How to Dispose of Mercury Safely

How to Dispose of Mercury Safely Mercury is an extremely toxic heavy metal. Though you might not have any mercury thermometers in your home, chances are good you have other items that contain mercury, such as fluorescent or other mercury-containing light bulbs, or mercury-containing thermostats. If you break a mercury thermometer, thermostat, or fluorescent bulb you need to be a lot more careful cleaning up the accident than you might think. Here are some things not to do, plus recommendations for the best way to clean up after a mercury release or spill. You can visit the US EPA site for additional help in cleaning up after an accident involving mercury. What Not to Do After a Mercury Spill Dont vacuum up the spill or breakage. This will release mercury into the air and greatly increase the level of contamination.Dont sweep up the mercury or broken glass with a broom. This breaks up the mercury into smaller drops, increasing its surface area so that more mercury gets into the air and spread around.Dont pour mercury down the drain. It can clog your plumbing and seriously pollute your septic system or the sewer system into which your plumbing drains.Dont wash mercury-contaminated clothing. This contaminates your washing machine, all of the other clothes in the load, and the water that is washed down the drain. If you use a clothes dryer afterward youre releasing mercury into the air and essentially poisoning yourself. By now you probably see a theme. Dont do anything that would spread the mercury or cause it to become airborne. Dont track it around on your shoes. Dont re-use any cloth or sponge that came in contact with the mercury, ever. Now that you have an idea of what to avoid, here are some steps to take. How to Dispose of a Broken Fluorescent Bulb Fluorescent bulbs and compact fluorescent bulbs contain small amounts of mercury. Heres what to do if you break a bulb: Clear the room of people, especially children, and pets. Do not allow children to help you clean up.Shut off the heater or air conditioner, is applicable. Open a window and allow the room to air out at least 15 minutes.Use a sheet of paper or cardboard to scoop up glass and metal pieces. Deposit the breakage into a glass jar with a lid or a sealable plastic bag.Use sticky tape to pick up the smaller pieces of debris. Drop the used tape into the jar or bag.While paper and tape should be sufficient to clean up breakage on a hard surface, you may need to vacuum a carpet or rug. Vacuum only after all visible remains have been cleaned up and then dispose of the bag or debris with the rest of the clean-up. If your vacuum has a canister, wipe it clean with damp paper towels and dispose of the used towels. If the break occurred over clothing or bedding, the material should be wrapped up and thrown away. Check with the waste disposal regulations where you live. Some places will allow you to throw away broken fluorescent bulbs with other trash while others have more stringent requirements for this type of waste disposal. Cleaning up a broken mercury thermometer is somewhat more involved, so Ill post those instructions separately.

Soft Determinism Explained

Soft Determinism Explained Soft determinism is the view that determinism and free will are compatible. It is thus a form of compatibilism. The term was coined by the American philosopher William James (1842-1910) in his essay â€Å"The Dilemma of Determinism.† Soft determinism consists of two main claims: 1.  Determinism is true.  Every event, including every human action, is causally determined. If you selected vanilla rather than chocolate ice cream last night, you could not have chosen otherwise given your exact circumstances and condition. Someone with enough knowledge of your circumstances and condition would have been able, in principle, to predict what you would choose. 2.  We act freely when we are not constrained or coerced. If my legs are tied, I am not free to run. If I hand over my wallet to a robber who is pointing a gun at my head, I am not acting freely. Another way of putting this is to say that we act freely when we act on our desires. Soft determinism contrasts with both hard determinism and with what is sometimes called metaphysical libertarianism. Hard determinism asserts that determinism is true and denies that we have free will.  Metaphysical libertarianism (not to be confused with the political doctrine of libertarianism) says that determinism is false since when we act freely some part of the process leading up to the action (e.g. our desire, our decision, or our act of will) is not predetermined. The problem soft determinists face is that of explaining how our actions can be both predetermined but free. Most of them do this by insisting that the notion of freedom, or free will, be understood in a particular way.  They reject the idea that free will must involve some strange metaphysical capacity that each of us has–namely, the ability to initiate an event (e.g. our act of will, or our action) which is not itself causally determined. This libertarian concept of freedom is unintelligible, they argue, and at odds with the prevailing scientific picture. What matters to us, they argue, is that we enjoy some degree of control over and responsibility for our actions. And this requirement is met if our actions flow from (are determined by) our decisions, deliberations, desires, and character.   