Reflective Paper #2

Sammi Hintze Dr. Hawthorne October 20, 2012 Core 1 Reflective Paper #2 â€Å"I don't know when they first had feeds. Like maybe, fifty or a hundred years ago. Before that, they had to use their hands and their eyes. Computers were all outside the body. They carried them around outside of them, in their hands, like if you carried your lungs in a briefcase and opened it to breathe† (47). Its crazy to think that to the characters in Feed think our life is so complex, when really we have more technology than we need. People survived life without cellphones, computers, and even electricity, and now our world is becoming ultra-dependent on these things.After reading the book Feed, various arguments can be made about whether today’s society will turn into the world Feed predicts, and be technology dependent. Is our world going to turn into the society that is depicted in Feed? Life is being controlled by technology, and hardly anybody can go a day without technology, and wanti ng to be a part of it with new technology products coming out like Project Glass. It is hard to not believe that our world is going to turn completely technology dependent, like the one in Feed.In the past, you had to send a letter in the mail you travel to see them to communicate with someone; if you wanted to talk to someone, you would have to put the effort into it and take the time to write them and wait for a response back. Then with technology advancing, the telephone was made and you could call someone to talk to them instead of writing a letter and waiting for the person to respond. Technology kept advancing, and now in today’s society, we hardly talk on the phone; we text instead, which is quick, easy, and effortless. This is what technology has done to human beings as a whole.It has brought wonderful advancements, yet at the same time, technology has been a curse and changed the way we view each other. No one really communicates with each other now; only through tex ting do we talk. This is lowering our communication skills with people and making us more and more dependent on technology, and most people do not realize that. It’s scary to wonder what is going to happen in the future. In Feed, the characters will be sitting right next to each other, and instead of talking to each other, they will talk to each other through the chat that goes through their Feed.This is deteriorating people’s communication and personal skills. I am scared that this is what our society is slowly becoming; we already have some of the characteristics and portray some of actions that the characters do in the book. Our society is so dependent on technology that most people don’t even use libraries anymore. When people need to do research for their papers, the first line of thought is to search Google. If we don’t find what we want on Google, we try another online search engine. Our last resort is to look at a library for a book or use an ency clopedia.Having the Internet in the palm of our hands is causing more and more people to become lazy and not as smart and advanced as they could become. Now even to read books we are using technology. In today’s society, more people are reading books online rather than going to the library to rent them or even purchasing them. Is the future ahead of us going to be all-online? This is a scary thought that runs through my head all the time. I don’t want to be dependent on all technology. That is only going to hurt us, and we will never learn new things.Technology has given us a great number of benefits, but there is a cost. By giving technology the opportunity to run the show, we've lost sight of how to perform these tasks on our own. When a computer system goes down, society is halted until that system is up and running again. Technology is here to stay, but it will only control us as much as we allow it. Currently, it seems we are content to allow it to run the show, a nd as a result, we've become very much dependent on technology to the point where, yes, we are controlled.We do have the power to live upon our own free manual and gadget-free will, but we choose not to. Google has come out with a new product called Project Glass. This directly correlates to what the Feed is. Project Glass is a research and development program developed in the form of glasses that show a display in front of you. Project Glass displays information in a smartphone-like format. Project Glass is also like the hands-free life and could interact with the Internet with natural language, voice commands. Since technology has advanced so much, these Glasses would be like wearing a computer.People are not going to benefit at all from these glasses; it is only going to make people more dependent on technology and less dependent on their brains and learning. To summarize, when all is said and done, technology rules the roost in today’s society. Technology has brought us w onderful innovations and helped us enormously, but as each year passes into another, more and more we, as human beings, rely on technology. Society today is controlled by technology to such an extent that we would find it virtually impossible to live without it.

Impact of Baby Boomers on Today’s Workforce

Baby boomers are those born between 1945 to 1964, the boom of the US population. Data from the Department of Labor BLS, in 1998 indicate that there were 77 million baby boomers and this represented 37% of the country’s population. As of 2008, baby boomers make up 40% of US workforce. This percentage is expected to increase dramatically in the next decade and baby boomers will make up majority of the employees in many companies. (Department of Labor, 2008) Companies are now at a dilemma on the effects of this population boom of older workers. Human Resource Departments are torn between decisions to retain or terminate their services. At one hand, older workers have the experiences and technical expertise; many are valued employees. Retiring or terminating them may mean significant loss to many companies. On the other hand, many older employees have not kept pace with modern technologies; their skills have become obsolete. Older employees also are more expensive considering higher salary rates, pension and other benefits. An article from ABC by John Strossel and Frank Mastropolo, â€Å"Fired for Being Too Old: Unfair or Good for Business? † (2008) presented various age discrimination cases filed against companies. Like many, disc jockeys of 99. 7 KY Max Floyd and Tanna Guthrie were fired from work and without any warning. Though they were told that the company was changing formats, they knew that they were fired for being too old and they felt hurt and betrayed. Why couldn't they keep us? We've been there, been loyal with the company, and they didn't change the music a lot† (Strossel & Mastropolo, 2008, p. 1). They sought protection of the law for age discrimination and filed million-dollar lawsuit against the company. Sympathy may be given to baby boomers that end up being replaced with young, fresh talents. But in the competitive industry, businesses have to survive and be able to replac e their aging employees when needed.

Ford Develops a Strategy for Competitive Advantage Case Study

Ford Develops a Strategy for Competitive Advantage - Case Study Example The plan created a series of moves and tactics that reduce the costs of the company, while at the same time preparing a path that would ensure medium and long term growth by emphasizing in emerging economies. Key Marketing Issues Lower sales – Since the company lost nearly a quarter of its sales in 2008 the firm has to achieve continuous growth for several years just to recover the ground it lost in 2008. Global products – the organization wants to shift its company to emphasize in economical compact cars that will be accepted by customers worldwide Marketing campaign standardization – The firm seeks to make universal commercials, but factors such as culture can affect the buying decisions in customers from different parts of the world. Customer retention rate: The organization seeks to expand into other international markets and obtain similar customer loyalty as in its domestic market. Personal Case Analysis It is my opinion that The Way Forward strategy was a success because the company eliminated waste that was draining the resources of the company. By shutting down its least profitable plants the cost structure of the organization was reduced. Ford is the most powerful automaker in America. The reputation of the company improved when Ford did not take money from the governmental bailout package. The Ford Figa was an incredible product that increased the sales volume of Ford in India by more than three times. Other cheap model like the Figa must be designed to further exploit many emerging economies. Case Questions (1-3) Introduction questions Ford Corporation is one of the Big Three automakers in the United States of America. The company has historically achieved tremendous sales growth and profit for decades. The firm in the late 1990’s was considered the most profitable companies in America. This all changed in 2008 when Ford as well as thousands of companies in the United States and abroad faced the global recession. The car industry was devastated during this recession. General Motors and Chrysler nearly went bankrupt prior to the governmental auto bailout. In January 2009 the Obama administration injected $24.9 billion of the $700 billion bailout money in the dying U.S automobile industry (Amadeo). Ford Motors was the lone company that did not take the government handouts, but the firm suffered dearly losing over 23% of its sales between 2008 and 2009. 1. During the 2008 global recession Ford Motors decided to implement a new strategy called â€Å"The Way Forward† in order to boost the firm’s sales and restructure the company. The organization knew that the only way to stay profitable during recessionary times is to decrease costs in order to offset the effect of lower sales numbers. The organization realized that this could only be achieved by decreasing both fixed and variable costs. Fixed costs refers to costs that recurring each month whose amount are fixed such as building rents, ma nagerial salaries, and business loans. Variable costs are periodic costs that vary in step with the output or the sales revenues of the company (Businessdictionary). An example of variable costs is direct labor. The Way Forward strategy included cost cutting initiatives such as closing down 16 factories and downsizing Ford’s workforce by 30,000 employees. The plan included a philosophical change in the managerial approach in order to focus more on the customer by designing cars that served their needs. The company realized that in a bad economy people are looking for gas savings. Despite the fact the company lost nearly 23% of its revenues, certain brands that were targeted as part of The Way Forward initiative had higher sales figure. The Ford Focus is

Apartment Building Structures in nineteenth and twentieth centuries Research Paper

