The Judiciary Committee of the Virginia State Bar Association Essay

The Judiciary Committee of the Virginia State Bar Association - Essay Example The membership of the Virginia State Bar is restricted to five categories that are active members, associate members, disabled and retired members, judicial members, and the emeritus members. Each group of members has defined roles and responsibilities that are aimed at ensuring the Bar’s responsibility to the state is achieved in the most integrated way possible. Members also belong to different committees with the Judicial Candidate Evaluation Committee being responsible for the consideration and search of appropriate nominees to fill any judicial vacancies. The constitution of the committee is thirteen active members. These members are carefully selected to ensure that each of the ten existing disciplinary districts in Virginia is represented, while the other three are from the state. Each member’s election restricts them to remain in office for only three year terms after which they are no longer eligible candidates. In addition, the election of the committee members is by the Council upon the recommendation of the nominating committee.

Obsessive Compulsive Disorder Essay Example for Free

Obsessive Compulsive Disorder Essay According to the American Psychiatric Association (APA) Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD) depicts a condition in which persons demonstrate an abnormal degree of obsession or compulsion in relation to specific daily activities (as cited in Gournay, Curran Rogers, 2006, p. 60). Obsessions are persistent thoughts or mental images while compulsions are recurrent behaviors that are performed specifically to relieve obsessions (as cited in Gournay, et al, 2006, p. 60). Obsessions usually cause considerable distress and anxiety for the individual and as a result actions (compulsions) are performed to diminish the anxiety caused by the obsessive thoughts or images, Stein (2002) highlights that compulsions are not necessarily observable but could take the form of mental rituals (p. 397). Everyday life experiences usually reveal some amount of obsession or compulsion but do not usually affect normal activities to a significant extent. Often such compulsions are necessary, excusable and natural and therefore do not cause considerable distress. The distinction between these behaviors and the behaviors associated with OCD is in the frequency with which they are carried out, the motivations behind the behaviors and the level of anxiety experienced (Gournay et al, 2006, p. 60). OCD is present when the behaviors reach the extent of preventing the individual from functioning properly in normal everyday activities. For OCD diagnosis, the American Psychiatric Association specifies that there must be the presence of the obsessions or compulsions as discussed above. Additionally these mental processes or behaviors must take up a significant amount of time, usually more than an hour each day (as cited in Geffken et al, 2004, p. 46). It is important to discern the distinction between the obsessive and compulsive behaviors demonstrated by persons with OCD as being significantly different from delusions that are evidenced in various other disorders. The most commonly used treatment method for OCD is cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) which has been accounted with an over 80 percent success rate (Geffken et al, 2004, p. 46). This procedure uses the two techniques of exposure and response prevention. In exposure the patient is made to face up to their fears. This procedure seeks to reinforce model behavior by having the patients getting accustomed to refraining from the behaviors that they feel compelled to participate in. By being repeatedly exposed to the anxiety-causing stimulus the patients eventually develop a tolerance for the anxiety and the anxiety itself decreases. The other procedure is response or ritual prevention which uses the principle of negative reinforcement. Individuals have to endure and suppress the anxiety caused by the mental images or thoughts and therefore avoid attempts to reduce the anxiety by participating in the unwanted behavior. Research has found that both procedures are equally as effective in decreasing and eventually removing obsessive thoughts and compulsive behavior (Geffken, et al, 2004, p. 46). Of the two the exposure and response form of CBT is probably the most effective treatment alternative for OCD in adults and children. In addition to CBT there are a number of drugs developed for the treatment of OCD and a few other depressive disorders. Many have proven to be effective in treating adult OCD. Among these are serotonergic agents such as clomipramine, fluvoxamine, fluoxetine and sertraline. There are also citalopram and paroxetine but these two have not yet been approved by the Food and Drug Administration (Storch Merlo, 2006, p. 329). However, more and more research is suggesting that a combination type treatment that utilizes CBT and prescription drugs have the most numerical and long term success. Anonymous (2004) reports that, Â  in a randomized study with three distinct groups of patients treated with either CBT along with sertraline, CBT alone, sertraline alone or a placebo, 53.6% of participants in the combination CBT and sertraline group showed a 100% improvement of their symptoms. Comparative results for the control groups were 39.3% with the use of CBT only, 21.4% with the use of sertraline only and 3.6% with the use of a placebo (p. 1156). References Anonymous. (2004, Dec). Combination therapy best for obsessive disorders. AORN Journal, 80(6), 1156. Geffken G. R., Storch, E. A., Gelfand, K. M, Adkins, J. W. Goodman, W. K. (2004, Dec). Cognitive-behavioral therapy for obsessive-compulsive disorder: Review of treatment techniques. Journal of Psychosocial Nursing Mental Health Services, 42(12), 44-53. Gournay K., Curran, J. Rogers, P. (2006, Apr 26). Assessment and management of obsessive compulsive disorder. Nursing Standard, 20(33), 59-66 68. Stein D. (2002, Aug 3). Obsessive-compulsive disorder. Lancet, 360(9330), 397-405. Storch, E. A. Merlo, L. J. (2006, Apr). Obsessive-compulsive disorder: Strategies for using CBT and pharmacotherapy. Journal of Family Practice, 55(4), 329-333.

