Monday, September 30, 2019
Health Care Provider
A. S. Course: Health Policy $ Ethics in Public Health April 8, 2013 Health care as a right or privilege Our moral duty is to take care of each human been regardless the cost. There is nothing more valuable that we possess rather than our health as well there is nothing that should be more costly and more protected then life itself.On the question â€Å"whose responsibility is to protect†our personal health, the right answer, about the individual or society responsibility most probably â€Å"lies somewhere between†those choices, furthermore by having healthy basis each of the society from one side and society from the other side as well should â€Å"have something to gain†.Neither of individuals or society should expect that the other should take on whole responsibly, therefore individuals should take at least some responsibility, as well society will serve as a â€Å"safety net†. (Williams, 2012). Over the time, taking care for people who are unable to a llow themselves a health care was based on charity, compassion, benevolence rather than some principle of ethics or justice.Within United States of America and mainly industrialized countries, the â€Å"primary barrier to health care†is related without appropriate â€Å"insurance reimbursement†(National Center for Biotechnology Information, 2001) The constitution of World health Organization at the time will be the first international step to ensure the highest enjoyment health standards settle them up as fundamental and necessary right for every human being as (â€Å"the right of health†), those international human rights as a set of socialâ€â€norms, laws, institutions based on agreements that secure the right of health enjoyment.Furthermore every world country is a part of at least â€Å"one human rights treaty†that involves health related rights as well this one will include and health necessary conditions (World Health Organization, 2013). Comm on set of goals, and objectives for both private and public sector partnerships actions to help ethnic, and racial minorities will be provided by the national stakeholders Strategy for Achieving Health Equality under whose umbrella will be covered incorporates ideas, suggestions and comments from â€Å"thousands individuals and organizations, country wide.National Partnership for Action will state: â€Å"Health equity is attainment of the highest level of health for all people†(National Partnership for Action, n. d. ) Furthermore, across United States 45 million citizens reaming uninsured, borderline or underinsured. The ones who are living in â€Å"poverty†are experiencing the worst health status, keeping in mind several important factors as educational, employment, income and race that determinate personal ability and adequate health care access (National Center for Biotechnology Information, 2007).Opposite, for instance health plan members in California have many rights, as to have appointment when they need one as well waiting time is limited, to have appointment with a specialist when you needed, to have continuity of care, to receive continuity of care, to receive treatment for certain mental health conditions, second doctors opinion, to know why your insurance plan denies a service or treatment, the right to understand your health problems and treatments, to see writhen diagnosis, to be informed consent when you have a treatment, the right to file a complaint and ask for an independent medical review, right to choose your own doctor, the right to language services, the right to see medical reports and keep your medical information private, the right to have an advanced directive est. (Department of Menaged Health Care, 2012). The Affordable Care Act The affordable care Act brings consumers back in charge of their own health care.Undress this law the â€Å"Patient’s Bill of Rights†was created and gives all the United state s of America’s people the stability and flexibility they need to make informed choices about their own health: * Provides coverage to Americans with pre-existing conditions * Protects your choice of doctors * Ends lifetime limits on coverage * Ends pre-existing condition exclusions for children * Ends arbitrary withdrawals of insurance coverage * Reviews premium increases * Helps you get the most from your premium dollars * Restricts annual dollar limits on coverage * Removes insurance company barriers to emergency services In the frame of health care law after the Patient’s Bill of Rights was adopted, the Affordable Care Act in regards â€Å"has provided additional rights and rotections†as preventive care at no cost to you and as well guarantees your right to appeal (U. S. Department of Health & Human Services, 2012). Furthermore the Affordable care act will frame individuals, families and business owners in control regarding their health care. Working familie s and working families will reduce their premium costs providing tax relief as of billions of dollars, which one will represent the largest middle class tax health cut in the United States. From the other side noninsured Americans will have the option to choose health insurance that best works or them in a new open and competitive market (U. S. Department of Health & Human Services, n. d. Unfortunately, today huge gaps remain between poor and rich countries, has been widened mainly in Africa what is not case with the wealthy nations, income inequality has been increased for instance worldwide one billion people live on less than one dollar a day and New York city will remain one of the â€Å"world’s wealthiest cities, but its south neighborhood is one of the nation’s poorest communities†and health care even available is not applicable. Based on this â€Å"public health workers incorrectly†will use the word disparity as a synonym for poverty and a the sa me time they will establish link the disparities in regards health care availability between rich and poor, White and non-White, native or foreign born, and so on (National Center for Biotechnology Information, 2006).Keeping in mind that most countries around the world decided that health care is a right instead of privilege the congress session in 2011 immediately will vote to repeal the healthcare reform bill where the reforms will came to the question: â€Å"Is health care a right or privilege? †(John L. Marshall MD, 2011) References: National Center for Biotechnology Information. (2001, June). Retrieved April 7, 2013, from Justice and the right to a decent minimum of healthcare: http://www. ncbi. nlm. nih. gov/pubmed/11890080 National Center for Biotechnology Information. (2006, December). Retrieved April 7, 2013, from Health for All in the 21st Century: http://www. ncbi. nlm. nih. gov/pmc/articles/PMC1698153/ National Center for Biotechnology Information. (2007, March 2 8).Retrieved April 7, 2013, from Healthcare access as a right, not a privilege: a construct of Western thought: http://www. ncbi. nlm. nih. gov/pubmed/17391522 Department of Menaged Health Care. (2012). Retrieved April 6, 2013, from Health Care Rights : http://www. dmhc. ca. gov/dmhc_consumer/br/br_rights. aspx U. S. Department of Health & Human Services. (2012, February 6). Retrieved April 8, 2013, from Patient's Bill of Rights: http://www. healthcare. gov/law/features/rights/bill-of-rights/ World Health Organization. (2013). Retrieved April 7, 2013, from Human rights: http://www. who. int/topics/human_rights/en/ John L. Marshall MD. (2011, February 3). Medscape. Retrieved April 7, 2013, from Is Healthcare a Right or a Privilege? http://www. medscape. com/viewarticle/736705 National Partnership for Action. (n. d. ). Retrieved April 7, 2013, from Health Equity ; Disparities: http://www. minorityhealth. hhs. gov/npa/templates/browse. aspx? lvl=1;lvlid=34 U. S. Department of Health ; Human Services. (n. d. ). Retrieved April 7, 2013, from The Affordable Care Act, Section by Section: http://www. healthcare. gov/law/full/index. html Williams, A. (2012, December 2). Is health care a right? And whose responsibility is it? The Washington Times. Retrieved April 7, 2013, from http://www. washingtontimes. com/news/2012/dec/2/williams-is-health-care-a-right-and-whose-responsi/
Psychology and Language: Research Proposal Essay
The relationship between psychology and language is a moot point among some scholars. However, when the two disciplines are taken into account in terms of their contrast and comparison, it merges jarringly clear that a relation exists between them. The two are either inextricably bound, or one of the discipline is overly dependent on the on the other. This study is aimed at unveiling the relations that exist between the two. And for this to be realized, the opinion of various targeted respondents will have to be solicited through interviews. Besides, scholarly opinion will also be collected and collated from publications, both recent and past. Their review will therefore assist to come up with a condensed conclusion about the study. In essence, this research will bring to the connection between the two disciplines, how one influences the development of another. Literature Review The relationship between language and psychology can hardly be gainsaid. Various scholars have delved into this discourse, offering their varied opinion supported by their informed arguments.            According to some theories, language do exists as a system of signs, the meaning and implications of which are entirely dependent on their relation to other signs of the system, and of the structure of linguistic expressions in which they occur. Other theories have it that language is a system of syntactic forms which come ready made in the mind of the speaker from birth, and which gives speakers the competence to generate and understand infinitely many different propositions. And this is independent of the experience and knowledge that speakers have of that which they speak or of the context in which the propositions are generated and understood. (Paetorius, 98)            The study of languages, otherwise termed as linguistics can sometimes be a technical discipline with a reality and a vocabulary of its own. This best explains why psychologists have often waited for linguists to offer them education on the meaning of language. This meaning helps the psychologists in the quest to further study its comprehension, processing and acquisition. (Tomasello, 1)            In The Grammar of Autobiography, Quigley aptly relates the two disciplines by arguing that psychology operates in an unstable, developing world that is open to change as a consequence of our communicative activity, rather than in the independent knowable reality of cognitive psychology. He adds that linking psychology with our social world is hardly a new phenomenon. Instead, proposing language as the mediator between the two is novel. (6) Currently, language isn’t only representative but also formative. It does functions to construct situations as they are, instead of just to reporting them. He argues that our thoughts aren’t just the source of our talk; they are constituted and/or formulated in our talk. Since psychology is the science of the mind, then the objects of psychology is not individuals but what goes on in the space between them. While studying the relation between words and world, it is not cognition but language that gives us the world. (6) In Language as Social Action: Social Psychology and Language Use, another scholar, Holtgraves, point out that language use is interpersonal in many ways. For one, it is a rich source of identity- relevant information. This is because many aspects of language use, for instance accent, speech rate and politeness level, provide crucial information that can be used by others in forming impressions of people. (6) Besides, many of these variables can be changed strategically as means of managing the impressions that people convey to others. Holtgraves