Death in Cross Cultural Perspectives Essay

There are different mourning ceremonies, traditions, and behaviors to express grief, but the concept of permanent loss remains unchanged in cross cultural setting. With this paper I will identify cross-cultural perspectives on death and dying, and will analyze multiple beliefs relating to death phenomenon. Furthermore I will identify different cultural mourning ceremonies and will analyze their impact on grieving process and coping mechanisms. Death is a universal phenomenon, but individual responses to death vary widely from culture to culture. In effort to explain the concept of death, many different cultures bring a significant symbolic meaning to the dying process in terms of rituals, ceremonies, and bereavement practices. Grieving and funeral rituals vary greatly across cultures and, in most cases, are associated with religious practices and beliefs. People tend to look at the death phenomena through the scope of their religious beliefs and often relate their personal experiences with death to cultural norms and traditions. Our culture affects the length of grieving process, mourning ceremonies, and even influence the way we cry during funerals. The mystery of death is often associated with fear and anxiety, thus it is easier for people to relate indefinite death concept to something that makes sense and brings comfort. Death in Latino culture According to Lobar, Youngblut and Brooten (2006), Latino death rituals are heavily influenced by religion, especially Catholicism, which underlines an importance of connection between the living and a deceased person, through prayer. Death is not something the majority of Hispanics fear, because many of them perceive death as a journey. The dying process is closely related to religious practices, such as prayers, hearing the confession of the dying, communion, and a blessing. Ongoing support is essential element of dying and grieving process, and in this particular culture it is unacceptable to let people die alone. The loyalty to a dying person and care that ill person receives during the last journey is very prominent in Latino culture. Death concept in Hispanic culture is closely related to family obligations, which is evident by the care that Hispanic family renders to a dying person during last moments. After death occurs, the family still prefers to stay with the body during burial preparation to pray and to watch over the body. Prior funeral a wake is held, which is a very social event where an extended family has a chance to get together, serve food and drinks, and enjoy each others’ company. Candles and flowers are essential decorating attributes of wakes and funerals. A funeral follows a wake, and during funeral family has a chance to say last goodbyes to their loved one. Emotional expression of grief is important attribute of Latino cultures which is often evident during funeral ceremonies where women cry loudly and use their body language openly. It is not unusual to put personal items into the casket with the person who has passed away for their journey in the afterlife, which also serves as an example of a finial gift from a family (Lobar, Youngblut & Brooten, 2006). Burial follow a funeral, because majority of Hispanics oppose cremation, which is also related to their religious beliefs and importance of placing a body in the ground. Most Hispanics believe that someday the dead will arise and return to life, which significantly influences their burial preferences. It is crucial for Hispanics to be buried next to other family members to keep them company and to arise together someday (Lobar, Youngblut & Brooten, 2006). Spiritual connection with the dead is also one of the important elements of Latino culture, which is demonstrated by frequent gravesite visits and praying to spirits. Death is always associated with separation, which leads to sorrow, and grief; however cultural perceptions and beliefs help to look at death from a different perspective and perceive death as a natural state that can be approached with love, respect, dignity, and tremendous family support. Latino culture supports their dying people during the last journey, and believes in afterlife, which gives them hope and helps to overcome unbearable grief of permanent loss. Death rituals in Africa African culture demonstrates a strong connection with deceased person, and believes that only a correct burial will bring a dead person peace. People n Africa strongly believe in spiritual life, thus their main goal during burial ceremonies is to address a spirit of a deceased person. An African funeral begins with removal of the body from home, which is done through a previously made hole in the wall of the home. Africans remove a dead body through the hole, instead of a door, to confuse a spirit and m ake sure that a spirit of a deceased person will not return back home, as a hole in the wall is immediately closed after removal of the body. In effort to confuse a spirit even more, they place thorns and sticks in a zigzag pattern along the way as body being taken to the place of burial. Blackely et al, 1994). In the religions of Africa, life does not end with death and people tend to believe in power of the dead, thus many families often pray to spirits and ask them not to come back and cause any trouble. Death is perceived as the beginning of connection with visible and invisible worlds. One of the funeral rituals include special preparation of a home, such as smearing windows with ashes and turning pictures and other reflective objects face down to ensure that deceased person is detached from a living, and to promote smooth transition into different world. The beds are usually removed from deceased’s bedroom and mourning women sit on a floor or a mattress. According to African culture, if correct funeral is not observed, a dead person may come back and bother the living. The funeral preparation takes approximately from seven to thirteen days, which gives the community members a chance to visit and give the last respect to a deceased (Mbiti, 1969). The funeral ceremony usually begins before the sunrise, because people believe that bad spirits usually sleep early in the morning. The pastoral care during funeral preparation is very important for comfort and encouragement. According to Blackely et al (1994), African funerals simultaneously mourn for the dead and celebrate life. An animal is usually killed during funerals to avoid bad luck, but it also has a practical purpose, such as providing food for family and neighbors. In many communities women and unmarried adults are not allowed to attend funerals, as well as close family members are not allowed to speak or take any vocal part in the funeral ceremony. The community involvement during African funerals is a great example of psychosocial and emotional support during mourning process, which draws people together and promotes healthy grief. Jewish rituals There are many different beliefs in Judaism, thus funeral rituals and ceremonies vary greatly. According to Jewish laws, practices, and beliefs, a soul returns to heaven immediately after death, thus the body has to be buried as soon as possible, usually within 24 to 48 hours (Lobar, Youngblut & Brooten, 2006). Mourners show their grief by wearing a black ribbon and by performing only minimal grooming and bathing. Mirrors or other reflective objects may be covered and family remains with a deceased and talks about a deceased. Prayers, citations of Psalms and learned passages from the Talmud are essential elements of the Jewish funerals (Ribner, 1998). According to Clements et al (2003), a body should be treated with respect due to belief that it is a temple of a soul. There is a special ritual of body preparation, where women prepare a female body and men are responsible for preparing a male body. All jewelry must be removed from the body, and the body is washed twice, and is treated almost if it was still alive. The prepared body is laid on the floor with candles around it, and the body is never left alone. There is no embalming and the body is clothed or wrapped and put into wooden coffin, so the body and the box can return entirely to earth. Traditional