Islamic Change Over Time Essay Essay

By the early eighteenth century, the Ottoman Empire was in decline. The weak rulers of the empire left the way open for power struggles among officials, religious experts, and Janissary commanders. Provincial administrators and landholders conspired to drain revenue from the central treasury. The general economy suffered from competition with the West as imported goods ruined local industry. European rivals took advantage of Ottoman weakness. The Austrians pushed the Ottomans from Hungary and the northern Balkans. Russia expanded into the Caucasus and Crimea. The subject Christian peoples of the Balkans challenged their rulers: the Greeks won independence 1830, and Serbia won independence in 1867. European military assaults and diseases destroyed existing civilizations. African and Asian civilizations were able to withstand the early European arrival, but the latter’s continuing development by the end of the eighteenth century made them dominant. The subordinate civilizations reacted differently. Some retreated into an idealized past; others absorbed ideas from their rulers. The various efforts at resistance did not all succeed. Some civilizations survived; others collapsed. The leaders and thinkers of the Islamic world were divided about how to reverse decline and drive back Europeans. They argued over a spectrum ranging from a return to the past to the adoption of Western ways. By the nineteenth century, the Arabs under the weakened Ottoman Empire were exposed to the danger of European conquest. The loss of Islamic territory to the Europeans engendered a sense of crisis in the Middle East. The Muslims had faced the threat of the West since the Middle Ages. Muslims shared many aspects of culture with Judeo-Christian and Greek tradition; their civilization had contributed to the rise of the West. The Muslims had many centers to defend; the fall of the Ottoman Empire did not mean the end of Islamic independence. They had time to learn during the long Western advance. Muslims could cling to the truths of Islam and survive as a people,

Art Industry Issue Essay

Graffiti originated in New York in the late 1970s. It started off with locals writing their names on walls and subway train just for fame. Before and after that though there were other types of graffiti such as political statements. Graffiti these days is mostly â€Å"tagging† which is the act of marking a surface with a quick scrawl, stencils are common in the city and large aerosol pieces are usually found alongside train lines. The main issue dealing with graffiti these days is how to prevent it. At the same time there are parties that argue we need graffiti and it is an important form of art. Most people trying to prevent graffiti are usually only against the art being produced illegally, that is on private property without permission of the owner. The main argument against graffiti is that it is mainly tagging and it has no brains behind it all. None of it has any meaning. It is so called art that is only for the hip-hop community. The tags make everything look disgusting because it is messy and unreadable. It gives the impression that the councils do not care. It costs around $200,000 a year to remove from walls and public transport, this money could be better spent. Graffiti is a crime and attracts more crime and gangs. Owners that have had their property vandilised by graffiti artists would want to move some where else. Graffiti on shop windows is bad business. There have been a range of ideas presented to support graffiti in a good way and prevent it from occurring illegally. Ideas already in practice are Designating â€Å"high tolerance zones† in lanes in Melbourne CBD (Central Business District), such as Hosier Lane. The purpose of high tolerance zones is to keep graffiti on the streets and not remove it. Artists will be attracted to use the lane to exhibit their art instead of commercial and public buildings. ?Legal murals have been encouraged by councils. This aims keep people interested in the graffiti style of art but on a legal level. ?Exhibitions are held frequently at places such as Kent Street Cafe’s Early Space and the Meatmarket that show graffiti related art work and art done by present and former graffiti artist. Artwork on exhibition is hardly ever tagging, but other forms of graffiti such a stencils, stickers, posters and aerosol pieces. This is aiming to move graffiti art from a street level to a professional level that can be used in the art industry. Councils aim to remove fresh graffiti from public transport within 24 hours. This aims to lower vandals moral and send the message that what they do will not stay so there is no point in doing it. Debates on whether or not graffiti is an actual art and what to do to prevent arise in newspapers. In articles such as Graffiti Crimes from The Age (Melbourne) magazine and Graffiti Plan Ridiculous from the MX paper the writers have very aggressive and unfriendly tones. In Graffiti Plan Ridiculous the writer is actually attacking a writer of a previous letter that suggested everyone entering the CBD must show ID and proof of address. The idea goes with out saying that is ridiculous. There was really no need to lunch an attack just for suggesting it. This shows that tempers are wearing thin on the issue and it is creating a lot of hostility. The article A Display Of Culture by Renae Payne shows the contention of graffiti artists that consider the art as an important part of youth and hip-hop culture. All the artists are in favor of getting legal support from councils. PERSONAL OPINION ? James Borg I think that graffiti is an art, always has been and always will be. The same can be argued about Marcel Duchamp’s Urinal as it is not a traditional form of art and can be seen as an insult. If a urinal or scribble on a wall can be art then any thing can be art. Something becomes art when it is taken out of context. In the case of graffiti, in all its forms, text and images that are made to be contained on paper and private places are put onto public surfaces. Just because I think graffiti is a form of art does not mean it is not ugly. I think some art in galleries can be very ugly, just because I don’t like the look of it doesn’t mean everyone does not like it. I have very high expectations of graffiti art. The placement of graffiti art is crucial. The high-tolerance zones are a good idea because all the good art is concentrated in one spot, any one can add their own work to it and no one gets in trouble. Legal murals everywhere are the best because the graffiti does not have to be secluded to a small lane and it encourages more legal murals. Legal murals hardly get vandalised. Illegal graffiti in certain areas definitely destroys the area in a lot of ways. If a wall gets crowded with graffiti it will attract more graffiti, some times of much lower quality. Some times better artists will add their work. Either way the public do not want to see it. I can not say I would like or not. If it were just tags I wouldn’t, depends on what it looks like. Fences that run parallel with train lines are constantly being graffitied. Artists want their work on these walls because people hundreds of people catch the train everyday and see their work. If these walls were legalised the amount of illegal graffiti would probably be reduced by more than half. There are a lot of already legal walls on the train line and most of the time artists ask the owner if their wall can be painted. This should be encouraged. I like the whole style of the graffiti pieces and the elements used. I am not concerned about trying to get illegal graffiti recognised as a professional art form in the industry. Graffiti was meant to be illegal, that’s the whole point of it. Illegal work will never be appreciated totally by critics because there are too many negatives. Art works in galleries that are based on graffiti might look good but technically it is not graffiti. I will support it as long as it stays creative. I have pretty much grown out of liking graffiti anyway because it is all the same really. I realised that it does more harm than good and it has lost its meaning, even though it started off putting a name up for fame. Stencil art is good but a lot of it lacks skill and originality. The only way illegal graffiti artists will get properly recognised is by doing legal work.

Struggle of women in africa and how they were affected during the Essay

Struggle of women in africa and how they were affected during the coloization of africa - Essay Example For hundreds of centuries, the continent that had been the cradle of civilization was crisscrossed by Arab and Jewish traders who carried out an active commercial activity with the Africans along the coast. Diamond even argued that the languages spoken by Arabs and Jews originated from West Africa, which explains why Jewish, Islamic and Christian communities easily took root.1 However, it was not until the 15th century after Europe experienced severe labor shortages from the disastrous waves of wars, diseases and foreign colonization did Africa turn into a prime source of slave labor. By the middle of that century, Portugal began importing slaves from African trading posts along the western coast. African tribal society of conquest and slavery was a natural supply source as victorious tribes sold their captives to whoever was willing to buy them. The slave trade was born as Arab and African traders saw demand for slave labor rise in Europe. Aside from Portugal, Spain, Britain, France, and Germany found use for cheap labor. Arab traders, too, shipped Africans sold by their conquerors to slave markets in Arabia, Iran, and India, using sea trade routes from Africa to Indonesia that had been used since 5,000 years ago.2 Africa became Slave Central as European nations were joined in the 17th century by the British colonies in America and rising nations like the Netherlands and Denmark, whose powerful navies allowed trading in slaves to continue for the next two centuries. By the middle of the 19th century, slavery was abolished, first in Britain and then in America and soon, other European nations followed. Thus, after centuries of being brutalized by Arab, and then European, slave traders who bought and sold captured prisoners from other native tribes to sell along the coast all the way to Southeast Asia, Africa was free once again, but not for long.3 About that time, the discovery of great mineral wealth in Africa began a wave of colonization after the so-called West African Conference in Berlin in 1884-1885, which became known as "The Scramble." Seven European nations agreed to divide and conquer African territory. Of these, it was Belgium, France, and Britain that carried out the most brutal work of colonization, one that practically made the Africans slaves in their own land.4 Despite their claims of wanting to civilize the people of the continent and turning them away from their destructive tribal tendencies, converting them from pagans into Christians, and preparing the native people for ultimate independence, the colonizers took advantage of the social, cultural, and geographical traits of Africa to squeeze as much as they could from the land and its people. This took place until the middle of the 20th century when these European nations gave their African colonies the independence that they thought they deserved, but by then, the centuries of slavery and the decades of corruption and abuse left deep wounds that, until now, are still in the healing process. Colonization and the Wounds of Culture Colonization weakened African society as cruelty decimated a people wracked by insect-borne diseases like malaria; greed led colonizers (except for the Britain) to withhold the education of the population; and the arbitrary nature by which geographical boundaries of the colonies were established during "the