therefore concludes that the use of language plays a significant role in both person perceptions; how people perceive one another and impression management: how people vary their talks strategically to achieve particular effects. (6) From the above discourse we can infer that the correlation between psychology and language is best demonstrated by the fact that words, which are the predominant tools of human communication bear meaning which are not independent from the though process of individuals. Michael Forrester argues in Psychology of Language: A Critical Introduction, that there has always existed a link between psychology and philosophy which has been close and occasionally complementary. And this is particularly the case within psychology of language, especially when the question of meaning arises. Therefore it is hard, even impossible to discuss to discuss language as such without looking into the nature of meaning. This makes it difficult o consider key topics in language for instance, communication, language acquisition and comprehension, without the understanding of what is at issue when people use the word ‘meaning’. (56) Forrester adds that the use of a word or a phrase in appropriate way makes one immediately accountable for whatever they say. As a result, we assume that people mean what they say and also intend others will understand the acceptable meaning of the utterance and act accordingly. Therefore, language without meaning is not language at all. This overview study of meaning, otherwise termed as semantics, makes it clear that although there are particular gains in adopting approaches where appropriate, any consideration of what language user mean when they make an utterance in context imputes us to go beyond truth-conditional semantics. In sum, the contemporary study of semantics can hardly be taken without due consideration of the function of language. (56) One universal design feature of language is that their meaning bearing form is that they are divided into two different subsystems: the open class otherwise known as the lexical and the closed class otherwise refereed to as the grammatical. The difference between the two is that open classes do have many members and can easily add many more. These include nouns, verbs and adjectives. On the other hand, closed classes have relatively few members and are hard difficult to augment. They consist of such bound forms as inflections as found in verbs and such free forms as prepositions, conjunction and determinants. The meaning that open-class forms do express are virtually unrestricted, whereas those of closed-class forms are highly constrained both as the conceptual category they can refer to and as to the particular member notions within any such category. (Tomassello, 15) In essence language has a more profound implication s fro our social existence. It plays a role in virtually every aspect of our dealings with others. Therefore understanding what we are doing when we use language can help us to understand what it means to be a social being. (Holtgrave, 8)            Possibilities have been explored for studying language at its functional roots as well as its structural realization. This is in the sense that human speech may be formed by general adaptive semantics at the limbic core of the brain as it is then articulated within specific sensory and motor routines of the neocortical shell. (Givon and Malle, 71) This argument can be made on anatomical grounds, interpreting function through the density of connections. It can also be made on psychological grounds, interpreting the excitability of limbic-cortical connections as reflective of the process of memory consolidation. (Givon and Malle, 71)                                               Research Hypothesis The conduction of this research will involve both the independent and dependent variables. The independent variables in this study are language as a tool that facilitates communication and psychology as the science of the mind. On the other hand the dependent variables are language speakers, communication and psychologists.            The independent variable in this study are related to the dependent variable in that, it is from the language speakers that the in-depth meaning of words is unveiled, further revealing the underlying intentions behind the spoken words. This relations goes ahead to shed additional light on how the mind is the source of words. Therefore, the spoken word does betray the intention of the mind. The other independent variable, in this case the psychologists, through their informed opinions help to shape the realism and surrealism of the link between psychology and language. Research Methods Research Design The relevant data that will facilitate the comprehensive conclusion of this study will be gathered by the use of both qualitative and quantitative techniques. In essence, both primary and secondary data will be whereas probability and non-probability methods of sampling will be employed in selecting the representative sample of the population.            Target Population. The study will be conducted nation-wide amongst language students (those learning a new language), language teachers, linguists and psychologists. The targeted respondents will fall within the age bracket of 16 and 60 years of age.                    Data Collection Instruments For constructive findings to be reached, this study will warrant that various instruments of data collection be employed. For one, quantitative data will be collected by the use of structured interviews: questionnaires will be served to the targeted populations, with questions bearing some slight differences according to the specific ages or occupation of the respondents. Other quantitative data will be gathered by the use of service statistics, which will compare the results of a particular previous relevant studies conducted nationwide. Secondary data sources from books, magazines, journals and legal documents will also offer quantitative data. On the other hand, qualitative data will be gathered through unstructured interviews, whereby experts in law and sociology will be interviewed. Qualitative data will also be gathered from focus group discussions, direct observation in the court proceedings and juvenile jail routine, and content analysis of published material.       Expected Results This study will likely reach the following results: It is anticipated that most respondents will concur with the fact that there is a relation between language and psychology; this response is likely to come from linguists, language scholars and psychologists, who through in-depth study have come into access of this relation. The relationship between language and psychology can easily escape the knowledge of many. This is expected to be the confession of many language speakers who have never had the opportunity through study to both consider how the two disciplines differ and compare. They of course will confess their ignorance about the subtle technical similarities and difference between the two disciplines. However, given a chance to muse over it, the above respondents will readily agree that there is a relation between the two disciplines. This will come easily since they can visualize the link between their thoughts and words. The literature from which the secondary data in this study will be gathered will likely demonstrate views of the correlation between the two disciplines. Some scholars will definitely beg to differ with this argument, though they are not going to outnumber those who support the argument that indeed a relationship exists between the two. Reference Michael Tomassello, The New Psychology of Language: Cognitive and Functional Approaches  to Languages Structure, 1. Nini Praetorius, (2003) Principles of Cognition, Language and Action, 98.  Thomas M. Holtgraves (200) Language as Social Action: Social Psychology and Language Use,  6, 8. Givon and Bertram F. Malle (2002) The Evolution of Language out of Pre-Language, 71. Jean Quigley, The Grammar of Autobiography, 6. Michael A. Forrester, (1996) Psychology of Language: A Critical Introduction, 56. Â
Saturday, September 28, 2019
Miracles provide great hope for a hurting world Essay
Miracles can provide great hope for a hurting world because they can be a last resort when all else fails. If someone has been diagnosed with terminal cancer and doctors have given up on them, the hope for a miracle can be the only thing that keeps them from total despair. When nature seems insufferably cruel, believing that God can overcome nature is infinitely reassuring. Miracles also reaffirm the believer’s faith, thus providing hope. Miracles by their very nature are sign that reveal God’s great nature. For example, the Bible records that when Jesus was crucified a great darkness covered the land. This miracle has been historically verified by contemporary middle-Eastern historians Thallus and Africanus. Miracles such as this can be used to convert people to God and give them a sense that he cares for them, thus providing hope. Theologians such as Dr Michael Brown assert that miracles are proof of God’s continued presence in this world through the Holy Spirit, and if we pray earnestly we may be able to experience a miracle. Jesus himself said, â€Å"ask and it shall be given unto you. †Finally, miracles point to an eternal hope beyond this world. They suggest that this world is not all there is; there is another much greater world that we catch glimpses of through miracles. The miracle central to Christianity – Christ’s resurrection – can give a hurting person hope. Christ said that, â€Å"In my father’s house there are many rooms, I will go to prepare a place for you. †Even if they are not healed in this world, the miracle of the crucifixion gives them the hope that they can experience heaven. On the other hand, miracles may not provide hope and happiness because they are so sporadic and seemingly random. Wiles said that miracles were the work of, â€Å"a capricious and arbitrary God. †By this he was referring to the fact that God heals some and not others. Why doesn’t God heal all sick children, instead of a select few? This calls God’s traits into question. If he was omnibenevolent he would want to heal everyone, and if he was omnipotent he would have the power to do so. But he doesn’t, so this calls his very existence into question. Therefore miracles do not provide hope. Dawkins also disagrees with the premise that miracles could provide hope. He claimed that miracles were simply events that fell towards the end of the probability spectrum, and if they do occur they are immense luck. He believes that there is no point in raising people’s hopes for an event that statistically will never occur to them. Many believers, particularly more conservative ones, would believe that miracles and wonders have mostly ceased in our time and what the hurting world really needs for hope is faith. Scholars such as Dr James White believe that modern churches that place far too much emphasis on needing miracles for hope are pushing people away from true, saving faith in Christ. Jesus himself chastised the people for only wanting to see signs and wonders rather than having true faith. Furthermore, miracles are not what is needed to provide hope for a hurting world. Science is. Instead of wasting time praying for individual healings, we should pour out time and energy into discovering cures and vaccines instead. Atheists such as Hawking use smallpox as an example. The human race was able to eradicate this disease through effort, intelligence and science. There was no need for divine intervention to cause hope. Overall, even if miracles are not real, what is wrong with giving desperate people a bit of hope? Nearly all nations have their own accounts of miracles which bring their people hope, it is unlikely they are all wrong.
