Preschool Observation Essay Example for Free

Preschool Observation Essay There is growth and development in a child if he or she shows the necessary skills or milestones for his or her age. This essay is a case study of a pre-school child. An observation was done to determine whether the child has matured intellectually, emotionally and physically with her age. The child, who is two years and nine months old, was observed while she was in her play room with her mother one hour before her bed time. Below is an account of the observation. The child is kneeling on the floor and is opening a box of toys. She places blocks and cubes on the floor. Her mother joins to play with her. When her mother asks her what she is taking out of the box, she answers, â€Å"Toys. † After emptying the box, she chooses blocks with colors yellow, orange and red and she starts to form objects out of it. First, she lines up the longer orange blocks. Then, she stacks these blocks together by putting shorter blocks which are colored yellow and red on top of the orange blocks. The resulting object is like a train. Afterwards, she disassembles it and creates another object which looks like a phone and she pretends to talk to someone else with it. Next, she takes the red and orange blocks and forms a square using three longer blocks supported by one longer block and two shorter blocks underneath. The shape is not recognized by her mother so she asks her, to which she replies â€Å"toys. † Then she tries to tell a story as she makes gestures and actions and she tries to explain but only the words â€Å"she,† â€Å"ride,† and â€Å"ice cream† are intelligible. After explaining, she says, â€Å"Look at this†¦ These are toys†¦ Place this here† as she places a cube on top of the object. After a few minutes, a cat’s cry is heard from another room. She recognizes it and says â€Å"Cat†¦ Cat meow. † A little later, she gets a cloth and wipes her nose. Her mother asks what is wrong and she says, â€Å"Mommy, nose† to probably mean that she has a running nose. After a while, she counts from one to ten the blocks she formed into an object. Then, her mother asks her the color of a block and she answers â€Å"red† but she cannot recognize the colors pink and blue when she was asked. After that, her mother asks how old she is and she quickly answers â€Å"Two† and shows her two fingers. By and by, she sees a picture book, which is an atlas for children, on the shelf. She points at it and articulates â€Å"Book†¦ Read book. † Her mother gives her the book. She starts to turn the pages one by one and she recognizes pictures of a cow, earth, water, stars, bird, fish, and a dog especially when her mother points out a picture and asks her the names for those pictures. Her mother also teaches her the names of a few of the pictures such as a whale and a bear. She is quick to remember the image of a bear because when she was near the end of the book, she suddenly asks, â€Å"Where bear? † and she turns back the pages of the book to find it. She exclaims, â€Å"It’s here! † when she found it. Her mother tries to help her turn the pages of the book but she exclaims, â€Å"Wait! † and continues to turn the pages on her own. There was a time when she mentions the word â€Å"heavy† referring to the heavy pages of the book. She pretends to read the words written on paper and looks at the pictures most of the time. Furthermore, she turns back to the pages she has already seen again and again. She also recognizes pictures of babies because when her mother asked her what can be seen on the page with baby pictures, she responds, â€Å"Baby. † Her mother then asks her how many babies there are and she accurately counts from one to three. Since it was almost her bedtime, her mother tells her to go to sleep, she says, â€Å"Wait. No sleep† but yawns. Then, she stands up, says â€Å"Me sleep,† goes to the door of her bedroom and opens it. Once inside the bedroom, her mother undresses her and dresses her up for sleeping. While dressing up, she tries to help by lifting her arms to fit to the sleeves of the shirt and lifting her legs to put on the pajamas. After that she says, â€Å"Mommy, milk. † So, her mother gets her milk, gives it to her and she drinks it from a cup. Based on the observation, the child displays the common developmental milestones of a two to three-year old preschool in terms of her cognitive, socio-emotional and motor skills. These are enumerated below: Primarily, the child exhibits the following cognitive skills of most two-year old children: (1) uses more than 100 words; (2) likes to take things apart; (3) uses 2 to 3 word sentences; (4) refers to self as â€Å"me†; (5) verbalizes desires; (6) enjoys looking at one book over and over; (7) points to body parts (Powell Smith); (8) recognizes familiar pictures; and (9) asks for items by name (Developmental Checklist). Moreover, she demonstrates what other three-year children can do such as: (1) naming pictures of a book; (2) naming at least one color; and (3) knowing and telling her age (Goodbye Babyhood). Aside from these skills, it is observed that she can recognize animal sounds and she can already count from numbers one to ten. Furthermore, the child demonstrates the following socio-emotional skills: (1) shows awareness of parental approval; (2) displays independence to do things on her own; and (3) likes to imitate adult activities such as talking on the phone (Miss Independent). In addition to this, she can already perform motor skills such as: (1) opening a box; (2) building or stacking up small blocks; (3) using toys appropriately; (4) using a cup well; (4) dresses up with help (Miss Independent); and (5) turning pages of a book two to three at a time (Developmental Checklist). In conclusion, the preschool child who has been observed is on the right track in the growth milestones children of her age range develop. She has progressed in her cognitive, socio-emotional and motor skills as a two-year old child. Works Cited â€Å"Developmental Checklist for Infants and Toddlers. † Jacksonville Medicine. March 2000. University of Florida, Jacksonville Early Intervention Program for Infants and Toddlers. 11 March 2009. http://www. dcmsonline. org/jax-medicine/2000journals/march2000/EIPchecklist. htm â€Å"Goodbye Babyhood, Hello Childhood. † Kids Growth. 8 May 2007. Maternal and Child Health Bureau U. S. Department of Health and Human Services. 3 April 2009. http://www. kidsgrowth.com/resources/articledetail. cfm? id=321 â€Å"Miss Independent. † Kids Growth. 8 May 2007. Maternal and Child Health Bureau U. S. Department of Health and Human Services. 3 April 2009. http://www. kidsgrowth. com/resources/articledetail. cfm? id=320 Powell, J. and Smith, Charles. â€Å"Developmental milestones: A guide for parents the 2nd year. † National Network for Child Care. (1994). Kansas State University Cooperative Extension. 11 March 2009. http://www. nncc. org/Child. Dev/mile2. html

