Multi-Agency working and safeguarding adults in care Essays

Multi-Agency working and safeguarding adults in care Essays Multi-Agency working and safeguarding adults in care Essay Multi-Agency working and safeguarding adults in care Essay Essay Topic: Adults There have been various cases recently in the news to where abuse has been either suspected of confirmed, for example the Panorama undercover programme at Winterbourne view whereby a range of physical, emotional, psychological abuse were identified. Abuse is defined as A violation of an individuals human and civil rights by any other person or persons. Vulnerable people are more open to abuse due to the individuals either not being able to stand up for themselves and are usually unwell, frail or/and confused. Different types of services try to combat this abuse through taking a multi-agency approach whereby the organisations all work together to discover ways of preventing the abuse from taking place in the beginning or resurrect the situation when abuse has been confirmed by providing a range of support through support planning and single assessment. Rather than the organisations working separately and providing separate services without any communication, multi-agency working encourages the services to work together through sharing information and a co-ordination of approach whereby the individuals needs are central to the process and that a person centred care approach is used. With multi-agency working there will be an array of professionals from different agencies where they will combine each of their individual skills and expertise to meet all of the individuals holistic needs. For Multi-agency working to be successful, good communication from all organisations and a good understanding of what each other do is crucial. Not only this but it also requires a co-ordinating professional, to ensure that the organisations are working to satisfactory levels and that the needs of the individual are being met. Another benefit is that through multi-agency working, it is encouraged for the individual to have involvement in their health care services and allows them to feel more confident in talking about their worries, fears and potential abuse. Not only this but having equality through the relationships of the working encourage the individual to develop a higher self-esteem, self-confidence and the strength to stop accepting the abusive situations that may occur are the norm. It also ensures that there is an agreed approach to all of the organisations which are involved including the families and informal carers as well so that they are all aware of and can monitor the situation. Multi-agency working is also a way of enabling better information sharing and communication in terms of the staff, team meetings, communication via emails and written records such as in a care home whereby there would be a daily log which enables each staff coming on shift to be able aware of events that had taken place since they were last on duty. With the multi-agency approach they believe that the sharing of information and concern will conclude to early preventive action on abuse to take place and that patterns of behaviour can be identified of the service users when different members of staff come on to duty which could suggest that abuse is taken place by that worker. Forums are another way in which multi agency works (monthly meetings of residents in care services) where by the individuals are encouraged to share ideas and speak out giving the individuals more confidence to speak out and have a greater ownership and independence in terms of decisions that affect their lives such as being involved in interviewing new care staff. Not only this but it is also a chance for the service users to understand what procedures and guidelines that the care service has and their own rights emphasised to increase their expectations of the individual care that they receive. When the service users are clear on the guidelines they are more understanding on the what the behaviour of the staff should be, so not only are these guidelines are for the use of the staff but they are also for the service user to know what is acceptable behaviour from the staff and what is not. This is why the complaints procedure should be understood by all service users of the health facility and should be able to gain access to by all even if support is needed from an advocate from outside the organisation when making a complaint. So that there is a guarantee that all the staff members understand new procedures and policies, training needs to be implemented. Each new staff that works at the service also will require a formal induction whereby all of these policies and procedures are explained thoroughly, which will then underline their expected behaviour and practice in the service. Without training taking place, abuse is more likely to happen because of the poor practice and the workers lack of understanding of the policies and procedures. To prevent this from taking place and to ensure that the services are working with the best interest of the service user and following the rules and regulations that apply to each of them an independent regulator of health and social care services was established but shortly taken over by The Care Quality Commission previously help by the Commission for Social Care Inspection, the Healthcare Commission and the Mental Health Commission in April 2009 (stretch et al, 2010). Procedures laid down by the organisation in conjunction to the multi-agency framework should be followed in terms of cases of alleged or suspected abuse and include six stages including alerting the worker who has the responsibility of dealing with these situations to then for them to refer the allegation to the police or social services who will feedback after investigation and an Adult Protection Case Conference will share results of the investigation with the vulnerable persons family who is the subject of abuse. An assessment is then carried out and a review of a Protection Plan to make sure that the individuals needs are met in the future which will then be monitored and recorded. If another member of staff identifies the abuse they have the chance to whistleblow which since the Public Interest Disclosure Act (1998) the staff have the right not to suffer detrimentally or be fired as a result of disclosing the information. In the past it has been known that staff have been aware of abuse taking place however have not reported it due to not wanting to be known as a grass to the service and their employees. To ensure that new employees of health and social care services are suitable for the job role of caring for vulnerable adults they will require a CRB check which since October 2009 they are required to obtain an Enhanced check rather than the normal standard check. This allows the employer to be aware of the convictions to which these individuals applying for the job may have and therefore will be able to pick which potential employer is actually right for the job role in terms of offering greater protection to the service users. This however may not always go to plan due to the loop holes which can still be identified in cases such as in the Winterbourne View residential care home whereby Panorama went undercover after a whistleblower who previously worked at the care service alerted higher authorities with the management at the care home and to the Quality Care Commission however his claims didnt get followed up however after the programme was shown the Safeguarding Adults Board were made aware and appropriate action was taken in line with established and procedures which should have been followed by the staff members previously to prevent the abuse. The abuse in which was taken place could have been prevented through thorough training of the staff and ensuring they were up to date with these policies and procedures. Not only this however but the recruitment of the staff should also have been more carefully picked with staff members with job history of being a tattooist with no previous healthcare qualifications. In conclusion if the policies, procedures and guidelines were followed correctly and appropriate training was also implemented then the abuse that took place at Winterbourne View would have never happened. If the communication between the different services was also improved through a multi-agency working approach then the abuse could have been stopped a period of time before the Panorama programme.