Friday, September 27, 2019
The Correlation between Unemployment and Divorce Rates in the United Term Paper
The Correlation between Unemployment and Divorce Rates in the United States - Term Paper Example A tendency to emphasize the social and economic costs of unemployment on society in the aggregate avoids the clear and definite problems that joblessness creates in the home. Some of these household challenges are responsible for lowering levels of subjective well-being in society, which exacerbates the negative overall effects of unemployment. One particularly troubling hypothesis is that divorce tends to increase to some degree in proportion to unemployment rates in developed countries (Jensen & Smith, 1990). The marriage destabilization caused by the loss of a job and the perhaps long-term unemployment that results may explain a great number of divorces. However, especially as one deals with aggregate population data from past years, one is not dealing with causal inferences but rather correlational observations. While it is intuitive to speculate that unemployment increases risk to divorce, one could wonder whether divorce is likely to increase unemployment. It does not seem out of the question that marital instability increases one’s chances of being dismissed or issuing a resignation from his or her work. In fact, Rogers and May (2003) found a significant correlation between increases in marital discord (defined as thoughts or actions supportive of divorce) and declines in job satisfaction. Finding a statistical correlation between unemployment and divorce would signify a number of things, namely that individuals facing long-term unemployment but are happy in their marriages should take steps to ensure the sustainability of that relationship through financial hardships. At a broader level, predictors of unemployment can also be taken as predictors of higher divorces, which give society a chance to plan for increased levels of marital instability in addition to unemployment
Thursday, September 26, 2019
Leadership effectiveness Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3500 words
Leadership effectiveness - Essay Example Effective leaders are born as well as made. A leader may possess natural traits of leadership. Nevertheless, he has to go through the grind to master the skills of leadership. In this process, he is being made a leader (Effective Leadership Skills, 1996-2009). This process may consist of training that includes educational qualifications and on-the-field training. Intrinsically, everyone is a leader in his own right because people depend on him in certain respects (What is Effective Leadership 2010). But there are certain people who are spotted as first among equals and they make their grade over a period of time experiencing highs and lows on the way. And they continue to be recognized as leaders all their lives! I engaged Thomas Varghese on an interview. Thomas is the plant manager in a large electrical corporation employing over 5000 people. The interview lasted about an hour when I questioned him on the principles that made effective leaders. Mr. Varghese does not waste time and answered off the cuff. His mannerisms made it clear that leaders are self-conscious of what they do and say. Leaders are human beings, but they are cast in a different mold. There are traces of super human in them (Killian, Shaun; 2005-2007). They appear to be infallible and it takes an effort, sometimes minimum and some times maximum, to keep them aware that they are simple human beings (Rose, Ed; 1998). The reason that leaders appear super human is that they represent strong and noble traits. Without these traits, they may not be able to survive as leaders. But they have these qualities in some measure or more measure. But they need these qualities without which their days as leaders could be numbered. Abraham Lincoln had these qualities, Mahatma Gandhi had these qualities, and in the eyes of the Germans, even Adolf Hitler had these qualities. But the qualities that Hitler displayed were misrepresentative of the truth and they stood exposed. In the interview with Mr. Varghese, three basic principles emerged that a leader required so that he could be effective. One, the leader had to be alert. The leader was a man with a mission. He had to be above situations and circumstances. Two, the leader had to be goal-oriented. And finally, the leader had to have strong personal traits and an eye for failure. Two solid theories of leadership Trait Theory The leadership provided by Mr. Thomas Varghese is described as trait theory because it draws upon good traits especially those that are relevant to the progress of the department. The staff members at the plant are desirable of using their creativity and are resourceful to pool in their talents to achieve excellence. The culture of progress in the plant is such that the outcome of any work can be only excellent or very excellent (Bolden, R et al, 2003, p6). Contingency Theory Leadership in the plant is so nurtured and encouraged that one can feel the aura of excellence. The
Impact of oil exploration, extraction and transport 2 Essay
Impact of oil exploration, extraction and transport 2 - Essay Example Because of these, several legislations were enacted and promulgated, with worthwhile efforts being put up to control pollution and its related consequences. The responsibility of ensuring that these legislations and other recommendations were followed to the later became the mandate of the municipalities and oil exploration companies. After implementation of these structures, a remarkable reduction in the environmental problems that had earlier been common was experienced. The process of making decisions over perceived impacts of risks in the environmental situation involves coming up with various management decisions that rely on the proper assessment of probable risks that would arise from various environmental practices (Trefry 2003 150). In the U.S, the government has established a general structure to be used in making such decisions basing on the considerations for human health. These guidelines are useful in the process of determining the health and environmental impacts that certain economic activities can have on the people and the environmental in general. These guidelines have been used in various places with much success in the exploration industry for oil, gas and other petroleum products. Constant power supply is essential in the process of power generation; this is because, constant power supply facilitates the process of exploration. It facilitates the machines involved in the process thereby enhancing a smooth exploration and success in the process. The idea of installing a generator in the exploration site was informed by the need for having persistence in the exploration process and enhancing the safety of the people in the exercise. The chief engineer at the plant, John Akosa, ought to have established clear steps in the process of installing the generator so that there would not have been any loss of resource
Wednesday, September 25, 2019
Saint Joan Institute of Womens Study. Human Resource Management Essay
Saint Joan Institute of Womens Study. Human Resource Management Portfolio - Essay Example Through the paper it has been tried what modus operandi the HR department should follow to exploit the portfolio of a candidate. For the paper, the particular job taken into consideration is a job of an ‘academic coordinator.’ The academic coordinators are academic staffs, who have some responsibility for coordinating the activities of other academic staff and interacting with students in large courses or programs. â€Å"Typically, these people have responsibility for the ―practical and everyday process of supporting, managing, developing and inspiring academic colleagues.†(Ramsden, 1998, p. 4) The institute considered for this discussion is Saint Joan Institute of Women’s Study. The institute is committed to impart the training to the girls and women. Some of the units such as schools are devoted to train the underprivileged girls. An Academic coordinator has become a very crucial position in today’s fast growing and sophisticated educational institutions. Academic coordinators find their role to be demanding, complex, and very stressful and are uncertain about the scope of their role. (Ladyshewsky & Jones, 2007) In Educational organization the coordinator is basically associated with teaching, hiring teachers and educators, to administer programs, develop budget, to arrange meetings, and to make changes where necessary. In modern educational institution the post of a coordinator is very important to facilitate smooth coordination between students, teachers, various departments, committee, management and other personnel in the institution directly or indirectly. He plays the role of a liaison between students and faculty members, parents and teachers, teachers and management members etc. The natures of the job includes various following responsibilities which are divided into two parts: Teaching and non-teaching Non Teaching responsibilities Teaching responsibilities To suggest for the recruitment of new staff members according to the requirements of the unit: The coordinator identifies the need of the staff and accordingly he suggests for the recruitments of different positions for full time , part time, adjunct faculty or a resource person for the specific task. To develop teaching procedure and strategies: To arrange training and development programs To revise the existing academic programs and design new programs, curriculum. The curriculum should be developed according to the domains and the requirements of the students. To arrange meetings of line members and staff members of the organization. To solicit students’ as well as teachers’ feedback. To prepare an annual budget and get it sanctioned by the Management committee members with suggested changes. To take review of the effectiveness of the program To arrange strategies for promotional activities. To conduct exams and to coordinate it entirely To conduct extra-curricular activities thus to boost the confidence of the students. To teach the subject allotted to him or her To set exam papers and check the papers b. The Strategic Importance of an Academic Coordinator in an Educational Institution: â⠂¬Å"Jobs that directly relate to the firm’s core competencies assume greater strategic value.†(Weekley Jeff) The job of the coordinator has a strategic importance as it is related to the
Tuesday, September 24, 2019
Language development Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words
Language development - Essay Example The next stage the infant goes through usually takes place between seven months of age and one year. This stage is when the child is learning to recognize his/her name, will listen when spoken to, recognizes that certain words have certain meanings (ie; ball, food etc.), and responds to requests like "come here". The toddler is also beginning to learn the vocabulary and concepts necessary for reading. This stage is when the infant uses one and two words at a time and attempts to communicate more with non-crying responses (ie; words) than in earlier stages of development. Just as there are varying times in an individual child's life for each stage, there are also many factors that affect their language development. These factors can include; other skills the child is working on, how parents respond to the child's attempt to communicate and the amount and kind of speaking the child hears on a consistent basis (http://www.asha.org/public/speech/development/lang_lit.htm). Other factors can be whether the child is hearing more than one language in the household. The next factor to consider is when a parent responds to a child's attempts to communicate with indifference. The child can respond in kind, quickly learning to become indifferent himself.