Jewish funerals are symbolic representations of spiritual connection with God. The funeral ceremonies are based on purity, simplicity and dignity. According to Jewish tradition, wealthy and poor are equal before God, thus the body must be buried in the same type of garment regardless of financial and social status. According to Jewish religion, death is only a part of a process, and after death a soul continues on. Jewish people believe in afterlife, which gives them hope and helps to deal with grief. The importance of family is recognized throughout Jewish mourning ceremonies, which value family privacy during first seven days of mourning process, where close family gets together and have a meal of condolence that include eggs and bread. According to the belief, eggs symbolize life, which is a great example of attitude towards death and strong belief in afterlife (Madsen, 1999). Cross cultural perspective Death is a universal phenomenon, but funerals ceremonies and rituals vary greatly across cultures and religions. Many cultural groups carry their own beliefs and perceptions, which help them with the grieving process and adaptations strategies. Death carries a feeling of a permanent loss, which is very difficult for people to accept. According to Kastenbaum (2007), bereavement is a universal experience, which carries many painful responses, including depression, distress, fear, and misery. Our inner state feelings are universal, however or external expressions are different. Our culture and religious beliefs are essential elements of adaptation strategies and coping techniques. Believing in afterlife in Christianity, Judaism, and many other religious groups gives people hope, helps to alleviate grief, and promotes healthy adaptation process. Strong extended family support during mourning process helps to share unbearable grief among family members and serves as an excellent source of encouragement. Strong community involvement is extremely beneficial during bereavement, which helps to take care of financial struggles and provides psychosocial support. Cross cultural rituals help people express their grief according to their beliefs. Almost every funeral ceremony is family oriented, which is designed to bring extended family together, to celebrate life, and to set the background for healthy grief. There are many similarities and differences in beliefs and practices on death and dying. But for many cultures and religious groups a funeral is a final act of love, respect, devotion, and family gathering.

Write a Research Paper

Write a Research Paper Write a Research Paper Write a Research Paper If you have to write a research paper, you should start with analyzing the topic.   Sure, your tutor will not assign a topic you are totally unfamiliar with.   Thus, you have some understanding of the issue and can think about the points you will cover.   Your first assignment is to write an outline.   An advantage of a well-constructed outline is that is helps you identify gaps in your reasoning and presentation. Sample formal research paper outline: Main point and a thesis statement Subpoint Example/Explication Example/Explication Subpoint Example/Explication Example/Explication Conclusion you plan to reach Sure, you may not know how to write a research paper prior to reading different articles.   Moreover, your outline will definitely change in the course of writing.   You will come across different ideas, find new facts, and you may even change your opinion.   It happens that by the time half of your research paper is already written, you suddenly realize that you have taken a wrong direction.   Do not panic!   You are given at least two weeks to write a research paper.   You need to leave your work aside and either start writing from scratch or change hypothesis.   In any case, you have to proofread and edit your research paper many times until it can be marked as perfect and ready to be submitted.   Research paper writing is a serious academic project and you should not neglect its importance! Free Research Paper Do you think it is worth to spend time searching free research paper on the Internet? Are you sure that the project you have found has not been already turned in to your adviser? There are many reasons why smart students should not copy/paste works of others and present them as your own.   Unfortunately, most students have no time or simply do not want to waste on research paper writing. offers you an opportunity to order professional research paper writing service.   We guarantee adherence to all instructions and ensure proper formatting.   For example, if you need APA style research paper, we will deliver custom written research paper formatted in APA style! We guarantee high quality of our research paper writing service.   Our writers are educated and have years of writing experience.   Our editors proofread your essay for mistakes prior to sending it to you.   Our customer support representatives provide adequate support and timely feedback.   Our administration is ready to answer all of your questions and address concerns.   We are looking forward to seeing you as our customer!

Read These Definition Essay Examples from Our Sample Writers or Use Online Help

Read These Definition Essay Examples from Our Sample Writers or Use Online Help A definition essay is a piece of writing that explains what a term or a concept means. The term may be evaluated from the direct or exact meaning and from the point of the subjectivity of the person defining the term. The aim is not only to provide the dictionary definition but also to expound on why the word is defined in such a manner. What Is a Definition Essay? A definition essay  is a piece of writing that explains what a term or a concept means. Some terms have definite, concrete meanings, such as glass, book, or tree. Terms such as honesty, honor, or love are abstract and  depend  more on a persons point of view. The term may be evaluated from the  direct or  exact meaning and from the point of the subjectivity of the person defining the term. The aim is not only to provide the dictionary definition but also to expound on why the word is defined in such a manner. The approach to be used depends on the subject, your readers, and the essay’s purpose. Definition Essay Example on Emotional Intelligence What Is Emotional Intelligence? Emotional intelligence is a term that is commonly used in corporate entities by managers and employees alike to assess the feelings of people in the workplace that may affect productivity. Emotional intelligence denotes one’s ability to manage subjective emotions and that of other people. It entails the capacity of a person to connect sentiments and use them to resolve complications and deliberate critically. Additionally, it entails the ability of a person to control their own emotions and to cheer up or calm down other people. The term emotional intelligence was first invented in the nineteen hundred’s by two psychologists, Salovey and Mayer. However, the term gained much popularity later in 1995 used it in his book entitled, â€Å"Emotional Intelligence: Why can it Matter more than IQ?† In this book, Goleman claimed that emotional intelligence is a central part of human development. Moreover, he identified the five main spheres of emotional intelligence as; knowing one’s emotions, managing those emotions, motivating oneself, recognizing and understanding other people’s emotions and managing relationships. Today, emotional intelligence is widely used in organizations to allow those with highly developed social skills to excel just like those with good academic qualifications. Emotional Intelligence vs. IQ The intelligence quotient refers to an assessment of the ability of a person to think and reason. The intelligence quotient is measured using the IQ score which is a method of measuring a person’s IQ against others who are in the same age bracket. The term intelligence quotient stemmed from the early research by psychologists on intelligence. The research which mainly focused on the intellectual aspects such as problem-solving and memory became known as intelligence quotient. The perceptive aspects of intellect were found to be easy to measure. For a long time, even though intelligence quotient was considered to be more important than emotional intelligence, psychologists, through several studies have proved that the reverse is actually true. The academic intelligence of a person, for instance, has nothing to do with the person’s emotions. Having excellent academic grades and getting well-paying jobs does not determine how a person is likely to react to the situations and the storms of life.   