbanization, industrialization, and African-American advancement, and â€Å"responded to black power even as [they] capitalized on black weakness† (p 118). The â€Å"Best Men† were blamed for the supposed rapists and malingerers in the Afr... ...th Carolina. I agree with her arguments, and found a great deal of the information in this book surprising, and also disturbing. I did not know a lot of the history of race relation in North Carolina, which was different from the rest of the south since whites barely outnumbered African Americans at that time in North Carolina. Because of this legal segregation came late and was more intense since the African Americans were able to put up more of a fight. All of Gilmore’s evidence supports her arguments, and makes a lot of sense. She did enough research and knows enough about the South that there is no reason any of the standpoints that she makes should be false. Glenda Gilmore’s book Gender & Jim Crow shows a different point of view from a majority of history of the south and proves many convictions that are not often stated. Her stance from the African American point of view shows how harsh relations were at this time, as well as how hard they tried for equity in society. Gilmore’s portrayal of the Progressive Era is very straightforward and precise, by placing educated African American women at the center of Southern political history, instead of merely in the background.

Disappearance of Family Farms Essay

There are many things in the world that have been disappearing over recent years. These types of things include, but are not limited to: encyclopedias, tape players, typewriters, and even books. Another thing that has been a huge part of history that seems to be disappearing at, frankly, an alarming and scary rate is family-owned farms. Less than one third of family farms that existed in the United States in 1935 are still remaining (Toews). Family farms are disappearing because of the expenses incurred in owning one, the hard work and long days the family must put into them, and because of the appeal of city life to younger generations and the development of land throughout the United States. Family farms are expensive. And, unlike what one would expect, the rewards are not too extravagant, either. The expenses are rising while the income is declining, and that is an equation none of us want to see when it comes to our own future. It was even predicted by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics that farmers would see the biggest decline in income than any other industry (Toews). However, if we lose all of our family-owned farms, all we have to rely on is larger industries, which includes travel and transportation costs, chemicals, and most likely the mistreatment of animals. Good work ethic seems to be something that has become rare in America. There is an unexplainable amount of work that goes into farming, especially on smaller farms with less man and machine power to help out. Farmers, on average, spend between twelve and sixteen hours a day working. And, tying this back, they are not being rewarded properly for the hard labor they put into their jobs each and every day. They have no vacations, no holidays, and no sick or personal time. They have to be there. As younger generations look to their elders, they realize all of the suffering with little reward, and question if they want to go down that very same path themselves. Lastly, farms seem to be disappearing because of development and the desire for the city life. Younger generations of the 21st century seem to be drawn to city life, to fast paced life with easy access to anything and everything they might need at the drop of a hat. To make these accommodations for malls, plazas, parking lots, and buildings, we need to develop land somewhere. According to the United States Environmental Protection Agency, 3,000 acres of land are being lost due to development each day as of 2008 (Gilbert). So, why should it be saved? It is a piece of history, something that all of us, if traced back far enough, can relate to in some way. It is healthy, for our bodies, ethics, the economy, and the environment. If we were able to afford more local farms, then we could cut transportation costs and fumes extravagantly. If more people worked on farms, I can almost guarantee the work ethic in the United States would skyrocket. Also, with more people actually doing work consisting of hard labor, we may be able to cut health problems such as obesity. And, if that assumption came to be untrue, the community would still have fresh food. So, if it’d be so great, why can’t we do it? It’s expensive. Plain and simple. Family farming is not something that will come back easily, as would a piece of apparel in the fashion industry. On the contrary, it is something we need to fight for. Buy locally grown. Support your local businesses and economy. It may not seem like a huge step, but every little bit will count when trying to save what we have left of this farming history. Works Cited Gilbert, Sarah. â€Å"Top 25 Things Vanishing from America.† DailyFincance. N.p., 20 Jul 2008. Web. 1 Oct 2012. . Toews, Jacob. â€Å"The Disappearing Family Farm.† Real Truth. 01 Jun 2010: n. page. Web. 1 Oct. 2012.

