Cipla Essay Example for Free

Cipla Essay

South African Investment Essay Example for Free

South African Investment Essay In the late 1970’s and early 1980’s, Caltex (an affiliate oil refinery of Texaco and SoCal) started their operations in South Africa. In this paper, I will identify and explain the benefits and the negatives as to why Caltex should build there plant in South Africa. I will also discuss how I would vote on three of the resolutions made by the stockholder’s as well as discuss how the managers of Texaco and SoCal should have responded. Finally, I will address the management responsibilities as it relates to this case. Utilitarian benefits of building the Caltex plant in 1977 When Texaco and SoCal decided to build there refinery plant, Caltex, in South Africa in 1977, there was much to consider. First of all, the South Africa was ruled by government upheld apartheid legislation. According to the textbook, Business Ethics: Concepts and Cases, the apartheid system, â€Å"deprived the entire Black population of all political and civil rights: They could not vote, could not hold political office, could not unionize, and had no right to freedom of assembly,† (Velasquez, p. 8). Despite this obstacle, Caltex was built and began operations. Caltex believed that by opening operations in South Africa they could provide the people with some economic opportunities that they could not have if they did not. According to the case study, â€Å"the managements of both Texaco and SoCal argued that Caltex was committed to improving the economic working conditions of its black employees and their continued pre sence in South Africa did not constitute and ‘endorsement’ of South Africa’s ‘policies’,† (para. 5). By declaring that there presence in South Africa was in no way evident in support with the government policies, Caltex gave the impression of a utilitarianism approach. According to the textbook, utilitarianism is â€Å"a general term for any view that holds that actions and policies should be evaluated on the basis of the benefits and costs they will impose on society,† (Velasquez, p. 61). Caltex upheld the belief that the benefits they provide to its employees outweigh the fact that they are conducting business in an oppressed nation. In my opinion, I think that that the benefits outweighed the negatives. Even though the South African government was morally wrong for oppressing the majority of its citizens, Caltex brought an opportunity to the region that had the promise of not only economic promise for the organization, but also the opportunity to show the people of South Africa what it is like to be equal and not discriminated. Also, there presence no doubt brought on political change and opened the eyes to the other nations of the world as to the oppression present in South Africa. If I were a stockholder in Texaco or Standard Oil Despite of all the benefits and the promises that Caltex could have provided to the people in South Africa, the shareholders still encouraged management to withdraw their operations from South Africa. As a result, the stockholders proposed three resolutions to which they would vote on and decide the future of Caltex’s operations in South Africa. The first resolution (A) was asking Caltex to terminate its operations in South Africa. The second (B) asked Caltex not to sell to the military or police of South Africa. The last resolution (C) asked Caltex to implement the Tutu principles. I believe that as a shareholder invested in my company, I would want to portray us as a responsible organization that will work with the host country to find a common ground rather than be charged with a serious crime. C. FAVOR. Tutu’s principles are something that I would definitely be in favor for. According to the case study, Bishop Tutu’s principles â€Å"outlined several conditions of the investment which would enable Caltex and other U. S. companies to make such a ‘positive contribution to improving economic and social opportunities’,† (para. 4). These principles would be exactly what I would like my company to portray because they contribute to human rights and equal opportunities to all races. Manager’s responses In regards to the resolutions proposed by the stockholders, I believe the manager’s responses should be as follows: A. The manager’s should have also not been in favor of this resolution. In this case, the manage ment needs to consider that the utilitarian benefits do actually outweigh the negatives and oppression the South African government has over its citizens. B. The manager’s responses to this resolution should be weighed very carefully. Even though they may not agree with the practices of the government and may think they are an aid to unwanted practices, they still need to consider there reputation and the consequences that can result from not being cooperative. In my opinion, the manager’s should have responded by communicating the need to work with the government to their stakeholders as well as find some type of resolution with the government. C. The management should embrace the Tutu principles. If the management is really dedicated to the ideals and principles of their institution then they should know that these principles are about the people and their well-being. They should make any adjustments necessary to make sure the principles are upheld. Management responsibilities (i. e. , duties) In my opinion, I believe the management of a company does have the responsibility beyond ensuring a high return for its stockholders. In this case, the responsibility of the management is to make sure that the principles and business ethics that they have developed as an organization is upheld at all costs. Just because the stockholders wanted to see their company disassociate themselves from a country that they did not see as ideal, it is still imperative that the management stick to there own ideals and principles regardless of where they are. On the other hand, I do not believe that the management of a company should look primarily to the law and to the rate of return on its investment as the ultimate criteria for deciding what investments it should make. Companies should always consider the economical and social circumstances in the region to which they decide to invest their company. Conclusion This paper outlined why I believe the utilitarian benefits outweighed the negative circumstances for the building of Caltex in South Africa. I have also provided my own views as to what I would do if I were a stockholder in the company as well as what the manager’s should have done in response to the resolutions. Finally, I gave my point of view as to what the manager’s responsibilities are when dealing with stockholders and investments. Caltex was in a difficult place as they had to deal with their stockholders and the government of South Africa in order to conduct their business, but the most important thing they had was the opportunity to show the oppressed people of South Africa what it was like to be an equal member of an institution.