Apartment Building Structures in nineteenth and twentieth centuries - Research Paper Example Looking at different examples shows the portrayal of various concepts and how apartment buildings provided a different approach to urban development. The first architectural concept which was created for those looking at newer structures for apartment buildings was from Ludwig Mies der Rohe, which created the Lake Shore Drive Apartments in Chicago, Illinois (see Appendix A). The residence addresses were considered luxury apartments at the time. The concept was to create high – rises that were available for living instead of smaller structures with housing. The main concept that was used by Mies was to have structural clarity with the buildings by creating repetitive frameworks with the windows and the contemporary columns at the bottom of the structure. Open windows and frames through the high – rise were the main ideology. The approach was to save on space for practical development in urban spaces while making each space feel like a home instead of an apartment with th e use of the open windows and beams that created the open framework in each room. The production combined with the Bauhaus movement from Germany and World War II styles. This was based on practicality and repetition through the square framework. This was combined with the high – end technology by creating the high rise for modernism which could be used with the structure1. A second structure that was able to redefine the concepts of the nineteenth and twentieth century was from the Majestic Apartments, built in New York from 1930 – 31 by Jacques Delamarre (see Appendix B). This structure took a similar form to the Chicago apartments with the high rise and practicality of each of the levels. The urban planning was based on offering high – rises instead of expanding with land, specifically to fit a higher population into the area. This was combined with the idea of art deco for a different design. The outer area is made of light brown brick and limestone. The uniq ue pattern is furthered with glazed corners for the top of the apartment to create a combination of artistic looks with the practical options of the apartment high – rises. The changes which occurred with urban development then combined the concept of practical and comfortable living with saving development space. This was furthered with the art deco style to create urban planning as an accent with the arts that were developed2. The importance of this building for the twentieth century was based on combining traditional art approaches with the changes in urban development. The infrastructure looked at the practicality o the buildings first. However, the art deco added into the landscape of the city for development that was based on creating a culture within the city through the artwork that was developed with the architectural pieces. The third apartment building structure which created a similar response to the time frame was the Auguste perret Apartments in Franklin, Paris, completed in 1902 (see Appendix C). The concept of practicality with the high – rise is one which is seen in these particular buildings, similar to the others. The urban planning was then based on developing more space for more individuals. The concept is furthered with the infrastructure that is developed with ornamented areas, balconies in the front and open areas with the windows that are displayed. This particular ideology was one which linked to the culture, specifically in creating the understanding of

Evil, its symbols and the environment Essay 1 Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Evil, its symbols and the environment 1 - Essay Example Symbols representing the Canadian Water crisis 2. Canadian water crisis as an experience B. Different symbols of idea associated with the environment 1. Canadian Water Crisis 2. The Danger of Bottled Water C. Questions about Evil and Environment as symbols evil in study of religion and culture 1. How do people believe in these symbols of evil? 2. How is evil and environment explained in terms of religion and culture? 3. What are the most consistent evidence of evil and environment as symbols of evil? III. Conclusion A. Current research revealed relationship between evil and environment and the study of religion and culture. B. The most radical paradigm is the Christian cosmological approach which sees the issues of the Canadian water crisis as a spiritual crisis. 1. The world's spiritual and religious traditions which presupposes that universe and all life processes are spiritually meaningful and material. 2. Dialogue with several cultures and science which presupposes that water sym bolizes evil and environment as it has its own subjective and intrinsic values in the world. The Evil and the Environment Shattered World Evil is a threat to human reason as it challenges the perception that the world makes sense. For instance, the Lisbon earthquake which occurred in the eighteenth century was manifest evil. In the study of religion and culture, Suzuki views evil as a matter concerning human cruelty and Maude Barlow as an extreme incarnation. Whether expressed in secular or theological terms, evil denotes a challenge about the world's intelligibility and it confronts religion with fundamental questions. According to Suzuki et al (23), water is essential in the today's world as it sustains the life of human beings on earth. Water is usually a natural resource which to some peoples it is given free to the world. However, the situation has changed with World Bank reporting water shortages in 80 countries around the world. Groundwater depletion and population growth are the two primary challenges resulting to global water crisis. According to the environmental advocates, Maude Barlow and Tony Clarke as well as David Suzuki views water crisis as an experience of evil and environment as they describes it as the tragedy of the time. They ask individuals to consider the consequences of what they are practicing in the present day environment. For centuries, people had knowledge that they were embedded in the environment and they promised and prayed to always do the right thing. Suzuki finally concludes that people live in a shattered world where they do not see themselves as part of the larger problem. Clarke and Barlow draw attention of the society to the exponential growth of the global water crisis and provide a world perspective on it. They posit that the development of a crisis does not happen in a systematic or incremental manner but, rather appear out of nowhere and suddenly, despite developing for years or months without being noticed prior to their surfacing. Species are also dramatically lost concurrently with the world's looming water crisis. Barlow and Clarke examine the key issues concerned with the global water crisis. They examine water pollutants such as chemicals and sewage that wash of the environment poisoning the world's waterways. They give the example of American and Canadian waterways which are heavily polluted prescription drugs and synthetic chemicals that pass the water recycling plants without being filtered. In addition,

Soft processor Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2250 words

Soft processor - Research Paper Example This is important because laymen and some scholars often confuse them with each other in terms of their design and functionality. At the end of this paper, I intend to have achieved two main objectives: examine and discuss all aspects of soft core processors, and show a clear distinction (in terms of design and functionality) between soft core and hard core processors. Key words Core processors, soft core processors, hard core processors Introduction A soft processor is a patented core that is based on the Field-Programmable Gate Array (FPGA) logic primitives (Chu 2012, pg. 31). A hard processor, on the other hand, is a patented core that is based developed from dedicated silicon. In this regard, it is built directly onto non-reconfigurable silicon. A real example of a soft-processor is the Xilinx MicroBlaze processor core. This is a 32-bit processor core that is also a Reduced Instruction Set Computer (RISC). It has the following features: Harvard bus architecture Highly configurabl e cache Exceptional handling capacity and two levels of interruption A standardized core connect bus interface manufactured by IBM 3-stage pipeline Thirty-two registers for general purpose This processor can operate at up to 250MHz based on a Virtex-4 (4VLX40-12) component. Between 1000 and 2700 Xilinx LUTs (Look-Up tables) are required for the implementation of a MicroBlaze soft processor, depending on the manner in which the processor is configured. Background FPGA (Field Programmable Gate Array) An FPGA is an integrated circuit (IC) that is capable of being programmed to perform any logical function. FPGAs usually have many gates (sometimes even millions) which can be interlinked in any configuration required to resemble a logic circuit. Such interconnections are performed entirely using software. This is done by uploading a modified hardware definition for a logic circuit) to an FPGA. The FPGA will subsequently assume the attributes of that logic unit. The logic unit is defined using a HDL (hardware definition language). An FPGA is made up of a complex matrix/assembly of logic cells (Yiannacouras 2005, pg. 36). The FPGA is a general-purpose component that is full of digital logic building units. The two dominant firms in the FPGA industry are Xilinx and Altera. The most primitive building block used in FPGA is known as an LE (Logic Element) by Altera or an LC (Logic Cell) by Xilinx. In both cases, the building block is made up of an LUT for logical purposes and a flip-flop for purposes of storage. Apart from the LE/LC block, FPGAs also include clock management, multiplication blocks, memory, and input/output (I/O). LE/LC is often used in finding system costs. FPGAs offer hardware designers great flexibility. Although pioneer designers primarily employed FPGAs in debugging and prototyping, most commercial end-products now integrate FPGAs. Designers who use FPGAs are able to develop hardware components or entire systems quickly while still balancing the debu gging and prototyping benefits that FPGAs have over application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC) designs (Iniewski 2013, pg. 35). Constant increases in FPGA architectural features, performance, and capacity are allowing more designs to be implemented through FPGAs. To further this, FPGAs costs are declining, enabling designers to integrate FPGAs with 1 million similar gates for less than $13.

How organised is Organised Crime Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words

How organised is Organised Crime - Essay Example ?How organized is Organized Crime?†, it is difficult to provide a straightforward answer, given the complexities and flexibility that signify these groups. Hence, this essay will try to present to the reader those aspects of Organized Crime groups that is well organized and also point to those elements in it that is more fluid. One of the notorious crime groups of the twentieth century is the Medellin Cartel of Columbia. The perennial political instability of Columbia is a key factor for the evolution of this group. The civil war of 1948-1958 had the harshest impact on the country and its surrounding areas. The civil war was essentially one of struggle between poor campesinos and the rich landowners. It is no coincidence that most of the populace of Medellin are poor and are à ©migrà ©s from the countryside. The industrial city of Medellin served as the operating base for the Medellin Cartel, whose founders include Pablo Escobar, the Ochoa clan, and Carlos Lehder-Rivas. The city is also notorious for smuggling and picks pocketing (Griswold 2005). Some of the leaders of the Medellin cartel were even involved in active politics, which ironically gave the cartel an air of legitimacy. In 1982, Escobar was elected as an alternate Colombian representative in Envigado, a region nearby Medellà ­n. There he established himself as a saviour of the underprivileged by implementing construction projects for slum dwellers and soccer fields for the youth. He even had his own newspaper, which acted as his public relations equipment. It portrayed him as an up-from-the-slums statesman. Escobar enjoyed immunity from arrest as long as he was a public representative. Hence, in this Columbian example, organized crime was part and parcel of mainstream politics. In this sense, we can call the cartel a sophisticated, powerful and well organized group. (Griswold 2005) Having said so, not all underworld groups achieve popular recognition the way Medellin cartel did. For most

ArticleAbstract Assignments 06 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