Free Essays on The Division Of Labor

The â€Å" division of labor† has many viewpoints the two being discussed in the following are Karl Marx and Fredrick Winslow Taylor. They believed that the workplace alienated its workers from their own lives. Division of Labor can be viewed in two ways, Karl Marx saw it as an alienation from oneself and co-worker, and Fredrick viewed it, with a scientific approach, utilizing efficiency as a way of improving the workplace. Karl Marx believed that the people who do the work in a capitalistic society own none of the means of production, which they use in their work. These are owned by the capitalists, to whom the workers must sell their 'labor power', or ability to do work, in return for a wage. The capitalists, owning the factories, automatically have ownership rights to everything produced by it, and can do with it what the wish. Marx also uses the term alienation to describe the worker becoming slaves to the object. He states that the worker becomes alienated from themselves and from there co-workers. He also describes that a worker is enslaved to their workplace because the worker is always working, therefore the working day is not a constant number of hours but it varies. We must include the time it takes to prepare for work, duration of time it takes to get to work, the actual work day, as well as surplus-labor, duration of time it takes to get home from work, and then the cycle begins again. Fredrick Winslow Taylor believed that the division of labor had a scientific reason for its alienation. This is because with all the new technology the workplace has become a place were employs do the labor and managers do the thinking. When there is one manager and many workers doing the same thing, the individualism is taken away. While the workplace was being standardized, Taylor discovered efficiency. The work place was becoming a place of sole productivity and the employees were just laborers. The workers needs were no... Free Essays on The Division Of Labor Free Essays on The Division Of Labor The â€Å" division of labor† has many viewpoints the two being discussed in the following are Karl Marx and Fredrick Winslow Taylor. They believed that the workplace alienated its workers from their own lives. Division of Labor can be viewed in two ways, Karl Marx saw it as an alienation from oneself and co-worker, and Fredrick viewed it, with a scientific approach, utilizing efficiency as a way of improving the workplace. Karl Marx believed that the people who do the work in a capitalistic society own none of the means of production, which they use in their work. These are owned by the capitalists, to whom the workers must sell their 'labor power', or ability to do work, in return for a wage. The capitalists, owning the factories, automatically have ownership rights to everything produced by it, and can do with it what the wish. Marx also uses the term alienation to describe the worker becoming slaves to the object. He states that the worker becomes alienated from themselves and from there co-workers. He also describes that a worker is enslaved to their workplace because the worker is always working, therefore the working day is not a constant number of hours but it varies. We must include the time it takes to prepare for work, duration of time it takes to get to work, the actual work day, as well as surplus-labor, duration of time it takes to get home from work, and then the cycle begins again. Fredrick Winslow Taylor believed that the division of labor had a scientific reason for its alienation. This is because with all the new technology the workplace has become a place were employs do the labor and managers do the thinking. When there is one manager and many workers doing the same thing, the individualism is taken away. While the workplace was being standardized, Taylor discovered efficiency. The work place was becoming a place of sole productivity and the employees were just laborers. The workers needs were no...