The Main Objection to Soft Determinism The most common objection to soft determinism is that the notion of freedom it holds onto falls short of what most people mean by free will. Suppose I hypnotize you, and while you are under hypnosis I plant certain desires in your mind: e.g. a desire to get yourself a drink when the clock strikes ten. On the stroke of ten, you get up and pour yourself some water. Have you acted freely? If acting freely simply means doing what you want, acting on your desires, then the answer is yes, you acted freely. But most people would see your action as unfree since, in effect, you are being controlled by someone else.   One could make the example still more dramatic by imagining a mad scientist implanting electrodes in your brain and then triggering in you all sorts of desires and decisions which lead you to perform certain actions. In this case, you would be little more than a puppet in someone else’s hands; yet according to the soft determinist notion of freedom, you would be acting freely. A soft determinist might reply that in such a case we would say you are unfree because you are controlled by someone else. But if the desires, decisions, and volitions (acts of will) that govern your actions are really yours, then it is reasonable to say that you are in control, and hence acting freely.  The critic will point out, though, that according to the soft determinist, your desires, decisions, and volitions–in fact, your entire character–are ultimately determined by other factors that are equally outside your control: e.g. your genetic make up, your upbringing, and your environment.  The upshot is still that you do not, ultimately, have any control over or responsibility for your actions. This line of criticism of soft determinism is sometimes referred to as the â€Å"consequence argument.† Soft Determinism in Contemporary Times Many major philosophers including Thomas Hobbes, David Hume, and Voltaire have defended some form of soft determinism. Some version of it is still probably the most popular view of the free will problem among professional philosophers. Leading contemporary soft determinists include P. F. Strawson, Daniel Dennett, and Harry Frankfurt. Although their positions typically fall within the broad lines described above, they offer sophisticated new versions and defenses. Dennett, for instance, in his book Elbow Room, argues that what we call free will is a highly developed ability, that we have refined in the course of evolution, to envisage future possibilities and to avoid those we don’t like. This concept of freedom (being able to avoid undesirable futures) is compatible with determinism, and it’s all we need. Traditional metaphysical notions of free will that are incompatible with determinism, he argues, are not worth saving.

History Questions Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words - 2

History Questions - Essay Example Cuneiform writing was practiced as an art. Ancient Greece was characterized by islands, Peloponnesus, and mainland. It was surrounded by Mediterranean Sea and had few rivers, rocky soil and a mountainous land with the lack of subsistence farming and no irrigation scheme. My analysis demonstrated that Ancient Greece had no central political system hence lacked unity and was characterized by policies of humanistic and secular. Ancient Greece only took part in art and trade as the primary social activities and this system led to no significant economic achievement characterized by less population and high poverty. The two societies that showed long stability history and imperial dynastic rule are Ancient Egypt and Ancient China. Ancient Egypt had a precious natural resource surrounded with regular controlled flooding surrounded by political borders and a governed centralized system that facilitated political stability and a high population with less foreign interference. Its culture was uniform with a religious perspective and a point of direction in their way of life that unified the whole community. Ancient China was characterized by mountains, deserts, and rivers. The community in Ancient China practiced comprehensive agriculture that led to unification and communal working. The practice of religion adjudicated Unity in Ancient China and emphasize on respect to elders. They also mined bronze and took part in the art as a culture. The axial age is a time between 900-200 BCE when people began laying spiritual foundations that guide the common religions today. Urban civilization under priestly ruling brought communities together and encouraged trade activities. The Urban way of life started to expand leading to social, political and economic conflicts that disrupted order leading to questioning of conventional beliefs. Interaction between different communities exposed individuals to realities like