The Primary Method Of Maintaining Organizational Culture Commerce Essay

The Primary Method Of Maintaining Organizational Culture Commerce Essay Explain the primary methods of maintaining organizational culture. What can management do to create a more ethical culture? Organizational Culture refers to the shared values, beliefs and assumptions of how members of an organization are expected to behave The values that characterize an organisation. In essence, how an organization functions and gives meaning to its way of doing things is the purpose and function of culture, and this helps to foster internal integration, bring staff members from all levels of the organization much closer together, and enhances their performance. It is sometimes argued that an organizations current customs, traditions and general way of doing things can be due to what it has done before and the successes experienced. Culture is believed to always mainly go through a three way creation process, which starts with the recruitment stage, where management employs individuals who think and feel the way they do. The recruits are then indoctrinated and soci alized according to the way of thinking and feeling of the organization. And the third stage is where managements own behaviors act as a role model that encourages employees to identify with them thereby internalizing their beliefs, values and assumptions. This is why the founders of an organization traditionally have a major impact on that organizations early culture. Also, as much as culture-creation is important, much of the work usually lie with managements strategies in place to maintain the existing culture. 2.0 Methods of maintaining organizational culture As already mentioned, culture creation is one thing and its maintenance is another. Once the culture has been established and recognized in an organization, there are certain practices within the organization that should act to support and maintain it. These practices are deemed crucial to the maintenance of culture and they include the selection practices of management, actions of the top management team, and socialization methods. The selection process includes identifying and hiring individuals who have the knowledge, skills and abilities to perform the jobs within the organization successfully. This process provides information to applicants about the organization. With the information available, candidates will be able to learn about the organization and, if they perceive a conflict between their values and those of the organization they can quit out of the selected pool. Also, actions of the executive management team have a major impact on the organizations culture. Most times an organizations executive management team establishes norms that filter down through the organization through what they say, as to whether risk taking is desirable; how much freedom managers should give their employees; what is considered an appropriate dress; what actions will pay off in terms of pay rises, promotions and other rewards. But no matter how good a job the organization does in recruiting and selecting new employees, th ese employees will always find it difficult to be fully indoctrinated in the organizations culture if there is no appropriate socialization and this has to do with the third aspect. In essence, the organization would want new employees to adapt to its culture. Socialization involving adaptation is when the organization tries to mold an outsider into an employee. This action further contributes towards the maintenance of an organizational culture. 3.0 How Management can create a more Ethical Culture The culture-creation stage is very important to any organization. How management create a more ethical culture is crucial to the sustainability of the organizational culture. Like I mentioned earlier, the process of culture-creation is believed to happen in three ways. But in all of these, management plays a leading role. Most times employees behaviors are primarily influenced by the behaviors of an organizations management team. From the onset, management can reduce ethical ambiguities through appropriate communications to the employees, the organizations code of ethics and ethical expectations. This code of ethics is expected to include the organizations primary values and the ethical rules that employees are expected to follow. Additionally, management can provide training on ethical issues which can be used to reinforce the organizations standards of conduct, to make certain clarifications on the does and donts and to address possible ethical dilemmas. It is important that management consider rewards to employees for good ethical acts and likewise punish for nonconformance. These actions of management most times prove successful in helping to create a more ethical culture in organization. Question 2: Define the merits of the Mckinsey 7-S Framework for use as an assessment tool and discuss what you think is missing in the basic 7-S Framework. Answer 1.0 Introduction The Mckinsey 7-S framework is an assessment tool developed to diagnose the causes of organizational problems and to formulate programs for improvement. What this model is saying is that for an organization to perform well, there are seven elements that needs to be aligned and mutually reinforced. The model helps to identify what needs to be realigned to improve performance. This 7-S framework model was first mentioned in a publication titled, Art of Japanese Management by Richard Pascale and Anthony Athos in 1981 whiles they were investigating how Japanese industries had been successful. Around this same time, two leading management consultants, Tom Peters and Robert Waterman of the Mckinsey Company Consulting Firm were also exploring what made a company excellent. Out of the works of these four scholars, the 7-S model was eventually born. After it reappeared in Peters and Watermans famous publication, In Search of Excellence, it was taken up as a basic tool by the Global Management Consultancy Company Mckinsey. Ever since then, it became the famous Mckinsey 7-S Model. This model involves the seven interdependent factors outlined below. Shared Values (also known as superordinate goals) The shared values element refers to the central beliefs and attitudes of the organization what the organization stands for, its core values and its corporate/team culture. Shared values or superordinate goal are the core values