Ultra Music Festival 2013 Miami Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Ultra Music Festival 2013 Miami - Essay Example Owing to the enormous rise in turnout between 1999 as well as 2000, fiesta coordinators settled to move to Bay front Park within the Suburbs Miami for the 3rd annual event. Ultra Music Festival has continued to present the leading names within electronic dance music in downtown Miami with shows by Tià «sto, Paul van Dyk, EC Twins, Paul Oakenfold, Photek, Josh Wink, as well as Rabbit in the Moon between 2001 and 2005. Through the record-breaking turnout of the 7th annual Ultra Music Festival in 2005, the carnival was again moved to a small venue, Bicentennial Park, in 2006. During 2007, just as Winter Music Conference was in progress, Ultra Music Festival organized its first two-day affair at ‘Bicentennial Park’ by a record-breaking of 50,000 plus concert goers at hand. Ultra Music Festival commemorated its 10th bicentenary March 28 to 29 in 2008 with shows by Tià «sto, Justice, Underworld, Paul van Dyk, Armin van Buuren, Carl Cox, Annie Mac, dead mau5, Eric Prydz, Calv in Harris, Ferry Corsten, Moby, Boys Noize, The Crystal Method, Benny Benassi, Duck Sauce, Armand van Helden,Enur, Rabbit in the Moon, and Jackal & Hyde.With projected turnout over seventy thousand, the Fiesta set a novel Miami city record for total number of coupons vended at a solo event. The eleventh annual Ultra Music Festival ensued on March 27–28, in 2009; the listing encompassing more crossover acts as well as live bands such as The Prodigy, The Black Eyed Peas, The Ting Tings, Crystal Castles, Santigold, Perry Farrell and The Whip.... e Crystal Method, Benny Benassi, Duck Sauce, Armand van Helden, David Guetta, Pete Tong,Jes, Enur, Rabbit in the Moon, and Jackal & Hyde(Johnson, par 6). With projected turnout over seventy thousand, the fiesta set a novel Miami city record for total number of coupons vended at a solo event. The eleventh annual Ultra Music Festival ensued on March 27–28, in 2009; the listing encompassing more crossover acts as well as live bands such as The Prodigy, The Black Eyed Peas, The Ting Tings, Crystal Castles, Santigold, Perry Farrell and The Whip. The twelfth annual Ultra Music Festival was held March 26–27 in 2010, with starring performances once more by dead mau5 and Tiesto, and performances by Orbital, Above & Beyond, Sasha & Digweed, Little Boots, Bloody Beetroots, and David Guetta. Each platform was complemented with graphic arts presented by VJs Cozer, Psyberpixie and Vello Virkhaus. The festival vended out for the very first instant with above 100,000 attendees in which it was declared that the thirteenth annual affair would happen throughout 3 days in March of 2011(Johnson, par 3). Ultra Music Festival for 2013 The fifteenth Ultra Music Festival took place over weekends of March 15-17, as well as March 22-24. Both weekends overlapped with the commencement and culmination of the Winter Music Conference and the Miami Music Week. The festival’s phase one lineup was formally revealed on January 2013, authenticating appearances by deadmau5, Tiesto, and David Guettaat both weekends, together with Swedish House Mafia, who utilized the festival finale on Weekend two to function as the culmination of their parting tour "One Last Tour". Additionally, Pretty Lights would as well perform on the festival supplemented by bass beat VJ Futtize (Johnson, par 4). On 7th January,

Leadership Capacity Development Training Proposal Essay - 1

Leadership Capacity Development Training Proposal - Essay Example They need to influence others to follow their way of working and being innovative and standing out of the crowd should be the most desirable character of a leader. Thus Leadership Capability Development Training program for the 40 newly hired mid-level managers of Etisalat has been proposed in this report by SABK, the largest training and development consultancy and HRD service provider to different business sectors of the industry of Middle East. Leadership comprises of several qualities of which the core qualities being motivator, creative mind and team building capability are most significant which are taken into consideration for the training program by SABK. Proper communication skills and building a strong team are the vital activities of a leader which are needed to be developed amongst the managers. The training program will also focus on the leadership styles of the Middle East and the HRD issues faced by managers in their work. This training program will help the managers t o cope with different critical issues and act professionally to those problems. The advanced evolution technique of SABK is committed to deliver excellent training program for the managers customized to the need of the organization and business processes and the company is confident that Etisalat will be highly satisfied with the training program from SABK for development of leadership skills for the newly hired 40 managers in their organization. Overview Statement SABK is considered as one of the greatest international institutes providing consulting and training services to clients all over the globe. The Company is located in more than 44 locations in different parts of the world and specializes in the provision of training in the fields like human resource, management consulting and other services. The company has gained immense reputation for providing training to the large private organizations located in the Middle East accounts for one of the leading telecom operators in the Middle East and Africa. It is also known for offering great leadership development programs especially designed to enhance the skills and expertise of leaders in organizations. The company uses the best infrastructure and equipments for conducting such programs which also accounts for one of the main reasons for tremendous success and reputation all across the world. The company has been seeking to provide leadership training programs to the companies in the Middle East. Presently the company targets to offer its services to the great telecom company called Etisalat which is headquartered at UAE. SABK Trainers A comprehensive development plan is incorporated for training the UAE national for the handling of critical works and responsibilities. Also they are provided with the right kind of training is areas of finance, HR, technical and commercial fields. The program is conducted by eminent international trainers coming from Dubai, and also functional experts. At the end of the prog ram trainees are sent to Dubai for attainment of specialized training. At the completion of

Naomi Barkos perspective of the wage gap due to gender differences Essay

Naomi Barkos perspective of the wage gap due to gender differences - Essay Example Research has been done on the present situation of the wage gap in US in the last decade and the improvements made in the last 30 to 40 after the enforcement of equal wages act and the women’s movement in mid 20th century. Naomi Barko’s perspective of the wage gap due to gender differences Women are still considered as second grade custody workers in various job sectors. A decade ago in the US, women were still being paid low as compared to the men for the same job that they were doing. Women care takers and cleaners has a salary widely disparate form that of men and all because of gender difference. A salary gap of 8000 US dollars separated the women’s yearly income (22000 US Dollars) form the men’s yearly income (30000 US Dollars). (Barko 1) Even after 5 decades since the enforcement of the Equal Payment Act of 1963, American women earned 74 cents for every dollar earned by men, according to the study published jointly by the AFL-CIO and The Institute fo r Women’s Policy Research (IWPR), Washington (Barko 1). An increase in the wages of women task force employed across different industry sectors and in different categories would bring more than 50 % of low income dual-earner and single-mother households above the poverty line. Recent study has challenged the age-old argument of lesser industry experience, child bearing time off and child rearing time off supporting low income of women stating that 43 % of wage gap remains unexplained. Secondary Research After the industrial revolution in the late 19th and early 20th century many new fields of work emerged and the professional world witnessed a boom. New posts were created, new organisations came into existence and new business lines became viable profit-making options. Niche became main-stream and options multiplied. Even in this abundance of organisation, roles and opportunities women generally were granted lower posts, lower income and less challenging roles. It’s on ly been a recent development that women are now being considered and granted equal professional status as their male counterparts. The change in perception of the job industry only changed in the last three decades with the industry stepping into the Silicon Age and the IT boom. IT industry, Media and Entertainment Industry, staffing and HR industry and even government service has matured to not only include women in their task force but grant them equal career levels as compared to men, challenging roles and better pay than earlier. Even after the women’s right movement worldwide and HR concept of inclusion, gender diversity and equality the gap hasn’t reduced significantly and statistics still remain the same â€Å"Women's earnings were  77.0 percent of men's in 2011, compared to 77.4 percent in 2010, according to  Census statistics released September 12, 2012 based on the median earnings of all full-time, year-round workers.  Men's earning in 2011 were $48,20 2 and women's were $37,118, a difference of $11,084.† (National Committee on Pay Equity 2012) Top employers in the Multi-national Corporation category in the software, manufacturing, consultancy and engineering industry have included women in almost all departments,

Compare and contrast the Baldrige core principles with W. Edwards Essay

Compare and contrast the Baldrige core principles with W. Edwards Deming's 14 points - Essay Example The paper explores comparison and contrast between Baldrige principles with W. Edwards Demings 14 points. The application of quality in production has a long history, starting from 1970’s in Japan and gaining recognition across the world because of its positive effect on product quality (Evans & Lindsay, 2012). This resulted in inventing principles such as total quality management (TQM) that focuses on collective efforts of managers and workers with an aim to satisfy customers’ quest by continually improving operations, management processes and product whose origin traced to W. Edward Deming, Joseph M. Juran and Philip B. Crosby. While the Baldrige principle from Malcolm Baldrige consist of seven core areas: leadership, information and analysis, strategic quality planning, human resource utilization, quality assurance of services, quality results and customer satisfaction. Total Quality Management (TQM) is generally associated with W. Edwards Deming. The economic transformation of post-war Japan through application of TQM principles lead to the crediting of Deming. According to Deming, the principle of total quality management (TQM) embraces total commitment to process and product (or service) improvement by all employees at all levels. On other hand, the Baldrige principle enacted into law in 1990 to emulate and stimulate economic success similar to that of Japan as a result spread the usage of the total quality management (TQM) in businesses and industries in the United State. Moreover, the Baldrige principle invented by Malcolm Baldrige is an illustration of the total quality management (TQM) beliefs because of its seven-core element addressed in the Baldrige sums objectives of the total quality management whose main purpose is to ensure constant quality production (Anderson et al , 2010). This lead into many companies embracing Baldrige in their o peration as it enables collection of baseline data vital in the measurement of the

Modern Management Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Modern Management - Research Paper Example Application of these factors in career includes reviewing when product sales are dropping and trying to determine the cause for it. This could include creating market research studies to find commonalities in product sentiment from customers or conducting auditing of multiple business divisions to find out whether failures are human-related or process-related. After identifying the cause, planning can determine potential solutions for improving motivation in workers or changing systems to be more adaptable to customer needs for better product outputs. Resistance to change is one challenge expected in both of these factors. Fairholm (2009) identifies that people are resistant to change if they do not feel loyalty or trust the manager. Scanning the organizational environment for failures would raise suspicions in employees and depending on their attitudes and values, they will resist providing information about new operational planning as it relates to their job roles. The human resource perspective will be required to prevent change, since it focuses on relationship development, improving loyalty and motivation, and responds to the emotional and values-based needs of employees. Planning should be linked with employee empathy more than scientific

Planning Lessons and Assessment in Schools Essay

Planning Lessons and Assessment in Schools - Essay Example The teacher then introduced the lesson of the day by mentioning that it would be a buildup of the previous lesson. The lesson of that day involved learning how to balance basic chemistry equations. The teacher began by introducing basic, acidic, and neutral compound. He then gave basic examples of a base, acid, and a neutral compound. Interestingly, he had an example of each of the compounds in class. A lemon represented an acidic compound, ash represented basic compound whereas water represented a neutral compound. Students were asked to name other similar compounds and at least a quarter of the class responded with accurate results. The teacher then went ahead to demonstrate on the blackboard how to balance the equations. Once he gave five simple examples, he asked the students to volunteer to go to the board and balance an equation. Each student who was able to balance the equations was given an orange. It was interesting to note the profound interest in which the students were re sponding to learning. The interest was actually boosted by the gifts for the students who got the equations correct. Near the end of the lesson, the teacher divided the class into four groups of five students each. He then requested the students to discuss what they had learned in class concerning balancing of equations as well as further examples of each compound. Each group was required to come up with three examples of each compound as well as three examples of balanced equations. The teacher collected the results and told them that the results would be discussed in the next lesson. Lesson planning is one of the fundamental aspect of any teacher. This is because the structure of the lesson determines the effectiveness of the learning process. When making such a plan, it is imperative for the teacher to understand the lesson objectives and most importantly, the strengths and weaknesses of the students. This way, it will be possible to articulate the lesson to benefit the students maximally. It is also important to understand each student so that the needs of every student can be incorporated in the lesson plan (Satterly, 1989). However, it is particularly necessary to classify the student depending on their learning abilities. This is because the bright students are more often than not sidelined in the learning process at the expense of the slow learners. For example, I realized that the teacher was concentrating more on the slow learners in the hope that they will catch up with the rest of the class. Assessment in Schools   A lesson is not complete with the full assessment of the realization of the objectives of the lesson. During the lesson, I noted that the teacher used various teaching and assessments methods. Most importantly, she ensured that the assessment activities are explicitly related to the stated learning objectives. Once the students had completed the given assessment activity, she took some time to reflect upon the results. When the learnin g objectives were not adequately achieved, the teacher revisited the lesson in a different manner. This allowed those students who had not comprehended adequately to gain more understanding of the topic discussed. In order to achieve this, the teacher used various assessment methods. One of them was quizzes. The teacher ordered the pupils to close their books and asked them some questions on what she had taught that day. Most pupils who had