ArticleAbstract Assignments 06 - Essay Example The research applied quantitative research method in its implementation. The method is identifiable from two criteria, the type of explored data and applied research design. The research applied quantitative data in numbers of wins and losses, and a correlation study that are features of quantitative methods (Kumar, 164- 166; Lee, 77- 88). The article concludes that the Collective Bargaining Agreement has had a significant effect on competitive balance and led to greater inter seasonal parity. The major factors to the identified parity are â€Å"free agency and payroll cap† (Lee, 86). The paper makes a major contribution in identifying existence of a significant relationship between the agreement, and inter seasonal parity among teams. It therefore reconciles theoretical expectations that a change in the market system and team players would influence performance of league teams. It is also a breakthrough as the first research to identify a significant relationship between changed rules and competitive balance (Lee, 77- 88). The article is however criticized for failing to include essential elements of a research such as research hypothesis and research questions. It also fails to communicate, clearly, its applied methodology (Lee, 77-

Ethical and Legal Issues in the Couseling Profession Research Paper

Ethical and Legal Issues in the Couseling Profession - Research Paper Example All in all, these dilemmas and decisions have made me more prudent and more discerning in my approaches to patient care. This essay will now serve as my reflective ethical autobiography with various sources and theories used to help support and evaluate the choices I have made during my immersion. Discussion One of the main teachings which were drilled to us by our professors was the fact that there were various ethical principles which we had to follow and consider with each patient that we cared for. These main ethical principles include: beneficence, patient autonomy or self-determination, non-maleficence, and justice. These principles helped me develop my sense of right or wrong. Whenever I doubted my actions or did not know whether my actions were right or wrong, I always considered these four ethical principles as a guide or as a foundation for my decisions. Beauchamp and Childress identified these ethical principles which should govern the ethical practice of our profession. T hey discuss that the principle of autonomy is basically about the personal rule of oneself which is apart or free from the influences of others and from the limitations which negate meaningful choice (Beauchamp and Childress, 1994). This autonomous decision making process allows the individual to act in accordance with his plans and his choices. Without such autonomy, an individual is dictated by others and is incapable of acting on his desires or plans (Beauchamp and Childress, 1994). In other words, patient autonomy is about allowing the patient to make his own decisions about his care – without forcing him or influencing him to decide in a particular way. In my practice, I often had to explain to patients the different types of care or interventions which can be implemented in their favor. There were times when I was tempted to influence their choices and to sway them towards making decisions which, I felt, were more favorable to the patients and to me. But noting that I m ight be unjustly and unfairly influencing them to make decisions on their care, I ended up being more restrained and being more balanced in explaining possible choices in their care. By allowing them to make their own choices, I was able to afford more respect to my patients as individuals. Patient autonomy is also about respecting the patient’s decision even if such decision is not the best decision for him. One time, I encountered a patient who refused further care and counseling. I knew that he needed to be in therapy and he needed to undergo intensive rehabilitation. However he wanted to undergo a less structured rehabilitation process and he wanted to do it outside the mental health institution. Even if I knew that his choices may not be effective in rehabilitating him, ethics dictated that I had to respect his choice. And so we released him and allowed him to make his own choices of care. The principle of beneficence is based on doing acts of kindness for others (Beauch amp and Childress, 1994). In essence, this principle â€Å"asserts an obligation to help others further their important and legitimate interests† (Beauchamp and Childress, 1994, p. 260). In applying this principle to my counseling practice, I often encountered situations where I knew that my patients needed more intensive counseling. One time, I encountered a high school student whom I assessed to be depressed. She had significant self-image

Social Media Communication Annotated Bibliography

Social Media Communication - Annotated Bibliography Example Some scholars in sociology have criticized the negative influences of new technology on humanity and relationships to be precise, arguing that the value of relationships is fading and the strength of peoples’ connections is deteriorating (Christofides et al., 2012). This paper will present an annotated bibliography of four scholarly sources that discuss this matter of how the social media has affected interpersonal relationships. Porter, K., Mitchell, J., Grace, M., Shinosky, S., & Gordon, V. (2012). A Study of the Effects of Social Media Use and Addiction on Relationship Satisfaction. Retrieved from http://journals.chapman.edu/ojs/index.php/mc/article/download/340/735 According to this source, Facebook has deeply affected people’s application of the phrase â€Å"friend†, even though their notions of the word might not have altered as much (Porter et al., 2012). When an individual â€Å"friends you† on any social network platform, it does not automatically denote that you now have the nearness and intimacy, which you have with your offline friends. The authors also show that people do not frequently send friend requests to or allow them from persons that they have not met, opting rather to have met the individual at least once in their lifetime. Other users, even if, particularly adolescents, take part in what is referred to as â€Å"friend-gathering behavior,† which involves users friending individual they personally do not know or those that they would not speak to in person so as to boost the size of their online followers (Porter et al., 2012). According to the source, this is an impression management approach becau se the users assume that a huge number of Facebook friends will make them seem much more popular to others. These researchers also studied how the formation of these networks influences our interpersonal relationships and might even reorganize how people think concerning their relationships. Even if a person might have hundreds of Facebook