Case Study: Multiple Sclerosis

Case Study: Multiple Sclerosis Kaitlyn Elliot Values and Principles Case Study Bob is 65 and has had multiple sclerosis for 15 years. He has a wheelchair and drives a specially adapted car. He lives with his wife, Jean, in a cottage in the country and they have always been involved in several community and church activates. Jean is Bobs main carer and although Bob is quite independent, Jean tends to do everything for him. Last month Jean had a slight stroke which left her with a right sided weakness and some speech difficulties that she finds frustrating. She cannot walk without a walking frame and still needs help with most personal care tasks. While Jeans been in hospital Bob has been supported by daily visits from home carers, however he is missing his outings as Jeans not been there to help him. Jean will be discharged from hospital next week and is worried about how they will manage. Suri is the hospital social worker and is going to meet jean later today to plan her discharge from hospital next week and her future care. Describe at least one individual using car services and explain at least two needs of this individual. Jean used to be an independent woman but after she had her stroke she has become more vulnerable and cant do all the daily tasks that she used to do like looking after Bob. Jeans basic essential physical needs are not being met completely. The stroke has caused her right-hand side of the body to become weaker and she also struggles to walk unsupported. Jean may have to be referred to a physiotherapist who would assess her abilities and draw up a treatment plan that will help Jean improve her muscle strength and help her to walk without the frame. An occupational therapist might also have to be introduced to assess her ability to carry out everyday tasks and may have to adapt her home to suit Jeans ability. Jean might struggle to keep a balanced diet up as she might find it hard to swallow some foods and may not be able to get access to pureed or easy to swallow food. The stroke could also be causing Jean to be extremely tired. She also might struggle to clean and dress herself and le t her good hygiene go down. Cognitive needs refer to the things that helps us to develop and maintain an active mind. Jeans stroke has cause her to have speech problems and will find it hard to communicate. She could be referred to a speech and language therapist who could do some exercises to improve the control over Jeans speech muscles. They could introduce her to some letter charts and using gestures and writing to communicate with others. Jeans memory will deteriorate as the stroke will have affected her brain. A care worker could introduce a diary or even just routines and involve her in the planning of this to help her out with daily tasks when she is discharged from hospital. Jean may also end up with dementia and if she does you could show her some family pictures or even find out what activities she used to do and encourage her to try some of them again or take her to some of her favourite places her and Bob used to go to. Without cognitive spurring, mental abilities will not develop or will deteriora te. Most of these functions will return after time and rehabilitation, but she will notice they do not return to what they used to be. Explain how two methods of assessment are used to identify needs of individuals. Needs are essential things in our lifes that we cannot live without. Needs can often be confused with wants. One way of assessing an individuals needs is using the SPECCS model. This is your social, physical, emotional, cognitive and cultural. All individuals have these types of needs. Social needs ae the need to have conversations and experience a variety of social relationships and how we interact with others. However, people who use care services may not be able to make these needs by their selfs. if they dont get any help they might not achieve a sense of acceptance and belonging and this may cause isolation and low self esteem. Physical needs refer to fresh air, food, water, warmth, shelter, hygiene, sleep and exercise. These are the basic physical needs that we need in our lives to promote wellbeing. Emotional needs are our feelings. We all experience different emotions including happiness, excitement, sadness and anxiety. Emotional needs include the need for love, security an d confidence. If we have these needs, we can express our feelings and people can also recognise them. Cognitive needs refer to our thought processes and how we make sense of the world. Cognitive abilities include the use of memory, thinking, understanding, communicating and making choices and decisions. Without these our mental abilities, will deteriorate. Care workers can play an important part in meeting an individuals cognitive needs by just even talking to them and giving opinions. The last one is cultural needs. This refers to values, beliefs language, gender, sexuality, clothing worn, and food eaten. It is important for the care worker to find out about the care users cultural needs and not make any assumptions about their culture. Another way of assessing an individuals needs is using Maslows Hierarchy of Needs. This theory is split into 5 sections. The stages in this theory are Biological and physiological needs, safety needs, belongings and love needs, esteem needs and self-actualisation.ÂÂ   Maslow believes that all humans are motivated towards achieving their full potential. He stated, People are motivated to achieve certain needs and that some needs take precedence over others. Our most basic need is for physical survival, and this will be the first thing that motivates our behaviour. Frustrated and unmet needs can lead to dysfunctional behaviour. Describe three features of positive care practice. At least one of these ways must include reference to values and principles. There are six principles to the National Care Standards, dignity, privacy, choice, safety, realising, potential and equality and diversity. Carers should value the service users and respect their space and own way of life. The service user also has the right to stop other people from seeing or knowing about their personal information. Choices help staff understand what range of options can be put in place for the user. Carers should be encouraging and help care service users to make the most of their life and achieving as much as they can with the resources available to them. In a positive care practice empowerment, should be used. All carers should help the service users to make their own choices and have some sort of control over their own lives. The carers could provide them with opportunities, information and support to help them do this. The SSSC have a code of practice to help gain a positive care practice. The code is set out in two parts. The first part if for the employers o f social service workers. Employer must make sure the social service workers are suitable for the job and help them understand their responsibilities and roles they will have. They also must have written policies in place to protect those who use the services and the carers. The employer must also promote the use of the code of practice to the social service workers. The second part is for the social service worker. They must protect and promote the rights and interests of the service users and treat them all as an individual. The worker must create trust and build confidence with the service users to allow them and you to be open and honest with each other. Promote the service users independence and help them understand their rights. The Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) have created a code of conduct to create a positive care practice. The nurse or midwife should be kind and respectful and putting the care and the safety of the patients first. They should also listen and take an y notes that may concern them and also respect their right to their dignity, privacy and choice and will share any information about the patients treatment or health in a way that they should be able to understand. They should always be paying attention to the patients wellbeing as well as their treatment and care. Describe how one care service creates a positive care environment. Give at least one example to explain how they meet the needs of individuals. Speirs Care Home, Beith creates a positive care environment by allowing the care service users to socialise in their lounge areas and provide spacious gardens for the users to relax in beautiful surroundings. They provide regular music entertainment for the users to allow them to have some sort of social life. They have a positive atmosphere in the care home and allow the community to be involved in their fair. They allow different types of care such as palliative care, respite care and convalescent care. The home also provide any transport the users need for going out and doctor appointments or even going out on day trips. They encourage the relatives to visit regularly to allow the users with alzheimers to familiarise their memory and hopefully try and help them not forget. Describe one way in which legislation helps promote a positive care environment. Care workers must comply with the legislation when they are carrying out work in a care environment to create a positive care environment. The legislation becomes a policy in the work place so, if the care workers fail to do this it could jeopardise their carer as legal action will be taken. The legislation is in place for the health and safety and their right to confidentiality as a care service user. Is also promotes health and wellbeing and equality of opportunity to promote a positive care practice. References http://www.carehome.co.uk/carehome.cfm/searchazref/20006048SPIA http://hub.careinspectorate.com/knowledge/national-care-standards/ https://www.nmc.org.uk/standards/code/ http://www.sssc.uk.com/about-the-sssc/codes-of-practice/what-are-the-codes-of-practice www.simplypyschology.org

