Katie Price vs Kelly Brook. Justified conflict or advocate of cyber bullying?

I think it is safe to say that celebrity culture monopolises the media on a day to day basis and I must admit my day isn’t complete without my celebrity gossip fix.  However, it is worrying to consider the factors which now constitute a newsworthy piece. On some level it is no longer political war and fury, no, believe it or not conflict such as the likes of Katie Price and Kelly Brook hanging out one another’s dirty laundry that dominates the minds of many. Now I don’t dispute that on your lunch break at work you’d rather be nattering about Pricey’s scathing ‘fat’ remarks rather than analysing the extent of conflict in Syria, heck I can’t think of anything worse.

However there is a need to consider the effects of broadcasting such behaviour. We live in a society, heavily social media reliant, rolling out of bed checking your Twitter, probably communicating virtually before you’ve even uttered hello in the real word.

Social media is creating a foundation for young children to adopt any character they want, freedom of speech and the security of a computer screen can lead to only one thing, cyber bullying. One website claims;

“350 million users suffer from Facebook addiction syndrome”

http://wallblog.co.uk/2012/11/05/social-media-statistics-2012-from-facebook-and-twitter-to-instagram-and-pinterest-infographic/

Facebook addiction syndrome?! What a sorry state of affairs.

Cyber Bullying is defined as;

“when a person or a group of people uses the internet, mobile phones, online games or any other kind of digital technology to threaten, tease, upset or humiliate someone else”

With reference to this definition, does Katie Price Vs Kelly Brook’s very public spat not constitute cyber bullying? How can we ever expect to educate our children right from wrong when celebrity icons are party to such behaviour.  Throwing the word ‘heffer’ around to 1.7 million followers is simply shameful behaviour. The inevitable conflict lies in an endless battle to educate children against bullying when your faced with role models on the very same social networks undoing all the hard work. Celebrities should be ashamed of themselves realistically encouraging online feuds.

(Youtube Video- Kelly Brook fights back)

Conflict theory states that;

“values and ideas are seen as weapons used by different groups to advance their own ends rather than as means of defining a whole society’s identity and goals” (Wallace, 1995, 77)

Adopting Wallace’s theory, Pricey isn’t intentionally becoming an advocate of cyber bullying, her viscious remarks were simply a desperately stupid attempt at making herself feel better. However, it is important for these ‘role models’ to recognise the potential outcomes.  Conflict needs to be mediated in such a way to ensure that it is both ethical and just.  For example Back & Back (1991:1) recognise this as;

‘Expressing your needs, wants, opinions, feelings and beliefs in direct, honest and appropriate ways’.

I’m sure even Katie Price, who has never been known for her appropriateness, can manage to communicate herself in a civil and polite manner… if she tried really hard. Its high time celebrities in the media considered the consequences, issues such as Cyber Bullying need a united front in order to tackle the ever growing social media prominence.

So come on, Katie/Kelly, do us a favour and do it behind closed doors, if not for everyone else’s sake, think of your own children. We dont want Princess jumping on the bandwagon.

Negotiation for a shrinking violet

Now I don’t know about you but the thought of having to negotiate anything, let alone a job offer, makes me feel sick to the stomach. I am your stereotypical ‘aim to pleaser’ the kind of person whom shy’s away from confrontation, albeit often at the cost of my own convenience. However, a little birdy told me that negotiation can in fact be easy.

Who knew?

Even all us wallflowers can step up to the gauntlet, challenge our employers and see results and it’s as easy as …

Okay, now picture the scenario, your fresh out of uni, desperate to get onto the career ladder, but my gosh is it daunting. You’ve secured 3 interviews, brilliant, an achievement in itself. But now the scary bit, you’ve got to attend that interview and make sure that your lack of experience and naivety isn’t taken advantage of.  An easy guide to follow is Robbins (2005) 5 step process which highlights the stages of negotiation,  I shall make brief reference to a couple of  these stages but they can be found in more detail on the following slideshow if you would like more information.

                                                                         Conflict Nd Negotiation from Sahil Mahajan

So lets begin,

If you only take one thing away from this blog post let it be the understanding of the importance of preparation and planning

Now I know none of us like homework and I bet you thought you left that all behind in days of education. But you were wrong, the absolute key to negotiating a job offer is ensuring that you are prepared. You need to make sure that YOU, yes you, time to be brave, know exactly what you are trying to achieve. Whether it is travel expenses or in-house support, you need to outline these goals prior to the interview.