Educational Systems Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Educational Systems - Essay Example OBTE focuses on measuring empirically student performance outcomes as compared to PBTE which places emphasis on improving the performance of the teacher by laying out perceived best practices in professional conduct. OBTE does not relyon specifications or requiring any particular style of teaching or learning. The important point is that the student's performance is assessed and must demonstrate that they have learned the required content and skills. The paper is a critical analysis of Outcomes Based Teacher Education (OBTE) versus Performance Based Teachers Education (PBTE) in developed countries such as the United States and the United Kingdom. In doing so, it becomes necessary to delineate clearly the ideas underpinning OBTE and PBTE. I would be analyzing the effectiveness and disadvantages of both by drawing upon available literature regarding the experiences of elements of educational systems. This paper includes the review of the Teacher Quality aspect of each country, the students' ability to learn and assessment of its curriculum. This paper is aimed at providing an analytical and credible study and assessment of the nature of OBTE and PBTE. The results of this study is hoped to provide a useful guidepost in the development of the educational system on whether to pursue OBTE or PBTE. This paper also aims to be a useful related study to those who would want to perform such a similar analysis in the future. 2.0 Proposed Research Structure The research could possibly include six (6) chapters: Chapter 1 - Introduction and Aims of the study; Chapter 2 - Review of Related Literature/Studies; Chapter 3 - Methodology; Chapter 4 - Systematic Presentation of the Data and Important Points; Chapter 5 - Discussion, Analysis and Interpretation of Data and Chapter 6 - Summary and Conclusions. 3.0 Data Sources The researcher had chosen developing countries such as the United States and the United Kingdom as a research target for these countries are known for their advancement in terms of education and technology. Philosophers, famous educators and latest inventions mostly are from these countries. Residents of these continents pay much attention to the academic aspect of life. As early as one-year old, children are being sent to pre-schools and nurseries for their first hand education. Universities such as the Oxford and Harvard and many other famous universities are situated in these areas. In the course of study, data will be gathered from published papers and reports that are directly concerned with the topic. I will be fist scanning the material that is present in peer-reviewed academic journals so as to obtain highly credible data sources and proceed to obtain data from newspaper reports, magazine articles and other published material. It is advised that previous studies and overviews regarding the topic be reviewed in order to gain further knowledge about the issues and conflicts of the chosen topic.I have also conducted a preliminary survey of data sources in the internet. It turned out that there is a wealth of literature regarding the topic. The Yahoo.com and/or the msn.com are the largest provider of different kinds of websites all over the world. Below are website links which may help the researcher to gather relevant information

Poisonwood Bible Essay Example for Free

Poisonwood Bible Essay Adahs Development In Barbara Kingsolvers novel The Poisonwood Bible, the Price family, Nathan and Orleanna Price and their four daughters, travel to the Congo to convert the locals to Christianity. Kingsolver constructs a multi-voice narrative and in doing so Kingsolver constructs five different personalities: Orleanna Price, Rachel Price, Leah Price, Adah Price, and Ruth May Price. As the novel progresses, each of the characters experiences a dramatic change throughout the book and through the use of textual evidence and deep analysis of the diction and rhetoric used for the character Adah Price; leading us to discover how she transforms in the novel and what this variation is exactly. Adah, who is a cripple since birth, has never been able to move the left side of her body and is psychologically a mute. This enables her to see the world from a different perspective and strangely views things backwards. She believes that her life has no value to her or anyone else. Adah has a twin sister Leah who is perfectly normal and Adah carries a lot of hatred toward Leah because its her fault that she is handicapped. Oh, I can easily imagine the fetal mishap: we were inside he womb together dum-de-dum when Leah suddenly turned and declared, Adah you are Just too slow. I am taking all the nourishment here and going on ahead. She grew strong as I grew weak. And so it came to pass was cannibalized by my sister (Kingsolver 34). This view held by Adah comes into play many times in the novel and even Leah can tell that here is some hostility between them. Young Adah also has this fascinating plan. She is believed to be mute because of what doctors had told her parents, but in fact she is very intelligent and she insists on not talking in order to simplify her life and act more as an observer rather than a doer. Her naturally detail-oriented nature is well illustrated by the diction and tone she uses. the women working their field will stand up one after another, unwrap the pagne of bright cloth stretch it out wide before retying it. They resemble flocks of butterflies opening and closing their wings (Kingsolver 137). The initial observation of the way these women work the field is unlike the other girls who merely comment that the women pound the manioc. Adah observes and analyzes the women in a factual manner and yet that last sentence reveals more about her character. She oes from making a remark that almost scientifically evaluates the womens