Fundamentals of Phonetics Essay Example for Free

Fundamentals of Phonetics Essay Question 34Â  ptsEvery vowel in English has a unique articulatory position based on: (choose as many as apply) Every vowel in English has a unique articulatory position based on: (choose as many as apply) | tongue tenseness| x| tongue height| x| tongue advancement| x| lip rounding| Question 44Â  ptsOne can determine if a vowel is tense or lax by: One can determine if a vowel is tense or lax by: | tongue tension| x| stress| x| duration| x| muscular effort| Question 51Â  ptsThe lax vowels are lower in height than their tense counterparts. The lax vowels are lower in height than their tense counterparts. xx| True| False| Question 61Â  ptsRhotic diphthongs can also be called: nbsp;(choose as many as apply) Rhotic diphthongs can also be called: Â  (choose as many as apply) x| r-colored vowels| | onglides and offglides| x| rhotacized vowels| | lateralized vowels| Question 74Â  ptsWhich of the following list of words contains no front vowels? nbsp;(Choose as many as apply) Which of the following list of words contains no front vowels? (Choose as many as apply) | seat, sit, sat| x| soup, soap, supper| | set, sought, suit| | sought, sot, suit| Question 84Â  ptsWhich of the following sets of vowels have no back vowels? nbsp;(Choose as many as apply) Which of the following sets of vowels have no back vowels? (Choose as many as apply) X| steed, stayed, stud| | stood, stowed, stewed| | skin, scan, scone| | stirred, stove, steer| Question 94Â  ptsThe difference between e and e is: nbsp;(Choose as many as apply) The difference between e and e? is: Â  (Choose as many as apply) x| e occurs in unstressed syllables| x| e? occurs at ends of words| | e? is slightly shorter in duration| | e occurs at the ends of words| Question 104Â  ptsMatch the symbol to its name. Match the symbol to its name. ash ? epsilon ? schwa upsilon ? Question 111Â  ptsThe open o (or backwards c) or [] is: nbsp;(Choose as many as apply) The open o (or backwards c) or [? ] is: Â  (Choose as many as apply) | lax| x| slightly lower than [o]| x| is al ways used in the transcription of or as [? r]| | is used in the word coat| Question 121Â  ptsWe commonly use the wedge instead of the schwa when: nbsp;(Choose as many as apply) We commonly use the wedge instead of the schwa when: Â  (Choose as many as apply) x| the syllable is stressed| | at the end of a word| x| the tongue is slightly lower and more backed| | the syllable is unstressed| Question 134Â  ptsIn which of the following words would we find lip rounding? nbsp;(Choose as many as apply) In which of the following words would we find lip rounding? (Choose as many as apply) x| put| x| toad| x| door| xx| herd| Question 141Â  ptsWhich diphthongs occur only in diphthong form? Which diphthongs occur only in diphthong form? | a? , e? , o? | | e? , o? , ? | x| a? , , | | ? , a? , u? | Question 151Â  ptsWhich diphthong begins in the low mid back position and ends in the high front position? Which diphthong begins in the low mid back position and ends in the high front position? | a? | | o? | o? | x| | Question 164Â  ptsWhich vowels are affected by syllable stress? nbsp;(Choose as many as apply) Which vowels are affected by syllable stress? (Choose as many as apply) x| e| | ? | x| o| x| ? | Question 174Â  ptsWhich vowels are lax? nbsp;(Choose as many as apply) Which vowels are lax? (Choose as many as apply) x| ? | x| ? | X| ? | | e| Question 184Â  pts Which vowels are back? nbsp;(Choose as many as apply) Which vowels are back? (Choose as many as apply) X| u| | ? | X| o| X| ? | Question 194Â  ptsWhich vowels are mid? nbsp;(Choose as many as apply) Which vowels are mid? (Choose as many as apply) | a| | ? | X| ? | | ? | Question 204Â  ptsMatch the following words to the correct transcription Match the following words to the correct transcription choose ?uz chose ?oz chows ?a? z cheese ?iz Question 217Â  ptsMatch the following words to the correct transcription. Match the following words to the correct transcription. course k? rs cures kj? rz cars karz curse k? rs cores k? rz cuss k? s case ke? s Question 227Â  ptsMatch the following words to their correct transcriptions. Match the following words to their correct transcriptions. thee ?i thou ?a? though ?o the they ?e? thigh ?a? thaw Quiz saved at 12:50pm