Changing Attitude Towards Child Sex Preference Essay

This paper focuses on the intensity of preference for sons over daughters in anticipation of old age security both physically and financially, and its impact on the care and support/ well-being of the elderly in Nigeria in general, and in particular among the Yoruba of Southwest. The paper examines the impact of social change on child sex preference as old age security. Before delving into the theme of the paper, the concept of social change was briefly discussed. The reasons for having children generally are discussed, child sex preference among the elderly were equally analyzed; the pattern it took before now, the changes that have occurred and the attitude of parents toward child sex preference as old age security in the contemporary Nigerian society were equally examined. The effects of sex preference and other socio-economic factors on the status of the elderly and its implications for the family were mentioned. Various literature and theoretical models on the subject matter were reviewed and finally, a general conclusion was drawn. Introduction Startling transformations have occurred all over the world, particularly on the mode of caring and supporting of older persons and there are a number of important issues, which arise as a result of these transformations and the major structural shift in the population. One of these issues is the concern of social gerontologists for the needs of older people for support in the society. Although, it should be mentioned at this uncture that this transformation (that is, social change) affects different people in different ways, depending on sex, location, size of cohort, economic resources (individual, familial and national), norms inherited from the past and individual’s live experiences and personality. For example, marital status and earlier patterns of childbearing are significant factors influencing the nature of the support available in old age. While co-residence of older persons and adult children is common in many developing countries, the tendency worldwide is for this arrangement to become less common. This has direct consequences for economic security, especially in the numerous societies (and particularly, their rural sectors), where pensions are paid only to a small proportion of older persons who are eligible because of earlier employment in the former sectors or few older persons who were able to save or invest for their old age. Even in countries where pensions are more generally available, the burden of an ageing population is increasingly being regarded as unsustainable, particularly since there is an increasing tendency for those able to do so to take early retirement. For many, especially women, there is a real threat of poverty in old-age, and this problem may be exacerbated by social exclusions and the deteriorating health conditions experienced by many older persons particularly, women at more advanced ages. Care of the frail and disabled becomes increasingly problematic, both in terms of stress placed on care providers and care-givers and also the mobilization of the appropriate resources of families, agencies and programmes to meet even the basic needs of older persons. According to Peil (1991), as life expectancy rises, young couples are more likely to be called upon to provide for their older parents than these parents were at the same stage of the life cycle, at a time when increasing emphasis on educating one’s children, rampant inflation and widespread unemployment of young adults make adequate provisions for older parents difficult. The situation among older people without children of their own were even more pathetic. For instance, old people who have no living children tend to risk the chances of isolation and lack of support. Personality is another very crucial factor to be considered; this is because, personality can make considerable difference to the help received. For example, an older person who was hard to get along with is more likely to lack support than the cheerful old person who gets along well with family and neighbours (Peil, 1991). All these are important variables, which determine whether individuals will receive adequate care and support from family and society. It is evident from the various literature that, very little attention has been paid to older people of modern industrializing societies of the world. In Nigeria for example, as well as in most developing countries, the need to plan for the welfare of older persons has received very little attention. There are clear evidences of lack of formal social support services for older people in Nigeria, such as Social Securiy, Pension, Health Insurance Scheme, Old Peoples Home, etc. One of the explanatory factors arises from the belief that the existing extended family system generally protects and provides for the welfare of old people in rural and agricultural societies. Hence, where an older person is childless, his/her brothers or sisters or even the children of his siblings are believed to be responsible for his/her maintenance. This may not be unconnected with why most policies, programmes and projects in the developing countries such as Nigeria have been concentrated on the children and the youths at the expense of older persons in the country. Both national and international organizations are seen working tirelessly on programmes and projects that would benefit the children and the youths, forgetting