movements to making a statement that brings an artistic form of examining the actions and uses powerful imagery for the reader to associate with. However, Adah does not stay like this throughout the whole novel. She experiences an event that shifts her character in such a way that although it does not have an immediate impact, it changes her completely in the long run. Live was I ere I saw evil (Kingsolver 305). On the frightful night when Kilanga, the village were the Price family was living, was swarmed by a massive group of ants known as Nsongonya Adah was left behind. She woke to the sound of screams and felt ants all over her. Her mother ran into the room, baby Ruth May bundled in her arms. Adah, for the first time perhaps pleaded for help. Help me (Kingsolver 305). Orleanna stared at her crippled daughter and turned away. This was a huge turning point for the young girl. In the simple plea alone, the way Kingsolver phrased it l [Adan] spoke out loud, tn only time: help me (Kingsolver 305), one could see that this was a simple phrase; not shouted or screamed, simply stated. When Adahs plea was not answered she was left dumbstruck and proceeded to fght for her life. Although Adah originally believed that everyone found her life to be of no value she was still horror struck when her mother did not come to her aid, but she still decided to save herself because she realized her own self-worth. No longer was she an idle observer, she became a doer. If her mother would not save her, then Adah would do it on her own because she knew her life was worth saving. This fateful night carries on into the rest of her days, perhaps not immediately, but it does affect her character in the end. When Adah finally returns to the US with her mother, Orleanna, she has almost completely ndergone her transformation. The Journey from Africa alone had left a great mark on Adah because of her mothers tenacity to bring her daughter home safe and sound. Adah was astounded by her mothers ferocious protection of her. When they finally do get home however, Adah immediately applies to Emory University and studies the medical sciences which she takes up as her religion. However, much has changed. Adah finds that without anyone to speak for her she must get used to speaking rather than observing and is shocked at first by the sound of her voice, but this is not the greatest change. The most dramatic alteration is one that she only picks up on for a moment in the final part. She states that she has always sacrificed life and limb and half a brain to save the other half (Kingsolver 410). Adah finds it unusual to now owe her mother something when her own life has been a constant struggle. My habit is to drag myself imperiously through a world that owes me unpayable debts. I have long relied on the comforts of martyrdom (Kingsolver 410). The very tone of this phrase represents beautifully the realization that has struck Adah like a lightning bolt in this moment. The word imperiously gives the reader perfect imagery of a disgruntled and displeased Adah who hates the world and yet that second sentence reveals something else. She has come to know what it feels like to owe someone an unpayable debt and that her whole life has been driven from this one disability. The words comfort and martyrdom are so opposite that they balance out the sentence and give the reader an understanding of how Adah felt about her handicap. What is even greater is the physical transformation that follows this mental one. Adah meets a neurologist who informs her that he can help er overcome her limp. This intrigues her and after several months Adah no longer has to bear her physical disability. She is at first amazed that this cross she has born all these years could somehow be taken care of like that. However, as she progresses through the novel she finds that this recovery is balanced out by the inability to see words and phrases backwards and in a completely different perspective like she used too. At times she limps purposefully around [her] apartment trying to recover [her] old ways of seeing and thinking (Kingsolver 492). This sentence shows ow she still longs for the days when she was different and had something to wield against the world. The imagery provided allows the reader to vividly imagine Adah trying with all her might to limp and be as she once was, but away from the public eye. She continues to live as the recovered individual that she is now and only seems to regret the loss of an edge that she once held. Adahs transformation in the novel was one ot a seemingly helpless child into a tully tunctioning adult who nad experienced things that no one in her community could top. She realized a self worth that she did not possess at the beginning of the novel. Adah Price was a cripple. Adah Price is a cripple. The genius girl that went to the Congo is not the same one that returned and lived the rest of her life in the US. She no longer has a physical handicap that got her mocked and looked down upon, but she does not have that special outlook on the world either. Adah now knows people whom she can work with and share time with because she will talk now, but she owes her mother an unsettled debt, that may never be resolved in her heart and mind. Adah has changed for better or worse is uncertain. In the end experiences add up and the results always balance each other out.