Measuring and Managing Absenteeism in the Workplace

Measuring and Managing Absenteeism in the Workplace Productivity loss due to absenteeism is a serious growing challenge. We live in an absenteeism culture. Talking a day off and calling in sick is supported and encouraged by the society. Many peoples attitude is The time is coming to us (Robert F.Allen and Michael Higgens- the Absenteeism Culture. Becoming attendance oriented.) Unscheduled absenteeism is on the rise and the rates of absenteeism are at their highest since 1999. The major concern is that almost two out of three employees who do not show up arent physically ill or have challenging issues. Absence measurement and management is an increasingly growing body of knowledge and experience that managers apply to control and reduce absenteeism and its accruing costs. To ensure that the issue of absenteeism is effectively addressed, managers and supervisors-armed with the required guidance and training, need to understand the circumstances and factors surrounding absenteeism in the workplace, and thus actively participate in the companys procedures and policies to effective curb absenteeism in the workplace. Employers attempt to cut down excessive employee absenteeism through tighter controls. They demand doctors report or use some other punitive mechanisms that targets symptoms of absenteeism rather than its causes. The problem will not go away unless the underlying root causes are removed. Building an attendance culture! How should absenteeism effectively be managed? Triggers or incentives? / Carrots or sticks? Introduction: Absenteeism from workplace has been on the increase and may be an indicative of poor morale, lack of motivation, sick building syndrome, poor organizational polities or mere indiscipline from the employees. However, many employers have introduced and implemented absence policies which make no distinction between absence for genuine reasons or illness and absence for inappropriate reasons. One of these policies is the calculation of the Bradford Factor, which only factors total number and frequency of individual absence into account, neglecting the kind of absence. 40 million days are lost each year in the UK, due to workplace absenteeism,93% of employees say cold and flu are the reason for being away from work, but research has shown that in reality, half of absenteeism in the workplace has nothing whatsoever to do with health. Workers decide to stay away from work for a host of other reasons relating to work and personal issues, which range from job de-motivation, low pay, lack of work life balance and occasional hangover. Absenteeism has been viewed traditionally as a breach of an implicit contract between employee and employer, as a management problem and has been framed in economic terms. This report will critically discuss the causes and effects of absenteeism in the workplace with the view to derive effective ways to measure and manage absenteeism. It will seek to understand absenteeism as an indicator of psychological, social adjustment to work. 1. What do we mean by Absenteeism? According to dictionary reference.com, Absenteeism can be defined as habitual failure to appear, especially for work and other regular duty. The rate occurrence of habitual absence from work or duty. Absenteeism can be viewed as re-occurring absence from work, duty and obligation, thought to reflect employee demoralization or dissatisfaction. This can also be viewed as a breach of the implicit contract that exists between the employer and the employed. Simply put, Failure to report to or stay at work when scheduled is tagged absenteeism. 1.1 Absenteeism can be grouped into two categories Involuntary/Innocent absenteeism: This is when absences are unavoidable and understandable. For instance Absences due to death in the family Pregnancy or Maternity issues Absences caused by illness or injury Car/ vehicle issues Other family related or personal issues Accidents and natural disasters Disability-related absenteeism- Human rights obligations Voluntary/Culpable Absenteeism: Voluntary absenteeism is an instance where an employee, out of his own freewill or laziness, chooses to stay off work. Absences in this case are avoidable. Missing work without advance notice, to go the cinema or watch football Making excuses for consistent late coming to work Deceitfully/fraudulently applying for sick leave or calling in sick Failure to report to work as scheduled or showing up late for no good reason 1.2 Causes of Absenteeism in the workplace There are various factors that could influence an employee to be absent at work. These factors are as follows Personal Factors: Personal Attitude: individuals posses different attitudes and bring these attitudes forth to the workplace. Employees with strong workplace ethics will respect their work and appreciate their contribution to the organisation and as such, will not take unscheduled off from the workplace. Conversely, employees with low or without work ethics are in- disciplined and have behavioural issues. Because they feel no obligation to the organisation, absenteeism comes easily to them. Age: The age of an employee often affects their attitude to work. The younger the employees are often restless, they want to have fun and be with friends rather than being tied down with responsibilities. This leads to lack of ownership and usually leads to unscheduled and unauthorised time off. Gender: Women are usually challenged with balancing their time between work and home. Their families are always the utmost priority, thus they would rather be absent from work to sort out family issues Workplace Factors: Organizational Culture: Every organisation is a culture with its own norms. An organisation with an embedded absenteeism culture, screen played by its management and supervisors lack of commitment would encourage further employee absenteeism Lack of Motivation and Rewards: The relationship between the organisation and its employees is influenced by what motives them to work and the rewards and fulfilment they derive from it. Inability of managers or employers to motivate employees and meet their extrinsic and intrinsic needs would lead to lack if motivation and commitment hence, absenteeism in the workplace Absence of learning culture: Learning means change, thus can affect organisations effectiveness. Employees love to work in an organisation where they would improve themselves and their career through organisational learning and knowledge management, which could be inculcated through coaching, mentoring, trainings and other explicit methods. In an organisation where a learning culture is absent, employees feel de-motivated, unsatisfied and feel their career growth is threatened. Hence they excuse themselves from work without authorisation in search for greater challenges and organisations where they would gain improve themselves. Stress at work: According to a report cited in Financial Times: Stress at work is the biggest problem in European companies Voluntary absenteeism takes place because employees are dissatisfied with their job; hence they feel stressed doing the work either because of the work load or unsuitable assigned roles. {Egs} wrongly assigning a customer service manager to manage treasury department, without adequate experience and training. Due to lack of adequate experience in the field and fixed timed deliverables and tasks, he feels stressed and harassed in the role and thus breaks down into stress or depression and seeks sick leave and abandons the job. Voluntary Absenteeism also takes place where the employees feel there is a strain on their psychological contract with the employer, this indirectly erupts lack of organizational commitment. This strain could develop to stress and impact on employee attendance to work. Leadership Style: An organizations, team or unit leadership style could impact on employee commitment, job satisfaction with improved or impaired participation and attendance to work. While Democratic and laissez fair leadership style encourages shared decision making, shared responsibility, creativity and participation and can be highly motivational, which enhances teamwork and interpersonal relations. Autocratic and paternalistic leadership styles could de-motivate and alienate employees. Employees might feel less important in the organisation, hence the need to avoid work. Work Routine and lack of Change: doing the same job or task over a long period of time can get monotonous. The employees get bored and thus might choose to take unauthorised time off to do something he considers interesting than going to work. Job Satisfaction: if employees do not find their work interesting, satisfying and challenging, they feel dissatisfied, which leads to increased absenteeism in the workplace Work life balance: Organisation who not factor employees roles and work life such that a balance is stroked with work and the individuals personal life commitments and family would experience increased employee absenteeism. Conflict in the workplace: ultimately increases chances of employee absenteeism. Lack of team spirit: A team that lacks unity, synergy and good interpersonal relationship amongst its members, will be a weak and unproductive. Such team members will lack team spirit-the spirit that bonds individuals in a team. This lack of team spirit can de-motivate team members, make them work in isolation, they would lack the sense of belonging, love and satisfaction. There would exist, fears of the unknown, lack of trust for team members. These feelings will encourage an employee to stay off work. Social Factors: factors such as difficult community circumstances like High crime and intimidation rates which constitutes fear in employees catalyses absenteeism in the workplace. Other social factors are Lack of transportation/transport facilities Poverty levels Malnutrition HIV/AIDS Labour Strikes 1.3 Effects of Absenteeism in the workplace When a company has an absentee problem, it has a profit problem. Absenteeism can take a deep financial toll on any business, whether a small or multinational company. There are also other significant effects associated with excessive absenteeism: Decreased Productivity: in a team of people doing interrelated tasks, if one persistent remains absent or fails to deliver, it creates a domino effect on productivity. It affects employee/team morale: this is due to the fact that additional stress are places on employees who act as replacements or assume additional tasks for absentees Absenteeism causes disruptions in the workplace and impacts on the SLAs It affects customer service levels, turnaround times, customer loyalty and satisfaction. It affect or disrupts effective team formation and operations It may create a perception of unfairness amongst employees It affects the bottom-line 2.0 Measuring Absenteeism 2.1 Why measure absenteeism? It is pertinent to measure the rate of absenteeism in the workplace. Measuring employees absenteeism is a good way to measure Overall Labour Effectiveness (OLE) in the workplace, which is a key performance indicator (KPI) that measures the utilization, performance and quality of the workforce and its impact on productivity. Monitoring staff absence rates helps to trace the pattern of employee attendance. To monitor and check dead times, in the workplace, to derive and measure resources and costs incurred due to employee absenteeism with the aim of devising effective methods to manage absenteeism in the workplace. In measuring absenteeism in the workplace, we derive the ratio of its administrative, financial and productivity cost to the organisation which will enable development of strategies to curb absenteeism while rechanneling resources more effectively to effect the bottom-line positively. Administrative costs of Absenteeism: Time consumed in controlling absenteeism Time consumed in sourcing replacements and re-assigning duties. Supervisors time Financial Costs: this are the costs accruing form Overtime costs Replacement employee costs Training costs Over staffing costs Productivity Costs: Replaced productivity and loss of output costs the costs of supporting replacement employees Costs accrued in training new or replacement staff/hiring temp staff Substandard production 2.2 Ways of Measuring Absenteeism The Total Tim lost: Number of person-days lost through job absence during period X 100 (Average number of employees) x (Number of Work days) This rate also can be based on number of hours instead of number of days. The individual frequency formula: This is calculated as thus : Individual frequency = (Num of Absent Employees/Average Number of Employees) x100 The Bradford Factor or Bradford Formula: According to the Chartered Institute of Personal and Development, the term was first coined due to its supposed connection with research undertaken by the Bradford University School of Management in the 1980s. It was developed as a way of highlighting the misappropriate level of disruption on an organisations performance that can be caused by short-term employee absence compared to incidences of prolonged absence. In contrast, it is considered short-sighted and unlikely to be successful which could lead to staff dissatisfaction and grievances. The Bradford factor can be calculated as follows: B= S2 x D where: B is the Bradford Factor score S is the total number of spells(instances) of absence of an individual over a set period D is the total number of days of absence of that individual over the same set period The set period is typically set as a rolling 52 week period. For example: 1 instance of absence with a duration of 15 days (1x 1 x 5)= 5 points 4 instances of absence; one of one, one of four and one of six days (4 x 4 x 5) =80 points 6 instances of absences ;each for two days (6 x 6 x 5) = 180 points However, the Bradford factor has been critiqued for its limited and short-sightedness in effectively measuring absenteeism, this is because it only factors total number and frequency of individual absence into account, neglecting the kind of absence. Again, the Bradford factor is a generic process and would be inappropriate to implement on disabled employees this is because certain disabilities require higher days of absence. Employers are bound by law e.g. The British Disability Discrimination Act 1995 and 2005 (DDA) to tailor their actions to the individual circumstances of disabled employees and failure to provide these reasonable adjustments by employers may lead to civil actions or breach of DDA in employment tribunal 3.0 Managing absenteeism: Absenteeism: A cultural problem Every organisation is a culture, with its own norms that constitute the expected, supported and accepted ways of behaving. These norms are most times unwritten and advice people on the code of conduct. The existing culture and norms influences everyones perception of the business, from the CEO to the newly hired employee. Managements behaviour has a special impact on organisational behaviour as relates to absenteeism, this is because of its modelling influence. Investigations have shown that absenteeism was/is directly traceable to the group norms established by leadership, the work environment and group expectations. Each group had similar illness records, it was the norms that dictated, and almost predictably, whether people showed up for work. Absenteeism is often symptoms of larger organisational problems and can be managed as thus: Leadership modelling and commitment: Managerial commitments and participatory culture have an important impact on attendance. E.g. in a retail company, a manager who demonstrated little commitment to attendance practices recorded one of the highest absenteeism rates in his organisation. Work motivation and rewards: Motivation in the work place is the driving force to achieve employee job satisfaction and commitment. This motivation could be Extrinsic or Intrinsic. Extrinsic motivation relates to the tangible rewards e.g. Salary, security, promotion and conditions of work. While, Intrinsic motivation relates to the psychological rewards which includes; a sense of challenge and achievement, participation and appreciation from the employer. According to Maslows hierarchy of needs; the expectancies of an employee from the employer are captured as thus- Motivated employees overcome obstacles to make it to work. The key to reducing employee absenteeism is to create a culture where employees want to come to work. Effective Groups and Team Building: groups and teams are essential features of the work pattern of organisations. These include formal and informal groups, project and virtual teams. Effective group and team building encourages inter personal relationships, fulfils the individuals psychological need of love and belonging, encourages organisational learning and communication while reducing conflicts in the organisation. This ultimately gives employees, sense of belonging and contribution, job satisfaction and an increased love for the job which will be evidenced in attendance rate. Recruitment and selection: Employers should recruit employees with good attendance records. This information should be included in references. Employee orientation and training: Attendance norms should be established the first day on the job. These norms are inculcated at inductions and orientation sessions. Performance Appraisal: this can boost employee attendance rates. Management should attach attendance rates to performance appraisals, if employees are aware that attendance would be a part of their appraisal, they would minimise unnecessary absence from work. Conclusion: Organisational culture is a key factor that affects the norms and modus operandi of an organisation. Thus the leaders and manager have a great job of making effective decisions and inculcation the required culture through policies and examples. Creating an attendance-oriented culture requires a complete corporate commitment to encourage attendance rather than manage absenteeism. This would be a significant shift because an absenteeism culture not only cost millions of pounds, but also impedes the development of human resources, reduces organisations competitive advantage and affects the bottom-line My case study illustrating the causes, effects and how to manage absenteeism is evidenced in my reflective writing. Reflective Writing: I would always wish I would not have to return to work the following day, I would call-in sick at the slightest headache. I disliked the new branch I was posted to be a team leader. Not having prior information or notice of my sudden inter-state transfer until a mail dropped in my mailbox, a Monday morning I just resumed from vacation, gave me the shock. I was to resume in the new branch with immediate effect. There was no communication whatever from my team leader that arrangement has been made for me to move to another state where i would lead the funds transfer team. This is a clear indication of communication gap and ineffective boss and subordinate relationship, where the team leader feels less need to have inter-personal relationship with team members. Her autocratic system of leadership in the workplace does not encourage participation, shared learning, sense of belonging and team spirit, which are among an employees intrinsic expectancies from the organisation/workplace This autocratic, non-participatory system of leadership and lack of effective communication and team spirit became a culture instilled by the branch leader. This holistically affected all team members. Demonization, fear, lack of commitment, ineffective communication that often caused conflicts, and absenteeism creped in. The feeling of betrayal, neglect and less regard filled my heart as i journeyed down the new branch. I lost motivation and commitment in the job. I lost the feeling of being part of the organisation. This was reflected in my re-occurring absenteeism and inability to deliver on deadlines The sudden relocation was pressuring and put me under stress. This further increased my absenteeism rate from work till the point I tendered my resignation. This situation highlights the importance and implication of the supervisory and managers roles in the work place as regards motivation, team building, eradicating conflicts and commitment. However, I feel sober, writing this coursework having realised through my research and the module learning, the cost and other implications of employee absenteeism in organisations. This also reflects why my recommendations for an effective management of employee absenteeism points to organisational culture, effective team and group building which encourages team participation and motivation, and leadership styles and modelling. A motivational team leader or mentor would encourage effective communication, build effective teams, build a culture of attendance and commitment through a democratic or participatory system of leadership where everyone contributes and feels the sense of responsibly and love. As a manager, having participated in this course module, I understand and appreciate my roles more. I have gained more insights on to build effective teams; manage conflicts, leadership by example and ultimately, how to manage individual differences and diversity in the workplace. Getting back into work, I would be a good leader, and inspire brilliance.