People with very high IQs are found to be very poor in managing their own lives. As Goleman argues, concentrating on the academic performances without inclining an ear to emotional intelligence results in a character that is likely to affect an individuals destiny adversely. Another reason why emotional intelligence is considered more important than intelligence quotient because it enables people to fit in all domains of life. It is evident that people who are emotionally skilled are better equipped to fit in all spheres of life. People who know how to manage their own emotions and can read and manage the feelings of other people are said to be comfortable in all life spheres including intimate relationships and work relationships. However, the lack of the ability to control one’s emotions can result in inner battles that limit their capacity to work and think clearly. The Merits of Person with High  Emotional Intelligence One of the merits of persons with extraordinary emotional acumen is the capacity to embrace modifications. Emotionally intelligent people apprehend that change is unavoidable and is a fragment of life. As a result, they embrace change as part of their daily lives and plan in advance should changes arise. Secondly, emotionally intelligent people pay attention to their work and do not get easily distracted from their original course. Thirdly, emotionally smart folks are empathetic. Goleman states that compassion is a unique and significant constituent of emotional intelligence. Emotionally intelligent people are thus capable of relating to others, showing compassion and helping others when they are in need. Other qualities of emotionally intelligent people are self-motivation and the ability to set boundaries. One of the ways through which people can improve their emotional intelligence is through avoiding negative feelings. This can be achieved by reducing negative personalization and reducing the fear of rejection. People can provide themselves with alternative options to a situation, making them have alternatives no matter the outcome of a situation. Another way of improving emotional intelligence is staying cool even when stressed. Keeping cool while handling stress can help a person to be assertive rather than being reactive to a situation thus enabling them to be more emotionally intelligent. Additionally, emotional intelligence can be improved by the ability to bounce back from adversity. Bouncing back from difficult moments enables people to have empathy for others hence better emotional intelligence. Other ways of improving emotional intelligence are; connecting one’s feelings with the thoughts and creating a positive environment. 15 INTERESTING DEFINITION ESSAY TOPICS Definition Essay Example on Respect How Do We Define Respect? One of the most important ways of establishing and maintaining lasting relationships both at home and at work is having respect for oneself and others. The term respect refers the recognition of the values of people and things and treating them with care and concern. It means having a deep admiration for someone or something. This admiration stems from the accomplishments, abilities and the qualities of a person. Additionally, respect encapsulates the way one thinks about someone or something. For instance, an employer can be said to have respect for his employees if he admires their abilities and accomplishments in the workplace and treats them well. Respect determines the way in which a person lives as well as the interaction with other members of the society. Respect for oneself, for instance, restrains a person from engaging in risk-taking behaviors that can cause the destruction of both the body and mind. Moreover, having respect for each other at home, in the workplace, and in the society at large help in reducing conflicts, disagreements and misunderstandings thus contributing to peaceful coexistence and a harmonious society. One can also demonstrate respect for things because of the inherent values they have. The fundamentals of respect, consequently, remain constant whether a person or an item is in question. Why Is Respect so Important? Respect plays a central role in building and maintaining healthy and lasting relationships. First, respect helps in establishing open communication between the parties in relationships. In families, for instance, having respect helps the members to be trustworthy, honest and straight forward. This way they are capable of abiding by the family rules and living peacefully. Additionally, open communication emanating from respect is useful in the workplaces. Respect enables the employers and employees alike, to communicate with each other in a professional and honest manner. This way, people feel free to convey their opinions and ideas in without being interrupted. Secondly, respect is significant in building trust in relationships. The flourishing of relationships, whether family, business, intimate or working relationships depends on trust. Respect for oneself and others can help in building trust.   An employee who fulfills the responsibilities and delivers in time because of the respect for his job and employers, for example, is capable of gaining the trust of the employees. Consequently, the employee has higher chances of being promoted. Additionally, having respect in relationships results in trust between couples making them have better and healthier relationships. Moreover, respect is important in relationships since it is the key to happiness. Having respect for others enables a person to become more tolerant and embrace people’s differences. Additionally, respecting the views and beliefs of others limits conflicts and confrontations among the people. The result is the peaceful coexistence between people that gives them inner peace, contentment, and happiness. Furthermore, having respect for other people boosts their esteem since they feel appreciated. How to Become a Person of Respect? One of the ways of becoming more respectful to others is honesty. Honesty comprises vital traits like truthfulness, straightforwardness, and integrity. It is important to realize that people would like to be dealt with honestly. Therefore, showing respect for others entails being honest in words and actions. Additionally, one should be responsible for their words and make people know that they are reliable. An additional approach of displaying respect to others is by exhibiting kindness. When dealing with family, friends or colleagues, showing kindness makes them feel appreciated and loved. One of the ways of showing kindness to others is watching one’s tone when addressing others. It is important to note that no one wants to be ordered around and using the golden words such as please and thank you can aid in showing respect. Obedience is another way through which one can show respect to others. If asked by an elderly person or a person in authority to do something which is not harmful or immoral, one should obey and follow the instructions. Other ways of being more respectful are; taking care of one’s mess, exercising fairness, courtesy, avoiding putting blames on others and listening to others without interrupting. Personally, I think respect means accepting people for who they are and learning to live with them harmoniously despite our differences. It involves embracing other people’s strengths and weaknesses without prejudice. By learning to accept other people, we reduce our engagements in conflicts and other disrespectful behaviors such as name calling and hauling insults at each other. The end result is a cohesive and harmonious society. If you need assistance with essay writing contact our friendly support team or place an order and our professionals will write a great paper for you.