Definition Essay - Art and Excellence :: Expository Definition Essays

Definition Essay - Art and Excellence Art is why I get up in the morning, but my definition ends there, ya know, it doesn’t seem fair that I’m living for something I can’t even define, and there you are right there in the meantime. –Ani DiFranco, â€Å"Out of Habit,† Living in Clip Art seems to be such an all-encompassing word it defies definition. The artist Ani DiFranco blatantly says in her music that she cannot define art although it is intimately and passionately tied into her life and interpersonal relationships. Ani Difranco is an artist, but why is she an artist? What about her and her music make her an artist? What makes her music art? What is the difference between this enterprise and that of being a world-class physicist? Was Einstein not a true artist? Is physics not an art? If it is an art, is it art? When one attempts to analyze and define art, these sorts of questions inevitably arise, making any objective notion of what art is exceedingly difficult to determine. In fact, we find that nearly everybody has his or her own unique conception of art. Of course, it may be argued that everybody also has his or her own unique conception of a spoon or any other idea, but art seems something over and above this. The incredible depth , richness, and complexity of art do not merely allow for, but seem to necessitate the myriad conceptions of art we find in the world around us. I believe the level to which anything can be considered art depends on the level of originality, skillfulness, effectiveness, and other such relative characteristics providing opportunities for the excellent performance or unbelievable creativity we typically associate with art. To begin explaining what is meant by art’s reliance on relative characteristics, let us analyze the word deep. How do we know when something is deep? Should we consider any body of water greater than four inches in depth deep and anything less deep shallow? It seems fairly obvious that the word depth refers solely to relative phenomena. Deep is a fairly simple property to which we make the switch from shallow at some arbitrarily and relatively defined level on the gradient of depth.

Elie Wiesels Night Essay -- Elie Wiesel Night

Elie Wiesel's Night Elie Wiesel’s Night is about what the Holocaust did, not just to the Jews, but, by extension, to humanity. The disturbing disregard for human beings, or the human body itself, still to this day, exacerbates fear in the hearts of men and women. The animalistic acts by the Nazis has scarred mankind eternally with abhorrence and discrimination. It seems impossible that the examination of one’s health, by a doctor, can result in the death of a human being if he appears unhealthy. Elie, his father, and millions of other Jews go through this formidable selection. It’s a process that is dreaded and feared by all Jews. Nobody knows who will be "selected," and how he will die, as they all line up and wait to see who lives and who doesn’t. In a similar fashion, ma...

Jurassic Park :: essays research papers

Jurassic Park, by Michael Crichton is an incredible book, which describes genetic engineering and the creation of an extinct species. Michael Crichton uses marvelous detail throughout the book. As great as the book is, it is not that appropriate for children who are 15 and under because of the gore, description, violence, and obscenities through out the story. Jurassic Park is a great book. Michael Crichton uses such descriptive detail, that you could picture everything that is going on like you are watching a movie. There is not one moment of boredom in the book. Every second something new is happening or another problem in the park occurs. These things make the book very hard to put down. Jurassic Park is a marvelous book with a great plot. Yet, later it becomes inappropriate for children. The first thing that makes Jurassic Park not appropriate for young children is that it is amazingly gory. Michael Crichton describes people and animals being killed in a very descriptive manner. When Dennis Nedry, the computer programmer, was on his way to the dock to deliver frozen dinosaurs embryos to another genetic engineering company, a concrete barrier was in his way. He got out of his car and started to run into the jungle. When he reached the jungle river, he heard a soft hooting cry. When he turned around, he saw a dilophasaur standing directly in front of him. Suddenly, the dilophasaur spit at him. The novel refers to this by saying, â€Å"Nedry†¦felt an excruciating pain in his eyes, stabbing like spikes in the back of his skull.† It then says, â€Å"Slowly the realization came to him. He was blind†¦Then there was a new searing pain like a fiery knife in his belly, and then Nedry stumbled†¦then there was a new pain on both sides of his head. The pain grew worse, and as he was lifted to his feet he knew the dinosaur had his head in its jaws, and the horror of that realization was followed by a final wish, that it would all be ended soon (p. 196).† This demonstrates the horrifying description in the book. Another gory scene was when Ed Regis was swallowed by the juvenile T-rex. The book describes this by saying, â€Å"Regis yelled, and the juvenile ducked his head, and Regis began to scream. No words just a high pitch scream. The scream cut off abruptly, and when the juvenile lifted his head, Grant saw ragged flesh in his jaws (page 216).