Monday, September 23, 2019
Narrative Autobiography. Life Experiences Essay
Narrative Autobiography. Life Experiences - Essay Example One of my friends, Jim said, â€Å"Why not prove our swimming skills today. It is really hot yet a sunny day for all of us to enjoy?†We all agreed to what Jim proposed. So finally we decided to go to a water park and have some fun together. When we got in there was a good crowd and people were having fun. It was a huge park for people to hang out and have a lot of fun. Since it was a warm sunny day and, also luckily it was a public holiday, therefore, one could easily find families and bunches of friends grouped up together for little fun and adventure. I was specifically attracted by an artificial water fall which ended up in a pool. So I said to my friends that I would be the one going first to jump into that water pool from a good height. I wanted to prove my swimming skills on my friends. So, with a deep breath I turned around, smiled and said, â€Å"Hey, since you guys are too young to jump down from such a good height therefore, I have decided that I will be the one ta king the lead and jumping off in the water, trust me, I am a born swimmer.†My friends were amazed and just so thrilled on the idea of jumping from such a great height and above that, what made them more excited was the idea that I proposed in front of them; me taking the lead! Somehow, deep down inside I was little nervous to jump down. But I convinced all my friends that it will be fun to jump from that height in the swimming pool. When we got up there I felt I would not be able to jump from that height and decided to back up. But the fact that I was the one who convinced them to come here on the first place everybody started making fun of me. One of my friends said, â€Å"You were dying to be the fish, desperately wanting to swim in the shallow water, go ahead.†I smiled back and said, â€Å"You will what a fine fish I can be, this is just a piece of cake for a good swimmer like me.†And that was not it other people standing there most of whom were kids and pe ople I had never even met in my whole life started making fun of me. So finally I had enough and thought that being such a good swimmer that I am what harm can it do if I jump. And if I don’t then of course my friends are going to mock me for the rest of my life. It was then when I decided to jump. So I jumped. When I fell in the pool I started swimming but after a while I realized that I was neither moving up or ahead instead I was drowning so I started screaming for help as loud as I can. Fortunately one of the swimmers heard my screams and pointed it out to the life guard who immediately came to my help and rescued me. And I thought that wasn’t embarrassing enough so I decided to ask yet another stupid question. I asked, â€Å"Is that pool deep†the life guard looked at me angrily and said â€Å"if you don’t know how to swim you shouldn’t be around that pool and it’s for your own safety that we make these rules.†Then all my friend s gathered around me and after making sure that I was not hurt they started laughing at me, â€Å" you are coward†, one of my friend laughed at me. But I realized that moment that sometimes it is better to be coward in order to learn the good things in life and to hold the true moments that you will remember all through your life. I smiled back at my friends and replied more humbly than ever before in my life, â€Å"Yes, I am coward enough to be a fish in my other life!â€
Sunday, September 22, 2019
How to Make Your Website Work for You Essay Example for Free
How to Make Your Website Work for You Essay Website Introduction       A website refers to a collection of webpage like documents that are accessed via the internet. A web page is what you view on your PC screen when you key in a web address, click on a link, or put a question/ query on the search engine. Any information can be contained in a webpage, including color, texts, graphics, sound and animation.       When somebody gives you their web-address, it actually directs you to their website home page, that introduces you to what that particular site offers in terms of services and other information. From website home page, you can click on the links to reach other subsections of the site. A website can be composed of a single page, or multiple pages depending on what the owner of the site is trying to accomplish. A website can be public or private. Public websites consists information, which are viewed by anybody in the public while private websites are owned by organization for their own purposes e.g. advertising. Web-design       Web design refers to the design art and the process of merging individual element and aspect of design including shape, line, texture color, etc. into a simple pleasant arrangement. In short, web design is the process and art of creating single web page or the entire websites and may involve both the mechanics and the aesthetics of a website functions though it focuses primarily on the feel and look of a website. All these combined are called the design element. Some of the features combined included in the web production and the web design are animations and graphic creation, font selection, content creation, navigation design, XML/HTML authoring, ecommerce development, and JavaScript programming. A web design is a type/form of electronic publishing. Web Development       This refers to the creating, building, and maintaining the websites. It encompasses features such as web publishing, web design, database management, and web programming. While the term web designer and web developer are used synonymously, they do not have the same meaning. Strictly, a web designer interfaces by use of CCS and HTML (Harad, 2013). A website developer may involve the work of designing a website, but also may write a web scripts in the languages such as ASP and PHP. Moreover, a developer of website may help maintain and also update a database that is used by a dynamic website. Web Hosting and administration       According to Harad (2013) Web hosting refers to a type of service in which one computer is set up and configured as an internet server and offers a part of, or its entire resources, for the use in the exchange for various rental fee. One or multiple users can gain access to the information, content or services located on this server by use of another computer called the client computers. The client computers uses the internet to connect with the server computer and displays the content desired to the user.       On the other hand, web administration is the act of keeping your website well and running. The practice involves the following tasks. Web server administration: keeping the website running. Web software: installing web software. Web security: ensuring server security User accounts: setting up user account. Website builder       This refers to website creation software, which is full of features, and the widgets, which aids in the creation of the website that you want (Baga, 2013). A website builder allows someone to build the website without the need of the technical knowledge at all. A website builder, also called a website creator, a web builder or online CMS, is a unique kind of a content management system (CMS). While the traditional website content management systems were then designed to administrate a huge website, while the website builder are concerned with the small websites in the small project mind. This implies that the user does not need any programming knowledge or other technical knowhow to install a CMS, create a database or apply a template. Website templates       A website template is a predesigned webpage or a set of HTML WebPages that anybody can use to plug-in-their personal/own texts and image content into (Peterson, 2009). Generally, they are built with the CSS and HTML code. The website template permits anyone to configure or set up website without having to get somebody who is a professional web designer, or developer, though, many developers usually use this website template to build sites for their own clients. This makes anybody to create a reasonably personal or business website that can be listed in the search engines when the users search for your topic. How to make a website Below are the steps to make a website (Harad, 2013) Get your domain name Get web host and sign up for an account Design your WebPages Testing your websites Collecting credit card information Getting noticed Disadvantages of free websites       According to Barger (2012) these are the totally free can never deliver any good value and always there is a catch when someone gives you something freely. If you are not paying any cost to the website hosting, probably you are going to pay them in some ways. Not your personal domain. Signing up for free website, you do not get a domain name. The search engine would not rank your website. There is little functionality to your website. Poor support of your website. There is no free advertisement. The website is unprofessionally designed. References Pablos, P., Damiani, E., Lytras, M. D. (2009). Web 2.0 : The Business Model. New York: Springer. Otonomic Debuts as Website Builder. (2014). Entertainment Close-up, Peterson, K. (2006). Academic Web Site Design and Academic Templates: Where Does the Library Fit In?. Information Technology Libraries, 25(4), 217-221. Harad, K. C. (2013). How to Make Your Website Work for You. Journal Of Financial Planning, 26(8), 18-20. Baga, J., Hoover, L., Wolverton Jr., R. E. (2013). Online, Practical, and Free Cataloging Resources. Library Resources Technical Services, 57(2), 100-117. Source document
Saturday, September 21, 2019
The Portrayal Of Women In Horror Movies Film Studies Essay
The Portrayal Of Women In Horror Movies Film Studies Essay DEFINITIONS: Woman: Whist the term girl can be used for a child or female adolescent, the term Woman would refer to an adult female human. Horror film: Cinema that is created to disgust and cause fear and distress to its spectator though themes of a gruesome and paranormal nature. INTRODUCTION This dissertation will consider the roles of women in the horror film genre and will deconstruct the way in which the conventions of the horror film prescribe such roles. Despite continued criticism for presenting women in a negative manner, many of the films explored here appear to suggest strong female representation so it will possible to investigate the position of the female from a number of different angles allowing a fluid discussion and counter argument. The passive female roles will be studied from the perspective of the male gaze and abjection, whilst active female roles will be explored from the role of the mother and the outcome of The Final Girl. As it would be impossible to discuss the entire history of the horror genre and womans relationship to it within the space available, so three chosen films will support the discussion. In all cases these films are regarded as classic horror films and, importantly, landmark and watershed moments in the horror genre. Psycho (1960), The Exorcist (1973), and The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (1974) all represent meta statements in the history of the genre and provide essential examples of the arguments discussed here. It should also be noted that all three films contain also ambiguous female characters for example; Mrs Bates in Psycho, the cross dressing Leatherface in The Texas Chain Saw Massacre and the possessed Regan in The Exorcist who will all be debated. Significantly the films were produced and released during periods of change for womens rights, including the beginnings of the womens liberation movement in the early sixties though to the publishing of The Female Eunuch by Germaine Greer, and Spare Rib magazine in the seventies. This help to fuel the debate more significantly as the selected films span a time when women in the real world (as opposed to the constructed world of the cinema) had made great steps toward equality through the feminist movement. Horror films are told as stories of good versus evil. The drama of their narratives tends to derive from the clash between a monster and an innocent, So I want to understand why so many gratuitous, unjustified acts of violence towards woman could be justified on screen. I will consider the following aspects: male gaze, abjection, family structure, and the outcome of the final girl in the context of horror film genre. These are four common tendencies embedded within the literature of women and horror film and the background to these discussions will be framed within the context of the chosen films. This writing will deconstruct and examine the structure of those films, the motives behind their structure, and will consider their target audience. It will