Assess the impact of ideology on the (United Kingdom) Coalition Essay

Assess the impact of ideology on the (United Kingdom) Coalition government elected in May 2010 - Essay Example To understand how the ideologies of political parties in the UK affect the present coalition governance it will be necessary to define political ideology based on the UK situation, their development over the years and therefore how they affect people, societies and governance in the land. Political ideology like any other form of ideology will have as part of its components a definition of the cognitive values (expression of knowledge and doctrines), intended effects on the subjects’ feelings, the definition of norms and system of judgment through its valuation criteria, plans and action points and lastly its social base. These are what the main political parties in the UK strive to monitor in order to achieve the support of groups and collectivities. For a government to run smoothly there has to be agreement among the members in the government to a common ideology. However in cases where parties are forced to come together in form of coalitions to form government then comprom ises are sought in the ideologies (Ball, 1987 p 1-3). This is quite a challenge in a case where the ideological differences are sharp and incompatible. In assessment of the state of the UK coalition government formed following the may 2010 general election, political ideologies of the constituent parties are found to have a major contribution on governance of the country. In this paper we seek to give an assessment of the effects of ideology of the constituents of the coalition on governance by first assessing the ideologies of individual major in the UK namely the Conservatives, the Labor Party and the Liberal Democrats. The paper will further consider how the ideologies affect governance in the coalition through analysis of opinions. The role of political parties in the UK Political parties in the UK are charged by the electorate and members with the important role of governance through direct formation of government as the ruling party or as a check to the government as backbench ers or the opposition party. In cases where no particular winner is obtained as the case in the 2010 general elections, the parties agree to form a coalition government. Other functions of political parties in the UK can be summarized as: 1. Development of particular party ideological positions. 2. Facilitation of political education while encouraging participation by party members and the electorate in political processes. 3. Formulation of individual policies that are combined to form a coherent political program implemented in case the party forms government. 4. Oversee political elections at all levels (local, national and regional) 5. Represent political, social, economic and cultural interests of supporters though ensuring they are elected to the Legislature as the ruling party 6. Institutionalization of conflict by providing mechanisms of peaceful conflict resolution in the political system From this checklist it can be understood why party ideals are an important element in the UK political systems because of their deterministic role in the success of governance. An overview of political ideology of political parties in the UK For the purpose of this assessment we shall consider the three major parties namely: the Conservative, the Labor party, and the Liberal D

Extending rights within humanity Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Extending rights within humanity - Essay Example e option in the past, still remain an alternative, but do not confer the same benefits, either legal or emotional, on same-sex couples that enter into one; therefore, same-sex marriage must be made legal on the same level as recognized heterosexual marriage to provide these benefits. There are many arguments that support the position of legalizing same-sex marriage, but the strongest is the benefits that would come to children of same-sex relationships upon either the death of a parent or partner, or the dissolution of the union. Gomes is very clear in explaining that even stepparents have more rights than a non-biological parent in a same-sex relationship; stepparents can petition for visitation and custody, and even adoption (3). However, non-biological parents in a same sex relationship have none of these rights, and without a legally recognized marriage in place to support them, the children will suffer unnecessarily at the whim of any family members and/or legal services brought in to assist them. It is a sad testament to the child that has already suffered and grieved, that they may become the object of a feud between estranged family members or legal services, as well as being denied any survivor benefits that would have come from being the child in a leg ally recognized heterosexual marriage. One argument against same-sex marriage is that marriage has traditionally symbolized a relationship in which procreation, meaning children, will occur. Margaret Somerville, in her article The Case Against â€Å"Same-Sex Marriage†, agrees with this objection, stating that â€Å"society needs marriage to establish cultural meaning, symbolism and moral values around the inherently procreative relationship between a man and a woman, and thereby protect that relationship and the children who result from it† (10). Gomes, even though she cites this objection to same-sex marriage, attempts to counter it by stating that marriage and the rights of each partner have evolved and

The use of Cocaine and how it affects our society Research Paper

The use of Cocaine and how it affects our society - Research Paper Example Inside the brain, it makes highly addictive and an intense form of euphoria that only lasts for hardly any instants. After only some seconds when this euphoria swiftly wears off, the individual experiences depression and the craving for more crack is intensified (GEO, 1991). The distribution of cocaine was started in the United States’ major cities from the time period of 1984. In the early years the cocaine was shipped to the USA through Miami from the coast of Dominican Republic and Bahamas. As the supplying quantity of the product increased on the islands, its rate started decreasing at the same time. After looking at the decreasing rate the dealers started making the product in solid form. Its benefit was it could be sold in small quantity to more number of people and it was ready to use (GEO, 1991). In the early years the ratio of purity in the cocaine was as high as 55% per gram in the major cities of USA including Detroit. Since the cocaine was of high purity and it had a very cheap price, it resulted in the addiction of people in a very short time. The first large scale use of crack began in Los Angeles in 1984 and within few years it had its availability in 28 states of USA, in which Detroit was also included (GEO, 1991). The effects of cocaine can be for individual as well as for the society. If the individual is effecting by the abuse of cocaine, this can in turn produce devastating effect on the society at the same time. An effected individual can affect the family, and the community, and thus the whole world is affected by the use of cocaine. The problems can include struggles with work, crime, law enforcement, financial problems, as well as a break down in the communities as well. The use of cocaine not only affects the users but also affects their families. The family suffers along with the drug addict through their ups and downs. This could be very critical for those who care

Literature Review on Audits and Auditing