Csr at Mcdonalds Essays

Csr at Mcdonalds Essays Csr at Mcdonalds Essay Csr at Mcdonalds Essay The most essential characteristic of an organisation is the focus on ethical behavior. By ‘doing the right thing’ internally and externally the business can create a good working environment, whereas at the same time the surroundings and the society takes advantage. Difficult is that ethical matters are based on individual principles and ideals. Resultantly, ethical matters are not easy to put into effect and easy to overlook. Corporate social responsibility (CSR) is rapidly becoming one of the principles on which modern business is built (Hancock, 2004). Areas can be identified were improvements should be made, and use it for strategies in future business plans. CSR refers to the economic, legal, ethical and discretionary responsibilities (Carroll Buchholtz, 2000; Swanson, 1995). The organisations are furthermore faced up to social demands for which they are likely to show responsibility for. Following the organisation can respond in different ways. The different types of responding to the social demand are obstructive, defensive, accommodative or proactive (Carroll Gatewood, 1981). Within this essay it will be examined how these CSR principles were / are utilized in the service business McDonald’s. For evaluating the social performance of McDonald’s there will be a closer look at the ethical discretionary responsibilities and the responses proactive accommodative. Finally it will be examined how to improve the social responsibility of McDonald’s by using the tools code of ethics and ethical structures. McDonald’s opened its first Bar-B-Que restaurant in 1940 by the two brothers Richard and Maurice McDonald in San Bernadino, California. It has grown quickly and opened the 100th restaurant in 1959. Later in 1967 it opened the first international restaurants in Canada and Puerto Rico and is today selling its products in 118 countries around the globe. Nowadays social responsibility is the main concern for McDonald’s (McDonalds, 2009). Companies have different objectives to realize CSR. Some organisations using CSR to reduce costs and others are willing to develop a strengthen the image (Honds, de Bakker Neergaard, 2007). To assess McDonald’s social performance the discretionary responsibility can be evaluated. Discretionary responsibility connotes an unpaid organisations’ ambition to administer to society’s benefits without getting something in return (Spencer and Butler, 2004). Additionally the responsibilities go over public expectations (Zain, 2008). The community support of McDonald’s is a basic value and the corporation takes it very seriously. The company’s objective shows that McDonald’s is not simply a profit making organisation, to create additional value to their consumers and the society. The variety of discretionary responsibilities is taking action in various dimensions. These responsibilities are namely Partnerships Sponsorships, Owner/Operator Involvement, Disaster Relief and Children’s programs Ronald McDonald House Charities (McDonald’s Corporate Responsibility, 2007). After Fritzsche and Becker (1984) ethical responsibility covers behavior which is not implemented in laws. Moreover the ethical responsibility is not the straight trade and industry importance. Ethical stands for to act with equity, fairness and impartiality (Fritzsche et al. , 1984). Examples to evaluate ethical performance can also be shown at the ethical performance of the McDonald’s corporation. Every year a worldwide Anti-McDonald’s Day is arranged which demonstrates against McDonald’s unethical behavior; promotion of Junk Food, unethical targeting of children, exploitation of workers, animal cruelty, damage to the environment and the global domination of corporations over our lives (Infoshop News, 2005). By targeting of children with the unhealthy fast food, McDonald’s uses incentives to attract the children with playgrounds, clubs and free toys. Young children between 2 and 5 cannot differentiate between TV programs and advertisings, so that the society interprets McDonalds as