The Iberian Lynx: Habitat, Features and Endangerment

The Iberian Lynx: Habitat, Features and Endangerment Josue Flanquin The Fate of the Iberian Lynx Among the many carnivore species that exist in Europe, the Iberian lynx and the European mink-Mustela lutreola are the only two indigenous species of the continent. In 1992, after series of careful observations and head count by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN), the Iberian Lynx was quickly considered â€Å"critically endangered,† to see one of them go extinct is inacceptable. Despite the many researches, money and time spent in their protection and conservation, yet not much improvement has been shown in their survival. The Iberian lynx, also known as lynx of Spain and as lynx pardinus, will be the first member of the feline species to go extinct since the extinction of the Saber-toothed tiger 10,000 years ago. Being part of the wildcat family, the lynx pardinus displays many of their characteristics including long legs, ruff beard-like fur and tufted ears but unlike many other wildcats, the Iberian lynx coat is spotted, colored and shorter. Geographical Range The Iberian Lynx is known to be a native of Spain and Portugal, mainly in the Southern of the Iberian Peninsula. It is thought that before, they were well-spread all over the area, however, about a century and a half ago, their range has diminish tremendously. Before, their presence was known to be noticeable mainly in the south but also in some northern part of the area. Rapidly within fifty years they started to become extinct in the north Iberian region and an intense decline in density also began to ravage the south. From 1960 to 1990, the decline had become more extreme, and more prominent in south Spain and Portugal with about 80% with only 2% of their previous original range remained occupied. (Ferreras, et al., 2004) Two surveys were published, one in 1988 and the other in 2008. The first one estimated there were in a very fragmented range, about 800 to 1100 Iberian lynxes (adult) living in nine populations. And the other survey that was done in the more recent years has shown a much lower estimated head count to confirm that their presence were only spotted in the southwestern region of the Iberian peninsula. The total estimated number of Iberian lynx spotted and reported was between 475 to 680 Iberian lynxes living in five populations instead of nine populations as previously reported. In order to protect them, they are being kept in the Donana National Park. The species used to be very common in Portugal, but now its thought to be extirpated since their presence was last reported in January 1992. (Delibes, et al., 2000; Ferreras, et al., 2004) Habitat Like many wild felids, the Iberian lynx requires a wide range of terrains, especially below 1300 meters that contain mosaic of closed scrubland that is scattered among open patches of grassland. The reasons for choosing such landscapes are because it provides a great balance between wide-open space and shrub cover. Mostly, lynxes use scrubland as shelter and breeding while other areas that are not totally covered tend to become a shelter for their prey, more specifically their mainstay pray the European Rabbits, also know as Oryctolagus Cuniculus, which is very prominent in these locations. Unfortunately beside the many suitable habitat locations that are available, the species have been extinct from those areas presumably due to the low availability of their main prey (Ferreras et al., 2004). One of the features observed from felids is that they are very solitary and depend on a distributed demographic structure among populations where inbreeding is avoided. This requires passages b etween areas that meet the criteria of the suitable territory. Those passages allow the lynx to look for new habitats outside of the given endemic territory that fits their living condition. (Pedro Sarmento, et al., 2008) Physical Description The Felidae family has many other lynx species in their genus that includes the Canadian lynx (Lynx Canadensis), the Eurasian lynx and the Bobcat (Lynx rufus). The common family traits explain their resemblance and relativeness to each other, for example, although they are very similar in size as the Canadian lynx and the Bobcat lynx but yet smaller than the Eurasian lynx and black shorted-tipped tails. However, the Iberian lynx has some unique features of their own; they have small heads and flat faces, black tufted ears and jowls-bearded appearance and tawny pelage. Those differences have been used recently in the configuration and characterization of their size, shape and intensity of those distinctions in order to determine the degree of diversity genetically within the species. (Beltrà ¡n and Delibes, 1993; Cope, 1879; Delibes, et al., 2000; Meachen-Samuels and Van Valkenburgh, 2009) The mortality rate of the Iberian lynx is higher than their reproduction rate. According to a s tudy led by Delibes, et al 2000, 40% of their mortality happens while scattered over the land. The lifespan of the species and their longevity of captive individual are unknown. The oldest Iberian lynx as of date died at 13 years of age. The Iberian lynx has a straighten-reduced skull, small muzzles; long jaws that give each bite the â€Å"force of a smaller canines.