The Radical Republican Party of the Reconstruction Era Essay -- Carpetb

During the Reconstruction Era of the Civil War, a two new political groups began to form. The Radical Republican Party gained some of its greatest members, two groups of people from opposite sides of the country (Hodges 1). The carpetbaggers and scalawags joined forces to reconstruct the South, but they were met with controversy and criticism because of their radical worldview (Hodges 1). The carpetbaggers and scalawags’ goals were met with controversy then, but the group can be attributed with one of the first Civil Rights attempts within the South among other great achievements (Coleman â€Å"Affect on Reconstruction† 1). The Radical Republican Party encompassed both the carpetbaggers and the scalawags (Hodges 1). The carpetbaggers were newly joined members of the Republican Party that moved from the North to the South to make money from the South’s poverty and in turn help begin the Reconstruction in the South (Hodges 1; Muhammad 1). The â€Å"carpetbagger† label could encompass any well educated member of the middle class (â€Å"Carpetbaggers and Scalawags† 2). During the Reconstruction Era, large numbers of people were traveling from the North to the South (Muhammad 1). Since there was such a large number of people traveling during that time, a cheap way to carry luggage was in high demand (Muhammad 1). So â€Å"carpetbags†, which where made from old carpets, were manufactured (Muhammad 1). This bag held the owner’s only possessions, specifically for the carpetbaggers as they headed south (Muhammad 1). On the other hand, scalawags were Southerners who disliked secession or had fought for the Union Army (Hodges 1). The â€Å"scalawag† label encompassed wealthy southern landowners, displaced carpetbaggers, black freedman, former Whigs, poor S... ...a of Arkansas History and Culture. The Central Arkansas Library System. October 26 2011. February 5 2014. Harris, Rodney. â€Å"Minstrels [Political Faction].† The Encyclopedia of Arkansas History and Culture. The Central Arkansas Library System. October 26 2011. February 5 2014. Hodges, Mary Frances. â€Å"Carpetbaggers and Scalawags.† The Encyclopedia of Arkansas History and Culture. The Central Arkansas Library System. October 26 2011. January 30 2014. Muhammad, Brian. â€Å"Carpetbaggers in Reconstruction: Definition, Lesson & Quiz.† Education Portal. January 30 2014. Richards, Adam. â€Å"Scalawags in the Civil War: Definition, Lesson, & Quiz.† Education Portal. January 30 2014. Sansing, David G. â€Å"Adelbert Ames: Twenty-seventh and Thirtieth Governor of Mississippi: 1868-1870; 1874-1876.† Mississippi History NOW. Mississippi Historical Society. December 2003. February 5 2014.

Effects Of Postmodernism In Relation To Communication And Society Essay

The movement occurred after 1945 is postmodernism which had shown it’s powerful effects in every aspect of life. It’s a movement that can’t be defined with a simple sentence because postmodernism has lots of components and directions. A postmodernist reflects history’s theological interpretations. When we talk about post-modernism we also take the concept modernism in our concept. Postmodernism is defined related to modernism as† the legalization of illegal parts of modernism†. Modernity and postmodernity appear and reappear in philosophical, literary and other texts in what is at first sight a bewildering array of guises. Postmodernism combines simultaneous fragmentation and blurring of boundaries in a universe where no absolute truth governs the definition of reality and morality. This is in contrast to modernism, which emphasizes the coming together of the multifaceted, sometimes conflicting aspects of life into a unified whole that can be realized. Postmodernism accepts the conflicts as the standard mode of existence. Unlike the consensus sought by modernism, postmodernism accepts discensus, and even proclaims that one unified way of seeing things is impossible. Postmodernism undermines the modernist notion of what Jean-Francois Lyotard describes as meta-narratives, or over-arching, absolute stories that explain the nature of the world. One of the difficulties with meta-narratives is that they only present the world from one perspective, even when it may make sense from several different angles. Trying to force everything to be seen only through the eyes of one point of view is referred to as colonization. The term can be used abstractly or figuratively to describe imposing a certain view or interpretation of something, but it is derived from examining the political and social domination that has been exercised over smaller nations and minorities by Imperialism and ethnocentrism. Postmodernism tends to encourage placing value on the unassimilated other- on accepting and respecting differences and not oppressing the other. The postmodern celebration of difference can be seen in the experimental nature of postmodern art, architecture, and writing. These forms usually take liberties with conventional forms, and often involve bricolage, which is combining different forms and styles in a collage-like fashion. Sociology and the society has a big role ... ... always hidden in these works of art or these kinds of communicators. The artist or architect decides his message in his mind and reflects it in his works. The way to communicate with society is the works of the people whom wants to give a message to society. The receiver is the society and they take the message given by the communicators after these processes. The main purpose of all these are to give the message to the society, which is the receiver. After that society takes the message and the message effects every part of society differently. Every receiver takes the message differently and different effects are created on society. As a result, after all the process postmodernism is an eminently contestable concept. As it’s reference points emerge in the philosophers, social theorists, film makers, painters, sculptors, photographers, architects, designers, novelists, poets and even politicians and generals, they create major crises of interpretation. This movement had a big success when it’s observed in communication. The message sent to the receivers very successfully also receivers had a communication between themselves so postmodernism effected all aspects of social life.