The importance of early formal education Essay Example for Free

The importance of early formal education Essay Early formal education refers to the education that children obtain during early stages of their childhood. Early childhood is a crucial time period for the development of the mental functions of children. This development, including the emergence of the abilities and skills in areas such as language, motor skills, psychosocial cognitive, and learning, is now known to be greatly influenced by exogenous factors, including the nature of the educational environment to which the child is exposed during the first eight years of life. The benefits of early childhood education have long been disputed. For many years it was believed that children who receive early formal education have an advantage over those who start school at age five or six. Today, some educators challenge that view. They speculate that intellectual and emotional harm can result from putting very young children into structured learning situations. It is hard to deny the opponents opinion that children have always grown up to be intelligent and reliable young adults without the benefits of early childhood education. However, in my opinion, I feel like children who receive early formal education will have advantages over those who start school at age five  or six because early formal education can provide a good foundation for real learning for young children, encourage the children to organize their thoughts, communicate and social with other people, and develop children’s cognition and know the importance of friendship. First, providing a good start for real learning for young children in the future is one of the reasons that I think children should attend early formal education before first grade. Children can attend early formal education, such as preschool or kindergarten before they begin elementary schools. All human beings learn to speak a language that they hear. The language children hear in their early years is the language they will reproduce, whether that would be English, Spanish, Nguyen 2 Swahili, Arabic, French, Vietnamese, or whatever. â€Å"In a country like ours, although English is the language spoken by the majority immigration has always brought us substantial groups who speak languages other than English. In addition, regional differences and educational levels present a variety of English-language dialects as models to children, so that there may or may not be homogeneity of language spoken in kindergarten classes in many parts of the country† (Cohen 58). Number of immigrants into the United States is increasing in recent years. Therefore, it is bringing different languages and affecting homogeneity of language in the preschool and kindergarten. Granting, however, that every language serves the purposes of its users, we must also concede that schools, the press, and the government in our country all use Standard English. There is therefore a unifying value in every citizens ability to relate to and to use Standard English, but not because it is better. Standard English is likely to be the first language for school for most children in the United States (Cohen 59). For instance, we are living in the United States, and of course we should know how to speak English. Also, children who grow up here should learn how to speak English fluently to get higher education and get a good job in the future. Especially, children who speak another language at home have to learn English as a second language. For example, my cousin, Nhung, was born in Vietnam. She had come to the U. S. when she was one year old. She spoke Vietnamese at home and did not speak English at all. Because Nhung’s parents did not know to speak English, they could not teach Nhung how to spell, read, or write in English. Finally, when she was four years old, her parents decided to let Nhung go to preschool. They wanted Nhung to have a foundation to begin with English in higher levels. From preschool, Nhung had learned a lot of things. After few months, she knew how to spell her own name, her parents’ name, read letters in ABC, or read a short story in a book. Her parents were surprised when their daughter could learn English fast in preschool like that. Day by day, Nhung has developed like other Nguyen 3 children in the United States. She had the foundation for English on time from preschool. Now,  she can speak English perfectly and fluently. As a result, I think that children who speak another language at home also benefit a great deal from early formal education, as they are the most prepared to learn English when they are very young before beginning elementary schools. Also, â€Å"educators often refer to the pre-reading and pre-math skills that a child will learn through play in preschool or kindergarten. These are the foundations on which a child will build competency in reading and math† (Borden 113). Children need abstract thinking in order to make the intellectual leap that words on a page represent ideas. â€Å"As a child learns to express herself/himself through art projects, telling stories, participating in dramatic play, she begins to understand that expressing ideas can be done in a variety of mediums, including the words on a page† (Borden 113). Many children enter preschool able to count to 10, 20, or even 100. However, â€Å"counting by rote is not the same thing as understanding that numerals are symbols for numbers. As a preschooler helping to prepare snack for his class puts out one napkin for each student, he begins to make the connection between the numbers he can rattle off and the concrete  numbers that correspond to napkins† (Borden 113). There is an educational component to the myriad of activities in the classroom. Day by day, the children are gaining knowledge each day while they are in the program with preschool or kindergarten. Children in early formal education can learn a lot of things before they go up for elementary schools. In fact, early formal education provide a good foundation in reading, writing, or pre-math for real learning for young children in the future. Next, an early formal education will encourage the children to organize their thoughts, communicate and social with other people. â€Å"As children grow and develop, they are more capable of independent, abstract, and complex thinking. How they approach the subject, what they learn, and how they can use the information will change as they grow older† (Borden 171). Nguyen 4 â€Å"Children learn most effectively when they interact with people and materials in an environment that is carefully organized to facilitate. Children develop foundation skills and concepts through play, learning, creative development, and relationships within their environment. Knowledge of child development enables teacher to integrate learning across a curriculum. A whole-child environment stresses the importance of the integration of knowledge through the continuity of experiences during a child’s early years† (Cromwell 121). There is an educational component in each part of the normal preschool day. Whether it is sharing news during circle time, building blocks, reading a short story, or doing easy math, children is learning new skills, refining, and developing others. â€Å"As children continue to gain knowledge through experience, they become increasingly interested in and motivated toward their surrounding world. The facts, the attitudes,  and the consistent presence of nurturing adults in their lives provide a baseline for a child’s development, identity, and social maturation† (Cromwell 107). When a child feels good about herself/himself and her/his accomplishments, she/he will gradually view learning as a lifelong process. â€Å"The time to cultivate a foundation for learning is in the early years of development when children are receptive and responsive to their relationships and experiences† (Cromwell 107). In fact, most of children who are growing up in the United States do not spend a lot of times with friends before they are going to school. They just stay home and play inside their houses. Actually, they do not communicate with a lot of people. However, children develop the most about their communication, social, and emotion at the age from three to six years old. Going to early formal education, children can develop their communication. They have time to play with their friends who can help them to grow their social maturation and gain knowledge. Children learn to speak in a small group. This can help children learn how to talk, listen, or communicate with other people. Also, they have studied new vocabularies or have told a short Nguyen 5 story to friends in a group. Children are becoming social, and they are interested in playing with other children, beginning to share and take turns to play with friends. â€Å"From ages three to five, children develop increased mastery of language and begin to think symbolically and logically. These developments allow them to observe, investigate, and engage with the physical and social environment in new ways. Preschool-age children’s development of gross and fine motor skills enables them to move confidently through space; manage finer, more complex task; and take more care of personal needs, such as going to toilet and getting dressed† (â€Å"The Preschool Child† 15). Also, one of the major tasks for children in preschool is learning to form independent relationships of trust with adults outside the family. Another importance during the early education is learning how to interact with other children and develop positive social relationship. â€Å"These aspects of normal development in the preschool years move children away from the egocentrism typical of infants and toddlers and toward perspective of others. Other important aspects of this development include the ability to cooperate, negotiate, and practice greater give and take in friendship† (â€Å"The Preschool Child†16). Children have learned a lot of important things in the early formal education. Actually, children would learn self-regulation of emotions and behaviors. This means they learn not to act on impulse, especially on aggressive impulse. In addition, children will learn how to express feelings in socially appropriate ways and develop satisfying social relationships with other children and adults. Children gradually learn how to negotiate social relationships, enter into play with others and take the perspective of others. Early childhood education provides children  a means in which to learn to share toys, to communicate thoughts and ideas, and to deal with their emotions. By playing and learning with other children in early formal education, children will learn how to deal with day to day situations. Nguyen 6 Moreover, early formal education can help children in developing children’s cognition and know the importance of friendship. During the preschool years, children will increase â€Å"the ability to represent real objects, people, and events mentally or symbolically. Through this stage, children can image a desired outcome and work toward it, can use drawings or dramatization to  represent to others what they know, and can begin to grasp that written words carry meaning† (Oser 9). â€Å"In combination with improved memory, more logical thinking and increased language skills, symbolic representation fuels overall development at this age (Wadsworth 1996)† (â€Å"The Preschool Child† 17). Attending early education, children can develop their cognitive abilities, such as â€Å"the ability to describe the conversation of matter (e. g. , ice melting to water), attempted explanations of cause and effect (e. g. , if a plant does not have water, it will die), and observations  and questions about natural phenomena (e. g. , noticing that there are different types of clouds, wondering why leaves are falling off trees)† (â€Å"The Preschool Child† 17). Children can understand more about things that happen around them. Therefore, their knowledge increases before they are actually in the formal education in elementary schools. â€Å"Preschool-age children’s cognitive development also results in the capacity to set aside one’s own perspective momentarily and to imagine the perspective of another person. This ability has profound effects on the social development of children because it enables them to  enter into the give and take required in cooperative activities and reciprocal friendships. Engagement in these relationships, in turn, stimulates further language and cognitive development, which then enriches social relationships and play† (â€Å"The Preschool child† 17). In addition, children will understand more about relationship with friends, the importance of friendships. â€Å"When children work together in small groups, there is spontaneous conversation exchange of ideas, acquaintance with one another’s interest and performance, and the experience of liking others and of being liked. Special friendships or lasting attachments may thus be Nguyen 7 formed† (Cohen 42). For example, Andy, just five years old, began kindergarten. â€Å"He spent twenty minutes in the class touching different materials on tables and floor, finding himself in the midst of playing, working children because he did not know anyone in class. To his surprise he noticed Bob, a neighborhood friend, in the class. Andy came and said â€Å"Hi†, and Bob responded. After that day, Andy got home and talked to his parents â€Å"You know what? I saw Bob in the class and I said hi and he said hi back to me† (Cohen 40). He repeated that several times with his  parents. â€Å"What made the strongest impression on Andy was to see Bob, whom he knew well, perfectly at ease there in the kindergarten—doing things, speaking to people, responding with a â€Å"hi† to him. Therefore, kindergarten is a place where children can speak to friends and do what they do. This concrete premise of being able to maintain or to create relationships was of first importance to Andy, as it is the same to many others† (Cohen 40). Having friends at schools to play with is also one of the reasons that children want to come to school. My cousin, Nhung, was four when she was in preschool. She did not want to go to school because she did not know how to speak English. However, after first day of school, she enjoyed and liked to go to school. She told us about her friends at school. Friendships helped her to love school. If children stay home until five years old to begin education, I feel that they might have a tough time to begin. While other children who had attended preschool and kindergarten will know lot of things, children who did not go to preschool will below that level. Day by day at the early formal education, children will learn more and more things. Children open mind about the friendship and increase  in developing children’s cognition as children continue to gain knowledge through experiences when they play with other children. It is easy to see that an early childhood education is essential for a child’s future. Early formal education will have advantages over those children who start school at age five or six because early formal education can provide a good foundation for real learning for young Nguyen 8 children, encourage the children to organize their thoughts, communicate and social with other people, and develop children’s cognition and know the importance of friendship. Day by day, the  children are gaining knowledge while they are in the program with preschool or kindergarten. In fact, early formal education provide a good foundation in reading, writing, or pre-math for real learning for young children in the future. Also, by playing and learning with other children in early childhood education, it provides children a means in which to learn to share toys, to communicate thoughts and ideas, and to deal with their emotions. In addition, children will become increasingly interested in and motivated toward their surrounding world because they are gaining more knowledge at early stage in preschool or kindergarten. Moreover, children open their minds in friendship while they are playing with each other day by day at school. However, parents who choose to place their child in education should be cautioned on a few things. Psychologists say that children should only attend part time. This is because it is important that the child spends time with the parents each day; which fosters security in the child. It is also important that the child does not become overwhelmed or too tired during a long day. Even a few days a week in early childhood education will provide a great deal of benefit to children.