† Those features are very beneficial adaptations for the Iberian lynx, they help them in catching small, fast prey and also enable them with the ability to kill their target with a single bite in the posterior region of the neck in order to puncture and damage the prey’s spinal cord, as opposed to suffocating bite practice by larger lynx. (Cope, 1879; Beltran and Delibes, 1993; Meachen-Samuels and Valkenburgh, 2009) Reproduction The Iberian lynx is known to be a monogamous polygynous species when observed in the Donana National Park, a close-up metapopulation at its carrying capacity density. With the total availability of suitable territories diminishing, Intrasexual interaction has become very competitive, resulting in the male Iberian lynx to have smaller territories that can be easily defended against other surrounding rivals looking for mates. Therefore, such circumstance turns the Iberian lynx to become more of a monogamy community since the males are forced to put all their strength on defending avoiding access to a particular, exclusive single female of that community. The Iberian lynx often reach sexual maturity within a period of nine months to a year after birth. Though even after sexual maturity the females will not breed until they have secured a set territory of their own. After maturity mating is always the next step, given the fact that females’ estrus peak is in January so breeding us ually happens from January to July since it is the only time that the males and females interact. Although males’ territories might overlap with those of the females’, aggressive interaction over mating right is uncommon; however the prominence of the population dictates the fluctuation rates of aggressive intrasexual, the higher the density rate, the higher the population rate will be and vice versa. (Fernà ¡ndez, et al., 2003) Food Habit The Iberian Lynx is a specialized feeder, its diet consist of 80%-100% Oryctolagus cunicuus. One adult Iberian lynx requires between 700 and 1100 kilocalories per day in order to gain the approximate amount of energy needed to function. By consuming their primary prey, the European rabbit. the Iberian lynx get that amount of energy from one single rabbit. One can imagine that an adult female with younger lynxes will require up to three rabbits per day. Because of their distinctive diet, it makes impossible or hardly do they show geographic variation. Threat to their Survival The Iberian lynx species has made it on the top of the red list of critically endangered species facing extinction, according to the IUNC. Many argument and debates are circulating over who or what is responsible for the Iberian lynx decline with barely 150 left in the Iberian Peninsula (see table 1). The three main cause of their death include but not limited to the decline in the Rabbit population, human hunting and human fragmentation. The rabbit, Oryctolagus cuniculus, is wild invasive animal. This rabbit has been flagged as nearly endangered species in the IUNC red list due to the disease myxomatosis, habitat loss and human-induced mortality (Smith and Boyer 2008). Many Spaniards enjoy hunting. It is part of their way of life also their a way to make a living. Although the government of Spain and Portugal, both have passed laws that prohibits the hunting of the Iberian lynx, many locals still continue those habits. They would hunt them in order to used get their skin to directly sell them in the black market or to use them to make fur coats. Another main threat to the survival of the Iberian lynx is land fragmentation. During the beginning the 20th century when everything including culture start to get influenced by the western world, many rich companies moved to Spain due to low tax or free tax deal. The government allows big companies such as lumber industries to use portions of the iberian lynx habitat to be converted as stands for timbers, or also they have allowed the construction and development of tower-buildings, roads and highways, shopping