Literature Review on Audits and Auditing 2.1 Introduction This chapter reviewed the detail literature on important keys in this research such as the audit, audit firm tenure, audit firm size, fraudulent financial reporting and relevant past research findings on (i) the relationship between audit-firm tenure and fraudulent financial reporting and (ii) the relationship between audit-firm size and fraudulent financial reporting. 2.2 Audit Definition of audit is different among many scholars. Audit function is defined by Nagny et al. (2002) to the function that an independent, objective assurance and also consulting activity that designed to add value and improve an organizations operations. In the other study, Kathleen M. Jackson (2010) has further explained that an auditor can perform the two types of audits namely limited-scope or full-scope. It was proven in past studies that some clients opt to choose in receiving a limited scope audit in order to reduce audit costs. In fact, the impact of limited scope exemptions is decreased in audit procedures and as a result it can lead to lower in audit fees. In addition, a long list of audit procedure for investments is needed in the full-scope audit. 2.2.1 Quality of Audit firm The audit services as proposed by Watts (1977) is required as the monitoring methods due to the conflicts that may arise between managers and owners, and also for them who come from different classes of security holders. In addition, in past studies conducted, it was showed that audited statements provision is the least cost contractual response to intra-owner and owner- managers conflict of interest, as an example agency costs. The agency costs is different from different firms and also for over time to some clients. Besides, a heterogeneous demand required by clients for the audit services is resulted from different agency cost for some firms such as when the levels of auditing that requested is not as usual. Moreover, Watts (1977) also argued that the audit services quality is mentioned as the market-assessed joint probability where the auditor is able to find out a breach in the clients accounting system and report the breach. On the other side, the specified audits may enhance t he financial informations credibility as the result of the independent verification of management-provided financing reports, thus may minimize the investors information risk as proposed in the study conducted by Watts and Zimmerman (1986); Mansi et al.(2004), Dye (1993) and Johnson et al. (2002). On the other side, many past studies has proven that bad financial reportings quality resulted from short audit-firm tenure as indicated in the study by Johnson et al., (2002); Myers et al., (2003) and Ghosh and Moon, (2005). The above mentioned past studies conducted revealed that low level of knowledge in the early years of an audit and also on the mandatory auditor rotation between audit firms has lead to low quality of earnings owned by a short audit-firm tenure. Based on the result from the past studies, it was known about the mandatory auditors rotations potential weaknesses of audit firms. But, it also revealed that if the rotation requirement is targeted at auditors within an audit firm, the loss of learning will not happen. Besides that, based on the past studies conducted by Mautz and Sharaf (1961); Shockley (1981) and Lyer and Rama (2004), there are a lot of arguments on the issue of client and auditors relationships duration might affect the audit quality. One of the studied has proven that audit quality is affected as auditor tenor increases, while on the other study, auditor tenure increase in line with audit quality. 2.2.2 Issues in mandatory audit firm In order to improve the quality in financial reporting, it shown that mandatory audit firm rotation is a solution. Carey (2006) has been argued that in order to improve audit quality, there is a need of policy in the mandatory rotation of audit for particular clients besides able to increase of quality for financial purpose in financial statements. Among countries that practised the policy of mandatory rotation includes: Austria, Australia, Brazil, Greece, India, Italy, Israel, Singapore, South Korea, Taiwan and the USA as mentioned in the past researched conducted by Cameran et al., (2005); Catanach and Walker (1999); Kim et al., (2004); Chi and Huang, (2005); Chi et al., (2005) and Carey and Simnett (2006). Audit partner rotation such as audit firm rotation can lead to decrease in audit quality as based on the past study, audit partners knowledge of a clients business increases with his/her tenure on the audit. However, it was revealed that there are a few differences between audit partner and firm rotation which have impact on the tenure on audit quality. Chi et al (2005) has mentioned that audit quality is improved by the audit partner rotation during the first year of the relationship while on the other parts, audit firm rotation lead to decreases audit quality. Meanwhile, the audit firm rotation is occurs around the world, and even in Malaysia where the issue of audit firms or partners was not specified in detail of Malaysiaan official documents, for example in Companies Act 1965, the Security Commission regulations, approved auditing standards, and so on. It was found that rejection of such rotation idea by the business community is because of lack in official pronouncements on this issue. Even in findings of one study conducted by Jaffar and Alias (2002) showed that only 35 per cent of the audit firms partners and only 32.4 per cent of the chief finance officers surveyed favored audit firm rotation every three years of engagement. Meanwhile, the Edge (2002) has revelaed that in light of the Enron case, the Chairman of the Malaysian Accounting Standard Board announced the intention of the board to make it mandatory to rotate the audit firm once every five years. 2.3 Audit firm tenure In the definition of audit firm tenure, Johnson et al. (2002) has clarified that the audit firm tenure is the number of consecutive years that the audit firm has audited the client (computed by counting backward from the year the fraud began). The definition of short auditor tenure is explained by Carcello et al. (2004) by the meaning of three years or less and long auditor tenure as nine years or more. Based on the previous studies conducted by other academician, the other researches on this term revealed that imposing mandatory limits on auditor tenure is expected to improve audit quality by reducing client firms influence over auditors as proposed by Turner (2002); Brody and Moscove (1998); SEC 1994; AICPA 1978; U.S. Senate (1977) and Mautz and Sharaf (1961). 2.3.1 Short audit- firm tenure From the previous study conducted by Aminada and Paz-Ares (1997), the scholars has suggested that in order to replace client-specific assets, it will involves a technological limit, if not most, of them cannot be replaced immediately. Due to this, the financial-reporting quality is projected to increase as client-specific knowledge also increases in the early years of an audit engagement. Meanwhile, a client-specific asset (such as knowledge) that in line with transactions costs may allow the incumbent auditor to earn quasi rents from maintaining existing client relationships as specified by DeAngelo (1981). It was further suggested that if the existence of quasi rents skews the auditors incentives toward maintaining the client relationship, financial-reporting quality could be reduced in early engagement years. 2.3.2 Long audit- firm tenure As proposed by Shockley (1981), it was mentioned that the impact of the long relationship audit firm is by having a learned confidence in the client besides the scholars also suggests that the above mentioned learned confidence may result in the audit firm using less strenuous and less innovative audit procedures. Another author, Knapp (1991) in his past study on audit firm tenure has further defined that different audit tenure in an experimental setting besides able to gather that experienced audit committee members perceived that auditors with 5-year tenure were more likely to detect errors than auditors in the first year of an engagement or auditors with audit tenure of 20 years. On a part of it, Geiger and Raghunandan (2002) found that short-tenure auditors to issue going-concern opinions for clients that subsequently declared bankruptcy as compared with long-tenure auditors that is still on the preference in this study. 