examine the symbolism that is used to express the plots and sub-plots and, most importantly, consider the roles of the female characters in those films. I will employ psychoanalytic and feminist theory to explore the female roles and will interpret commentary on Freudian and Lacanian theory, including castration anxiety and the role of the subconscious and apply them to horror film. Semiotic and populist perspective will also be considered to set out this debate. Much has been written on the subject and over twenty books have been researched to discuss this consideration of women and horror film in detail. Key texts include: Ways of Seeing (1972) by John Berger, Men, Women and Chain Saws: Gender in the Modern Horror Film (1992) by Carol J. Clover, The Monstrous-Feminine: Film, Feminism, Psychoanalysis (1993) by Barbara Creed and Powers of Horror (1982) by Julia Kristeva. The texts outline the intellectual context into which this dissertation enters. People assume that horror film exclusively represent women in a reactionary fashion, but further analysis has suggested that female characters are not as weak and vulnerable as they first may appear. For example The Final Girls last moments have been radically written and rewritten across the remakes and sequels to give new meaning. Analytical and theoretical analysis has been informed by the writing of Laura Mulvey and in particular her discussions of the male gaze. Mulvey argues in her polemic essay Visual Pleasure and Narrative Cinema that cinema was primarily created for the male spectator exploiting women as objects of desire. Julia Kristevas essay The Powers of Horror provides essential understanding on the position of abjection in the context of horror and mortality. All of the above writers discuss theoretical studies and theories of Dr Sigmund Freud and Jacques Lacan who are both indirectly referenced throughout this dissertation. Barbara Creeds The Monstrous-Feminine and Carol Clovers book Men, Women, and Chainsaws will inform debate around the matriarchal figures in Psycho and the outcome of the final girl in The Texas Chainsaw Massacre. CHAPTER 1 Gendered Spectatorship The male gaze is made explicit in the horror genre, and this is inscribed in both the aesthetics of the films and its exhibition context. One of the most important essays about women in cinema is Laura Mulveys theory on the male gaze. As Mulvey states: The cinema offers a number of possible pleasures. One is scopophilia (pleasure in looking). There are circumstances in which looking itself is a source of pleasure (1989, p16). (do I reference?) If scopophilia can be defined as love of looking or deriving pleasure from looking, then this can be a definition of the cinema experience. Cinema is, after all, a form of visual entertainment. It involves the individual singularly engaging with the screen and its projections as a form of escapism and even relaxation, and can be comfortably achieved alone as it involves very few social skills, since the viewers only commitment to the process is to look. However, once we question how the film is viewed and who views the film, the relationship becomes more complex. The purpose of this essay is to question how the female is viewed from the perspective of the spectator; to question how women are portrayed in horror films, and how they are looked at. It will explore the argument that cinematic looking comes from a male perspective and will question what kind of pleasure is obtained from looking at horror films from this perspective. As Mulvey explains: The cinema satisfies a primordial wish for pleasurable looking (1989, p17). It allows the spectator the opportunity to observe in an entirely passive role while the action takes place. The experience of cinema is a one-sided arrangement between the film itself and its viewer. However, as Mulvey discusses regarding Dr Sigmund Freud, it also goes further, developing scopophilia in its narcissistic aspect (1989, p17). Scopophilia can also suggest that sexual pleasure can be derived from looking at objects; that how they are interpolated can make them erotic, and while they are not erotic in their own right through their relationship with the spectator they can become sexually objectified. The celebrated psychologist Dr Sigmund Freud isolated scopophilia as one of the component instincts of sexuality which exist as drives independently of the erotogenic zones. At this point he associated scopophilia with taking other people as objects, subjecting them to a controlling and curious gaze (Mulvey,1989, p16). The history of art emphasises this aspect of scopophilia. Throughout art history, painters have been commissioned to paint female models as objects of desire that have been and still are masquerading as works of art more closely related with pornography than with the great masterpieces. Moving forward, Clover debates that the cinematic gaze, we are told, is male, and just as that gaze knows how to fetishize the female form in pornography it also, she suggests (going on to relate this to cinematography), knows how to follow a female character as she moves through a forbidding house, and scrutinise her face for signs of fear in a way that it does not do with male characters, since: a set of conventions we now take for granted simply sees males and females differently. (1992 p50-51). This suggests that the ownership in the context of cinema is the cause of the effect that the viewer, by objectifying the figure on screen, gives it new meaning, a new social place. By simply being viewed, new rules apply. To place this into the context of women within horror, the male can now view the woman and the conditions and events around her in a newly detached manner and freely let the actions against her take place on the screen. In psychoanalytic terms, the female figure poses a deeper problem. She also connotes something that the look continually circles around but disavows, claims Mulvey (1989, p21). This could be suggesting that as the spectator is assumed to be male, the appearance of a female (ie non-male) form creates an anxiety around the potential for castration and an un-penised body à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦hence unpleasure. Mulvey argues in Lacan: and Post feminism by Elizabeth Wright (2000, p45-46) that the look is linked to the discovery of sexual difference, and that the lack of a penis must be filled by multiple images of glamourised women as a substitute for the imaginary phallus. Mulvey writes that cinema, and in particular horror cinema, is inclined to focus attention on the human form (1989, p17). The human form and the human condition are key aspects in the horror genre, especially the female body. Horror displays visceral and exaggerated versions of our basic desires and a strong and aggressive version of body lust. The horror film in particular relies on the physical human form and hostility towards the body to carry its plots and storylines in the most extreme sense. This is clearly not a natural state of being: to be seated in a darkened room, with a huge rectangular screen in view and surround sound at high volume. But this is the environment of the cinema, where the viewer is asked to focus on exaggerated and extreme events far beyond the realms of real life in the name of entertainment. Here, not unlike in other places in the media, the female form is prevalent, to be exhibited again for entertainment and it is the female characters in the horro r film genre that appear to command most of the attention on the cinema screen. Mulvey suggests that, since the world displays such disparities between the genders, with the masculine nearly always holding the reins of power: Do I reference here as well? pleasure in looking has been split between active/male and passive/female. The determining male gaze projects its fantasy onto the female figure, which is styled accordingly (1989, p19). So since society isnt equal in terms of who holds the power, either sexually or otherwise, women act a certain way because they are aware of how men expect them to be that is, passive and sexualised. Mulvey states this as a symbolic equation, woman = sexuality. (1989, p35). John Berger differentiates men from women as he describes a mans presence as being defined by what he is capable of doing to you or for youà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦but the pretence is always towards a power which he exercises on others. (1972, p39-40) Expand Mulveys view is that narrative cinema positions its spectators as male, catering only for male fantasies and pleasures (p39 Feminist Film Theorists). This suggests that women are objectified in film in general (and for the purposes of this argument, substantially in horror films). Mulvey also claims that the spectator/viewer/audience is said to be a man; cinema almost expects its viewers to be male and therefore creates characters and plots to fulfil a mans gaze. So prevalent is this notion that Mulvey claims narrative cinema does not offer a place for female spectators'(p40 Feminist Film Theorists); that cinema essentially isolates the female as a serious viewer: As the spectator identifies with the main male protagonist, he projects his look onto that of his like, his screen surrogate, so that the power of the male protagonist as he controls events coincides with the active power of the erotic look, both giving a satisfying sense of omnipotence. (Mulvey, 1989, p20). Shorten Clearly men can easily identify with the male protagonist but the female audiences have to distance themselves from their femininity in order to participate in the cinematic experience; critics refer to this as gender confusion. Freud would argue that to share these experiences, woman would have to revert back to her pre-Oedipal phallic phase. It might now be relevant to explore the male gaze specifically functions in the context of the horror genre. Looking back at the history and evolution of the horror film, the cinemas flourished at a time when there was less available to the public and strong moral codes and rules about relationships were in place. The clichà ©d idea of horror films was being scripted and edited to fulfil the role of the dating couple on a Saturday night. (pg 61 Horror: The Film Reader Edited by Mark Jancovich (different authors per chapter) The cinema was a place where young couples could escape family life for the few hours of a date. It allowed them space to be alone together at a time, before the sexual revolution, when men were expected to be chivalrous and protect and provide support for their female companion, as Mark Jancovich explains: Women cover their eyes or hide behind the shoulders of their dates. (pg 61 Horror: The Film Reader Edited by Mark Jancovich (different authors per chapter). This then created an opportunity for the male viewer to comfort his date as she squirmed and shrieked at the on-screen horror. He could become closer and more intimate as she was lured into vulnerability by the action projected in front of her. Mulvey highlights this dominant order: As an advanced representation system, the cinema poses questions about the ways the unconscious (formed by the dominant order) structures ways of seeing and pleasure in looking. (1989, p15) Paraphrase or include in text. Given this climate, the notion of the girl as victim was allowed to evolve. A connection could then be made between the female viewer and her on-screen female counterpart, in that the spectator cannot bear to look on helplessly as her cinematic alter ego that is, a close representation of herself suffers the horrors of rape, mutilation and murder. Mulvey argues that women have had two different functions within cinema: as erotic objects for the characters within the screen story, and as erotic objects for the spectator within the auditorium. (1989, p19) There is clear evidence of this in Tobe Hoopers The Texas Chainsaw Massacre. It follows the story of a group of young Americans as they venture into the countryside and meet their fate in the shape of a disturbed and hostile cannibalistic family whose weapons of choice are butchers tools and chainsaws. The three young men meet their deaths quickly, paving the way for the females more drawn-out and gratuitous torture. While one of the women meets her slow, lingering fate via a meat hook and deep freezer, the other is chased and tortured repeatedly across the final third of the film. Female characters in horror films are generally young and attractive. They maintain a key role in the film; examples of this would be Laurie in Halloween and Marion in Alfred Hitchcocks infamous Psycho. When Michael Myers pretty sister meets her fate in the opening scene of Halloween, she is pursued by (and through the eyes of) her killer; indeed, throughout Halloween