malls and modern recreational public parks, invading huge part of the forest’s ecosystem and damaging the lynxes’ native habitat. Part of the life cycle of an Iberian lynx is â€Å"inter-population dispersal,† they use habitat corridors as passage, so with new roads being built that also take its toll on the species. Among the many different researches out there, there have not been enough evidence supporting the idea that human fragmentation as the main cause of death. However, according to â€Å"Delibes, et al., 2000,† most recent mortalities have been reported to be human induced which includes traffic collisions from roads, illegal hunting (5% annually), caught in traps (6% annually), and forest fires. Therefore according to the IUNC 2006, the rabbit’s decline remains the primary cause of death and extinction of the Iberian lynx. http://ge09d-geography-2010.wikispaces.com/file/view/Decline_in_Iberian_Lynx_Numbers_2.1.png/123004189/Decline_in_Iberian_Lynx_Numbers_2.1.pn Conservation Status The Iberian lynx is the most threatened species in Europe. This carnivore has fewer than 200 breeding individuals left. They have suffered not only a huge decline in their population rate and a decline in their prey’s availability but also a massive lost of range contraction. The preservation of this species requires immediate intervention from both government, Spain and Portugal accordingly, in order for it to be successful. Many captive breeding programs have begun but little is known about their success and may need to be thoroughly investigated. The inability of the species to disperse due to habitat fragmentation, has led to their isolation. Habitat fragmentation includes road construction, urban development, agriculture and elimination of corridors. Inter-population dispersal is very important in the species’ life cycle; to disperse they use habitat corridors. Another important step that need to be taken into consideration is the restoration of habitat corridors, their protection is important in the recovery of the iberian lynx, if we need re-establish successful inter-population connectivity Pedro Sarmento, et al., 2008). Furthermore, poaching remains on the list as one of the main threat of death of the Iberian lynx with 5% of annual mortality. Spain government in 1973 and Portugal in 1974 have long passed laws prohibiting exploitation and trade of the Iberian lynx by humans, because such activities are kept secret, sensitivity program has been put in place to inform the locals not to partake in such activities and report them. (Beltrà ¡n and Delibes, 1993) Citations Smith, A.T. Boyer, A.F. 2008. Oryctolagus cuniculus. In: IUCN 2013. IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Francisco Palomares, Miguel Delibes, Eloy Revilla, Javier Calzada and Jose Marà ­a Fedriani, Wildlife Monographs No. 148, Spatial Ecology of Iberian Lynx and Abundance of European Rabbits in Southwestern Spain (Oct., 2001) GIL-Sà NCHEZ J, MCCAIN E. Former range and decline of the Iberian lynx (Lynx pardinus) reconstructed using verified records.Journal Of Mammalogy[serial online]. October 2011;92(5) Sunquist, M. and Sunquist, F. (2002) Wild Cats of the World. The University of ChicagoSunquist, M. and Sunquist, F. (2002) Wild Cats of the World. The University of Chicago F. palomares, vegetation Structure and Prey Abundance Requirements of the Iberian Lynx: Implications for the Design of Reserves and Corridors Journal of Applied Ecology Vol. 38, No. 1 (Feb., 2001), pp. 9-18 JESUS M. PEREZ, The dilemma of conserving parasites: the case of Felicola (Lorisicola) isidoroi (Phthiraptera: Trichodectidae) and its host, the endangered Iberian lynx (Lynx pardinus) Insect Conservation and Diversity (2013) Carlos Carroll and Dale G. Miquelle, Spatial Viability Analysis of Amur Tiger Panthera tigris altaica in the Russian Far East: The Role of Protected Areas and Landscape Matrix in Population Persistence Journal of Applied Ecology vol 43 Ferreras, P., Gaona, P., Palomares, F. and Delibes, M. (2001), Restore habitat or reduce mortality? Implications from a population viability analysis of the Iberian lynx. Animal Conservation, 4:265–274. Palma, L., Beja, P. and Rodrigues, M. (1999), The use of sighting data to analyse Iberian lynx habitat and distribution. Journal of Applied Ecology J. Torres, R. Garcà ­a-Perea, J. Gisbert and C. Feliu (1998). Helminth fauna of the Iberian lynx, Lynx pardinus. Journal of Helminthology, 72, pp 221-226. Meli ML, Cattori V, Martà ­nez F, Là ³pez G, Vargas A, et al. (2009) Feline Leukemia Virus and Other Pathogens as Important Threats to the Survival of the Critically Endangered Iberian Lynx (Lynx pardinus).