that the children and the youths of today would be the adult and older persons in the near future. Such beliefs and practices give the impression that the aged, unlike children, represent a discomforting second-order dependency on the younger working generation. But it should be mentioned at this juncture that old people are not always dependent on others for survival. For example, old age may not necessarily symbolize dependency especially in modern Nigeria in which the possession of landed property by older people and access to business opportunities may earn them some income. Hence, while it is generally believed that old people in general depend on the younger people for their survival, it can be equally true that some younger people do depend on such old people for their survival. In fact, some older persons in Nigeria may be rich enough to provide educational assistance for the children of their brothers and sisters as well as their own. Put differently, the prevailing view of older people as a ‘social problem’ emphasizes the ‘burden’ of older people in the population. This negative and blinkered vision has almost entirely neglected the provision of care by older people themselves, although there are some notable exceptions. It should also be said that prevailing ‘social problem’ focus has stigmatized older people as a dependent and unproductive group. This negative stereotyping is partly because of invisibility of informal work as a contribution to society. Older people are givers as well as receivers through their substantial caring for other older people, unpaid domestic work, care for grandchildren and voluntary work. However, it should be mentioned that differences occur between male and female in terms of access to, and possession of wealth in the society. This, in turn, leads to differences in the care and support given and received by older men and women in the society. This we must emphasized has affected older persons’ attitude towards child sex preference as old age security globally and particularly in Nigeria society. A pronounced preference of parents to have male children has been noted in a number of countries, although a desire for a balanced number of sons and daughters is also common (Williamson, 1976; Arnold and Kuo, 1984). Son preference is particularly prevalent in countries with strong patriarchal system or tradition (Cleland, Verrall, and Vaessen, 1983; Cho, Arnold, and Kwon, 1982; Freedman and Coombs, 1994). The extent of son preference has been the subject of considerable discussion and debate in most literature. Sons are preferred for a variety of reasons, including family name propagation, old age security, provision of labour, and the performance of ancestral rites (Wolf, 1985; Zhao and Zhu, 1983). Also, the Fifth National Women’s Congress (1983); Haupt (1983); Li (1982); Liu (1984); Tien (1985); Wolf (1985); all maintained that traditionally, sons were considered advantageous for two economic reasons, namely: support for their parents in old age and the provision of labour for the farm or family business. They argued further that the former is still an important consideration in most societies, despite the recent introduction of some forms of social security. So much has been written about social change that it is really not of much use for us to start a process of seeking definitions. At the level of the daily lives of ordinary citizens, it is even doubtful whether our people are really interested, one way or the other, in what intellectual ideas may really be. It is the manifestations of their collective cynicism towards this concept that one feels ought to worry us, unless we are able to capture the reasons for this drift, we run the risk of merely speaking to ourselves. The concept of social change may mean different things to different people, depending on the available indicators in any given social milieu. Many sociologists view social change in the structure of society or alteration of the social structure (Morris Ginsberg, 1958:205). Others stress that social change is not only a change in the structure, but also in the functioning of society. According to Allen, (1971:39) social change comprises modifications in social systems or subsystems in structure, functioning, or process over some period of time. It should be mentioned at this juncture that quiet a number of scholars have adopted a number of different definitions/approaches to the study of social change at various levels. (For more details see Amitai (1964), Appelbaum (1970), DeVries, (1961), Peter, (1966), Moore & Ogburn, (1922), etc. ) In spite of the cynical attitudes of the people about the concept of social change, effort is made to give a working definition of social change within the context of this paper. Social change within the context of this paper can be defined as he transformation of culture and social institutions over time. It should be mentioned at this juncture that our society has experienced social change over the past two or more centuries. Nigeria, like any other country of the world, has changed particularly, in the area of agriculture, urbanization, industrialization, family/personal relationships. Social change has influenced nearly every aspect of our life. Although, we should also mention here that people are not equally affected by these changes. This is because social change affects different people in different ways, depending on sex, age, work