Aging and Disability Worksheet Essay Example for Free

Aging and Disability Worksheet Essay Identify 2 or 3 issues faced by the aging population. 1 Older adults experience unequal treatment, discrimination and prejudice in the workplace 2 Not growing old is not an option 3 Health problems Answer the following questions in 100 to 200 words each. Provide citations for all the sources you use. What is ageism? How does ageism influence the presence of diversity in society? Ageism is the [prejudice and discrimination against the elderly. Ageism reflects a deep uneasiness among young and middle-aged people about growing old. For many, old age symbolizes disease and death; seeing older adults serves as a reminder that they too may someday become old and infirm. By contrast, society glorifies youth, seeing it as interchangeable with beauty and the future] (Schaefer, 2012). Ageism restricts the acceptance of the elderly by discriminating against them. The elderly are often referred to as â€Å"them† when most of us will one day be in that category. What is the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA)? How does the ADA address issues for the aging population? The Americans with Disabilities Act was an anti-discrimination law that started in 1992, covering people with a disability, defined as a condition that â€Å"substantially limits† a â€Å"major life activity† such as walking or seeing. It prohibits bias in employment, transportation, public accommodations, and telecommunication against people  with disabilities. Businesses with more than 15 employees cannot refuse to hire a qualified applicant with a disability; these companies are expected to make a â€Å"reasonable accommodation† to permit such a worker to do the job. Commercial establishments such as office buildings, hotels, theaters, supermarkets, and dry cleaners are barred from denying service to people with disabilities (Schaefer, 2012). One of the ways that the ADA addresses issues for the aging population is that it established requirements for businesses of all sizes (ADA, 2014). What is being done to address the issues you identified? [Many older adults with diminished heart and lung functions and reduced mobility will have placards or license plates for accessible parking. When parking is near the main door of the facility, these patrons have strength left after entering your business to shop, enjoy entertainment, or eat heartily. Clear, wide paths without stairs to the establishment’s entrance and throughout the business leave room for canes and walkers and accommodate people with reduced mobility and stamina. Minimum-weight doors with accessible hardware are easily opened by people who have arthritis or use a cane for extra balance. For heavier doors, automatic and power-assisted openers are helpful to everyone. Entrances and aisles with adequate head clearance and minimal projections into the path of travel result in easier navigation for people with lessened visual acuity or those who may be disoriented by clutter] (ADA, 2014) Is the number of aging population expected to rise in numbers or decrease? [The growth of the elderly population is projected to be over twenty one percent (21%) by 2050. An increasing proportion of the population will be composed of older people. This trend is expected to continue well through the twenty-first century as mortality declines and the postwar baby boomers age. Looking over a period of a century, we see the proportion over age 65 increases from less than one in 10 in 1960 to almost one in four by 2050] (Schaefer, 2012). What types of legislation may or may not be affected by the aging population? There are many issues facing the elderly today any many could involve  legislation affecting things as Social Security and Medicare healthcare benefits. The development and workings of groups aimed at protecting not only the threatened benefits of Social Security, Medicare, and other healthcare, but also other considerations for the elderly lifestyle are on the rise and proving to be helpful to our aging society as our Baby Boomers approach retirement age. How does poverty affect the aging population? Poverty among the elderly is seen as much less today as it was in the past. This can be attributed to pension plans and higher paying jobs that the people worked at. Although the rate of poverty is declining in the elderly, poverty is still an issue. One major cause is the rising cost of long term healthcare and medicines. With the increased life expectancy rates, this only compounds the problem as people are living longer. Part II Answer the following questions in 100 to 200 words each. Provide citations for all the sources you use. What does the ADA provide for people with disabilities? The ADA prohibits discrimination on the basis of disability in employment, State and local government, public accommodations, commercial facilities, transportation, and telecommunications. It also applies to the United States Congress. To be protected by the ADA, one must have a disability or have a relationship or association with an individual with a disability. An individual with a disability is defined by the ADA as a person who has a physical or mental impairment that substantially limits one or more major life activities, a person who has a history or record of such an impairment, or a person who is perceived by others as having such an impairment. The ADA does not specifically name all of the impairments that are covered (US Department of Justice, April 9, 2012). How have people with disabilities been treated in the past? Lukoff and Cohen (1972) note that some communities banished or Ill-treated the blind while others accorded them special privileges. In a comparison of  the status of persons with disabilities in a number of non-occidental societies, Hanks and Hanks (1948) found wide differences. Persons with disabilities were completely rejected by some cultures, in others they were outcasts, while in some they were treated as economic liabilities and grudgingly kept alive by their families. In other settings, persons with disabilities were tolerated and treated in incidental ways, while in other cultures they were given respected status and allowed to participate to the fullest extent of their capability (Disability Studies Quarterly, 2014). How has the attitude toward people with disabilities changed over time? A Lou Harris poll conducted in 1991 was revealing and positive. For example, 98% of individuals questioned believe that all people, regardless of one’s ability, should have an opportunity to participate in mainstream society. Furthermore, there was a strong sentiment toward increased employment of persons with disabilities; 92% polled believed that employment of persons with disabilities would be economically beneficial to society. There is a strong trend toward acceptance. These attitudes are in sharp contrast to the prevailing attitudes of the first half of this century. (University of Florida College of Dentistry, 2014) What are some unique circumstances or issues encountered by people with disabilities? There are numerous circumstances or issues encountered by people with disabilities daily. The task of accomplishing simple tasks can sometimes seem insurmountable. Those with physical disabilities must often times depend on the help of others to get along daily, let alone pursue a meaningful life. Public transportation can be difficult; sidewalks are not always wheelchair friendly, doorways are sometimes not wide enough, print can be too small to read on menus. What is being done to address those issues? Businesses that serve the public must modify policies and practices that discriminate against people with disabilities; comply with accessible design standards when constructing or altering facilities; remove barriers in existing facilities where readily achievable; and provide auxiliary aids and services when needed to ensure effective communication with people who have  hearing, vision, or speech impairments. All businesses, even those that do not serve the public, must comply with accessible design standards when constructing or altering facilities (ADA, 2014) What types of legislation have been introduced to address issues faced by people with disabilities? Following the original Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 (ADA), including changes made by the ADA Amendments Act of 2008 (P.L. 110-325), which became effective on January 1, 2009. The ADA was originally enacted in public law format and later rearranged and published in the United States Code. The United States Code is divided into titles and chapters that classify laws according to their subject matter. Titles I, II, III, and V of the original law are codified in Title 42, chapter 126, of the United States Code beginning at section 12101. Title IV of the original law is codified in Title 47, chapter 5, of the United States Code. (ADA.gov, 2008) References ADA. (2014). ADA Business Connection. Retrieved from http://www.ada.gov/business.htm ADA.gov. (2008). Americans With Disablities Act of 1990 As Amended. Retrieved from http://www.ada.gov/pubs/adastatute08.pdf Disability Studies Quarterly. (2014). Past and Present Perceptions Towards Disability: A Historical Perspective. Retrieved from http://www.sds.org/article/view/3197/3068 Schaefer, R. T. (2012). Racial and Ethnic Groups (13th ed.). Bergen County, NJ: Merrill Prentice Hall. US Department of Justice. (April 9,2012). A Guide To Disability Rights Laws. Retrieved from http://www.ada.gov/cguide.htm University of Florida College of Dentristy. (2014). Societys Attitude Towards People with Disabilities. Retrieved from http://paul-burtner.dental.ufl.edu/oral-health-care-for-persons-with-disabilities/societys-attitude-towards-people-with-disabilities/