unethical (Media Awareness Network, 2009). The first type of response to specific social pressures the essay focuses on is the proactive response. The proactive respond react to wrongdoing of the business and ensure initiatives that take a more proactive stance promoting ethical values and encouraging employees to seek to high ethical ideals (Treviano Weaver, 2003). The companies have willingness to comunicate, have a long term focus and came not through pressure of the stakeholders. Furthermore a centre of attention is on building lasting relationships based on trust and mutual understanding of the company (Hancock, 2004). An example how an organisation can respond proactively to specific social pressures can be seen at the responses of the Mc Donald’s corporation. â€Å"Take us from reactive and proactive. † the Vice President of communications of McDonald’s Mike Donahue said in 2002 (Frank, 2004). Donahue altered that the customer service, which before used to be an operations function, recently informs him, so that Public Relations (PR) can be directly in touch with the customer feedback and questions (Frank, 2004). Another proactive respond was shown when the U. S. Evironmental Protection Agency has named McDonald’s USA as the 2007 Energy Star Partner of the Year because McDonald’s USA proactively controls their energy consumption (McDonald’s Corporate Responsibility, 2007). Coming to the second response, this paragraph will focus on the accommodative response, which covers the social demands which the company allows (Samson Draft, 2009). It is an engagement for the organisation which implies to achieve legal, economic and ethical responsibilities inside their operating environment. The public claim that McDonald’s doesn’t respond sufficient enough with accommodative actions to respond to external pressures. The organisation knew that their unhealthy food over several years had damaging impacts, but McDonald’s did only make a few changes to answer to the social requests. Only the healthy trend has led to modifications within the McDonald’s menu by selling wraps, salads, fruit bags and mentioning the nutrition facts on the packages (BBC News, 2007). Ethics Structure is often referred to as a set of elements, which highlight the theory in the public service as well as assist in a shifting environment (Baqueiro, 2005). According to the OECD (1996) the set of elements are: Legal framework, Accountability and Control systems, Public involvement and Scrutiny, Political leadership, Codes of conduct, Professional socialization, Coordinating body and Service conditions, and which are all contributing to three functions; control, management and guidance. In essence, the set of elements can on the one hand control unwanted behavior of a company or on the other hand motivate towards a good behavior. Taking a look at the company McDonald’s now, there can be identified further improvements in respect to its ethics structure. When the company published its Corporate Responsibility Report in 2002, there were hardly seen any concerns about ethics (Hawken, 2002). McDonald’s became aware of that problem and made some changes according to it. The results were seen in their second Corporate Responsibility Report published in 2004 (McDonald’s Corporation, 2004). McDonald’s understood to react to previously raised criticism from society in a clever way, but in essence it was not enough. An improvement to McDonald’s social responsibility could therefore be achieved through implementing an ethics department, or even just some experts on ethical structures. The company would then be seen as more reliable and ethical, as experts would be more subjective. Moreover the company would increase its transparency and benefit from the positive image. The Code of ethics is a technique to develop an improved social responsibility and is an important part of the company’s identity (Samson Draft, 2009; Senske, 2009). Furthermore it is a strict document which describes values in ethics and social matters of an organisation (Samson Daft, 2009). After Parsons (2004) guidelines are given which are based