experience, location, class, size of cohort, economic resources (individual, familial and national), norms inherited from the past, individual’s live experiences and personality. All these are important variables, which determine how individuals are advantaged or disadvantaged by their position. Reasons for having children In many Third World countries or societies, having a large family is an eminently rational strategy of survival. Children’s labour particularly that of sons is a vital part of the family economy in many peasant communities of Africa in general, and in Nigeria in particular. Children help on the fields, tend animals, fetch water and wood, and care for their younger brothers and sisters freeing their parents for other tasks. Quite early in life, children’s labour makes them an asset rather than a liability on family income (Betsy Hartman, 1998) . In urban settings, children often earn income as servants, messengers, etc, or else stay at home to care for younger children while their parents’ work. Among the Yoruba community in Nigeria, demographer John Caldwell (1982) found that even urban professional families benefit from many children through ‘sibling assistance chains’. As one child completes education and takes a job, he or she helps younger brothers and sisters move up the educational and employment ladder, thus the connections and the influence of the family spread. Another reason for having many children, according to Cain (1983) is security. According to him, in many Third World societies, the vast majority of the population has no access to insurance schemes, pension plans, or government social security. For instance, in Nigeria, little or nothing is known, said or done about social security, i. e. about how to guarantee the individual against want, poverty, destitution, disease and idleness which may be thrust upon him by the varied hazards and vicissitudes of social life: notably loss or suspension of income or means of sustenance, resulting from sickness, maternity, injury, invalidity, old age, death of a breadwinner or unemployment. According to Nwabueze (1989) there is no clear statement of policy regarding social security and little is spent on it by the state, except in the capacity of the employer. This neglect manifests itself in the hordes of the elderly people engaged in public alms solicitation in our urban cities in the country at large, and most especially in southwestern Nigeria. One of the reasons adduced for the policy neglect is that, children are expected to care for their parents in their old age. Without them, one’s future is endangered. The help of grown up children, particularly male children, can then be crucial in surviving the periodic crisis-illness, drought, floods, food shortages, land disputes, political upheavals, which, unfortunately, punctuate village life in most parts of the world. Folbre (1983) further maintained that, in most developing countries of the world in general, and in Nigeria in particular, son preference can be another important motive for having larger families. The subordination of women means that, economically and socially daughters are less or not valued as highly as sons in many cultures, particularly among the Yoruba of the southwest Nigeria, most especially in the traditional era. Not only does daughters’ domestic work have less prestige, but daughters typically provide fewer years of productive labour to their parents, and leave home to live with their husbands and in-laws shortly after puberty. Son’s preference, combined with high infant and child mortality rates, means that parents must have many children just to ensure that one or two sons survive so as to serve as old-age security, most especially in the face of economic uncertainty. As a corollary to the above point, Lappe et al (1979) maintained that in the 1960s, an Indian couple had to bear an average of 6. 3 children to be confident of having one son who would survive to adulthood. Male dominance in the family, patriarchal social mores, the systematic exclusion of women from the development process, and the absence of decent birth control services combine to force many women into having more children than they want. Put differently, the social environment, in effect, leaves them (women) little or no reproductive choice. Thus, there is tendency among them, to have more children in order to guarantee the future of the lineage. Sex Preferences and Worldwide Patterns Parental preference for sons over daughters is a common phenomenon in many parts of the world. Son preference has been well documented in a large number of countries, including Nigeria. But the degree of such preference varies substantially from one country to another, depending on such factors as the level of economic development, social norms, level of education, cultural and religious practices, marriage and family systems, degree of urbanization, and the nature of social security systems available. The preference for sons tend to be particularly pronounced in developing countries, in rural areas, and among more traditional couples and couples of lower socio-economic status. Although son preference is still common even in many economically developed countries (Bennett, 1983), this preference often exists side by side with parents’ desire to have, at least, one child of each sex. The World Fertility Survey (WFS) found that son preference was moderately strong in Lesotho and the Sudan, and very strong in Jordan