Social Psychology: Concepts and Research

Social Psychology: Concepts and Research Sophia Ashraf Social Psychology Assignment At times people and groups resort to negative, cruel and even murderous behaviour. Drawing upon contemporary or historical examples analyse whether this behaviour is influenced more by social pressure/structure or by something more personally sinister or selfish. Social psychologists have devoted extensive interest in studying the attitudes, feelings and behaviours of human beings. They have come up with numerous explanations for both helpful and aggressive human behaviours. Philosophers explain these differences in terms of human nature. For instance, Rousseau believes humans are innately peaceful creatures. Therefore, anti-social behaviours are a consequence of wider societal and structural factors. In contrast, Thomas Hobbes believes humans are born evil and are predisposed to criminality. Overall, history is filled with numerous examples of altruistic behaviours. One such example is of Oskar Schindler, who risked his life and saved over 4,000 Jews during the Holocaust. Equally, history has also witnessed inhumane atrocities which include the My Lai Massacre in Vietnam in the 1960’s and the Rwanda and Bosnia genocides of the 1990’s (Hogg Cooper, 2007; Hogg Vaughan, 2014). Social psychologists have offered numerous explanations that influence the behaviours, attitudes and perceptions of people, in performing horrendous crimes against humanity. These include: social pressures like conformity and obedience, and also individual personality traits such as possessing an evil, sadistic and psychopathic character. In this essay, I will use examples of historical and contemporary atrocities, social psychological studies and theoretical concepts to explain the reasons behind why certain individuals and groups commit negative, cruel and murderous behaviours. In doing so, I will analyse whether this behaviour is influenced more by social pressure/structure or by something more personally sinister or selfish (ibid). Social psychologists identify obedience as a major social influence on human behaviour. This is because it involves obeying the orders of other living beings. Psychologists have found obedience to have both a positive and negative impact on human behaviour. For example, it prevents chaos in everyday life as people are socialised to obey laws such as traffic lights, and do so even without the presence of an authority figure. Alternatively, obedience has also proven destructive as many people have blindly obeyed the orders of an authority figure without thinking of the consequences of their actions. Social psychologist Stanley Milgram (1963, 1974) was highly interested in the effects of obedience on human behaviour, and in particular whether an individual would follow the commands of an authority figure if it involved harming another living being (Aronson et al, 2013; Hogg Vaughan, 2014). In 1963, Milgram carried out a famous ground-breaking experiment on obedience to authority at Yale University. He recruited around forty participants from the community via an advertisement, to participate in a study that tested the effects of punishment on learning. The experiment consisted of three roles which include an experimenter who was a man dressed in a white lab coat, a teacher whose role was always played by the participants, and a learner named Mr Wallace who was actually a confederate of the researcher. All participants were provided with a shock generating machine which had thirty levers in total and ranged from 15 to 450 volts. Participants were also given a sample shock of 45 volts before the experiment commenced. As part of the study, Mr Wallace had to learn a set of pair associates, whereas the teacher was required to administer electric shocks progressively to the learner each time they gave an incorrect answer (ibid). During the experiment, the learner made some correct and incorrect responses. Whenever the learner received a shock for an incorrect response, he would cry and scream in pain and often demanded to be released from the experiment. Consequently, this made participants feel agitated and want to withdraw from the research. In response, the experimenter would reply with a series of direct coercive statements such as ‘the experiment requires that you continue’, and ‘you have no other choice, you must go on’. (Hogg Vaughan, 2014: 242). Milgram’s initial assumption was that his participants would refuse to follow orders that involved harming another individual. However, he was extremely shocked when his results revealed that 65% of his participants continued administering electric shocks till the very end. This study illustrates the devastating impact of obedience, a social pressure which induces ordinary people to perform damaging acts against innocent vict ims (Hogg Vaughan, 2014; Helm Morelli, 1979). Milgram’s experiment has received considerable support from numerous researchers such as Hofling et al, 1966 who found that nurses also obeyed doctor’s orders to administer what they knew were harmfully incorrect doses of drugs to their patients. Milgram’s study has also received substantial criticism for its ethical concerns. Firstly unknown to the participants, the learner was actually a confederate who did not receive any electric shocks throughout the study. Secondly, Milgram’s participants were not provided with a fully informed consent and right to withdraw. This is because the experimenter verbally prodded them to continue during the experiment. His participants were also deceived about the true aims of the study, as Milgram was actually investigating the effects of obedience to authority on human behaviour. Milgram’s findings also lack generalisation to the wider population. This is because the study involved male participants and was conduc ted in a laboratory setting which does not reflect real life situations (ibid). Many historical and contemporary crimes have been committed in the name of obedience to authority. These include historic atrocities witnessed during World War II and the Nazi era, and also contemporary atrocities such as those which have been witnessed in Iraq, Afghanistan and Syria. In all of these horrific events, the perpetrators have claimed to be following orders. For instance, the Nazi official Adolf Eichmann who was held responsible for the death of six million Jews claimed he was following and implementing Hitler’s orders. Eichmann’s trial was covered by the journalist Hannah Arendt (1963) in her book ‘Eichmann in Jerusalem: A report on the banality of evil’. Like Milgram, Arendt was also interested in what made Eichmann and other war criminals commit such devastating crimes against humanity (Aronson et al, 2013; Hogg Vaughan, 2014). Within her book, Arendt reveals a shocking finding and asserts that ‘these ‘monsters’ may not have been monsters at all. They were often mild-mannered, softly spoken, courteous people who repeatedly and politely explained that they did what they did not because they hated Jews (or Muslims etc.) but because- they were simply obeying orders’ (Hogg Vaughan, 2014: 240). Here, Arendt illustrates the importance of structural explanations, in particular obedience which a form of social influence that predisposes war time criminals to commit negative, cruel and murderous behaviours. Nevertheless, this structural explanation has been criticised for ignoring the very fact that an individual’s pathological personality and a group’s cultural norms, may also make them more vulnerable to anti-social and murderous behaviours (Aronson et al, 2013; Hogg Vaughan, 2014). To explain a perpetrators negative human behaviour, Milgram makes reference to the terms the agentic state which denotes absolute obedience. He claims that within the agentic state people see themselves as mere instruments obeying the commands of an authority figure. As a result, individuals experience a diffusion of responsibility for their actions. This is because they transfer personal responsibility onto the authority figure. For this reason, Milgram believes that the agentic state can be used to explain the behaviour of perpetrators, who claim they are not liable for their actions as they were simply following orders. Moreover, even the threat of punishment for disobedience can force many people and groups to perform criminal behaviours against their own wish. However, it must be noted that not everyone obeys the commands of an authority figure, and many people do display resistance to commands that go against their own beliefs (ibid). Social psychologists have also identified conformity as another major social influence on human behaviour. It is defined as a process in which the individual changes their attitudes and behaviours in accordance with the group’s views. Psychologists have identified two types of conformity. These are informational and normative social influence. Firstly, informational influence is a type of conformity where the individual relies on information, knowledge and opinions of others as evidence about reality. Secondly, normative social influence is a type of conformity which is heavily based on others expectations. Here, the individual conforms because they feel a need to gain acceptance and social approval from their group. They also want to avoid feeling socially ostracised. In support of conformity pressures Mark Twain asserts, ‘we are discreet sheep; we wait to see how the drove is going and then go with the drove’ (cited in Kassin et al, 2008: 221). This quote shows how suggestible and compliant people can be as a result of numerous group pressures (Aronson et al, 2013; Kassin et al, 2008). The famous psychologist Philip Zimbardo was highly interested in understanding the downside of conformity, and coined the concept ‘The Lucifer Effect’ to describe how good people turn evil. In 1971, he conducted a famous study named the Stanford Prison Experiment, where paid volunteers were randomly assigned to the role of either a prisoner or a guard. The prisoners were arrested from their house, and were taken to a prison which consisted of bare necessities. Their possessions were removed from them and they were provided with a uniform and a unique ID number. Alternatively, the guards were also given a uniform to wear, along with items such as clubs and whistles which were symbolic of their authority. All prisoners were required to follow a set of fixed rules; otherwise they risked receiving severe punishment (Baron and Branscombe, 2012: Meyers, 2008; Zimbardo, 2007). Within the experiment, Zimbardo played the role of a prison warden who was interested in observing the reactions of his participants. He also wanted to know whether his participants would conform to the norms and requirements of their roles and whether they would behave like genuine prisoners and guards. Zimbardo found that the prisoners were rebellious at first but, then later became passive whereas, the guards grew more and more brutal and sadistic in their character. This was seen in the manner in which they harassed and dehumanised prisoners. Zimbardo found that these changes in behaviour were so disturbing that it became necessary to end the study after six days, when initial plans called for it to last two weeks. According to the individualistic explanation of crime and deviance, such inhumane behaviours may be attributed to individual factors such as a genetic predisposition to criminality (ibid). In opposition to the individualistic explanation, Zimbardo (2007) adopts a structural perspective to explain his findings. He argues that a person inclination to conform to the norms of their social roles such as that of a soldier or prison guard can have harmful consequences, as they may make decent people perform indecent behaviours against members of their own species. A real life parallel to the Stanford Prison experiment is the disturbing events of the Abu Ghraib prison which started in Iraq in 2003. In this horrific event, American soldiers physically abused Iraqi prisoners as they perceived them to be less than human. According to the individualistic explanation, these horrific atrocities are attributed to individual deficiencies and limitations. For instance, people who are labelled psychopaths, sadists, and evil creatures are more vulnerable to behave inhumanely with innocent people than psychologically normal people (Aronson et al, 2013: Baron and Branscombe, 2012; Keller, 2006). In relation to the Nazi Holocaust, the historian Daniel Goldhagen argues that ‘many German citizens were willing anti-Semitic participants in the Holocaust, not mere ordinary people forced to follow orders’ (Kassin et al, 2008: 243). Therefore, it may well be argued that the Germans had a character defect and were prejudiced and pathologically frustrated individuals. These factors influenced them to behave with cruelty towards others. On the other hand, developmental psychologists argue that anti-social and aggressive personality disorders can also predispose individuals to resort to criminal behaviours. For example, Adorno et al, 1950 adopts a psychodynamic framework and argues that early childhood rearing practices that are harsh and authoritarian produce individuals who are obsessed by authority and are more likely to be hostile and aggressive towards other people. This provides support for the claim that personality factors cause individuals to behave in a negative and cruel manner towards others (Aronson et al, 2013; Hogg Cooper, 2007; Kassin et al, 2008). In conclusion, social influence has proved to be a fundamental area of inquiry for social psychologists who attempt to explain the numerous influences on human behaviour. Psychologists argue that people and groups are subject to powerful and complex social pressures. These may originate from people, groups and institutions. Social psychologists explain violent and anti-social human behaviours as being either attributed to the individual, situation or system. Social psychologists have identified conformity and obedience to play an important role in influencing human behaviour. They have also identified individual factors such as a genetic predisposition to crime