2.4 Audit firm size In term of the audit firm size, it was revealed that smaller audit firms have justified proposed wealth transfers from clients and from larger audit firms, where in general the audit quality is independent of auditor size as supported by Deangelo (1981) in his study. Moreover, in some of the audit quality term, where it was found in the study done by previous researchers, the term of quasi-rents, it might serve as collateral against such opportunistic behavior in the subject to loss from discovery of a lower-than promised audit quality. This finding can be proven on the theory of ceteris paribus, where the less incentive the auditor has to behave opportunistically and the higher the perceived quality of the audit when the larger the auditor as measured by the number of current clients and the smaller the client as a fraction of the auditors total quasi-rents is exist. The famous author on the theory and study done, namely DeAngelo (1981) also argues no single client is important to larger accounting firms as accounting firm size is a proxy for auditor quality, and beside, larger accounting firms are less likely than smaller accounting firms to compromise their independence. In fact, theory supported by the research taken by Dopuch and Simunic (1980) who further proposed that larger accounting firms provide higher quality services because they have greater reputations to protect. It finally defined that quality is not independent of auditor firm size when incumbent auditors earn client specific quasi-rents. Moreover, audit fees do not meant to be adjusted in full term to the incumbent auditors, with the view to the extent that the bilateral monopoly between client and incumbent auditor implies a sharing of these costs mentioned, whereby in the above mentioned case, a successful prevention of discrimination which refer to the competition from large audit firms that definitely represents a windfall gain to smaller auditors at client expense. Therefore, it can serves as an excuse to justification of the wealth transfer results from a wealth transfer from clients to smaller audit firms which under this scenario of voluntary contracts might become unfair and discriminate smaller firms. 2.4.1 Big-Four Non Big-four There are many previous studies that caught on the interest of the Big-Four and Non Big Four issues, where to further understanding of the larger audit firms (Big 4) which perceived as more capable of maintaining an adequate degree of independence than their smaller counterparts because they usually provide a range of services to a large number of clients, hence reducing their dependence on certain clients as mentioned by Dopuch (1984) and Wilson and supported also by study conducted by Grimlund (1990). The past literature that has review by Lawrence et al (2011) suggested that Big 4 firms can provide a superior audit quality as their sheer size would definitely able to support more complete training programs, standardized audit methodologies, and more options for appropriate second partner reviews. In addition, Deangelo (1981) has explained that it cant be deny that larger audit firms are generally perceived as the provider of high audit quality and might enjoy a high reputation in the business environment and as such, would strive to maintain their independence to keep up their image where it also supported by Dopuch (1984) and Wilson and Grimlund (1990). To enhance further the theory (Chow and Rice, 1982) has proven that larger audit firms are also perceived to be more independent than their smaller counterparts in managing managements pressure where in the event of disputes as they normally have more clients and can afford to give up some of their more difficult clients. In the different environment as in Malaysia, Teoh and Lim (1996) has found out that the high dependence on a few clients has been found to affect perception of independence. However, to come to the true situation, this is not consider as something new as the market for audit services for public companies in Malaysia is dominated by the international Big 4 which is previously known as the Big 6 audit firms. In fact, Che-Ahmad and Derashid (1996) reported findings from their study that the Bi g 6 (and their affiliates) audited 75.9 per cent of the Bursa Malaysia which is the Main Board as listed companies in 1991. The past literature conducted by scholars based on their past researches, the length of tenure by Big 4 audit firms is longer as their clients would be less likely to switch them compared to their smaller firms who compete in the same industry. Moreover, it was also found that the choice of audit firm can be related to the size of the auditee and the type of services needed besides the possible effect of the type of audit firms on the length of tenure. In fact, it has been also argued by Watts and Zimmerman (1986) that larger auditees are demanding highly independent audit firm to reduce agency costs due to the complexity of their operations and the increase in the separation between management and ownership and also auditors self-interest threat as found from the study by Hudaib and Cooke (2005). In the different area of past research, Palmrose (1984) has further supported that the number of agency conflicts also increases and this might increase the demand for quality-differentiate d auditors such as the Big 4 audit firms as the size of the companies increases. In fact, based on the previous findings, Becker et al. (1998) further supported on the Big 4 issues whereby on the situation of 4 clients report lower absolute discretionary accruals than non-Big 4 clients. Another similar issue as revealed based on the past findings conducted by Francis et al. (1999) who has suggested that Big 4 auditors constrain opportunistic and aggressive reporting because their clients have higher total accruals but lower discretionary accruals while on the other hand, Krishnan (2003) found that there is a greater association between future earnings and discretionary accruals for Big 4 than for non-Big 4 clients. Due to the following literature, the previous researches conducted have been done by using discretionary accruals as the mentioned scholars first measure of audit quality. The reason of applying the measure is known as it reflects the auditors enforcement of accounting standards. Another consent that revealed in the past finding of research based on th e study by Guay et al. (1996) is on the limitations on the effectiveness of an audit in constraining earnings management as it only partially effective, as discretionary accruals not only reflect managements opportunism, but also managements signalling attempts and random noise. Moreover, it was seen from some of the previous study proposed by academicians that the Big 4 auditors provide more assurance to the market than non-Big 4 auditors by the fact found that Big 4 clients have more credible earnings than those of the non-Big 4 clients then, ceteris paribus, the Big 4 clients should receive a break in their cost-of-equity capital. Khurana and Raman (2004) has revealed in their studies that in the U.S , there is a lower ex ante cost of capital of Big 4 clients as compared with non-Big 4 client, but unable to find such a difference in Australia, Canada, or Great Britain. Another scholar, Behn et al. (2008) has included analyst forecast accuracy in his study as an audit-quality prox y, where they argue that if one type of auditor increases the reporting reliability of earnings in comparison to the other type, then, ceteris paribus, analysts of the superior types clients should be able to make more accurate forecasts of future earnings than those analysts of the non-superior types clients. On view of that, Behn et al. (2008) has concluded that it is definitely the analysts of Big 4 clients have higher forecast accuracy than analysts of non-Big 4 clients. In the study, the analyst forecast accuracy is used by Chi et al. (2005) as their third audit-quality measure to proxy for an enhanced level of decision making by sophisticated financial statement users where it was revealed that differences in quality between Big 4 and non-Big 4 audit firms could be a reflection of client characteristics. In fact, fromthe result showed based on the findings of each study that used the matching models or controlling for an extensive list of client and auditor variables, can be f ound that the treatment effects of Big 4 auditors are insignificantly different from those of non-Big 4 auditors with respect to discretionary accruals, the ex ante cost-of-equity capital, and analyst forecast accuracy. 