and Syria. In Asia, son preference was found to be weak among women from Indonesia (except for the first child). The survey also found a moderate degree of son preference in Malaysia, Thailand, and SriLanka, and son preference was extremely strong in Bangladesh, Nepal, Pakistan, and South Korea. The WFS result for Asia generally agrees quite closely with the findings of Williamson (1976), who reviewed the literature on sex preferences throughout the world in the mid 1970s (Arnold and Liu; 1986). Further, son preference has been found to be prevalent in all East Asia and among groups outside of that region that share a heritage of Confucian patriarchal tradition. According to Arnold and Kuo (1984:301), son preference in South Korea and Taiwan is both pervasive and extreme. This finding has been confirmed by a number of other studies (see Williamson, 1976; Coombs and Sun, 1981; Cho, Arnold and Kwon, 1982; Chung, Cha, and Lee, 1974). In spite of the foregoing, it should be mentioned that in some countries, couples exhibit little or no son preference, and there are even a few instances in which a preference for daughters has been documented. For example, WFS found that considerably more women wanted a daughter for their next child than a son in Jamaica and Venezuela (Cleland, Verrall, and Vaessen, 1983). The WFS also found little or no sex preference of any type in most South America countries, in parts of the Caribbean and in Kenya and so on, to mention but a few (Arnold and Liu, 1986). Sex Preference among the Yoruba Concern among the Yoruba of Southwest Nigeria about son preference, as an old age security is a long-standing one. Mao Zedong vividly depicted this problem in a talk with Edgar Snow in 1970. â€Å"In the country side, a woman still wants a boy child. If the first and second babies are girls, she will make another try. If the third one comes and is still a girl, the mother would try again. Pretty soon, there are nine of them, Then, the mother is already over 45 or so and she finally decides to leave it at that† (cited in Katagiri and Terao, 1972:2). A variety of historical, moral, ethical, and economic factors underlie son preference among the Yoruba of Southwest Nigeria. In the past, the male patriarch dominated the family in Nigeria, and the practice of ancestor worship gradually developed. Hence, the patriarchal family structure and the resulting strong preference for sons became institutionalized values among the Yoruba. These traditions also stress the importance of carrying on the family line through male progeny. Traditionally, apart from social prestige and the felt need to continue the family line, the existence of sons among the Yoruba is considered advantageous for two economic reasons. These are, support for their parents in old age and the provision of labour for the farm or family business. The former is still an important consideration in Nigeria in general, and among the Yoruba of Southwest in particular, despite the recent introduction of some forms of social security in Nigeria. Other reasons for sex preference among the Yoruba include son’s financial contribution to the family income; emotional support and the need for sons to meet religious obligations, and so on. Finally, the productive utility of sons is still an important factor underlying son preference among the Yoruba, where traditional notions about the appropriate division of labour by sex are still prevalent. Child Sex Preference, Old Age Security and the Welfare of the Elderly. Income in later life may come from a variety of sources, including earnings, family members, the children, the state or charity. The balance of these sources has shifted over time as a result of social change, modernization, urbanization, westernization, education of women, more women in formal sector of the economy, coupled with the cracks in the extended family tie and introduction of pension systems by government. In particular, older people’s economic reliance on their children or older people’s reliance on their children as old-age security has declined, allowing them the dignity of financial independence of kin. The twenty-first century has seen a dramatic shift in the sources of income of older people in both industrialized and non-industrialized countries of the world, but the changes differ profoundly according to gender. For men, the change has been from mainly earnings to mainly pensions, while for women, the change has mainly been from reliance on family members (particularly the children), to income from private business and the support from the spouse. Heavy reliance on private support and support from spouses have not guaranteed or ensured women’s economic security in later life and this has further led to gender inequality of income among older people (Ginn, 2001). Having said the foregoing, it is germane to mention that the old-age security and child sex (gender) preference are two highly controversial hypotheses regarding the influence of household fertility and welfare in less-developed and developing countries of the world such as Nigeria. The old-age security hypothesis postulates that in environments where parents face uncertainty about the ability to support themselves during old age, they would expect such support from their children (Raut, 1996:81-104). This motive could be strong particularly in rural areas of less-developed or developing countries such as Nigeria, particularly among rural dwellers of the