Jfk: Was His Assassination Inevitable? Essay -- essays research papers

A popular misconception is that President John F. Kennedy's assassination was an isolated event perpetrated by one man. This could not be farther from the truth. Instead, it was the result of a complex combination of domestic and foreign events. When President Kennedy was in office, he had to deal with many issues, ranging from business and finance to crime-fighting and war issues. Perhaps it is not as important to decide who it was that killed him, but why. President Kennedy's decisions and courses of action were not popular with everybody, and thus it is not surprising that his assassination was inevitable. The people who might have wanted John F. Kennedy dead can be classified into the following groups: Russians, Cubans, Mobsters (Organized Crime/Mafia), Special Agents (CIA), G-men (J. Edgar Hoover's FBI), Rednecks and Oilmen (Right-wing Extremists), and the MIC (Military Industrial Complex). Each group had its own motives for killing John F. Kennedy. Many of these groups that wanted JFK dead are very closely intertwined, so in order to understand each group, they will each be analyzed seperately.In order to better understand the relationship between JFK, the Cubans and Russians, several important events must be mentioned and discussed. Two of the most important foreign affairs in Kennedy's presidency were the Bay of Pigs and the Cuban Missile Crisis. During Eisenhower's administration, Cuba was torn apart by revolution. The Cuban dictator, Batista, was an extremely corrupt man. While he was enjoying a luxurious life, the people of Cuba were in poverty. Thus it was not surprising when a rebellion, led by a man named Fidel Castro, took place. Batista, knowing that the majority of Cuba wanted him out, chose to flea rather than be caught and face execution. Once Batista was out of the way, Cuba was Castro's for the taking.One of the first actions Castro took while in charge of Cuba was to close down all casinos. The people running them were either imprisoned or deported. Exploitation of Cuban workers by American was unacceptable to Castro, and he took immediate action against this. He believed American capitalists were taking advantage of the Cubans. Angered by this aggressive attitude toward American "interests", the United States government established a trade embargo, hoping the Cuban people would overthrow Castro and reinstate a more &... ... the veracity of these sources leaves something to be desired). However if this is true, the Mafia would definitely consider JFK and his brother going after them as a double-cross, and this would have been a more than strong enough motive for the them to kill Kennedy. It is important to note that the Mafia felt that no person was above them, that nobody is immune from their power. If the Mafia wanted Kennedy dead, and had a motive, is it that unlikely that they did it?The events that would have happened if Kennedy was not to be assassinated were extremely vital. Kennedy was going to remove a thousand soldiers from Vietnam by 1963, and was committed to withdraw all troops by 1965, when Lyndon B. Johnson took office, neither happened. He was going to smash the CIA into a thousand pieces, and replace J. Edgar Hoover as Director of the FBI, this didn't happen. He may have been going to drop Lyndon B. Johnson from the presidential ticket in 1964. Had he not been assassinated Johnson would have never become president. When Johnson took over, he signed NSAM 273, considered to be the opening of the Vietnam war. The commitment meant the MIC would continue to make money, and lots of it.