Realities Behind Deceiving Appearances Essay

According to Alfred Kazin, â€Å"In every great novel of society†¦ what counts is the reality behind the appearance† (Kazin, 1981, 297). In other words, he’s saying that the best books are those that include one or more realities behind appearances. The novel first I chose is called Perfect by Ellen Hopkins. This book has four main characters; Cara, Sean, Kendra, and Andre, who are all teens struggling to fit the ideal of perfection, even if it means hurting and lying to themselves and others. The other novel, The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain tells a story of a runaway slave named Jim and a young boy Huck, running from the dangers of his father. Together they are trying to get to the North but run into many roadblocks. This adventure includes deceit, danger, excitement and most of all, friendship. Both of these novels show reality behind experiences through its actions, dialogs, and the characters themselves! In the following paragraphs, I will comp are and explain the reality behind appearances such as friends or family, disguises and secrets in both novels, Perfect and The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. Jim, a runaway slave from The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn shows many realities behind deceiving appearances. An example of a deceiving appearance is when Huck and the duke paint Jim all blue and dressed him up in King Lear’s outfit before leaving to town. Huck doesn’t want to risk Jim being taken away and sold back into slavery so they disguise him as a â€Å"sick arab-but harmless when not out of his head† (Twain 157) so that he won’t have to uncomfortably lay tied up in the wigwam all day. The reality behind this disguise is that Jim is a kind and harmless runaway slave. After a tiring adventure, Jim talks to Huck about his family. When telling stories to Huck, he reveals a reality behind a deceiving appearance about his daughter Elizabeth. When Jim’s daughter was young, she got very sick. When she was better, Jim had told her to shut the door but she just stood there smiling at him. He repeated himself and again, she just smiled at him. Thinking that she was being naughty and a rebel, he smacked her across the head as a punishment. When he slams the door shut and she doesn’t budge, wince, or make any notice of it, Jim realizes â€Å"Oh, she was plumb deef en dumb, Huck, plumb deef en dumb† (Twain 156). The biggest and most important reality behind a deceiving appearance is that along this adventure, Jim was  freed from slavery. After all the trouble Tom put him through, Tom finally fesses that Jim was free because â€Å"Old Miss Watson died two months ago, and she was so ashamed she ever was going to sell him down the river, and said so; and she set him free in her will† (Twain 289). The duke and the king from The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn are very mischievous people. They are full with illusions, lies, and intelligence. The first reality behind appearance Huck saw is their names. On the day they first meet, both men claim they were a king and a duke in order to receive pity and to be spoiled by Jim and Huck. While Huck sees through this appearance, Jim does not. Later on in the story, the king cons the people of a religious camp in order to get some money. He pretends to be a pirate who changed his ways after he was robbed and now is working his way back to the ocean in order to change all pirates. He gives credit to the people of the town to earn their pity and succeeds. â€Å"‘Don’t you thank me, don’t you give me no credit; it all belongs to them dear people in Pokeville camp-meeting, natural brothers and benefactors of the race, and that dear preacher there, the truest friend a pirate ever had’† (Twain 132). The reality behind the king’s appearance is that it was all an act and that he is just a cheater. Even after this silly event, the king and the duke are still greedy for more. When they find out that a man who has a lot of money for a relative has died, they head towards the town. There, they pretended to be the uncle of three girls who are very sweet and innocent. Eventually, the actual heirs to the money show up and start to expose the duke and the king. They have a more authentic english accent and state that the handwritings when compared to an old letter aren’t the same. In my novel, Perfect by Ellen Hopkins, there are four main characters struggling to fit an ideal of perfection. One of the main characters is named Kendra. Kendra is a senior in high school and everything you would want to be. She’s popular, on the cheer team, rich, and most of all, skinny. Kendra’s