and also personality attributes such as a possessing a selfish, sinister and authoritarian personality to predispose people to behave criminally. There are also other factors that may shape. These include prejudice, discrimination and a radical ideology which may predispose people and groups to behave inhumanely with others. O verall, research on crime and deviance have revealed that it is highly complex to determine whether negative, cruel and murderous human behaviours are due to social/structural pressures or individual factors or a combination of both. Sexual Offences Act 2003: An Analysis Sexual Offences Act 2003: An Analysis The questions as posed raises a number of issues concerning the interplay between child and youth sexuality and the criminal law that is not readily resolved. The question shall be addressed using the following analytical approach that is intended to be considered progressively, commencing with the identification of the specific provisions of the Sexual Offences Act that demand the greatest scrutiny in when considering the interests of children. The analysis then explores the implications of the key terms employed in the question and how each may be interpreted in light of the Sexual Offences Act provisions; ‘children, ‘protection, ‘sexual abuse, ‘legitimate sexual behaviour, and ‘mistake are highlighted. The expression ‘over-criminalise is afforded a distinct consideration in view of the breadth of the potential sexual acts that might be prosecuted pursuant to the Act, coupled with the potential reach of both police and prosecutorial discretion in these proceedings. The analysis includes the review and inclusion of relevant academic commentaries that consider the issues noted above; the paper concludes with the assertion that while the Sexual Offences Act is an imperfect mechanism upon which to construct a protective scheme for children who are exploited or otherwise the victim of nonconsensual sexual activity, the current statute represents a legislative scheme that is clearly rooted in the public interest and one that addresses a number of important societal issues. The Sexual Offences Act, 2003 The Act provides for the regulation of a broad range of defined types of sexual misconduct. Commencing with s. 5 (Rape of a child), the enumerated Child Sex Offences provisions that are set out at sections 9 through 19 define the age limits applicable to establishing proof of the various enumerated offences. Section 10 (Inciting a child to sexual activity) is an example of the age definition employed in all of the Child Sex Offences: A person aged 18 or over (A) commits an offence if he intentionally causes or incites another person (B) to engage in an activity the activity is sexual, and   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Either: (i) B is under 16 and A does not reasonably believe that B is 16   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  or over, or (ii) B is under 13 Various acts of sexual touching are criminalised: the offence of ‘Grooming (s.15) is noteworthy in that the proof of the offence does not require proof of any physical contact directed by the perpetrator to the child victim to establish criminal liability for a sexual offence. The ‘grooming provisions are primarily directed to Internet based contacts (such as by way of Internet chat rooms) or mobile telephone media, such as text messaging between adults and children as defined. Commentators have suggested ‘à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦that applying the ‘grooming clause in practice is highly problematic given the difficulty of demonstrating ‘sexual intent towards a childà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦(previous case law) à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦illustrates the extent to which some sex offenders are prepared to go to secure a child for sexual activity and the overt manner in which ‘grooming occurred. The penalty provisions of the Act generally invite one of two types of dispositions. For the more serious offences such as rape, the maximum penalty is 14 years in prison; for the lesser offences the maximum penalty is a 5 year term. Subject to the definitions contained in each section, most offences are also capable of prosecution by summary means and a corresponding maximum penalty of 6 months in prison, or fine in the alternative. These provisions are considered in the context of the suggested ‘over-criminalisation, below. Key words As noted in the introduction, five words and phrases extracted from the question are employed to advance the present analysis. ‘Children It is submitted that while the definition of ‘child may be variable and highly dependent upon the context of any particular sexual circumstance, the age parameters set out in the Act are generally appropriate for the following reasons. While a child aged 13 or under may have the physical maturity and the emotional desire to engage in sexual activity (this varies significantly from person to person), there is strong academic support for the proposition that a young person of this age will generally lack the appreciation of the consequences of sexual activity, coupled with a lack of emotional maturity to necessarily deal with the activity in a safe and socially acceptable manner. Further when children are provided with the opportunity to use the Internet to make contact with virtual strangers, one comprehensive study revealed that over 60 percent of a sampling of London children aged 10 to 13 had limited understanding of the extent to which others could potentially harm them if they were not discreet concerning their personal identifiers or if they agreed to meet someone they did not personally know. In many respects the statutory definition may be regarded as a societal approximation. For any critic of the Act who believes that the age bar is set to high, particularly with regard to the 13 to 16 year old age range that involves the additional consideration of the concept of honest and reasonable mistake as to age, there are significant segments of modern UK society that define a child not simply by their biological age but in terms of their status as members of the family household, or as unmarried persons. Without stereotyping a particular group, the conservative elements of Christian, Muslim, and Jewish faiths all hold strong cultural / religious views that would place the definition of a child above age 13, or above age 16 where the mistake defences are invoked. An anomaly in the legislation is the disparity between the general age of majority laws in the UK and the sexual offence age provisions in some circumstances, a person can have consensual sexual intercourse at age 16 but be prohibited from voting, consuming alcohol, or entering into most kinds of contracts. The justification for this anomaly is beyond the scope of this paper; it is acknowledged that a greater measure of uniformity of age limits promotes consistency and social utility. However, it is also to be noted that the provisions are in general accord with the corresponding European Union conventions. ‘Protection It is submitted that one may properly be uneasy when significant consideration is given to concepts of protection when the conduct, such as sexual activity, is generally discovered after the fact. The protection afforded the public is that of the combined effects of publicity concerning the provisions and deterrence associated with the criminal process. ‘Sexual abuse The Act has properly defined a broad range of sexual touching and physical contact as potentially constituting sexual abuse. The definition must be broad to encompass the psychological and emotional harm that can (but not always does) stem from any kind of assaultive behaviour, no matter how seemingly minor. Further, the risk of long term damage in such occurrences is well documented; ‘à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦More convincing evidence of the dangers of adult-child sexual activity comes from studies of cycles of sexual abuse The evidence is much stronger here-penetrative sexual acts by certain sorts of adults are virtually universal in paedophiles‘ childhood. Cramer reviewed numerous academic studies in this respect and concluded that ‘à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦it is not surprising that no measurable harm comes to some teenagers who knowingly consent to an involvement with adults just a few years older than themselves. In some communities with different laws, they might be old enough to be free to engage in sexual relations. ..However, this does not mean that all adult-young person sexual relations are invariably non-damaging-or that it is possible to predict ‘harmless‘ ones with any confidence. The question as posed carries the implicit suggestion that sexual activity involving a ‘consenting child (consent as defined in the Act) is not a risk to the child. Cramer properly identifies the fact that harm is a considerable variable for the reasons noted above. Further, all considerations of what is abusive behaviour deserving of societal sanction and what is acceptable will engage a number of different perspectives. As mentioned with respect to the definition of a child, the cultural and moral position of the child and their family may be a significant factor in how the activity is characterised. Biological, emotional and psychological considerations are also at stake. Given the passage of the Act by the UK Parliament, there must be some measure of societal acceptance of the statutory regime as one that properly reflects UK societal concerns regarding this activity. ‘Over-criminalise This term must be approached from two perspectives. The first is the effect of the statutory penalty sections. These provisions on their face provide significant latitude for a sentencing judge to fashion a disposition that meets the demands of each case. One would expect the cardinal sentencing rule of ‘worst offence, worst offender to draw the sentences approaching what is unquestionably a significant penalty of 14 years for rape; rape is equally a horrible offence. It is also clear that the mitigating factors of a positive relationship between the offender and child, relative age disparity, and similar issues must mitigate in the favour of the offender. The concern expressed for over-criminalisation is addressed at least in part through the power to deal with the extremely minor transgressions of this nature by way of the conditional caution provisions, or by virtue of the general powers of discretion vested in the Crown Prosecution Service. There are elements of UK society who may legitimately feel that public legislation that mandates certain proceedings or dispositions is far preferable a public interest safety mechanism than a discretion vested in the prosecution that is essentially unreviewable. Conditional cautions have attracted a mixed review in the UK press and legal commentaries; they are perceived in some quarters as a system soft on crime. However, the conditional caution mechanisms address precisely the issue posited in the present question while the Act may provide significant sentences in the proper case, like all other UK statutes, its effect is ameliorated by the discretionary caution. The distinctiveness of the administrative structure of the conditional caution has been furthered through the development of the Gravity Factor Matrix, an assessment tool developed by the Home Office to assist police services and prosecutors in the determination of which types of occurrences should be subject to a conditional caution. Police forces throughout the UK have now incorporated the matrix into their internal policy and procedures. The general considerations of both aggravating and mitigating circumstances are set out in detail; the Home Office issued a similarly comprehensive guideline concerning warnings for young offenders in May 2006. The use of the caution process enjoys a widespread acceptance with prosecutors, with 24 per cent of all UK criminal offences charged resulting in this disposition; 17per cent more conditional cautions were issued in 2005 over the previous year. Given this trend, concerns regarding the risk of over-criminalised youth sex activity are misplaced, provided the prosecutorial discretion remains active in the consideration of sexual offences. ‘Legitimate sexual behaviour The question is one that is loaded with the assumption that ‘children (depending upon the age definition) will innocently engage or perhaps experiment with sexual activity. In a hypothetical occurrence between a 14 year old boy and a 13 year old girl, where consent in the practical sense is alleged, it is difficult to imagine a reasonable person characterising the interaction as ‘sexual abuse† (subject to the cultural and religious observations noted above). The Act is clearly aimed at circumstances of the prescribed age difference creating a practical presumption of inequality, or the obvious circumstances of harm that are consistent with abuse. ‘Mistake It is contended that there is nothing within the framework of the Sexual Offences Act, 2003 that creates a potential deviation form the now well developed legal principles in support of the defence of mistake. Due statutory deference is paid to the fact that sexual offence circumstances are often emotionally charged, carrying the potential to affect recollection and perception,. For these reasons reasonable mistake of fact as to age must remain an available defence; wilful blindness and recklessness are relegated (as they should be) to the category of mitigation, if any. It seems doubtful given all of the factors noted above that the UK courts would embrace the de facto reverse onus now imposed upon an accused in these circumstances by the Supreme Court of Canada. The availability of mistake in the statutory regime is consistent with the European Convention provisions regarding the assurance of a fair trial. Conclusion The present question does not recognise the strengths of the Sexual Offences Act as they pertain to children who are victims of sexual assault. The act strikes an appropriate balance between individual rights and societal protection.