Of mice and men & An inspector calls Essay

â€Å"Socialism is a philosophy of failure, the creed of ignorance and the gospel of envy, its inherent virtue is the equal sharing of misery†- Winston Churchill Winston Churchill thinks that socialism is a philosophy of failure however John Steinbeck author Of Mice and Men & JB Priestly author of An Inspector Calls would say that capitalism creates the failure in society not socialism. Both authors create a microcosm to show us how society was like at the time. This is called social realism. The two texts show how rich people are quick to take advantage of the poor and the vulnerable. The book of mice of men was written in 1937, by John Steinbeck. This book is set in 1930’s California, Salinas valley also known as south Soledad. It was after the war and after the Wall Street crash this is when everybody lost their jobs and became bankrupt. Everyone moved to South California to look for jobs on ranches to fulfil the â€Å"American dream â€Å"another reason why everyb ody had to move to South California is because of the Dust bowl also known as the Dirty Thirties due to the fact it was during the 1930’s. The dust bowl is a period of ruthless dust storms which affected America’s agriculture and ecology. The dust storms were caused by a long period of drought and years of bad farming techniques that caused such things as soil erosion. The weak soil then travelled majority of the United States leaving a thick fog of dust, the drought and erosion of the Dust Bowl affected 100,000,000 acres (400,000 km2) that centred on the panhandles of Texas and Oklahoma and touched adjacent sections of New Mexico, Colorado, and Kansas. In many areas, over 75% of the topsoil was blown away by the end of the 1930s there were severe long-term economic consequences of the Dust Bowl, farmers couldn’t harvest any more crops because the soil was ruined. Counties that had experienced the most considerable levels of erosion saw a greater decline in agricultural land values the per-acre value of farmland decreased by 28% in high-erosion counties and 17% in medium-erosion counties. Furthermore banks failed in the Dust Bowl region with a higher rate of frequency than in the rest of the country, it was har der for farmers to gain access to the credit they needed to buy capital to shift crop production. Consequently Farmers & business owners had to move away because they had no more money. Steinbeck became sensitive towards the people in California. He  wants to help marginalised citizens. Steinbeck created this book to show how reality was to fight against the media. It was a miniature representation of something in this case 1930s California, his book was based on social realism. To show everyone real life as it truly is. He presents the protagonists & antagonists in the world. He is not concerned about idealizing things and making them beautiful when they are not. He is displaying real life as it is for political, social and moral reasons. Steinbeck wanted to indicate the socialism is better than capitalism. The play An Inspector Call is set in the city in Northern Midlands in 1912 and was written J.B Priestly. The book is set just before the First World War. (1911-1914) and that it’s the period history that Priestly chose to set his play on. Priestly play was written just after the World War 2 I think this is to show capitalism is wrong and how socialism i s right he portrayed this by showing Britain at its worst I think he wanted to influence socialism into the new, younger generation. He did this to avoid further war & conflict by showing how capitalism is wrong. The antagonist in of mice of men is Curley. This is because of his habit to think he is better than everyone. Curley’s appearance shows that he is a replica as his father; this is shown when both characters were introduced. The Boss was introduced first in chapter 2 â€Å"he wore high heeled boots with spurs to prove he is not a labouring man† spurs are the sharp silver circles at the bottom of boots; spurs are spiky and sharp this could suggest that the boss is dangerous and he shows this through his boots furthermore these specific boots are more expensive than a typical ranch hand could afford this could propose that the boss is to superior to help the workers like an socialist boss would, this is shown because the boots aren’t practical for workers because they are high heeled and we can’t work in high heeled boots. Curly was introduced in the same chapter(2) â€Å"Liked t he Boss he wore high heeled boots† Curly shows authority through the clothes he wears the quote â€Å"high heeled boots† show he wants to appear taller because of the fact he is short In addition it can also suggest that he is not like the ordinary ranch workers but more superior; He wants everyone else on the ranch to look up to him and treat him with higher authority. Curly is intimidated by Lennie because he is bigger and loftier than him and he tries to act immense around Lennie to show him that he is not scared. This makes us dislike him because we know  that even though Lennie is big and tall he wouldn’t hurt anyone out of meanness. Curley mirrors an animal when he spots Lennie smirking at him â€Å"his hands closed into fists, he stiffened into a crouch† describe him like an animal about to prance. Animals attack would be vicious and dangerous; reason why Curley is an antagonist because of the fact he acts like a scary ferocious and treacherous animal, this would affect the readers because nobody like violent nasty animals. Steinbeck may have done this so the readers of the novel or the people watching the play would change their views are realise that if they are capitalist how wrong it is due to the fact how Steinbeck exaggerated Curlys attitude. Curlys closed fists could mean he is hiding his fear from Lennie by shutting it out Curly has competition with every guy taller than him because he thinks they’re a threat to him. Curly picks on the marginalised characters and doesn’t even care for his dead wife but for revenge on Lennie this shows how cold hearted he is and since Curly is one of the main reprehensive of the capitalists in the book Steinbeck is showing us that the capitalists are the bad guys to the affect that they won’t even have a tad bit of sympathy for even their wife. Protagonists in Of mice and men are George and Lennie this is because they are always there for each other the quote â€Å"I got you to look after me and you got me to look after you† this shows that they got a lot of love for each other. George and Lennie have a brotherly relationship. George is the big brother & Lennie is the little brother. †a few beans slipped out of the side of Lennie mouth, George gestured with his spoon. The gesture which he did is something a mother would do to a child. We like Lennie because he is like a child. In Chapter 1 (pg21) the following quote stated by George to Lennie quite a few times is, â€Å"Say it over to yourself, Lennie, so you won’t forget it.† Here George is treating Lennie like a child because he can not remember anything and must be constantly reminded of what he has to do. Lennies childish behaviour is also shown in the last chapter when Lennie says â€Å"You ain’t gonna leave me, are ya George?† (p. 98) He is fearing, as a little child would, that he will be left all along, and both he and George know that Lennie cannot be on his own we admire Lennie because he is fair and treats everyone the same. We don’t know a lot about Lennie’s background. We don’t know what happened to Lennie’s family and parents and why he didn’t live with them, just that he was looked after by his Aunt Clara. George is  Lennies only family apart from his Aunt, We think of Lennie as a protagonist because he is like a child and everyone likes children we like George because he looks after Lennie and doesn’t take advantage of him to the effect which he treats him like his own family. George could have left Lennie when ever he wanted to. George could’ve left Reed and let the authorities take lennie so he would run off, start somewhere new with a better job and won’t have Lennie as a interference anymore, the fact that George helped Lennie escape shows that they really care for each other and he is like an big brother to him. We are shown Lennies childish behaviour at the start of the book we know he likes to touch soft things, He has a dead mouse in his pocket so he can stroke it as there walking along, When George sees this he treats him like a child and makes Lennie throw it away â€Å"give it here!† This shows there father-son like relationship as the harsh to ne he used when he asked Lennie for the mouse. The harsh tone is shown by the explanation mark. Other protagonist in of mice and men are candy and crooks. Candy is discriminated for being old and disables, readers will feel sympathetic towards him especially after Carlson killed Candy’s only companion his dog; Crooks is a Negro and is discriminated for his race. In the great depression black people suffered as much as white people and in majority of the cases even worse. They left the southern states hoping to find work majority of the time they won’t come across any and they would experience racism. Along with candy crooks character is used by Steinbeck to show the effects of discrimination. This time the prejudice is based on race, crooks is not allowed in the bunk house with the white people he is only allowed in Christmas and that is because he pays a collateral of fighting for their entertainment. The protagonist in of mice and men are coincidently the marginalised characters. Steinbeck shows us that the protagonists in the book are also the socialists. The protagonists in An Inspector Calls is the inspector this is because he feels remorseful for Eva Smiths’ death .In addition the Inspector is the only character in the play who didn’t do something to result in her dying. We can relate the inspector to the ghost from the Christmas tale â€Å"Ghosts of the Christmas past†. The ghosts try to change Ebenezer Scrooges behaviour the same way the inspector is trying to change the Birlings family manners and make them more socialists characters. Sheila is a protagonist because she changed from a  self-centred mummy’s girl to a mature and generous young lady. This is because the inspector showed that what she was did was wrong. In addition we like Sheila because she took full responsibility for Eva Smith’s death and the fact that she played a part towards it. Even after they realised that the inspector was actually a counterfeit and that they are not in trouble she felts guilty. Likewise Eric Sheila’s brother also changed his views he was already had socialists views at the start of play unlike Sheila however at the end of the play both characters took full responsibility and changed their capitalist views to socialist views. However Eric didn’t take full responsibility and tried to put some blame on Mrs Birling his mother. This is because Mrs Birling took no blame for the death of Eva smith. The fact that Mrs Birling takes no liability makes us dislike her similarly Mr Birling takes no blame and is actually relieved that the inspector didn’t come for him but his family this shows how subterranean he is, he didn’t mind the fact that his family might be in danger, only the fact that he is out of harm’s way. Mr Birling selfish and arrogant behaviour makes us dislikes him. Steinbeck and priestly are trying to demonstrate to us that the protagonists are socialists and that socialists are much loving caring and they are people we tend to like however capitalist are supercilious big headed and they are they bad people in life. Social mobility is when the poor attempt to ascend up to the prosperous however the prosperous push them down. This is shown in both texts of mice of men and an inspector calls. A classic example would be Eva smith from An Inspector Calls. She is a working class girl who committed suicide. This is because every time she stepped up or if something good happened to her the Birling residents pushed her down. Eva smith asked Mr Birling for pay raise however he said no for the reason that he claimed that if he paid her more he would have to increase the tax of the goods he sells the quote â€Å"They wanted 25 shilling I refused of course†. Proves my previous points point that capitalist are cold hearted, Mr Birling simply could have used his own money o pay the tax instead of increasing it however he is a capitalist and capitalists only care for themselves therefore to the only way to dispense of this problem was to sack Eva smith from work. The word â€Å"of course† shows u s that there was nothing to discuss and the answer to the raise is moderately perceptible. Mr Birling cares about himself and the profit he gains by getting rid of Eva smith, he  kept himself happy but didn’t realise he just ruined an innocent girls life. Sheila Mr Birling’s daughter took advantage of her father’s power. The quote â€Å"so you used the power you had†¦ to punish the girl just because she made you feel like that† shows the reader Sheila’s selfish attitude. The facts that Sheila got the girl fired because she was prettier than her shows us how priestly is trying to tell us that capitalists are snobby and bigheaded. They will also do anything they want to get what they want even if it’s distressing someone else. Mrs Birling refused to help pregnant Eva smith and said that it’s her fault and that she can’t do anything. This is also known as laissez faire which means not to interfere. The French word means let them do as they will. Mrs Birling doesn’t interfere with Eva Smiths life. This is an example of Mrs Billing’s cruel capitalistic behaviour. In my opinion I thinks that Mrs Birling is more capitalists then all the characters because of the fact she never had to work for money and she was born rich. Unlike Mr Birling who had to work for his money. They are the reason why society is failing and people can’t get jobs. It is ironic because they say they worked to get where they are now, but when one works, and gets rich the capitalists pus them down. In of mice and men, George and Lennie start of working in a ranch in southern California called Salinas’s valley. They are working together so they can get enough money to fulfil the â€Å"American Dream†. The American dream is to own a farm, live on it and the food that grows on the farm as well as the money they make of it. This represent the Jefferson ideal of agrarian society, Thomas Jefferson promoted an agrarian society for the United States of America during the nation’s early formation. Jefferson wanted America to live on farms and live on it and the food that grows on it. Curly the boss’s son abuses his power; he picks on Lennie and controls his wife, curly s capitalistic behaviour led to the failure of the American dream. Lennie had a dream and his dream was to live of the â€Å"fatta the land† the quote shows that Lennie wants to rise up and live and work for himself one day. Curley smashed lennies dream, he paid no attention o his wife so his wife tried communicating with Lennie. This eventually led to her death as she let Lennie touch her hair even after is past of killing soft thing like the puppy and mice. I think Steinbeck isn’t killing socialism but showing us how capitalism is killing it. Steinbeck and priestly show socialism and capitalism through the setting in texts.  