Yoruba of Southwest Nigeria where available resources both financial and physical (materials) tend to yield low or negative interest. Therefore, these are not able to provide for parents’ needed welfare at old age, so that children may provide a more efficient hedge against old age disability risks (Raut, 1985; 1990; 1992; Nerlove and Raut, 1995; Cain, 1981; 1983; Nerlove, Razin, and Sadka, 1987 and Nugent, 1985). The gender preference hypothesis postulates that parents exhibit preference for having children of a particular sex. In most developing or less-developed societies, parents seem to have preference for sons rather than daughters. The preference for sons may be rooted purely in taste and cultural values or it could be the outcome of some economic calculations. For instance, sons generally stay with their parents, while daughters are married off to another household or family, so that sons tend to provide better support in old-age as well as augment current household income. The extent to which the preference for sons occurs as an economic response to underdeveloped capital markets and incomplete risk markets has been a long-standing issue in economic demography literature. Ben Porath and Welch (1976); Heer (1983); and Leung (1988) have examined the consequences of this motive for population growth, and sex ratio. Also, the consequences of child sex preference (sons preference) on the allocation of human capital and bequest among children have been discussed by Behrman, Pollak and Taubman, (1982). Generally, children are expected to provide long term net benefit streams by supplying labour for family enterprises, generating monetary income stream, providing for old-age security, and acting as a form of insurance. In a setting of risk and uncertainty, parents engage in strategies to influence the pattern and guarantee the reliability of long-term intergenerational benefit flows. Such self-interested strategies to promote parental well-being at old age include conditional inheritance benefits, practices controlling the mobility of children, and sex differentiated educational and nutritional investments. According to Fapounda et al (1988), West African parents invest more in the education of male children since the financial returns on their education are relatively high. On the other hand, parents are more oriented towards the receipt of a one-time financial payment, a bride price, from the marriage of their daughters than to an economically uncertain investment in their daughters’ schooling (Fapounda et al 1988). Caldwell further maintained that, in rural Nigeria, for example, one of the reasons for sons preference is that, male children (boys) produce more than they consume by the age of ten to thirteen; and by the age of fifteen their total production has exceeded their cumulative life-time consumption. Although, female children (girls) likewise perform a number of valuable economic tasks, which include helping their mothers with cooking and the post-harvest processing of crops etc. , this is insignificant when compared to the contributions of their male counterparts to the family economy (Caldwell, 1982). Today, the expected increase in the absolute number and proportion of the elderly raises serious concerns about their welfare in the country, particularly given the absence of social security scheme and formal social welfare services for the old in most African countries. A number of studies have therefore, focused on examining the extent to which the family is involved in providing assistance to the elderly (Peil, 1995; Apt and Katila, 1994; and Togonu-Bickersteth, 1989, 1997). All confirm that the families, particularly children, are the principal source of old-age support in the various African countries studied. It has also been found that assistance is usually offered by children to ensure some level of physical and economic survival for their elderly to the extent that the former can afford. By contrast, parents in industrialized countries and their affluent counterparts among Third World urban elite have much less need to rely on children either for labour or old-age security. The economics of family size changes as income goes up, until children become a financial burden instead of an asset (Folbre, 1983). According to him, when children are in school, for example, they no longer serve as a source of labour. Instead parents must pay for their education, as well as for their other needs, which cost far more in a high consumption society than in a peasant village. And there is often no guarantee that parents’ investment will buy the future loyalty of a grown up child. As economist Nancy Folbre (1983) noted, â€Å"The gift of education, unlike a bequest, cannot be made contingent upon conformity to certain expectations. Once given, it can hardly be revoked†. In industrialized societies personal savings, pension plans, and overnment programs replace children as the basic forms of social security. These social changes fundamentally alter the value of children, making it far more rational from an economic standpoint, to limit family size. Folbre (1983) also argued that as the value of children decreases, male heads of households are more willing to allow their wives to work outside the home, since the contribution of their wages to the family economy now exceeds the value of their household work. This further spurs low demand for children and less craze sex preference of a particular child.