on the values and matters to ensure equivalent decisions in similar situations. The members of the organisation have to follow and live by the code of ethics in order to avoid unethical behaviour and engender an ethical sensitivity (Menzel, 2006). Resultantly it creates a kind of trust for the stakeholders (Senske, 2009). Earlier McDonald’s made statements about its code of conduct to encourage their stakeholders, but nothing was issued about the efforts which were being made. As an example Mc Donald’s paid most of their employees less than the usual adult minimum wage (Transport and General Workers Union, 2004). Furthermore poor working conditions with discrimination, illegal working hours, and bad safety conditions were shown at McDonald’s. In 2002 the first McDonald’s Social Responsibility Report was released. This report was supported by a code of business conduct, which is the main structure for employee ethics. It is utilized to make sure that the internal ethical requirements are met, such as a secure working environment and employee rights (McDonald’s Corporation, 2004). But the latest Corporate Responsibility Report from 2004 doesn’t say much about how situations have been improved concerning the payment for example. Furthermore it shows that McDonald’s did not change its in-house methods or impact on the society and the environment (Hawken, 2002). Lots of its efforts are explanatory and based around achieving future goals. This has a lot of perspective, but nothing is said about what has been achieved at present. First of all this could be improved by setting up detailed, measureable, achievable and time-framed goals. And finally the progress of these defined goals should be published in the Corporate Responsibility Report in order to encourage the stakeholders, to strengthen McDonald’s social image and to make the company more reliable. As a final conclusion this essay has shown that the CSR principles are essential to improve and to have relationships and a good social image within the modern society. By taking the example of one of the worldwide leading organisations, that is McDonald’s, it has shown that CSR is still of great importance today. The first paragraph, which deals with the discretionary responsibility, it has shown that McDonald’s is not simply a profit making organisation but also has responsibilities such as Partnerships Sponsorships, Owner/Operator Involvement, Disaster Relief and Children’s programs Ronald McDonald House Charities. The next principle the essay focused on was ethical responsibility. McDonald’s is criticized in public of its unethical behavior when targeting with advertisement campaigns on children. By having a closer look at the proactive response which an organisation could make, it showed that McDonalds is already used to respond proactively. By altering the customer service, which used to be an operations function, it is now able to get in touch with customer feedback and questions much quicker. In the next paragraph which deals with the accommodative respond, it has demonstrated that McDonald’s doesn’t respond adequate with accommodative actions to respond to external pressures. At the end of the essay two tools were examined to observe how the social responsibility can be improved. The first tool which could help McDonald’s is ethics structure and it could be used by implementing an ethics department. The second improvement tool to help McDonald’s is the code of ethics which already exists at the company. But it could be improved by setting up detailed, measureable, achievable time-framed goals. The progress of these defined goals should be published in their annual Corporate Responsibility Reports in order to satisfy the stakeholders, to strengthen the social image and to make the company more reliable. As a summary of the essay it has revealed that the two chosen tools can necessarily improve the social responsiveness of McDonalds. By not overwhelming the still existing bad social image and not including these far-reaching changes, McDonald’s will not be able to upgrade its corporate social responsibility.