Dissertation Sample †Is it Possible to Reduce the Harm Caused by Human Trafficking?

Abstract This paper reviews the practice and extent of human trafficking across the globe in order to assess the harm which is inflicted upon victims. This paper utilises case studies and academic research from the USA and Northern Ireland in order to find that regardless of the activity or the experiences of victims, all experiences psychological trauma. However this paper finds that there is also an informational black hole which can potentially impact upon the treatment of victims following a period in captivity, Introduction The phenomenon of human trafficking has increased as a problematic national international issue in recent years. Both state in non-state actors have attempted to combat this industry, however the focus upon the experiences of harm which victims experiences remains part of a subjective construct. This paper assesses what harm victims experience but in doing so seeks to address the extent and scale of human trafficking as a local and global issue. This paper utilises academic research and state policies from the USA and the Northern Irish Province of the UK in order to make findings in relation to the harm which human trafficking causes. This paper concludes that all victims of human trafficking experience psychological harm regardless of the role which they were expected to undertake. In essence, victims are reduced to being defined as begin vulnerable as a result of their experiences. What is Human Trafficking It is estimated that human trafficking earns criminal syndicates around $32 billion per annum (Haken 2011). The human trafficking networks which exist across the globe impact upon. It is a system that can be evidenced in almost all countries and of people who reside in those states (United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNDOC), 2011). The natural conclusion to any research on the subject of human trafficking tends to conform to an idea that it concerns the transportation of a large number of vulnerable people from the periphery to the core (UNODC, 2011). A number of centres of gravity have been established where trafficking gangs tend to concentrate their efforts. These areas include, but are not limited to, Western Europe, Dubai and the USA. However, other markets also exist in countries such as India where there is a market in both the internal relocation of victims, in this case predominately children, of trafficking, and externally to the aforementioned locations (Finnegan 20 08). Global approaches to human trafficking are overseen by the United Nations (UN) which defines the practice as being the ‘recruitment, transportation, transfer, harbouring or receipt of persons, by means of the threat or use of force or other forms of coercion, of abduction, of fraud, of deception, of the abuse of power or of a position of vulnerability or of the giving or receiving of payments or benefits to achieve the consent of a person having control over another person, for the purpose of exploitation’ (UNODC 2000: n.p.). The UN working definition has been commuted in to the legal frameworks of domestic jurisdictions which, despite being semantically different they are, for all intent purpose, they possess the same underlying meaning as that of the UN’s. In the USA for example, the practice of human trafficking is legally defined as being ‘Trafficking in persons† and â€Å"human trafficking† have been used as umbrella terms for the act of re cruiting, harboring, transporting, providing, or obtaining a person for compelled labor or commercial sex acts through the use of force, fraud, or coercion’ (US Dept of State, 2014: n.p.). In the UK, In the UK, the racquets which organise human trafficking are defined as being ‘those involved, normally working with others, in continuing serious criminal activities for substantial profit, whether based in the UK or elsewhere† (SOCA, 2013: n.p.). A number of international bodies also are incorporated into the fight against human trafficking. The World Bank, for example, possesses its own definition human trafficking as ‘the abuse of public power for private benefit’ (United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime 2011: 5). Other organisation which are active in the fight against human trafficking includes the International Labour Organisation (2013: n.p.) which supports a perspective that women make up just over half of all trafficked people, with males and children making up the remainder. In essence, the issue and prevalence of human trafficking is considered to be an important issue on global as well as domestic terms and incorporates state and non-state activity (United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, 2011: 4). In the USA, the local perspective considers that human trafficking is akin to a form of modern slavery (US Dept of State, 2014: n.p.). Modern Slavery Discourse With human trafficking being considered as akin to modern slavery is a label which is highly relevant to this subject area. Figures regarding trafficking to the USA are wide. For example Baldwin, Eisenman, Sayles, Ryan & Chuang (2011: 1) suggest that eighteen thousand are trafficked there annually, whilst Hughes (2001: 9) presented estimated of over