ALSO, I’m going to let you into a little secret, your golden ticket, the answer to your fears, your BATNA.  You can thank me later.

Stick with me, this will all make sense.

Your BATNA is your ‘Best Alternative To a Negotiated Agreement’.  So let me explain, the second important thing to remember in negotiation is that it is not a battle, and your aim is not to win. Your aim is to peacefully come to an agreement that satisfies both yours and the employer’s needs. It is outlining your BATNA that will be the answer to this.

For example, you’ve outlined that, realistically you’d like to be entering a job at about £22,000 a year, although you recognise that this may be aiming high entering the job at graduate level. It is at this stage that you must decide on an ALTERNATIVE negotiable offer. Therefore you may be willing to accept a job at £20,000 which has now become the lowest valuable acceptable for you, your BATNA.

However it is at this stage that being brave goes a long, long way. You can now enter into Integrative bargaining (Lewicki & Litterer (1985) this is the recognition of collaboration and the ability to negotiate other factors into play. This could mean that you propose the acceptance of £20,000 with the inclusion of travel expenses.

To round up and underpin the negotitation process the key is to recognise your worth. Although its tough, your confidence and assertiveness must shine through. Negotiation is about two people, if the employee is willing to even enter into negotiation then you’re already onto a winner, they want you! So relax, integrative bargaining in particular is about trust and initiating long term, relationships, so negotiation is, of course, for the good of your future.

So come on guys take a deep breath. Take it from me, negotiation CAN be easy! In reference to these processes how would you now feel about entering into negotiation? Has it worked for you? Id love to hear your views.

Conflicting patient care standards – Is the U.K. becoming a victim of disregard of basic human rights?

We are being failed on patient care in the UK, matter of fact. I think it’s safe to say that no one really enjoys their time in hospital but most, perhaps naively, would assume that the staff would go above and beyond to ensure their stay was comfortable. This is almost entirely incorrect, in recent months the media has been overwhelmed with stories of unacceptable disregard for basic human rights within the NHS system.

On Friday 8^TH of March The Patients association issued a report highlighting 16 detailed first-hand accounts of patient’s bad experience, shedding light on the extent of neglect received within the NHS.

“one patient being left “desperately thirsty” and having toileting needs neglected.”

http://www.yorkshireeveningpost.co.uk/news/health-news/nhs-choices/report-highlights-poor-patient-care-1-5459389

These accounts, detrimental to the reputation of the NHS, received vast press coverage initiating 15 of the 16 NHS Trust featured to respond.

Ironically, the NHS staff should in fact be fully aware of the standards their patients receive.  And no, this isn’t in regard to basic human compassion believe it or not. The staff are aided with a document called the ‘NHS Constitution’ which targets both staff and patients outlining the standard of care you should expect to receive.

Is this a case of rules are made to be broken?

In reference to Fox’s theory (1966,1973) the most idealistic model for the NHS to follow is Unitarist, initiating harmony and a consensus of good patient care, therefore avoiding conflict entirely.

HOWEVER,

Due to the current state of affairs the NHS is falling into the pluralist category, their somewhat obnoxiously overt disregard for the guidelines outlined in the NHS Constitution will inevitably result in conflict. It is a huge failing on their behalf to set a standard and then carry out a half measure, especially in regard to patient care. If they consciously could foresee such behaviour then why set out with good intentions?

It could however be argued that the effect of the Patient Association report has launched the NHS into an Interactionist state. The recognition and promise to abolish the possibility of such devastating stories in the future could in fact be a notion of the positive outcome of the initial conflict. This therefore reflects the Interactionist belief that conflict can in fact be the driving force for change.

 Department of Health said: “Wherever there is poor performance we will root it out, and whatever the reason for that poor performance we will tackle it. The Patients Association is right to raise these examples and issues, and we will work with them and with the NHS to sort these problems out”

Is this Interactionist state a true reflection of the NHS? and a positive status for change albeit that people have already succumbed to poor standards?

Nevertheless, bottom line is, it truly is a poor reflection of society today if it takes the extreme method of media backlash, revealing the disgustingly dark failure, of what I would class as a void in basic instinct and compassion, to drive the NHS to even begin to address the issue in hand.

Is it right to suggest that they would have carried on without a care in the world if it weren’t for the Patient Care Report? What is your opinion on patient care standards? Have you ever been the victim of poor care?

I would love to hear your views!

Ellie Newton