Hinduism, the Religion as portrayed in Bollywood Cinema Essay

Hinduism, the Religion as portrayed in Bollywood Cinema - Essay Example The author has classified these feature films into four main categories: mythological films, devotional films, Islamic films and the films propagating religious and secular ideals. She has then discussed the characteristic features of each of these categories of cinema under different chapters of the book. According to Dwyer, the Hindu religion in India has always had a strong relationship with the various forms of the artistic expressions. Much before the medium of films came into existence, the traditional forms of the Indian media such as â€Å"drama, poetry, music, dance, painting etc.† have been found to be replete with depiction of Hindu religious practices. This proves that, right from the ancient times, Indian religion has had a significant influence on the different forms of the country’s art. The medium of cinema was no exception to this rule, and the all-encompassing impact of India’s religious culture paved the way for the regular portrayal of the religious practices on the large screen. That is why, Dwyer has considered it important to study the mutual relationship between the Indian religion and the medium of films. In her work she has evaluated the methods in which the medium of cinema has influenced the religious practices in India. She has also tri ed to determine whether Indian films have portrayed the religious rituals in their true form or have modified them while exhibiting these practices to a larger audience. (Dwyer, 2) Dwyer’s book makes significant contributions in other spheres as well. The author has studied the importance of Indian cinema in constructing various national identities related to films. Dwyer has outlined how the cinematic medium has helped to form India’s political identity, its nationalistic zeal, the religious identity and also facilitated the creation of the different religious communities. In his book, the author has further argued that Indian films have not restricted themselves by depicting only the religious rituals, the religious communities and their philosophies. Instead, Indian cinema portrays an Indian society whose customs and practices are grounded in the basic religious ideals of the country. This modern Indian society transcends the political boundaries and religious divid es to register its presence amidst the larger global audience (Dwyer, 2). In 2008, Dwight Friesen (University of Edinburgh) had published a review of Rachel Dwyer’s book in The Expository Times. Friesen has identified Dwyer’s book as an unprecedented effort mainly directed towards evaluating the significance of Indian religion in their cinema. The first chapter of the book traces the origins and development of mythological films in India, while the second chapter describes the same aspects of the feature films belonging to the devotional genre. In the third chapter, the author has described how Indian films have depicted the Islamic religion, culture and their ways of life in the relevant â€Å"Islamicate films†. The fourth chapter has enumerated how Hinduism has significantly influenced the framework and the basic themes of the Indian social cinema. (Friesen, 206) Friesen declares that Dwyer’s book bears testimony to her investigations and research about the subject matter of her work. Friesen has appreciated Dwyer’s knowledge about the evolution of the Indian motion picture industry which is reflected abundantly in the book. As such, Friesen points out that the book has minimal flaws. However, the reviewer rightly identifies that Dwyer has concentrated more on the depiction of religion in Hindi films ( produced in the Bombay film industry) rather than the

Managing Creativity & Change Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2250 words

Managing Creativity & Change - Essay Example Creativeness is the major pillar that will lead to change since if the managers and the whole fraternity of the firm are creative then the organization will have a lot of changes thus achieving their goals while at the same time attaining a competitive edge. The hierarchal management changed because of three reasons; global economy, working environment and improved technology. Tips to manage change and creativeness Change and creativeness in an organization leads to new innovation and thus the goal has been achieved. The first option to manage change and creativeness in the firm is first agreeing the business case with the members who are actively involved. Secondly is to understand the number of stakeholder in the new programme. This means that one has to explain how the programme will work and what it entails. Thirdly is encouragement to those who are affected by change making sure that they are fully involved in the decision making process. For change to be accepted in the firm ma nagers must explain the importance that will have to outweigh the disadvantages of the old system. Fourthly is to make sure that all the staffs and the management have the required skills (Clark, 1980). Fifth is to make sure that change must be implemented into phases to make it effective so as to achieve the goals. The next tip is behavioral changes to the staffs this means that the implementers must be quick to respond to the feedback and listen so that they can be aware of successfulness of the change to the individuals. This means that acceptance areas must be known and the rejection and weaker areas addressed accordingly. The next tip is to make sure that technology has worked for the first time, this stage delays and frustration are... Change and creativeness in an organization lead to new innovation and thus the goal has been achieved. The first option to manage change and creativeness in the firm is first agreeing on the business case with the members who are actively involved. Secondly is to understand the number of stakeholder in the new program. This means that one has to explain how the program will work and what it entails. Thirdly is the encouragement to those who are affected by change making sure that they are fully involved in the decision-making process. For change to be accepted by the firm managers must explain the importance that will have to outweigh the disadvantages of the old system. Fourthly is to make sure that all the staffs and the management have the required skills (Clark, 1980). Fifth is to make sure that change must be implemented in phases to make it effective so as to achieve the goals. The next tip is behavioral changes to the staffs this means that the implementers must be quick to re spond to the feedback and listen so that they can be aware of successfulness of the change to the individuals. This means that acceptance areas must be known and the rejection and weaker areas addressed accordingly. The next tip is to make sure that technology has worked for the first time, this stage delays and frustration are normal to the firm but the most important thing is to make sure that user testing has taken place. And lastly is to make sure that no other change should be carried before the first is successfully accepted in the firm.