Dead Poets Society, Summary :: essays research papers

"The Dead Poet’s Society" is a movie about a group of kids. The conflict, characters, plot and theme are very interesting. So now I am going to tell you a little about it. In this movie there were many different points of conflict. One major conflict was with Knox and his father. Knox’s father wanted to choose Knox’s future for him. He told him everything he should do and shouldn’t. He wouldn’t let Knox be in a play. Knox participated in it anyway. His father showed up and saw Knox in the play. Knox got in trouble. His father was going to take him put of Welting. Knox got so put out with it that he shot himself. Another point of conflict was with Mr. Keating and the school of welting. The school blamed Mr. Keating for Knox’s death. Some of the students were with the school and some of them were against. The characters in "The Dead Poet’s Society" were very unique. Mr Keating was a very round character. He has a very unique way of teaching the class about poetry. Mr. Keating had went to the same school he is teaching in now. Knox was flat. He had problems with his dad. Todd was flat. He was on Mr. Keating’s side when the school tried to fire him. Cameron was dynamic. He went with the crowd. If a group of kids did one thing then he would follow right behind. The plot in the story is rather interesting. The exposition is simple. A group of students have a English teacher who is very creative in the way he teaches. One of the students finds out about a group that Mr. Keating was in when he went to the school. Him and his friends decide that they would start it again. The rising action is when the kids start to have the meetings. The students get a little more crazy than the have been before. The climax is when Knox shots himself. Everything falls apart after that. The kids start to get in arguments, Mr. Keating is blamed for his death, and the school board is very angry. The falling action is when the students start to come back together to get Mr. Keating back in the school. The resolution is when Mr. Keating goes into the classroom to get the last of the supplies.

Hucks Conflicted Character in Mark Twains The Adventures of Huckleber

Huck's Conflicted Character in Twain’s Adventures Of Huckleberry Finn The first eleven chapters of Adventures establish Huck's character prior to his journey on the river with Jim. Dealing with external difficulty is easy for Huck, as he consistently adapts to his environments; however, his actions contradict his desires, revealing that Huck is conflicted. Initially, religion is appealing to Huck when the Widow Douglas tries teaching him: "After supper she got out her book and learned me about Moses and the Bulrushers; and I was in a sweat to find out all about him" (220). Salvation seems possible to Huck, but he prefers to go to the "bad place" instead of spending eternity with Miss Watson (221); also, he abandons the concept of morality as a result of Miss Watson imposing it upon him. "I couldn't see no advantage about [helping others]...so at last I reckoned I wouldn't worry about it anymore, but just let it go" (226). Huck does not realize that he is not a selfish person, but resolves to sacrifice salvation instead of living selflessly simply because of the source and c...

Can We Reduce the Rate of Juvenile Crime and Violence? :: Argumentative Persuasive Essays