obsession with perfection comes with dangerous consequences as she is willing to do anything to achieve it. The most deceiving illusion when it comes to Kendra is her appearance itself. Kendra has gone through many plastic surgeries to look as she is now. With a rhinoplasty already  scheduled, she is also hoping to get a boob job which her stepfather refuses to allow. Along with the plastic surgery, in order to lose weight, Kendra eats as little as possible. Kendra believes she is fat, being 5’ 10† and 122 pounds. Though everyone tells her she’s not, she states that the â€Å"stinking mirror doesn’t lie. Everytime I walk by, it shouts out, †˜Hey. Chub. When are you going to lose those fifteen pounds of ugly-ass flab? Do you want to stay size four forever?’† (Hopkins, 23). The reality behind Kendra’s illusion is that she’s already beautiful and dangerously skinny. With every calorie she doesn’t eat, she inches closer and closer to death. One of the reasons why she believes that she’s not beautiful is because her boyfriend Conner left her. She believed he left her because she wasn’t good and pretty enough. The thought of this tortures her because Conner was her first love, the first person whom she gave her heart and soul to. She later finds out that Conner is in the hospital because of an accident. The reality is that Conner didn’t get into an accident, he tried killing himself and he didn’t leave her because he thought she was ugly. He left her because he had fallen in love with someone else. When Kendra leaves her beauty agent for Xavier, she begins to work with a man named Gilles. Xavier tells Kendra that Gilles is one of the â€Å"biggies† and that she needs keep him happy. â€Å"I have to keep Gilles happy. He likes the way I look. Especially naked† (Hopkins 496). Gilles and Xavier claim that they love her but in all honesty, they are taking advantage of her. If they rea lly did love her as she is, they wouldn’t abuse her body with pills, sex and surgeries. The appearance of Gilles loving her for her style and determination masks the reality that in order to do business, she must trade it with her service to him. Another character who has a deceiving appearance in the novel Perfect is a girl named Cara. Cara, like Kendra is also on the cheer team, beautiful, rich, has good grades and a wonderful sexy boyfriend but is she really all the things people make her out to be? Cara has a secret, one that could ruin her reputation; She’s a lesbian. Her boyfriend Sean is just an appearance. An appearance to make her seem straight when in reality, she’s a lesbian. When Sean finds out about her secret after they break up, he exposes her by taking a photo of Cara and her lover making love and sharing it to all of her â€Å"friends†. After this incident, all of Cara’s friends leave her and  began calling her cruel names such as slut and dyke. â€Å"I can’t believe Cara broke up with Sean. Neither can half the senior class†¦ They’re chopping her into little pieces: †¦is a slut anyway, †¦always was full of it, †¦serious commitment issues† (Hopkins 306). The comfort and companionship of her friends was all an appearance in which the reality was just to use Cara for their own benefit. Because of this incident, Cara finally decides to tell her parents. â€Å"‘Dani said I should press charges†¦Ã¢â‚¬â„¢ Mom’s eyes grew steadily more severe. ‘I think it’s best to let it drop. If this becomes public knowledge, the media will smear it all over the headlines. Our reputation will be ruined. Bad enough we had to deal with all the flak about Conner.’ She straightened her blouse, as if it had been wrinkled by the very idea of her children disgracing her name† (Hopkins 535). The definition of parents is a mother and a father and that’s exactly what Cara’s parents are. A mother and father, nothing more. Though they do provide Cara with materialistic needs, it is all for her mother’s reputation. Her heartless parents with their high expectations are so extreme that it causes her twin brother Conner to kill himself. The idea of loving and supportive parents is just an appearance that the Sykes family create when the cold truth is that they don’t hold any familial bonds with each other. In the preceding paragraphs, I have compared and explained the realities behind appearances in both novels, Perfect and The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. As Alfred Kazin was saying, realities behind deceiving appearances make a book more interesting to read. It also makes the readers realize that there are many illusions in our daily lives. Through the characters, we can perhaps learn a lesson on how to act, spot, and deal with these realities behind appearances.