the story is often seen/told through the eyes of the killer, a technique referred to as the POV (point-of-view) shot. But before the murder takes place, the audience are offered a completely superfluous view of her naked body, seen through the male gaze as she brushes her hair. It could be argued that the female characters occupy many on-screen hours and appear to dominate the films, yet on closer inspection the real lead role is saved for the star psychopath, who is almost always male. It could be debated that male spectators are therefore being asked to identify with the killer. With respect to Halloween there are a number of shots explicitly from Myers physical point-of-view with an acoustic close-up of his monstrous heavy breathing (Isabel Pinedo 1997, p52). It cannot be proven that the whole audience identifies with him but they are forced to see through his murderous gaze, which almost compels a form of affinity. Horror genre is traditionally thought of as low culture. It has a casual tone and audiences have grown to expect violence, nudity and cheap thrills. This position in low culture appears to grant a licence to horror films to get away with more than high art cinema, and horror is rarely studied for meaning or metaphor to the same extent. But because of these lower expectations, the reality can be stretched (not unlike in cartoons), leading to irrational storylines with horror far more extreme than could be expected in real life. Therefore, it could be argued that horror films make explicit the assumption of a male spectator which is, according to Mulvey, only implicit in all popular cinema. Other films, under the pressure of higher expectation, have to keep such a misogynist perspective more contained, but horror can afford to make it overt. Clearly all normal rules do not apply. So, once reality is dropped in favour of visual pleasure, why do we ask audiences to witness hostility and brutality against women? Brian De Palma assesses the motives behind this argument. It is, he suggests, not that women are presented for male pleasure but that they provide a greater capacity for terror in the audience: If you have a haunted house and you have a woman walking around with a candelabra, you fear more for her than you would for a husky man. (Clover, 1992, p42). This provides a greater margin for a violent death. But why is this? Why would a woman be more vulnerable than a man in this age of equality? The answer to this lies far deeper than in the relatively trivial world of the slasher movie or psychological thriller. This genre is simply a form of entertainment and perhaps not the place for intellectual analysis, as John Carpenter hinted when he was challenged with the notion that he is responsible for the tasteless massacre of sexually active women. He claimed that, although the victims in his (and so many other) horror films are indeed the more sexually active characters, to insist that this is why they die is to miss the essential pointThey get killed because they are not paying attention. How do I reference Carpenter? And it could be argued that academics were reading a little too much into Halloween, since a male character is also murdered straight after sex with his girlfriend. One could even claim that this balances the plot and clears the director of the accusation that he is somehow guilty of misogyny. However à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦argues that: His death is usually only a device to remove protection from the now vulnerable female. (pg 165 Bitches, Bimbosà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦). This suggests that the male character is now secondary and his death is insignificant by comparison to the murder of the female. It could also be argued that Carpenter and other celebrated film makers just want to make entertaining horror and dont intend to make hateful statements against women, or objectify them for the male gaze, but that this is simply what people find exciting and why they fill up cinemas. Irrespective of Carpenters intentions, the standards of what is considered entertainment tell us a great deal about our views towards women in horror cinema and perhaps in society as a whole. CHAPTER 2 The Abject Feminine The ultimate figure of abjection is the corpse. As the horror genre is ultimately obsessed with death one could suggest that horror fetishizes the abject. It has been suggested that the horror film attempts to bring about confrontation with the abject. (p4 Horror Film and Psychoanalysis: Freuds Worst Nightmare.) Creed refers to Kristevas notion of the border: When we say such-and-such a horror film made me sick or scared the shit out of me we are actually foregrounding that specific horror film as a work of abjection or abjection at work almost in a literal sense. (1993, p10) By the presentation of repulsion one knows what is not repulsive; to understand abjection one must understand boundaries. As we grow up we stop playing in dirt and become more dignified; this is something we learn from society as well as from our mothers teaching us how to be clean and proper. This notion references Lacans concept of the mirror stage, Kristeva supports: It is thus not lack of cleanliness or health that causes abjection but what disturbs identity, system, order. What does not respect borders, positions, rules. (1982, p4). Woman and abjection The horror genre has a historical tendency to represent the female form as abject. In Kristevas view, woman is specifically related to polluting objects, which fall into two categories: excremental and menstrual. This in turn gives woman a special relationship to the abject. (1982, p10) What we are scared of is not the matter that we expel but what it signifies loss of identity, loss of control, death and the unknown. Nor is it the end of a natural life that contributes to the tension of horror cinema, but an endless list of horrific deaths that we could possibly encounter. Paul Wells backs this notion with his comments on the forbidden facets of the human body its propensity to foul secretions and physical corrosion which are linked to our relentless descent towards death, and which are reflected in images of abjection in the horror film (2000, p16). IS THIS 2ND PERSON? When we are children our parents encourage us to respect boundaries about cleanliness and behaviour, and we reject the abject. But in the context of the horror film there is perverse pleasure that allows us to explore our curiosity about the abject. The abject confronts the repressed/un-civilized side of the ego and allows us to investigate the other. The horror film makes good use of the abject. Julia Kristeva uses her experience with milk as a child in an attempt to explain the idea of abjection: Food loathing is perhaps the most elementary and most archaic form of abjection. When the eyes see or the lips touch that skin on the surface of milkà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦I experience a gagging sensation and, still farther down, spasms in the stomach, the belly: and all the organs shrivel up the body, provoke tears and bile, increase heartbeat, cause forehead and hands to perspire. Along with sight-clouding dizziness, nausea makes me balk at that milk cream, separates me from the mother and father who proffer it. (p23 Powers of Horror: An Essay on Abjection by Julia Kristeva). Does this need to be cut? This could suggest that when a skin forms on top of milk, it is crossing over a border or breaking a rule regarding what is acceptable as good food, and so the milk is no longer pure. The milk has perhaps split into two; milk being the acceptable form and its solidified state being the abject. Hence it fulfils a similar role in our imagination as a corpse does over a living, breathing body. We will no longer accept/drink the milk as it has turned bad and represents death, a state beyond living. The maternal body grows and delivers a living being but it is also the sister of the corpse so it can remind us of life but also death. If we confronted the abject in everyday life we would be constantly aware of our own mortality. Milk described in the context above provides an effective example of abjection, as it suggests the differential between acceptable breastfeeding as a child and unacceptable breast-feeding as an adult. The Exorcist was the first of many possession films. Its premise involves an innocent young girl named Regan McNeil who displays abnormal behaviour in the middle class American home she shares with her mother and house keeper. Throughout the film her father appears absent so it is her mother (Chris McNeil) who bears witness to the profound and hostile series of events and paranormal behaviour as the plot unfolds. Creed states that: The possessed or invaded being is a figure of abjection in that the boundary between self and other has been transgressed (1993, p32) à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦by the devil himself, who appears to be the only male central figure in the film until the arrival of a psychiatrist and two Roman Catholic Priests. Within the plot of The Exorcist, Regans character is a vehicle that allows the portrayal of abjection to the mass audience. Had a young boy been cast in a similar role, the horror could have been undermined, but due to our own preconceptions of femininity and youth, the possession portrayed within this young girl only adds to the horrific events. Regan is the most passive of female victims, repeatedly switching from tearful little girl to demonic aggressor. She expels her bodily fluids, blood, vomit and urine; she is a playground for bodily wastes (1993, p40). Creed goes on to point out that the female body is more abject because its maternal functions acknowledge its debt to nature 1993, p11). She also points out that, as Regan cavorts and flaunts herself, we become all too aware of the forbidden fascination of the abject , as well as its horror, inherent in the fact that this young girl has overtly flouted her respectable feminine function, and has; put her unsocialized body on display. And to make matters worse, she has done all of this before the shocked eyes of two male clerics. (p 198 Post-Theory: Reconstructing Film Studies. edited by Bordwell, D and Carrol, N) Creed (1993, p37) puts forward: In Kristevas view the abject represents that which disturbs identity, system, order. Regans possessed soul projects this through levitation and deep spoken foul language. As the film continues, an exorcism takes place in the form of a battle between the Church and the Devil. If religion could be used to explore the abject, no film does it more tellingly than in The Exorcist. Creed puts forward, according to Kristeva: Kristeva argues that, historically, it has been the function of religion to purify the abject. (1993, p14) As the film comes to an end, Regan is saved by the church and restored to purity. She turns to hug the one person who saved her: a male Priest, or perhaps God himself? Spectator In the real world, when confronted with something genuinely repulsive, we reject that object of repulsion. But in the cinema it is not necessary to fully block what confronts us. The positioning of the spectator within the cinema experience must be recognized if abjection is going to be fully absorbed. The viewer happily sits as the spectacle of horror unfolds and is projected onto them. Though the viewer has no control over the events projected before them, the unpleasant acts witnessed by the spectator can comfortably be dismissed when the credits roll and the film is over. Viewing the horror film signifies a desire not only for perverse pleasure where boundaries are crossed, both attracting and repelling (confronting sickening, horrific images/being filled with terror/desire for the undifferentiated) but also a desire, once having been filled with perversity, taking pleasure in perversity, to throw up, throw out, eject the abject (from the safety of the spectators seat). CHAPTER 3 The Absent Mother Relationships in the maternal melodrama are almost always between mother and daughter; it is to the horror film we must turn for an exploration of mother-son relationships. The latter are usually represented in terms of repressed Oedipal desire, fear of the castrating mother and psychosis. Given the nature of the horror genre its preoccupation with monstrosity, abjection and horrific familial scenarios the issues surrounding the mother-child dyad are generally presented in a more extreme and terrifying manner. (Creed,1993, p139) Cut down One area of female representation that is more ambiguous is the figure of the Mother in the horror film genre. No longer could the killer be simply defined by gender. At the beginning of the 1960s audiences were subjected to a new kind of cinematic