â€Å"Palm Beach County, Fla. -- On May 26, 2000, 13-year-old Nathaniel Brazill shot his teacher, Barry Grunow, with a .25 caliber handgun in school. Palm Beach County prosecutors tried Brazill as an adult for first degree murder. The jury found Brazill guilty of second-degree murder and the judge sentenced him to 28 years in an adult facility. After his release, Brazill will face two years of house arrest and five years of probation.† (Klug) Does this sentence seem too harsh, or perhaps too lenient? Without knowing all of the details involved in the case, it may be harder to decide what would be the best thing to do with 13-year-old Brazill. What specific details would a person need to know in order to sentence him properly? Has he ever done this before? What were his motives? Is he from a rough neighborhood, living in a bad family situation? Maybe all of these things don’t matter in determining Brazill’s sentence, and he should just be punished according to his crime. If you’re having a hard time deciding, you’re not alone. Since the juvenile court’s introduction in 1899, there have been debates over whether or not the court is effective in treating juveniles. Brazill’s case demonstrates the view that the juvenile court is not working, or is not sufficient to deal with cases as serious as Brazill’s. This is evident in the fact that he was sent to adult court as a 13-year-old as opposed to being tried in the juvenile court. The recent shift toward trying more juveniles as adults is a plain indicator that the juvenile justice system is not working. No one will disagree with that. However, people will disagree on what the system is supposed to be doing in the first place, and how we as a nation should go about fixing it. There are many different approaches to how juveniles should be dealt with, and each approach is extremely complex. One of the main factors that causes the complexity is that with each approach comes certain doctrines on the differences between juveniles and adults.