Steinbeck shows the bunk house as underprivileged this shows how socialists are inadequately looked after along with their poor living conditions. Whereas priestly shows the Birlings house in the midlands as prosperous this represents the capitalists by saying that they can afford high-quality possessions. The bunk house is minute and un attractive the quote† white washed† shows that he people are deprived, the colour white shows that they can afford any other coloured paint because the colour white is unadorned as well as tedious , this must be why it’s cheap. The colour white is dull, coincidentally so are the people of the bunk house. Another interpretation could be that the boss was being cheap and indolent and that he didn’t want to spend allot of money on the workers, during the 1930s it was the time of the great depression this is when the country went into debt, people cut down on spending money this explains why the boss bought white paint as it must of been inexpensive. Steinbeck uses alliteration in the quote â€Å"white washed â€Å"to exaggerate the glumness of the colour white. The quote â€Å"floor un painted† manifests that the workers have a poor living condition. The quote indicates that not only was the boss cheap enough to get white paint, he couldn’t be bothered to buy enough to paint the floor. This shows that the boss is lazy and doesn’t care about his workers; the quote â€Å"small square windows† indicates that the windows are minuscule. The small window can indicate to their lack of freedom. The word small can mean petty and insignificant this implies that their freedom is negligible and trivial. The quote â€Å"solid door with a wooden latch† suggests that they are restrained within the bunk house. The word â€Å"solid† means hard and strong this can imply that the door is blocked off. The words wooden latch mean that they’re locked in this could imply that they’re trapped in the ranch house and in Steinbeck’s microcosm. The boss, curly and his wife live in another house however this house to superior to be explained in the story. The story is seen through George and lennies eye s perhaps Steinbeck is saying that they are not good enough to see their house. Steinbeck carefully controls the setting in Of mice and men. It is especially lucid in the last and first chapter, both chapters mirror each other you can see this because they start of at the Salinas River and end their journey there to. Steinbeck describes the nature vividly at the start and the end. The nature resonates with the theme of the novel. We can observe the relaxed aggression of nature. This  shows that everything Lennie did meant no harm and it was all natural. â€Å"Lennie never done it in meanness â€Å"the story foreshadows events from the start to the end. The conversation between George and Lennie reflects the firsts and last chapter. Their story goes round in circles like a hamster’s wheel it doesn’t take them anywhere. The ranch house may be poor and shabby however the Birling’s house is in the city in comparison to the country side. The house is advanced than a ranch house. The stage directions give an effect that it’s a comfy home. The lights were â€Å"pink and intimate† the colour of the lights reflected the mood of the play. This is shown in the book at the start whilst the family were celebrating the daughter engagement. When they shade of the lights was a â€Å"rose tinted glow† the family were still celebrating the daughter’s engagement to Gerald croft. The mood of the play was still romantic thus the use of warm coloured lights. The word rose means a shrub with prickly stems and a fragranced flower. A sore symbolizes love priestly may have used this to give a passionate sensation however roses have thorns so bristly, jagged and treacherous, Steinbeck might have been for shadowing the upcoming danger. The word glow means to emit light and heat devoid of flames. Priestly chose this to exaggerate the love and heat in the air emitted by the characters. Glow can also mean having a feeling of wellbeing or satisfaction. Something socialists can never feel because they are never happy due to the capitalists. However the atmosphere changes when the Inspector arrives and the lights are â€Å"brighter and harder† as if he is welcoming the family in to reality. The word â€Å"bright â€Å"is to emit intense light in comparison to the soft light emitted at the start of the play. The word â€Å"harder† means solid, firm and hard. Priestly may be indicating that things are getting ugly metaphorically. It can also mean an unkind feeling causing pain and sorrow of hardship it is as if priestly for shadows upcoming events through the illumination. The bright lights can resemblance the lights from one are getting interrogated by a policeman. The furniture in the Birling’s house is extravagant like the family itself the quote â€Å"solid furniture† means that the furniture in the Birling’s house won’t break because it’s expensive. A rich family tends to have expensive possessions in comparison to the bunk house in Of mice of men. There is only one woman in Of mice of men and that is Curleys wife. During the 1930s women were only used as housewives in  addition men only used them as sex objects this is sexism was more accepted in that centaury. Men paid no affection for their wife’s this is shown in of mice of men when curly would wear a â€Å"glove full of Vaseline† to keep his hand soft to pleasure his wife. This quote shows how curly has no respect for his wife and the fact that he goes around telling the people in the bunk house that shows how arrogant he is. Curly represents how men were in the 1930s in Steinbeck’s microcosm and due to his behaviour we can comprehend how egotistical capitalist men were in that time period. Women are discriminated in the book Of mice of men as well as during the 1930’s.in the time john Steinbeck lived women were only used to serve men they were not supposed high in regards. Women still tried to yearn for a better future by exploiting men. Curlys wife paraded around the bunk house wearing too much make up as well as stimulating clothing with red nails; red ostrich feathers and red mules. Steinbeck uses imagery to portray curlys wife as provocative that and the fact that she goes around the bunk house flirting with the workers and begging for attention. Curlys wife has no other way to communicate to somebody but through her body language. He quote â€Å"red finger nails , red mules , red ostrich feathers† plays a big part in her personality as she is wearing lots of the colour red, it could indicate blood and fire. These two features represents the devil. The devil brings danger so this could mean that curlys wife brings jeopardy. The colour red is intense a nd eye grabbing the fact that she wears these a lot of this colour could mean she wants all eyes on her and that she is seeking attention, implies that she is seeking love and desire both she is need of, she can only do this by wearing bright colours and dressing a certain way and through her promiscuous behaviour. Steinbeck’s preliminary portrayal of curls wife shows her to be a mean and seductive temptress. She is mirrored to eve in the garden of Eden. The same way eve seduced Adam. Curlys wife crushed George and lennies dream of owning a farm. Even curlys wife needed to dream of being a Hollywood actress, her beauty would have helped her fulfil her dream, and this made her vulnerable since she was not successful. The final chapters describe her as innocent. Steinbeck is shows us that everyone who are portrayed as bad may have some humanity in them. Steinbeck also refers to other women in of mice and men. Apart from the fact she’s not mentioned in the novel the girl from weed plays a big part as she is the  reason George and Lennie had to escape from the job in weed. We can conclude that the girl from weed and curlys wife are both temptations that encourage lennies curiosity and of course Lennie could not resist. Similarly how Lennie couldn’t resist to pet soft objects which comfort him ranch men could not refuse to accept the fact that they need to be seeking immediate gratification. Susy brothel households Clearly prove my point that women were just objects in the hands of men; this makes them victims of society. Many of the ranch men go there and participate in bordellos, its crystal clear that women were surplus and that they have no importance. In fact curlys wife’s name is not even mentioned in the novel. Steinbeck does not mention her name for the reason that he want to emphasise curlys ownership over her. He is depicting her as property rather than an actual person. She was the one who caused most the tension on the ranch the reason why her husband was always cranky. In spite of all the malevolence connected with women, Steinbeck also gives us an affectionate vision of Aunt Clara whose position is taken by George. Therefore in the novel we are made conscious that there is some good in women, on the other hand it seems as if that there can never be any harmony in the world were women are present because once eve contaminated Adam in the garden of Eden the world was tainted forever. There are not any main similarities between the three women in an inspector calls. Mrs Birling and Eva smith are from completely different spectra’s such as economical, social and personality apart from their gender there is no traits they share in common, Sheila is in between the two characters she is not as snobby as her callous mother neither is she un compassionate, however her social status is fa r away from Eva smiths. Sheila and Mrs Birling are related however they are more distanced. In this era it is common for parents to be distanced from their children, so as you can envisage in sibyls case she barely knew her own daughter. At the start of the play we see a much closed minded view of Sheila; she is like a Paris Hilton of the Victorian era because she is described as a shallow airhead. she gets bewildered over material goods. Especially when her fiancà © presented her an engagement ring. She called it â€Å"wonderful† and saying things like â€Å"look mummy isn’t it a beauty†. Sheila is in her twenties and his calling her mother â€Å"mummy† this is a classic example of her girlish, childish and immature behaviour. These two evidences prove my point as well  as going against it. They are figurative later on in the play, when Sheila’s impression change. Firstly she gives Gerald back her ring, claiming she wants to begin her relationship once again. Secondly she refers to her mum as â€Å"mother† and sees her mother in a new radiance; Sheila is un impressed and ashamed of her flippant and unsympathetic attitude. Sheila is initially very eager about her engagement and loves Gerald heaps; however she is not obtuse and knows he was doing something suspicious over the summer. Even though she didn’t know exactly what he was doing. She did mention it when they were drinking at the start of the play in an amiable approach† except for all last summer when you never came anywhere near me and I wondered what happened to you† despite the fact that Steinbeck does not let us know from the start that Gerald is up o no good we can guess it’s something to do with Eva Smith. Even before the characters do, priestly uses dramatic irony to emphasise this. Sheila is upset however she is not surprised by Gerald’s affair. As I mentioned earlier Sheila hands Gerald back the ring requesting to start the relationship anew. This shows her developing maturity towards the end of the play. During the final scenes Sheila is more peaceful and distinguished in manner as she is not delivering puerile hysterics that would have been expected from her at the star of the play. She knows she really loves Gerald deeply and she can’t complete life without him, however Sheila does not completely forgive him this is showing how independent she can be. Perhaps priestly is showing us that capitalists are stupid and immature and socialists are mature. Mrs Birling is one malicious piece of work. She is even more capitalists & cold hearted than her husband. She takes no accountability for the death of Eva Smith and tries to blame it on Eva by calling her â€Å"impertinent†. She seems to believe that since she is wealthy she is not to blame- typical capitalist behaviour. What’s even worse than her sickening uprightness is the fact that she is deluded. She believes everything she says is right. Mrs Birling is very comfortable with her situation in civilization. well we think she is, her bitter cold demeanour and her sour manner give of very little of her ambitions. She does not have a high status as the crofts however unlike her husband she in not ashamed and has no burning infatuation to be so. She is already her husband’s â€Å"social superior† and seems to be satisfied with that. It is ironic how Mrs Birling is the social superior as it is normally the husbands whom have a  higher status. she is very aware as well reprimanding her husband for the plain triviality of thanking the cook â€Å"Arthur you’re not supposed to say such things† as if a simple deed as thanking the chef is disgusting. Not only does Mrs Birling put herself on plinth, but she has aloofness for everyone else she even patronises her own offspring’s, treating them younger than they are. She finds the inspector extremely despicable as if she is exceeding the law when she says â€Å"I beg your pardon† according to her if she does not fond of the inspector’s attitude he would have to leave premises. Our image of Mrs Birling is pessimistic from the very start and only got worse she is representational of capitalism. The play was set out to expose and demoralize capitalism. Despite the fact that Mrs Birling is seen as the enemy of socialism, Eva smith is portrayed as its champion she is more of a representation rather than a character, seeing as though she doesn’t actually appear in the play itself Eva smith is very important. Edna and Eva are very alive as they are both working class women earning minimum wage, they hardly appear in the book this might be because of the fact priestly is showing that they are to low class to appear in the play. Both priestly and inspector Goole are similar because they support Eva smith while everyone apart from Mrs Birling felt sorry for her death, the inspector and priestly are the only one who haven’t done nothing wrong to lead to her death. At the start of the play The Birling family is drinking champagne and port both luxurious drinks priestly uses irony to show the rich capitalists are drinking expensive drinks however working class socialists Eva smith is drinks toxic disinfectant. Social Darwinism is the concept of survival of the fittest in this case it’s about women Steinbeck and priestly are shown that because women are women they are not significant enough for their power to increase this is shown through Curlys wife in On mice and men And Sheila in An in inspector calls, it is shown through curlys wife because of the fact she is a house wife and is nothing but a object to her husband. It is shown in an inspector calls when Sheila would try to talk but her father s tops her and tells her to go to her room and let the men talk. Both examples show haw the men think they there better and that women don’t deserve to rise up or speak for them self. In conclusion I realised that Both Authors Steinbeck and Priestly disagree with Winston Churchill’s statement about how socialism is a philosophy of failure, they do this by  writing about social mobility and how there isn’t any because the capitalist always push the socialists down. In addition both authors clearly state the protagonists and antagonists, coincidently the protagonists were socialists and the antagonists were capitalists, the authors are telling the readers that Capitalists is pessimistic and socialists is optimistic. They also show us how capitalists have tended to be rich and have nicer houses this is because they don’t share the money resulting in the socialists living in meagre bunk houses. The authors also discreetly mention social Darwinism and that only certain people rise to the top theses certain people are the c apitalists because they are loaded. Both authors created a microcosm to show us how society was like at the time. This is called social realism. The two texts show how rich people are quick to take advantage of the poor and the vulnerable .