DNA Databases: Crime Fighting Weapon or Threat to Privacy

1- A DNA database is a database that contains a profile of bodily fluid left by criminals at the crime scenes. It has developed by the biology laboratory of the Florida department of law enforcement. These profiles are sent to nationwide DNA bank. There are several benefits of these DNA databases. First, the DNA can be used as evidence in trials. It allows criminals to be identified by their own genes. Second, the computer analysis can discover the identity of a criminal by matching DNA from blood, hair, saliva, or other body fluid left at the crime scene with a DNA profile in the database. Third, it can prove someone is innocent. 2- Although DNA databases have lots of benefits, it poses lots of problems. They pose a risk to innocent people if they (databases) contain data on people who are convicted criminals. Also the people who collect DNA and analyze them can make mistakes witch lead to a wrongful outcome in the court. And finally, it may be chance that innocent people may be suspected as criminal if any hair or bodily fluids found at criminal.Database Management System and Data There might be valid reasons for an innocent person’s DNA to be at a crime scene. – According to the bush’s administration, the national DNA database should includes, beside the criminals and convicted people of course, the juveniles or the people who have been accused but not convicted. If we look at it from another perspective, it should be limited to convicted felons only because they are included in the criminal activity. DNA samples taken when people are arrested must be destroyed if the individual is not charged or convicted. 4- DNA databases should be used only by the law enforcement units or the security agency because of the sensitive information these databases indlude.