The car that saved JLR Company Coursework Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2250 words

The car that saved JLR Company - Coursework Example According to Hardy and Leiba-o’ Sullivan, power in the current business environment is more related to that embedded within systems and relationships. This embodiment of politics and power has been applied in the management of JLR. The acquisition of Jaguar and Land Rover by Tata took almost a year after it was approved by unions and management of Ford, who was JLR’s previous owner. Tata put its stake in the ailing company, while every other automobile manufacturer retreated, thereby increasing faith among JLR’s unions and management as well as shifting power from unions to the owner. Similarly, this power was used by Tata while compromising on salary and working hours at the manufacturing facilities, in return for huge production investment and continuity of manufacturing plants. Often, maneuvering and political behavior within a firm are caused due to uncertainty such as inadequately defined decisions, change, internal competition and unclear objectives. JLR fa ced similar uncertainties while it was being acquired by Tata. However, in order to establish harmony among leaders and union members, upper management decided to give power to the unions, instead of managers. Employees and unions working with JLR were left to decide the brand, which will be finalized as the acquiring company. Hence, by establishing a smooth political climate and transforming negative politics into a positive one, Tata has successfully acquired JLR. The Emic model of power and diversity explains the importance of intersectionality.

The Baptism Debate Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2250 words

The Baptism Debate - Research Paper Example One such area of difference is the meaning and importance of baptism. That is, various denominations approach ideas related to baptism differently. Some individuals, for example, do not recognize any significance of baptism. This paper explores certain debatable issues surrounding baptism. Specifically, the paper addresses merits of baptism, eligibility of an individual for baptism, and correct biblical mode of baptism. Outline of the Paper While exploring the concept of baptism among believers, the paper identifies some debatable aspects of baptism. The areas include significance of baptism, children baptism, and correct biblical mode of baptism. Since the paper is an argumentative paper, both proposing and opposing sides of the areas are discussed in the paper. This paper begins by exploring the meaning and understanding of baptism. This section outlines how baptism is important to believers. The paper further identifies merits of baptism to Baptists, individuals who believe in exi stence and usefulness of baptism. While discussing baptism of children, the paper begins by highlighting reasons used by individuals who oppose infant baptism. Those who are in favor of the issue are later discussed in the paper. ... In addition, it emerged that the Bible does not clearly support children baptism. Moreover, the Bible supports baptism by immersion. Meaning of Baptism Baptism is an outward symbol of an individual’s inner transformation.4 The entire process of baptism is achieved through the power and strength of Jesus. It is important to note that baptism is not about overcoming sin, but is about repenting past sins. In other words, baptism involves making up your mind that you want to overcome sin by allowing God to give strength and victory. Through baptism, Apostle Paul argues that Christians embrace importance of Jesus’ death and resurrection.5 That is, Christians symbolically undergo similar experiences that Jesus went through in His death, burial, and resurrection. Apostle Paul further clarifies that while Jesus physically died and resurrected, Christians die to their sins, self, and old ways. Resurrection to Christians, therefore, implies that an individual, after baptism, rise s again to a holy life through Jesus Christ. As Romans 6:8-12 say, â€Å"Now if we died with Christ, we believe that we also live with Him. For we know that since Jesus was raised from the dead, he cannot die again.†¦.In the same way, count yourself dead to sin but alive to God in Christ Jesus.† Apart from the message to Romans, Apostle Paul also informs Corinthians about importance of baptism to Christians. In II Corinthians 5:17 Paul says, â€Å"Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new creation has come.† Therefore, after baptism, an individual is holy and sin no longer reigns over him. The verse implies that sin has to â€Å"die† and be â€Å"passed away† from an individual so that Jesus completely occupy an individual’s life. The verse does not,