How does culture affect diagnosis? Essay

Culture can affect the diagnosis and treatment of mental disorders, as different cultures have different attitudes to mental disorders. In Morocco, for example, it is thought you can catch a mental illness accidentally by encountering some sorcery, such as stepping on it. They truly believe mental disorders come from sorcery and evil things. This affects treatment and how the mentally ill person is seen – they are often feared as there is a possibility the evil could spread. Culture can also affect how much information a patient is likely to disclose. Casas (1995) found that a lot of African Americans do not like to share their personal information with people of a different race. Sue and Sue (1992) found that many Asian Americans don’t like to talk about their emotions and are more reluctant to admit to having a mental illness. Even when they do admit to being ill, they are not forthcoming in terms of discussing their symptoms with the therapist. This can affect diagno sis, as not all the symptoms may have been mentioned and so a suitable course of treatment cannot be easily formulated. One school of thought believes that culture does not affect diagnosis as mental disorders are scientific. The DSM was developed in the USA and is used widely in many other cultures. This is a valid use if mental disorders are clearly defined with specific features and symptoms. Basically, mental disorders are scientifically defined illnesses that are explained in a scientific way. Research evidence comes from Lee’s study (2006). This was conducted in Korea deliberately to see if the DSM-IV-TR was valid in a non-Western culture, and it was found that it was for ADHD. On the flip side, there are studies that have shown that culture can affect diagnosis. There are studies that have shown that culture can play an influential role in diagnosis. For example, symptoms that are seen in Western countries as characterising schizophrenia, such as auditory hallucinations, are interpreted in other countries as showing possession by a spirit, which render someone special in a positive way, not in a negative â€Å"disorder† way. Therefore, depending on cultural interpretations of what is being measured, the DSM is not always valid. A clinician from one culture must be aware that a patient from another culture is guided by their own frame of reference. It does seem to be the case that there are actual cultural differences in mental disorders like schizophrenia. It has been reported that catatonic  schizophrenia is on the decline and this could be because of health measures that prevent the development of this type of schizophrenia. Chandrasena (1986) reported more incidences of catatonia in Sri Lanka (21%) compared with 5% among British white people. However, it was also found that in Sri Lanka it was less likely that patients had received early interventions with drug treatment. This was not therefore a cultural difference in the attitude to the mental disorder, but a difference in treatment availability. After considering the pivotal role that culture plays in a person’s mental health, ideas have been put forward to overcome cultural bias in diagnosis. Ideas include: moving away from emphasis on first rank symptoms and interpretation as well as focus on more negative symptoms are they are more objectively measured. On problem with schizophrenia is that, first rank symptoms tend to be weighted as more important when making a diagnosis. First rank symptoms include hearing voices, delusions and disorganised thinking. However, first rank symptoms are also more open to interpretation, which means that there might be cultural issues with regard to interpretation. Flaum et al. (1991) found a lack of reliability when using the DSM with regard to first rank symptoms and that was with a similar sample from one culture. Therefore, it is likely that such unreliability would be magnified if we used first rank symptoms across different cultures. Similarly, with regard to diagnosis there should be greater emphasis on symptoms that are objectively measured. Flaum suggests that negative symptoms (for example poverty of speech) are more objectively assessed and measured than positive symptoms, like hallucinations. Minimising first rank symptoms and placing more emphasis on negative symptoms would mean less unrel iability with regard to diagnosis across cultures. Culture-bound syndromes are mental health problems (or other illnesses) with a set of symptoms found and recognised as an illness only in one culture. Penis panic is an example. In some cultures males may think that their penis will retract into their bodies- and women may think the same about their breasts. This is known as genital retraction syndrome. Such panics have been found around the world but mainly in Africa and Asia. Another example is â€Å"Hikikomori†, a condition which has attracted concern in Japan recently, affecting mainly male teens that are otherwise perfectly healthy. The condition makes them withdraw completely, locking themselves in their rooms for long periods of time (years). The Japanese government have  described â€Å"Hikikomori† as a social disorder rather than a mental disorder, and say it is representative of the economic downturn the country is going through.

Life Span Development and Personality Essay Questions

Life Span Development and Personality Essay Questions Cathy Perry Psy 300 September 27, 2010 Tara Terry Ph. D. Select a famous individual from the 20th or 21st centuries: Maya Angelou (born as Marguerite Ann Johnson). Conduct research concerning the background of your selected individual to determine what forces have impacted his or her life from the viewpoint of developmental psychology. 1. Discuss the influences of heredity and environment (including family and social support) on your individual’s psychological development. Be sure to describe specific areas of psychological development (moral, emotional, etc. . (300-500 words). Maya Angelou was born in St. Louis, Missouri in 1928. At the age of three, she and her brother, Bailey, moved to Stamps, Arkansas to live with their paternal grandmother when their parents divorced. Throughout her childhood she struggled with feelings of displacement due to her early separation from her parents (Mongeau-Marshall, 1994). She developed self-esteem problems because of her large frame and nappy hair and was not considered pretty; also, racism’s messages of southern black females being inferior and that they lacked control of their future. The grandmother raised them in a strict sheltered environment around church, school, and her store. The fear of being terrorized by the Ku Klux Klan was always upon Maya. After five years of minimal contact with either parent, the father returned and took them to their mother in St. Louis. This household consisted of their mother, maternal grandmother, and two uncles, but they rarely saw their mother. Maya disliked the city’s loud noises and constant commotions, so she escaped through reading. Moving back to St. Louis was unsettling to both children. Maya began having nightmares and Bailey began to stutter (Pettit, 1996). Later that year, their mother moved them in with her and her boyfriend, Mr. Freeman. One night, while their mother was working, Mr. Freeman made Bailey leave the house and he raped Maya; she was only eight years old. He threatened Maya that if she told anyone he would kill Bailey. Maya’s mother thought she was ill but discovered the blood stained underwear when changing sheets. At the hospital Bailey convinced her to tell who had done this. Mr. Freeman was arrested and Maya testified at the trial. He was released early before finishing out his sentence and was later found beaten to death. Maya stopped speaking to everyone except Bailey, and kept silent for five years. She felt guilty that Mr. Freeman’s death was her fault and she feared if she spoke about anyone else, that they would die too. The children were sent back to Stamps which Maya felt was her fault since the family could not tolerate her silence and slow recovery. One male relative even physically punished her for not speaking. The grandmother in Stamps had a friend of hers, Bertha Flowers, speak to Maya. Ms. Flowers was instrumental in bringing Maya back from the darkness. She slowly helped Maya transform from the mute with no self-worth to a speaking young woman with self-esteem and academic success (Gillespie, Johnson-Butler, & Long,  2008). After graduating the eighth grade, Maya and Bailey were sent to live with their mother in California. That summer Maya went to visit her father, but left early when his girlfriend began to fight her. Maya had been stabbed and stayed with her father’s friends. When she returned to her mother, she got a job instead of going back to school. After six months of working, she went back to school, but found that other girls her age were more developed physically and she felt unfeminine. To prove she was normal she decided to have sex, but didn’t prove anything; except she became pregnant. She graduated high school and a month later gave birth to her son Clyde. 2. Select two different theories of personality and apply them to your selected figure, and answer the following question: How does each theory explain the individual's unique patterns or traits? (500-700 words). The Psychodynamic theory can be applied to Maya Angelou in several areas. One of these areas was the continuous moves from parents to grandparents throughout her childhood. The consistency she had as a child was her grandmother in Stamps, Arkansas. Maya and her brother had love, stability and the meaning of family while they lived with her. According to Kowalski and Westen, (2009), Disrupted attachments are associated with severe personality disturbances, depression, antisocial behavior and adjustment problems†¦, and childhood experiences such as parental neglect or even parental divorce cause more vulnerability to adult nsecurities. Psychodynamic theorists state that depressive behaviors have various causes, one of which would be a parental attachment history influencing problems and fears of rejection and or abandonment. Both Maya and her brother had problems dealing with the thoughts of abandonment. Maya thought it was better to think of them being dead than to imagine having parents that did not want their children (Mongeau-Marshall, 1994). Maya w as a rape victim at a very early age that traumatized her into speechlessness for five years. The fact that she was only eight years old is enough reason for her to have trust issues. According to Mongeau-Marshall, (1994) Maya trusted Mr. Freeman and felt him to be a father figure. After his death, she stopped talking to everyone but her brother, which in a psychodynamic theory viewpoint the psychological thought processes caused her to think that she caused his death. If she spoke about anyone ever again, the same tragic thing would happen. She could not endure the thought of being responsible for that. According to Kowalski ; Westen, (2009), â€Å"Compromise formations is a single behavior or a complex pattern of thought and action, typically reflects compromises among multiple and often conflicting forces† (p. 421). Maya did not talk for five years, but she did talk to her brother and would talk to herself when reading. When Bailey convinced her to tell him who raped her, he had also convinced her that no one could harm him so it would be okay to tell him. Maya compromised her thoughts by the love of her brother. She needed his companionship and acceptance at this crucial time in her life. She did not want to speak, but found it was necessary to speak to Bailey. In another time of her life, during high school, she believed she was not woman enough because her body was not as sexually developed as her peers. She decided to have sex to prove that she was â€Å"woman enough† so she rationalized. Rationalization, according to Kowalski ; Westen, is a defense when a person tries to explain away actions in a seemingly logical way to avoid uncomfortable feelings, especially guilt or shame (p. 26). Maya was ashamed of the fact that she was not as developed as her female classmates and wanted the acceptance that she desired, not just from others, but from herself. The Cognitive-Social theory accentuates the tasks of a person’s thought processes and their social learning in behavior and personality. Maya’s grandmother in Stamps, Arkansas had the most positive role in her life; givin g her love, stability, encouragement, and education. She was able to learn from this grandmother that things do exist in life. She was able to draw personal strength, even at a young age, from the things she learned and observed from this grandmother. Her behavior-outcome expectancies were her beliefs that this way of life would continue if she thought her parents were dead. As long as they were dead, living in Stamps would continue and family turmoil would be no more. Maya’s competences were lacking in self-esteem and admiration of who she was and what she was. She dreamed of being a white blue-eyed girl with long blonde hair having all the beautiful clothes and expensive things that white people had. She believed that one day she would wake up from her â€Å"blackness† and be this person (Mongeau-Marshall, 1994). Self-regulation was apparently nonexistent when she was a young girl, but as she became a young woman, she wasn’t just the first Black woman to be a cable car conductor, she was the first Black person to be cable car conductor in San Francisco. She accomplished this by harrying the Negro support organizations to help her get the job, and waiting for hours to be interviewed at the cable car offices (Pettit, 1996). 3. Explain which theoretical approach best explains the individual's behaviors and achievements. Make sure to explain why this is true. (100-200 words). The Psychodynamic theory is probably the best approach that relates to Maya Angelou. Her entire childhood is riddled with abandonment, child abuse, ridicule, and depression. Ms. Angelou had troubled relationships throughout her life, including three failed marriages. She only bore one child, whom she felt she abandoned when she went to Europe on the tour with Porgy and Bess (Gillespie, Johnson-Butler, & Long, 2008). This theoretical approach deals with Ms. Angelou’s horrendous childhood, adolescent, and young adult life. She dabbled in drugs, prostitution, and rich men. Through her life journeys, however, she has become one of the most prominent Black female poet, author, actress, humanist, and speaker that has walked upon this earth. She was friends with Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. , Malcolm X, W. E. B. Dubois, among many other famous people. Maya Angelou developed a tough outer character from all the hardships she endured, but she shares with the public in order for them to learn from her past and to think about their future. References Gillespie, M. A. , Johnson-Butler, R. , & Long, R. A. (2008). Maya Angelou: A glorious celebration. New York, New York: Doubleday. Kowalski, R. , & Westen, D. (2009). Psychology (5th ed. ). Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons. Mongeau-Marshall, C. (1994). The masks of Maya Angelou: Discovered, discarded, and designed. Retrieved from ProQuest: ProQuest Dissertations & Theses database. Pettit, J. (1996). Maya Angelou: Journey of the heart. New York, New York: Lodestar Books.