2.5 Fraudulent Financial Reporting There were many standards of audits in the world, as in the specific area, namely Malaysia has stated that the Malaysian Approved Standards on Auditing, AI 240 on Fraud and Error (MIA, 1997) is requires the auditor to assess the risk of fraud and error during the audit of financial statements. Under the standard also, the auditor should design audit procedures to obtain reasonable assurance that misstatements arising from fraud and error that are material to the financial statements taken as a whole are detected that based on the risk assessment. It means that the responsibility has to be put on the external auditor shoulder whereby if he/she is unable to detect material misstatements, particularly intentional misstatements, they may be exposed to litigation. Due to the matter, Kaminski (2002) has summarized on the fraudulent financial reporting as a critical problem for external auditors because of the damage to professional reputation that results from public, especially on clients sides dissatisfaction about undetected fraud. A few literatures and findings conducted by many scholar such as the studies by Mitchell, (1997); Grant, (1999) and Spathis, (2002) on the Fraudulent financial reporting proven the fact that the scenario has occurred in many countries as in the United Kingdom (UK) and United States (US) which have reported the seriousness of fraud activities as further supported by other scholar, Tyler, (1997); Wells, (1997); Mitchell, (1997); Vanasco, (1998); and Grant, (1999). In view to this, Johnson et al (2002) has revealed in his study that a lot of response to one or more audit failures in line with critical of the public accounting profession has determined to be in long relationships between auditors and client management result in a decline in audit quality and are not in the publics interest. To overcome the situation, a possible solution that proposed is the mandatory auditor rotation whereby the findings will be on the profession which will increase audit costs and will not improve audit quality (and in fact may reduce audit quality). On the other side, in some country where the audit-firm rotation is not mandatory, usually in the current regulatory regime, long audit-firm tenures are associated not with a decline in financial reporting quality. By referring to previous researches, it can be concluded that the quality of audit services is means to be the market-assessed joint probability which a given auditor will eventually discover a breach in the clients accounting system, and may report the breach which given that probability that a given auditor will discover a breach is depends on the audit procedures, auditors technological capabilities, the extent of sampling and so on. In fact, the same literature based on the past study has determined that the conditional probability of reporting a discovered breach is a measure of an auditors independence from a given client. To enhance the understanding of this, the definition of auditor independence is used in DeAngelo (1981) and Watts and Zimmerman (1981), who has been argue on the ex ante value of an audit depends on the auditors incentives to disclose selectively ex post. To add some more, a statement proposed by Watkins et al. (2004) in his study has explained that auditor independence and competence are critical elements affecting the credibility and reliability of an auditors report and, therefore, financial reporting credibility. 2.6 Past researches 2.6.1 Audit firm tenure and fraudulent financial reporting There are a lot of findings and conclusion reviewed by previous scholars from different view, whereby according to study conducted by Carcello et al. (2004), who has stated that there was only limited research on the relation between audit firm tenure and audit quality. On the other study conducted by casterella et al. (2005), conclusion was made that audit quality is lower given longer auditor tenure besides also suggested that audit failures are less (more) likely when auditor tenure is short or (long). Meanwhile, the finding has been denied by Chi and Huang (2005) who declared that long audit partner tenure is associated with reduced earnings quality. It is further mentioned that the two aspects of auditor tenure namely the tenure of the audit firm and the tenure of individuals engaged in the audit, particularly the engagement partner which imply that even though both aspects have been tested in the literature, the emphasis has been on audit firm tenure due to difficulties in iden tifying the engagement partner in most countries. It finally has come to complicated conclusion which shown that the empirical evidence of the effects of audit firm tenure on audit quality is combined and mixed. Apart of it, Casterella et al. (2002) and Choi and Doogar (2005) mentioned that Studies report which audit quality decreases with audit firm tenure, which may includes the auditors failure to detect fraudulent financial reporting or argument by Davis et al.(2002) is on the issuing of going concern opinions before bankruptcy and a positive relation between audit firm tenure and discretionary accruals. Different point of view and proofs from different studies, revealed that audit quality increases with audit firm tenure while another famous scholar in this study, Johnson et al. (2002) proven that the absolute value of unexpected accruals is higher in the early years of audit firm tenure in his study conducted. Recent finding on the past researches conducted and published in US as the effect of audit firm tenure (AUDTEN) on audit quality study conducted by many scholars namely Ghosh and Moon (2005); Carcello and Nagy, (2004); Myers et al., (2003); Johnson et al.,(2002); Geiger and Raghunandan, (2002) where the results proven that in the situation of audit tenure increases, audit quality also increases. Fargher et al, (2008) has shown result in his study that audit failures are most likely to occur in the first few years of tenure of an audit firm while several prior US studies have attempted to debate on the auditor tenure. In some other findings gathered include in the study conducted by Deis and Giroux (1992) who supported that audit quality decreases as auditor tenure increases, whereby in contrast, St Pierre and Andersen (1984) found firms that detected errors and experience higher legal risk than auditors with a tenure greater than three years is based on the auditors of new clients (t hree years or less on the engagement) commit. The former statement has further supported by Knapp (1991) which based on audit committee members responses to the survey, able to concludes that as auditors gain more experience with individual clients, the likelihood of discovering material errors increases while Geiger and Raghunandan (2002) has come to conclusion that short-tenured auditors is not efficient in the collection and evaluation of evidence as compared to long-tenured auditors. Obviously, based on finding gathered from different type of