one hundred thousand per annum. In this instance it is arguable that both may be correct. Recent years have seen US border controls and immigration fall within the remit of Homeland Security (Dept for Homeland Security, 2014). In their article, Hepburn and Simon (2010: 1) note that legislative definitions of human trafficking are similar. The reason for this is that all states take their leads from the UN policy. The UN definition, therefore, can be considered as being all encompassing and constitutes a policy which the majority of, if not all, states agree upon. Indeed a number of third party non-governmental organisations also have policies and working definitions in this area. One country of focus for the USA in its fight against human trafficking is Moldova which the USA sees as being a main country of origin for those trafficked to its shores. Additionally the US government argues that ‘women and children (are) trafficked for the purpose of sexual exploitation to the Balkans; other European countries; and the Middle East’ (Embassy for the United States: Moldova 2013: n.p.). One factor for the discrepancy for the difficulty in calculating the numbers of victims of trafficking is the nature of the activity. Since it incorporates criminal actions which seeks to secrete victims into a host nation, the possibility of creating accurate figures is an extremely challenging task. Indeed this is a reality which the UK government realised when attempting to evaluate the extent of the practice in that country as well as the wider European Union space (HM Parliament, 2009: 9). At this point it is to be noted that there is a clear difference between the transportation of people by illegal or criminal organisations via human trafficking and the international migrant trade. In the latter of these, willing participants pay syndicates to move to another country. Finnegan (2008) notes that human trafficking routinely involves further criminal offences including fraud, deception and coercion, and can result in the employment of people in, for example, forced labour and prostitution. In the vast majority of cases it can be assessed that those victims who are trafficked are aiming to escape from social deprivations, conflict, violence and poverty (Finnegan, 2008). Similarly there tends to be a level of state involvement through corrupt practices by individual state agents (Finnegan 2008). UNODC (2013) argues that trafficking for the purposes of prostitution and sexual exploitation comprises the vast majority of cases. This narrative provides a greater insight into the phenomenon of human trafficking in affected countries however on a personal scale the impact upon the victims can be considered to be more devastating. Harm caused by Human Trafficking It is noted that in the UK, the devolved Northern Irish authority argues that there must be three components for human trafficking to occur. These components are the act, the means and the purpose (Public Prosecution Service for Northern Ireland, 2012).Each of these components must be in place for the offence of human trafficking to be considered as a crime. The referred to act concerns the recruitment of people; the means brings into play coercion, threats or intimidation; whilst the threats or force in order to coerce people whilst the purpose equates to the role being carried out, for example, prostitution, forced labour et al (Public Prosecution Service for Northern Ireland 2012: 4). Where all three of these elements have been confirmed, the possibility for prosecution is increased. Similarly a support network for victims is initiated. In the USA victims of human trafficking are predominately considered as being an issue for health care providers (Baldwin et al., 2011: 2). This policy is based upon statistical research which argues that over a quarter of all people who have been trafficked are in need of medical care whilst under the control of their captors (Baldwin et al., 2011: 2). These findings have placed the US healthcare system at the forefront of the fight in identifying victims and, by implication, the controlling criminal racquet. However Baldwin et al. (2011: 2) highlight the fact that information regarding the impact of trafficking on victims remains scant and argue that this finding is based upon a lack of data from state organisations such as law enforcement agencies, health care providers and human rights groups. Baldwin et al.( 2011: 1-3) reach this outcome despite the widespread practice which they argue can be found across the USA in over ninety cities and in thirty states. However the scant inf ormation which has been reflected thus far in this paper, in terms of state led assessments and academic research also suggests that the extent of human trafficking remains part of a subjective narrative. The US based National Human Trafficking Response Centre (2014: n.p.) notes the extent of trafficking is almost half of that which was argued by Baldwin et al. (2011) and is also different form that discussed by Coonan (2004). These outcomes impact upon the policy responses to issues related to harm which is experienced by people who have been trafficked, particularly where there are a number of medical or psychological interventions needed to assist victims in recovering