terror, as à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ explains in her essay: The monster was no longer out there; it was in here. The monster was the human mind. (Pg 160 Gary, J and Sheila, S (ed) Bitches, Bimbos and Virgins: Women in the Horror Film) As Hitchcocks psychological thriller Psycho was released The early sixties audience would be led to believe that the approachable Norman Bates (played by Antony Perkins) was simply a victim of his over-zealous mothers bullying. But as the plot unravelled, the film presented a deeply obsessive human mind as the real monster, as Steven Jay Schneider further explains: When used to shed light on horror cinema, psychoanalysis in its various forms has proven to be a frightful and provocative interpretive tool (Pg 187 Schneider, S. J. Horror Film and Psychoanalysis Freuds Worst Nightmare) The film follows its self-sufficient central female character, Marion Crane, jaded by her affair with a married man, as she embezzles a large amount of money from her male employer and leaves town in pursuit of a new life. On arrival at the infamous Bates Motel she meets the proprietor, the twitchy but approachable and, more importantly, passive Norman Bates, who is clearly attracted to Crane, something she comfortably takes in her stride, suggesting a non-passive female. However, on closer inspection, Marions actions throughout the first section of the film are defined by male characters she comes into contact with: her lover Sam, her male employer and the male client, the highway patrol officer and Norman Bates who all define her destiny with their attitudes towards her. Robert Kolker supports this theory: Psycho: à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦the mix of pleasure and pain common to all horror viewing, and aligned with a feminine subject position, is negotiated differently by men than by women. (p193 Alfred Hitchcocks Psycho: A Casebook edited by Robert Kolker) Throughout the first part of the film Marion is portrayed as feminine, attractive and defying the typical representation of women in horror films; however, from the perspective of the male gaze Bates watches Marion, unbeknown to her, through a hole in the wall as she undresses and prepares to shower. Normans eye is filmed in extreme close-up, drawing attention to the activity of the voyeurism. (1993, p145). As the camera lingers on her it is this scene that suggests that Hitchcock cannot break away fully from the traditions of the horror genre where the female becomes objectified and is observed from the gaze of the active male. Norman Bates mother is another female character significant to the plot, not seen but heard off-screen discouraging her son from having any social contact with the newly arrived female and, throughout most of the film, verbally abusing her son. Surrounded by stuffed birds, Bates even states a boys best friend is his mother. The viewer can assume that he is a loyal and reliable son. However, as Lacans theorys are refered :
Friday, September 20, 2019
The perspective of family systems theory
The perspective of family systems theory Family systems theory views the family from a system perspective. Therefore, the family is seen as a complex organisation where the components of the system interact with each other to form a whole. The focus is on the connectedness, interrelations and interdependence of all the parts (Family-Systems-Theory, n.d., para. 3). In other words, the focus of theories and the resultant therapeutic approaches is the relationships between sub units that make up the family. These sub units are always examined in relation to the whole and the context within which they exist. Many family system theories exist but for the purpose of our discussion, I will be focusing on the Structural Family Theory and Bowen Family System Theory. General systems theory from which family systems theory originates will also be examined within an organisational context. The structural theory posits that the emphasis should be on contextual problems and solutions rather than an individual. It focuses on family interactions to understand the structure or organization of the family. The theory consists of three major concepts namely family structure, family subsystems and boundaries. The family structure represents the operational rules that govern the way family members interact with each other (Goldenberg Goldenberg, 2000, p.198). It provides an understanding of the patterns that develop over time within a family to allow it to maintain stable while existing in a changing environment (Goldenberg Goldenberg, 2000). Family structure is governed by two sets of constraints; generic rule and idiosyncratic rules. Generic rules dictate the hierarchical structure of the family, which structuralists believes is a part of all well functioning families. This hierarchy is reflected in the power and authority differential between parent and children and older siblings and younger siblings. Generic rules are also seen in the different roles played by family members within the hierarchy. The roles are usually complementarity, such as the role of the husband and wife, which, results in the members working as a team to carry out the required functions of the family (Goldenberg Goldenberg, 2000). Idiosyncratic or individualized constraints are specific to the family and involves the mutual presumptions of particular family members regarding their behaviour towards each other (Goldenberg Goldenberg, 2000, p.199). The family sub systems are hierarchically arranged and exist to support tasks necessary for family functioning (Goldenberg Goldenberg, 2000). The primary sub systems of the family are spousal, parental and sibling. The sub systems are defined by interpersonal boundaries and rules of membership which regulate the amount of contract with other subsystems (Goldenberg Goldenberg, 2000, p.170). The spousal sub system is considered the most important subsystem, due to the integral role it plays in the stability and flexibility of the family. Formation of the sub system occurs when two people marry and start a new family. The stability and survival of the new unit is dependent on the ability of the couple to negotiate difference, accommodate each other and develop complementary roles, which will meet the need of each person (Becvar Becvar, 2003). The additional of a child changes the spousal subsystem into the parental sub system, with both systems coexisting simultaneously. The skills and roles necessary for the maintenance and functioning to the spousal subsystem are still used but the focus is on parenting of the child throughout the different developmental stages (Becvar Becvar, 2003). The sibling subsystem is comprised of the child or children within the family. It provides the medium within which children first experience peer relationship that helps them to work out difference and support each other. They also learn to deal with the parental subsystem as they navigate relationship changes between the subsystems throughout their development cycles (Goldenberg Goldenberg, 2000). The final component of the structuralist basic tenets is boundaries. Boundaries provide invisible demarcation between individual and sub systems, they determine the amount and kind of contract between family members (Becvar Becvar, 2003, p. 177). Boundaries can be, clearly defined, diffused or rigid. These classifications are dependent on the flexibility of the boundaries. Clearly defined boundaries are considered ideal as they promote independence and freedom for the individuals while providing support by the family. Diffused boundaries are too flexible and result in blurred lines of demarcation between subsystems. This leads to what Minuchin describes as enmeshment, conversely rigid and inflexible boundaries lead to isolation or disengagement (Goldenberg Goldenberg, 2000). Another systematic family theorist was Bowen who posits his Family System theory. His theory is based on eight interlocking relationship concepts of differentiation of self, triangles, nuclear family emotional system, family project process, emotional cut off, multigenerational transmission process, sibling position and societal emotional process. Differentiation of self involves the ability to be emotionally separate from other family members and the ability to distinguish feeling processes from intellectual processes. The separation of feeling and intellectual process allows the individual to avoid displaying behaviour driven automatically by emotions (Goldenberg Goldenberg, 2000.p. 172). Triangles are three person emotional units formed to diffuse or reduce emotional tension in an individual or their relationships. Dyads naturally exist within the family and function well in times of low stress and anxiety. A dyad is inherently unstable especially in times of anxiety and tension and so either party will seek to bring some one else in, which will change the dynamics of the interactions between the persons involved. The triangle is more stable and tolerant of stress than the dyad (Goldenberg Goldenberg, 2000). The triangle is the smallest stable relationship unit in the family, which allows members to balance closeness and distances while experiencing the least amount of anxiety (Goldenberg Goldenberg, 2000, p.174). The nuclear family emotional system is multigenerational as individual repeat the martial choices and other significant relationship patterns learnt from their family of origin (Goldenberg Goldenberg, 2000, p.176) Family projection process occurs mainly in the father- mother- child triangle where parents transmit their low levels of differentiation on the most susceptible child (Goldenberg Goldenberg, 2000). The level of projection is directly correlated to the levels of differentiation of the parents and the stress or anxiety the family experiences (Goldenberg Goldenberg, 2000, p.178). This family projection process often results in Bowens fifth concept of emotional cut off. Emotional Cut off is the attempt by child or children who are the focus of the family projection process to create emotional distance between themselves and their family of origin (Goldenberg Goldenberg, 2000). The multigenerational transmission process involves the transmission of specific levels of differentiation over several generations (Goldenberg Goldenberg, 2000, p. 180). This transmission takes place largely through the nuclear family emotional system and the family projection process. The Sibling position concept resulted from Bowens expansion of Tomans research on sibling position. Toman (as cited in Goldenberg and Goldenberg, 2000) posit, some fixed personality characteristics are developed by children based on their birth order (Goldenberg Goldenberg, 2000, p. 182). Bowen saw interactions patterns between spouses as a directly relation to their birth order in the family of origin as well their functional position. Societal Emotional Process looks at how emotional systems govern behaviour on a societal level, promoting both progressive and regressive periods in a society (Bowen Theory, n.d., para.1). Similar to the family in times of chronic stress (e.g. depletion of natural resources) society tends to react on an emotional level instead of on intellectual determined principles (Becvar Becvar, 1999). There are elements of both theories that I agree with based on my beliefs system. Bowens mutigenerational transmission process I believe helps to explain some of the interactions and patterns that are repeated across generations such as absentee fathers and teenage pregnancy. His concept of differential of self could hold some of answers to breaking some of these cycles. In that, if individuals within a family were to become more differentiated they would have a more developed sense of self, which should be reflected in a greater display of restraint, and better life choices based on intellectual reasoning. However, Bowen theory seems to be focused on the operations of the nuclear family while the structuralist theory can be more contextual applied to Jamaican society where the interaction of subsystems and boundaries within the family has resulted in family structures such as the single parent, blended, large and three generational. The importance placed on the family interactions and its resultant effect on the behaviour of its members purported by both theories is a belief that I also share. I believe that many of the problematic behaviour displayed by individuals are connected to the family of origin. I also support the emphasis placed by Minuchin on the spousal subsystem within the family structure. The failure of couples to properly maintain this subsystem while effectively negotiating and developing the parental subsystem leads to dysfunction, which sometimes results in the break