Lifespan Development and Personality Paper Essay

Adolescence, also known as â€Å"teenage years† is a time of dramatic change. This phase of life marks a developmental period that follows childhood and comes before adulthood. Adolescence is closely associated with puberty, which is also considered as a developmental milestone, particularly in the western countries. Puberty refers to the period of adolescence when a person becomes capable of reproduction (Carpenter, S. & Huffman, K., 2008). In this paper, I will discuss the various factors that affect the physical, cognitive, social, moral, and personality development of adolescents. Adolescence is a time of rapid physical growth which is illustrated by the drastic growth spurt in the height, weight and skeletal muscles. In this phase, rapid development of tests, scrotim and penis develops in adolescent boys whereas development of ovaries, uterus, and vagina occurs in adolescent girls. I believe some of the factors that lead to this rapid physical development can be held responsible to both hereditary and environmental influences. Hereditary influences are also referred to as â€Å"inherited† qualities which are passed on from the parents to the offspring. Therefore, these are also known as â€Å"nature† influences. On the contrary, environmental influences are those experiences that one gets from their surrounding environment as one grows and matures. Such influences are also referred to as â€Å"nurture†. Genetics play an important role in the physical development of an adolescent. For instance, if the parents of a child are extremely hairy, then there is a high probability that the child will also become hairy earlier in life. Also, if both the parents are tall, then there is a high probability that the child will also become taller in their puberty years. Moreover, environment also plays a major role in one’s physical development. Environment encompasses family surroundings, media influences, culture and so on. For instance, one of the Asian countries requires girls to wear metal bands around their necks from early age so that when they get into the puberty years, they can develop long and slender necks. This is so because it is considered beautiful in their culture for girls to have long and slender necks; it is a part of their culture. In addition, environmental and cultural factors such as television, internet, and media amongst others can play a major role to influence de velopment in adolescence. Adolescence is also a time of changes occurring in the development of cognition. Piaget developed a theory of cognitive development which emphasize on the four stages that children must go through. The four stages of Piaget’s stages of cognitive development are as follows: sensorimotor, preoperational, concrete operational, and formal operational stage. Since the focus of this paper is adolescence, I would discuss the formal operational stage in depth as it is developed in ages of 11 and up. Formal Operational stage can be characterized by abstract thinking, logical thought and hypothetical reasoning. In Piaget’s Formal operational stage, the children acquire the ability to think abstractly and hypothetically. In other words, children can ask themselves â€Å"what if† type of hypothetical questions, which further illustrates their ability to create and test concepts. In addition, Formal operational thinking also allows the adolescent to construct a well-reasoned argument based on hypothetical concepts and logical processes (Carpenter & Huffman, 2008). In addition to attaining the ability to think abstractly, children in this phase have very egocentric way of thinking. In other words, they cannot differentiate between what they are thinking and what others are thinking. This egocentric thought may be characterized into two ways: personal fable and imaginative audience. The factors that influence cognitive development in adolescents can be held responsible to both genetics and environmental influences. In terms of hereditary influences, if either of the two parents (biological) of the child is suffering from mental health disorder such as schizophrenia, then it is very likely that the offspring will also develop this disorder. Hence, this will in turn disrupt the development of cognitive processes such as formal operational stage in the child. Moreover, environment can also play a vital role in the cognitive development of an adolescent. For instance, if a child has grown up in a happy and a healthy environment where parents practice an authoritative parenting style then the child is more likely to reach the formal operational stage earlier and successfully in the adolescence years. Also, such an authoritative style of parenting facilitates good decision making in children. In other words, when given a choice between healthy and unhealthy behaviors such as having unprotected sex, driving experimenting with drugs and alcohol; these children are less likely to take such decisions and act on it. This is because they have  attained the formal operational stage and hence, gained the ability to think abstractly, hypothetically and logically about their decisions. Social development is studied by reflecting on the significance of attachment in ones life. Adolescent’s tend to develop strong attachments with people who are not their primary caregivers, particularly peers, teachers, social clubs, sports clubs and so on. Adolescence is a time when individuals tend to spend more time with peers than the primary caregivers. Not only that, adolescence is also a time when children group together to form cliques, intimate relationships and experiment with sexuality. The factor that affects social development is attachment. Vast amount of research has been done on the relationship between the type of attachment style formed in the younger years and the relationships formed later in the adolescent and adult life. Researchers found that an average, adolescents’ perceptions of the quality of the parent-child relationship declined consistently and moderately between age 11 and age 14. Furthermore, conflicts with parents increased and this was particularly true for girls than boys (McGue et. al, 2005). Morality can be explained as the ability to differentiate between right and wrong. Moral development also begins to develop in the adolescent years. Kohlberg, one of the most influential researchers in psychology has developed a model of moral development. His stages of development include Pre-conventional level, Conventional level and Post- conventional level. Since the focus of our paper is on adolescence, I will investigate conventional level in detail as it is developed in this age. Conventional level consist of stage 3 (good child orientation) and 4(law-and-order orientation). In Stage 3, the primary moral concern is with being nice and gaining approval. In stage 4, the individual takes into account a larger perspective-societal laws. Stage 4 individuals understand that if everyone violated laws, even with good intentions, there would be chaos. Thus, doing one’s duty and respecting law and order are highly valued (Carpenter, S. &  Huffman, K., 2008). Personality development is studied mainly with Erikson’s Psychosocial Theory of development. Erikson’s theory consists of eight stages of psychosocial development; these theories are in the following order:Stage 1 – Trust vs. MistrustStage 2 – Autonomy vs. Shame and DoubtStage 3 – Initiative vs. GuiltStage 4 – Industry vs. InferiorityStage 5 – Identity vs. Confusion (Adolescence: ages 12-20)Stage 6 – Intimacy vs. IsolationStage 7 – Generativity vs. StagnationStage 8 – Integrity vs. DespairThe stage 5 of Erikson’s theory reflects the adolescence period. Erikson claims that during this period, the individual questions and searches for their own identity and their role in society. Furthermore, he mentioned that those individuals who do not overcome the identity crisis do not form a stable identity, indulge into delinquent acts and behaviors, and have difficulty in forming and maintaining close relationships in life. Klimstra et. al (2009) examined adolescent personality maturation on the Big Five personality trait model and found that agreeableness and Emotional Stability increased during adolescence. In addition, mixed evidence was found for the increase in traits such as Extraversion and Openness. Furthermore, it was found that in terms of gender differences in the timing of adolescent personality maturation, girls tend to mature earlier than boys. Adolescence is a stage of development which occurs before adulthood and after childhood. In this stage of development, a drastic growth spurts in height, weight, and skeletal muscles. This paper mainly focused on the various aspects of the human development in adolescence. The various factors affecting physical, cognitive, social, moral, and personality development of adolescents were also discussed in this paper. References Carpenter, S. & Huffman, K. (2008). Visualizing Psychology. Hoboken, NJ: Wiley. Klimstra, T., Hale, W., Raaijmakers, Q., Branje, S., & Meeus, W. (2009, April). Maturation of personality in adolescence.Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 96(4), 898-912. Retrieved April 19, 2009, doi:10.1037/a0014746McGue, M., Elkins, I., Walden, B., & Iacono, W. (2005, November). Perceptions of the Parent-Adolescent Relationship: A Longitudinal Investigation. Developmental Psychology, 41(6), 971-984. Retrieved April 19, 2009, doi:10.1037/0012-1649.41.6.971