studies conducted, it can be concluded that their results are consistent with long-tenured auditors having a more in-depth knowledge of their clients financial status and operating systems than short-tenured auditors. However, Carcello and Nagy (2004) have concluded from their study that fraudulent financial reporting is more likely to occur in the first three years of an audit as they have not provide proofs and evidence of greater fraudul ent financial reporting by clients of long-tenured auditors. On the other study conducted by Myers et al. (2003), it was revealed that tenure and earnings can be considered as quality where the auditor-client relationship lasted for at least five years whereby they find that the magnitude of both discretionary and current ACC declines with longer auditor tenure. To further support it, Myers et al. (2003) concluded that high audit quality is determined based on the longer auditor tenure constrains managerial discretion with accounting accruals while on the other study conducted, Johnson et al. (2002) has revealed that accruals are more bigger and less persistent for firms with short auditor tenure relative to those with medium or long tenure. Finally in contrast, Davis et al. (2002) has concluded that audit quality might declines with extended tenure as the reason on tenure increases, client firms may have greater earnings forecast errors decline and alsoreporting flexibility. Another findings from studies conducted by Beck, Frecka and Soloman, (1988); Carcello and Nagy, (2004); Johnson, Khurana and Reynolds, (2002); Meyers, Meyers and Omer, (2003); Ghosh and Moon, (2005) has definitely supported the facts of auditors with long tenure have comparative advantage in this respect as they develop client-specific knowledge and deeper understanding of clients business process and risk whereby with the proofs as that fraudulent financial reporting is most likely to occur in the first three years (termed as short tenure) of auditor-client relationship. However, these studies conducted by the above mentioned scholars has failed to state any evidence that longer audit firm tenure (i.e., nine years or more) is associated with reduced financial reporting quality. Apart from that, another authors, Meyers and Omer (2003) in the study has examined on the association between audit firm tenure and earnings quality where auditor-client relationship lasted for at least five years, which lead them to come up with conclusion that longer auditor tenure constrains managerial discretions with accounting accruals, which suggests high audit quality (i.e. audit firm tenure is negatively related to both the absolute discretionary and current accruals and signed positive discretionary and current accruals, and positively related to both the signed negative discretionary and current accruals). Long-tenured auditors are more efficient as it based on the opinion view of Geiger and Raghunandan (2002) from the study conducted which based in the collecting and evaluating evidence than short-tenured auditors because long-tenured auditors have more in-depth knowledge about their clients financial status and operating systems than short-tenured auditors. The other study conducted by Nashwa George (2009) on The Relationship Between Audit Firm Tenure And Probability Of Financial Statement Fraud which has proven the long auditor tenure for a particular client which close auditor-client relationship has the potential to impair auditor objectivity in assurance functions leading to reduced financial reporting quality with the studys objective of finding out whether audit firm and client relationship is in any way related to a potential fraud risk situation in financial reporting is also determined. Another scholar, Beneish (1999) and Lundelius (2003) also has proposed on the using of five fraud indicators as the direct measure of the probability of financial statement fraud and examine whether these fraud indicators are related to audit firm tenure as used by George (2009) in this study. It shown that by using the cross-sectional multivariate regression analysis, the results in the analysis show that most fraud indicators are significantly negatively associated with audit firm tenure (expressed in terms of number of years of audit firm and client relationship). The results also supported by some previous researches which conducted by Carcello and Nagy (2004), Myers, Myers and Omer (2003) and also Johnson, Khurana and Reynolds (2002) that proven a long audit firm tenure is not related with reduced financial reporting quality, however mentioned that financial reporting problems are found to be mostly confined to the initial years of auditor engagement. Based on the review, these previous studies is very important and contribute to the audit literature by employing a direct measure of financial statement fraud and demonstrating a systematic negative association between audit firm tenure and probability of financial statement fraud. According to Casterella et al. (2002),there are two aspects of auditor tenure identified namely tenure of the audit firm and the other one is tenure of individuals engaged in the audit, which is particularly the engagement partner. The scholar has argued that even though the two mentioned aspects of tenure had been studied in past research, the audit firm tenure still need to be analyze further due to difficulties in identifying the engagement partner in most countries, since different countries are facing different rules and requirements. Besides, impacts on audit quality by the audit firm tenure are proven at the same time. Based on the past studies conducted by a few scholars namely Casterella et al. (2002) and Choi and Doogar (2005) has proven that audit quality decreases with audit firm tenure, that might includes inability of the auditor to detect fraudulent financial reporting or issuing going concern opinions before bankruptcy and a positive relation between audit firm tenure and discretionary accruals as further supported by Davis et al. (2002). In fact, the other study developed by Johnson et al. (2002) has also proved that audit quality increases with audit firm tenure. It was supported from the findings of the study which stated that the absolute value of unexpected accruals is higher in the early years of audit firm tenure. On the other side, Myers et al. (2003) has reported a negative relation between audit firms in his past research conducted. 2.6.2 Audit firm size and fraudulent financial reporting Research conducted by Sinason et al. (2001) on the length of audit tenure has come up to conclusion to be positively affected by the type of audit firm whereby it means that smaller audit firms experience shorter tenure compared to their larger counterparts who often enjoy lengthy tenure. Another finding based on the previous studies is difficulties faced by small firm in the long run in order to keep their existing clients and at the same time maintain a high degree of independence and objectivity due to increased competition and size mismatch as differences in the length of tenure between the two types of audit firms which could impair independence. It was proposed and learned from previous cases that the size of audit firm should match the size of auditee whereby when a size mismatch happened between large auditees audited by small audit firms could cause termination of the audit engagement as proven by Hudaib and Cooke (2005). From the previous literature and analysis based on previous researchers, Win the situation where client-specific quasi-rents vary across clients, auditor size is continues to serve as for the audit quality because larger auditors possess greater total collateral, but a full focus on size alone is not effective as it does not inform consumers about the relationship between the quasi-rents specific to one (potentially large) client and the auditors total quasi-rent stream. Due to this matter, it was