down of the family. My family of origin was not nuclear therefore; I believe that the structuralist theory is more applicable. In accordance with the structuralist approach, my family consisted of the parent and sibling subsystem with diffused boundaries within the sub systems. The diffused boundaries resulted in enmeshment as the boundaries between the sibling and parental subsystems become blurred. The enmeshment was probably supported by the fact that our mother was a teenager mother. The children crossed from the sibling subsystem into the parental subsystem to assume some of the responsibilities to help our mother who was a single parent cope with the economic hardships of raring two children by herself. The boundaries became very diffused and authority and decision-making became shared more and more as we (the children) reached adolescence. The result was that by the time we got to early adulthood the roles were reversed and the parental role was largely assumed by the younger child in the family. The enmeshment resulted in the family being very emotional fused which resulted in emotional overdependence within the family. The level of enmeshment was particularly high between my mother and her younger child such that when the younger child married, mom saw it as betrayal. She felt abandoned and had a hard time adjusting to the change. The structuralist theory sees the therapist role as very active with the results of therapy been largely dependent on therapist who is the major instrument of change. The therapist joins and accommodates the family while assessing the structure to understand how they deal with problems and each other. The interactions of the therapist with the family are aimed at helping the individuals to focus on the behaviour of all the members and not just the identified patient. It also allows the members to see that change can be achieved through their interactions. The therapist uses techniques such as enactment (family members act out a scenario within the family) and then uses it for boundary marking (realigning boundaries), unbalancing (supporting one member in order to unbalance the family equilibrium) and reframing the problems as a function of the structure (Goldenberg Goldenberg, 2000, p.216). The main aim is to understand the existing organization of the family and to reorganize the structure to bring about change in the interactions, roles and functioning of the family. Similarly, the family system theory sees the therapist role as being very important but for them the therapist needs to be more detached. According to Bowen, the therapist has to ensure that they were not triangulated with the family and are to see themselves more as coaches in the therapeutic process. The therapeutic process involves an assessment of the family history as well as a history of the presenting problem. Genograms are used to record family history over at least three generations to help the family understand the emotional processes in an intergenerational context. The therapist also uses process questions to assess the patterns of emotional functioning within the family. The aim of therapy is to help family members manage their anxiety, help to detriangulate where necessary and to increase differentiation of self. Techniques used in therapy such as process questions and I statements are aimed at helping members reduce their level of reactivity to teach others actions (Goldenberg Goldenberg, 2000). System theory is also applicable to organizations and organization consultancy. Fuqua and Newman (as cited in Lowman 2002, p. 98) In system thinking organizations are thought of as dynamic whole systems which are comprised of subsystems that interact in complex, multidirectional and reciprocal inter-relationships. They identified four major organizational subsystems namely purposive, operational, methodological and psychosocial. The dynamics of an organization system is such that there is a constant inter play of influences between the organization structure, human behaviour and the extra organisational environment (Lowman, 2002). Consultant psychologist use system theory to understand, assess and develop interventions of organizational system with a view to maximize the quality of human life, which includes productivity (Lowman, 2002). In trying to accomplish these objectives the consultant helps people see the wholistic view of the organization through gaining an appreciation of the patterns of inter relationship within the organization. The consultant using the theory in assessing an organization and planning interventions will not focus on individual behaviour but will instead focus on the psychosocial subsystem, which represents the human or behavioral aspects of the organization (Lowman, 2002, p. 99). A systematic view of organization utilizes the principle of wholeness and mutli-causality. Wholeness focuses in the fact that the individual interactions product a whole that is greater than the individual components. Multi-causality implies that several actions can result in one outcome and one solution can cause multiple effects (Moe Perera-Diltz, 2009, p.29). These principles emphasize the fact that the consultant has use non-linear thinking while focusing on the organisational processes at work (Moe Perera-Diltz, 2009). Along with considering the interdependence of the system parts and the effects of actions on the system, the consultant has to determine the type of system. Systems can be either open or close, however most systems are considered inherently open. Open system are characterized by constant reciprocal interactions between extra-organisation factors and the organization system (Lowman, 2002, p. 89). An open system is therefore more receptive to change compared to a closed system where the focus is on maintenance of the status quo. The consultant understanding of the type of system helps to determine the planned approach to implementing change in the organizations (Moe Perera-Diltz, 2009). Additionally the consultant has to consider the level of participation in the change process that is achievable. Inclusion broadens ownership of the issues and the proposed changes while exclusion can motivate persons to resist change and create a sense of isolation (Lowman, 2002,). The use of systems theory by the counseling and consulting psychologist within the family and organization to bring about change in the quality of life of the affected individuals and the resultant social systems that they are a part of is very important. It emphasizes the importance of the whole and not the individual parts and how the dynamics and inter dependence of the parts affect the system.
Thursday, September 19, 2019
Denmark Vesey Essay -- essays research papers
     Denmark Vesey was an African-American leader of an attempted slave insurrection in 1822. After many years as a slave, he won $1,500 in a lottery. Vesey used this money to purchase his freedom. He used his intelligence, energy, and luck to acquire considerable wealth and influence in South Carolina. All of these factors helped lead to the largest attempted slave revolt in American history. David Robertson’s book Denmark Vesey outlines his life as a slave, to his freedom, to his execution, and the consequences of the aftermath.      South Carolina was one of the only states in which the black slaves and abolitionists outnumbered their oppressors. Denmark Vesey’s slave revolt consisted of over nine-thousand armed slaves, free blacks, and abolitionists, that would have absolutely devastated society in South Carolina for slave owners, and could have quite possibly been a major step towards the abolishment of slavery in the United states. Robertson succeeded in describing the harsh conditions of slaves in pre-civil war Charleston, South Carolina. This book also helped me to understand the distinctions between the different groups. These groups including the black slaves, free blacks, extreme abolitionists, and the pro-slavery communities.      David Robertson’s Denmark Vesey is sub-titled ‘The Buried History of America’s Largest Slave Rebellion and the Man Who Led It.’ This title is extremely appropriate because of the lack of available information regarding the Denmark Vesey rebellion. No one knows the details of the former-slave’s life such as his background, birthplace [â€Å"It is not confirmable whether Vesey was born in Africa or the West Indies.†], place of execution, or physical appearance. Charlestonian officials considered all facts and records of the plans of the revolt to be too dangerous to keep, with the fear of another slave being negatively influenced by them. Nearly all copies of the record of the event, an official report of his trial, and other information were confiscated and burned. The Denmark Vesey revolt is nearly forgotten because of this. Considering the resources that were available to Robertson, Denmark Vesey was well researched, and f actual, without his own opinion showing through too much. For these thoughts he added in his own chapter â€Å"A Personal Conclusion.†... ...ible, even though the book is relatively short. Denmark Vesey gives a good foundation of information on the subject, but is lacking in certain areas.      In spite of its deterioration, the aftermath of the revolt had extensive consequences. Robertson particularized them with references to John Calhoun fortifying South Carolina before the civil war occurred. It also left a scare in the people’s minds, and was another small step towards the abolishment of slavery. Robertson analyzed the aftermath in a variety of aspects, including the effects on the public, and the government.      Denmark Vesey by David Robertson, is an important contribution to American historiography. His â€Å"detective story†is about a forgotten event, which is commonly overlooked when studying American history. It is undeniable that if the Denmark Vesey revolt had taken place, American history would have been changed forever, with ideas about slavery being changed, and the complete destruction of Charleston, South Carolina. David Robertson adequately relayed the event in a way that portrayed Denmark Vesey to be a hero, and a source of pride for African-Americans.
Wednesday, September 18, 2019
The Curse Of Right And Wrong :: essays research papers
THE CURSE OF RIGHT AND WRONG Many people treat ethics like a good set of dishes, something to be saved just for special occasions. A monitor poll shows that most Americans think that their country's moral standards are falling and that stronger families must be the solution. Widespread evidence of moral decay can be found in nearly every American city. Things such as sleazy movies, vulgar TV shows, neglected children, and broken families are the type of things most people oppose. In every major region in the country, a majority of people polled agreed that the Nations values have weakened since the 1950's. That view is particularly evident in the South and West. However, there is evidence that shows morality could have also been a problem in our Nations history, especially in politics. President Thomas Jefferson faced longstanding rumors about sexual involvement with one of his slaves, Sally Hemings. President Grover Cleveland laid to rest accusations about fathering an illegitimate child by taking responsibility for that child. In recent years politicians have been caught with prostitutes and survived. Others have admitted to infidelity and seen their political careers plummet. The fact that morality seems to be in decline may be, in large part, due to the media. Advancements in technology have made it possible for peoples lives to be quickly and more widely known; therefore, making the public more aware of what is happening. Â Â Â Â Â When Americans look for something to blame for declining morals, they point straight at the media, particularly the entertainment media, and especially TV. Jason Sines of Chase, Md., says 'the worst is television.'; He notes that TV is readily available in the home, and harder to avoid. Other sources like magazines, movies and other media require a trip to the store or the theater. Sines views are widely shared. More than 3 out of 4 Americans say that the values portrayed on television are getting worse. Because of this, children are much more aware of things they shouldn't know about until later in life. Â Â Â Â Â 'Effects of the 'moral climate' also show up with children, who often reflect both physical and emotional neglect,'; says Ann Echard, a second grade teacher, 'in part because their parents are struggling to keep their heads above the water, and in part simply because some parents are just being selfish.'; When Americans search for answers to moral problems, they often look to the family.
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