My Utopian Society Essay -- My Vision for America

The Utopian land is divided into two main terrains: farmland and cities. The farmlands, of course, are where most of the country's resources are produced. The services of the economy, smithing, carpentry, clothmaking, etc., are mainly produced in the cities. Iron is the only resource which must be imported abundantly. All of the resources, except iron, that the nation requires, it produces on its own. The Utopians live a very simple lifestyle. They work, and in their spare time play games, read, and socialize. Other forms of entertainment, such as gambling and hunting are looked down upon. They only eat what is necessary, and their houses are built simply and furnished only with what is necessary. Thus, their consumption is very low. Utopians do not need material possessions for happiness. Happiness for them comes out of living an honest life and working hard to produce for themselves and for the entire nation. Â   All Utopians work. There are no rich people, deadbeats, or other people who go through life not working. Most people prefer to work and live in the city, but the work on the farms must be done as well. So, there is a rotation: everyone gets a turn to live and work in the city, and then must live and work on a farm for period of time. Since everyone must do this, there is no complaining from anyone. They see working on the farm as fulfilling their duty to the nation. Â   Because of the low consumption and the hard work put in by all people, the work day in Utopia is only six hours. They work only six hours a day, and still there are great surpluses. The surpluses are not uniform in each region, because many uncontrollable factors can affect production. Most regions have surpluses, but those that have s... ... with that. Â   I believe that this society, at least the economic aspect of it, would be possible to attain. However, I believe it cannot happen with our entire world. More made a point by putting Utopia on an island in the middle of the "real world": there is no way to apply Utopia to the "real word". In order to create a Utopia like this today, we must take very young children and raise them apart from society. If we do this and teach them about the society we are trying to create, I believe their reason will make the Utopia a lasting one. But if we try to create this Utopia over the whole Earth, we will fail miserably. The world is filled with billions of people who have been raised in our current society, and it is human nature to resist change. The economic situation of More's Utopia is possible, but only in a situation very close to the one in his book.

Shylock in Merchant of Venice :: Merchant Venice Essays

The Character of Shylock in Merchant of Venice  Ã‚  Ã‚     Ã‚  Ã‚   Few characters created by Shakespeare embodies pure evil like the character of Shylock in The Merchant of Venice. Shylock is a usurer and a malevolent, blood-thirsty old man consumed with plotting the downfall of his enemies. He is a malignant, vengeful character, consumed with venomous malice1; a picture of callous, unmitigated villainy, deaf to every appeal of humanity2. Shylock is the antagonist opposite the naive, essentially good Antonio, the protagonist; who must defend himself against the "devil" Shylock. The evil he represents is one of the reasons Shakespeare chose to characterize Shylock as a Jew, as Jews of his time were seen as the children of the Devil, the crucifiers of Christ and stubborn rejecters of God's wisdom and Christianity. However, when Shakespeare created Shylock, he did not insert him in as a purely flat character, consumed only with the villainy of his plot. One of the great talents that Shakespeare possessed, remarks Shakespeare analyst Harrold R. Walley, was his ability to make each key character act like a real, rational person. Walley said of all of Shakespeare's characters, hero or villain, that "Their conduct is always presented as logical and justifiable from their point of view3." To maintain the literary integrity of the play, "Shakespeare is under the necessity of making clear why a man like Shylock should be wrought to such a pitch of vindictive hatred as to contemplate murder4." His evil must have some profound motivation, and that motivation is the evil done to him. Shylock is not an ogre, letting lose harm and disaster without reason. He was wronged first; the fact that his revenge far outweighs that initial evil is what makes him a villain. Beneath Shylock' villainy, the concept of ev il for evil runs as a significant theme through the play. In order to understand the concept of evil for evil, one must examine the initial evil, aimed at Shylock, through Shylock's own eyes. Some may see the discrimination aimed at Shylock as justified, as he is a malicious usurer; certainly the Venetians thought so. However, the discrimination took its toll on Shylock, until he began to hate all Christians. Shylock saw himself as an outsider, alienated by his society. The evil he saw done to him took three major forms: hatred from Antonio, discrimination from Christian Venetians, and the marriage to a Christian of his daughter Jessica.

The Importance of the Negro Bank in Invisible Man Essay -- Ralph Elli

     Ã‚   The early Americana coin bank which the narrator of Invisible Man discovers one morning in his room at Mary's house is a reflection of the narrator's state throughout much of the novel. The offensively exaggerated Negro figure provokes an instant hatred in the narrator due to the tolerance it suggests. However, the narrator becomes personally offended by the object because of the similarities it holds to himself. While smashing the pipes with the bank, he yells out to his neighbors who are banging on the pipes, "'Get rid of your cottonpatch ways! Act civilized!'" (320). Thus he associates the hatred he feels for the bank figure with his neighbors who are acting no less civilized than he is. He is not aware of his own "cottonpatch ways" it appears.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   In describing the bank, the narrator states that it is the kind of bank that flips coins from its hand into a large grinning mouth. In order to put money in the bank, one must feed the smiling, hungry Negro. At a point in the narrator's life where he has no money and has decided to join the Brotherhood out of a debt ...

Life is amazing Essay

Happiness, sorrow, victory, defeat, day-night are the two sides of the me . Similarly life is full of moments of joy, pleasure, success and comfort apointed by misery, defeat, failures and problems. There is no human being on Earth, strong, powerful, wise or rich, who has not experienced suffering or failure. Life is beautiful but not always easy, it has problems, too, and the challenge lies in facing them with courage, letting the beauty of life act like a balm, which makes the pain bearable, during trying times, by providing hope Happiness, sorrow, victory, defeat, day-night are the two sides of the me coin. Similarly life is full of moments of joy, pleasure, success and comfort punctuated by misery, defeat, failures and problems. There is no human being on Earth, strong, powerful, wise or rich, who has not experienced, struggle, suffering or failure. No doubt, life is beautiful and every moment – a celebration of being alive, but one should be always ready to face adversity and challenges. A person who has not encountered difficulties in life can never achieve success. Life is beautiful but not always easy, it has problems, too, and the challenge lies in facing them with courage, letting the beauty of life act like a balm, which makes the pain bearable, during trying times, by providing hope Happiness, sorrow, victory, defeat, day-night are the two sides of the me coin. Similarly life is full of moments of joy, pleasure, success and comfort punctuated by misery, defeat, failures and problems. There is no human being on Earth, strong, powerful, wise or rich, who has not experienced, struggle, suffering or failure. No doubt, life is beautiful and every moment – a celebration of being alive, but one should be always ready to face adversity and challenges. A person who has not encountered difficulties in life can never achieve success. Life  is beautiful but not always easy, it has problems, too, and the challenge lies in facing them with courage, letting the beauty of life act like a balm, which makes the pain bearable, during trying times, by providing hope. Read more:  Life is Not the Bed of Roses Essay

University of California diet test

University of California conducted an experimental nutrition test on three-day-old chicks to determine the % of squeeze consumed and excreted. The provender low in protein (5. 4%, 8. 5% or 10. 8%) or tryptophan (0. 12%) with adequate urge caused a certain percentage of decrease in growth and also resulted in anemia with the deficiency of protein or trypotophan whereas diet low in glycine (0. 33%) with adequate iron indicated reduction in growth and did not cause anemia.Malnutrition is a combination of medical and social disturb that is affecting unrivalled in each three persons resulting in chronic diseases and illnesses which includes all told age groups of people. 70% of children in Asia, 26% in Africa and 4% in Latin America ar affected with protein- capacity malnutrition (WHO 2000). gross(a) eradication of malnutrition is possible with good systems of sanitation, gigantic food supply, medical aid and self-employment programs to adequately support poor people financial ly to take good care of health of parents and particularly of children.Protein is a source of energy for living species and particularly according to RDA recommendation, either person must carry 0. 8 grams of protein for every kilogram of weight iodine weighs or 0. 36 grams per pound one weighs. Proteins contain twenty amino acids push through of which nine are important which are necessarily must be ready(prenominal) in food/diet. Conclusion Protein deliberateness should be according to the age, physical operation and exhaustion (burn) of calories. E. g. egetarian male 25-50 yrs requires 2900 calories/day. Protein need is 79 kg x 1gm of protein per kg = 79gms of protein per day. Although affectionateness is rich in protein vegetarian diet is available in various forms viz. ,green foliate vegetables, pulses, nuts, milk, bread, rice, tofu, soya milk and butter. Vegetarian diet is slowly digestible, quick in conversion to protein-energy whereas non-vegetarian is a hard-diet and it requires repetitive check to keep the tenderness healthy and edible for cooking.