from their experiences. The study conducted by Coonan’s (2004) utilised a number of victims of human trafficking, many of whom had originated from Mexico (Coonan, 2005: 208). All, bar one, had been employed in the sex trade with the latter being used for domestic servitude. All of these participants showed symptoms of mental health issues which related to a strong desire for physical security. However it is to be noted that Coonan (2004) failed to question victims on the rationale for this desire. As such, this area too remains part of a subjective concept and represents an inherent weakness in Coonan’s (2004) The need for physical security could potentially relate to a psychological fear of being taken and forced back into the activity which they were previously undertaking, or it could provide evidence of a need for safety from physical beating. Either way the strong desire for physical security is indicative of mental strain and evidence of trauma. As a further failing in Coonan’s ( 2004) paper it is to be noted that he did not discuss the experiences of being caught up in the human trafficking trade. This is a missed opportunity to gain a greater insight into the harm done by experiences. A further study by Hepburn and Simon (2010) provides details of the experiences of victims and, as a result, provides a greater insight into the harm done during time in captivity. Hepburn and Simon (2010: 6) state that women who were trafficked to join the US sex trade had to have sex over six hundred times simply to pay off their debts. Added to this were accommodation and food bills, resulting in a continual captive state. In this particular instance these women had to live in a condemned building, had no choice but to drink contaminated water and trap pigeons in order to eat. As such, in this case, long term physical illness cannot be ruled out. Similarly the exposure to regular sexual activity means that sexually transmitted disease cannot be ruled out (Hepburn and Simon, (2010: 6-7). One area where Hepburn and Simon were successful in their study was to concretise the need for physical security, where here, it can be evidenced that a fear of being recaptured was an overriding factor in the low mental health status of victims. Hepburn and Simon (2010: 8) also highlighted that women had been, in part, exposed to domestic US life, resulting in additional men tal stress and trauma Harm Reduction Programmes The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (2009: 9) notes the psychological impact of trafficking upon victims and argues that the experiences of people are akin to a state of Stockholm syndrome. Here, captives are psychologically attacked to their captors and are subsequently mentally aligned to their captors (Graham, (1994: xvi). In essence the experiences of trafficked people is not dissimilar to the psychological experiences of those who have been taken hostage, cult members or long term prisoners of war (Graham, 1994: xvi). This is a factor which the Northern Irish authorities have recognised and people who have been liberated from trafficking are subsequently placed in a secure accommodation setting for six weeks in order that they can reflect upon their experiences whilst in captivity (Public Prosecution Service, 2012: 15). The process also helps victims to come to terms with a number of other areas of their experiences, obtain medical assessments and access the relevant tr eatments. The main overriding factor which affects all people is the psychological issue. This occurs regardless of the role which was undertaken. A further benefit of this approach is that it allows victims to open upon about their experiences and can help law enforcement agencies gather information in order to improve their intelligence assessments of the extent and practices which occur within their jurisdiction. However the overriding factor in the approach which the Northern Irish authorities utilise is based upon recognition that victims are vulnerable. It is this recognition that informs subsequent intervention processes from a plethora of state organisations. In essence, victims in Northern Ireland experience a multi agency response which is highly individualised and may include health specialists, social services, mental health services, law enforcement and immigration services. One further factor to note is that victims in this Province are also granted an immigration one year stay of execution in order that the relevant authorities can oversee their integration back in to civil society prior to being returned to their homeland and families (Public Prosecution Service, 2012: 13-22). Conclusions In conclusion, information regarding the harm caused by human trafficking is still evolving. Where information is available it is evident that all victims experience mental trauma as a result of their experiences. In achieving this finding this paper has assessed the scale and extent of the practice and has considered academic and state led research and practices. The mental harm experienced is indicative of a psychological state which is akin to Stockholm syndrome; as a result victims can be classed as being vulnerable and are in need of individualised levels of care. 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