of the company that are evidenced in the corporate culture and the general work ethic. These goals are the fundamental ideas around which a business is built. They can also be seen as the blood notions for future directions of the organization. Placing superordinate goals at the center of the model indicates that these values crucial to the elements of all the other critical elements. The companys structure, strategy, staff, styles and skills all stem from why the organization was originally created and what it stands for. This is because the initial vision of the company was formed from the values of the creator and as the values change it affects the other elements also. Structure (how the organization is structured) This element explains how the company/team is divided, how the team members organize and align themselves, the communication lines, and the organizational hierarchy. In such, the structure element refers to the way in which the organizations units relate to each other. It has to do primarily with arrangements about report relationships, line of communication, rules and procedures which exist to guide the various activities performed by various hierarchical position in the organizational structure. It more or less refers to the formal relationship among various positions and activities performed in the organization. Strategy How an organization intends to achieve its objective is very important. Also, how its strategies are adjusted for environmental issues and to deal with competitive pressure is equally important. Strategy here refers to plans for the allocation of a firms scarce resources over time to reach desired goals. Strategies are long-term objectives of the organization devised to maintain and build competitive advantage over the competition. Style (style of leadership adopted in an organization) The style of leadership in any organization is also crucial to the success of that organization. This specifically refers to the cultural style of the organization and how key managers behave to achieving the organizational goals. It is the pattern of the management team and the tool they use to bring about organizational changes. Staff (employees and their general capabilities) Also important is the staffing issue. This refers to the number and type of personnel used by the organization. Staffing is the process of acquiring human resources for the organization and assuring that they have the potential to contribute to the achievement of the organizational goals. It involves the selection, placement, training and development of appropriate and qualified employees. Systems It is always important to consider the systems that run an organization as vital in the 7-S model. This shows the procedures, processes and routines that characterize how the work is done in the organization. Every organization has a system of operation. It refers to the rules, regulations, procedures that compliment the organization structure. Depending on the size and type of organization, there could be financial system, recruitment, promotion and performance appraisal system, capital budgeting system, training and development system, information system, etc. Skills Skills specifically points out to the distinctive capability of the personnel or the organization as a whole. The strongest skills represented within the company can make a difference in its success. It is important to know whether the current employees/team members have the ability to do the job as expected and how are the skills monitored and assessed to determine whether there are gaps. 2.0 The Seven Elements Categorized As already stated above, the Mckinsey 7-S Model involves seven interdependent factors, which can be categorized as either Hard or Soft elements (see table below). Hard Elements Soft Elements Systems Staff Strategy Shared Values Structure Skills Style 2.0 What is missing in the 7-S Model A careful study of the Mckinsey 7-S Model reveals that it only provides an internal analysis of an organization. That means, the external environment is not mentioned in the 7-S model. Question 3: How can you personally reduce prejudice in this world? Discuss the problems of prejudice in the work place and provide one example of how you can change this. Answer 1.0 Introduction Prejudice refers to a situation where one makes a basic facts are available. It is a discriminatory attitude that keeps people from dealing with a person or a situation objectively. That is, it blocks your objectivity and causes you to see things not as they are. Today, prejudice in any form, racial or social, is destructive and costly to society and hence every effort must be made to reduce it if not eliminate it. 2.0 How we can personally reduce Prejudice in this world There are many ways we can direct efforts to reducing prejudice in the world. Each of us personally have a responsibility to confront prejudice wherever we sense it and do in our own little way to reduce the level of discrimination in our societies. From the above definition, we can start the job by asking certain questions about ourselves, and quiet literally creating a checklist to challenge our own values and views. Whenever we are tempted with this vice, we must pause to ask ourselves the following questions: Is this true? Area all the facts available? Am I over generalizing? Am I focusing on one or two negative aspects instead of considering the whole picture? Am I labeling this group or person unfairly? One will realize at the end of it all that by just making the first step of looking at and questioning the common sense views we hold about people, groups and cultures would be a major step forward in opening our eyes to our own levels of prejudice and challenging the pre-conceptions we hold. There are many other methods of approaching the reduction of prejudicial behavior. One of these has to do with tolerance, which more or less is the appreciation of diversity and the ability to live and let others live. Tolerance refers to our ability to exercise a fair and objective attitude towards those whose opinions, practices, religion, nationality and so on differ from ones own. The approach here is that as individuals, we must continually focus on being tolerant of others in their daily lives. Individuals with religious beliefs can reduce prejudice if they stop following intolerant teachings of religious texts. One example of how we can reduce prejudice in this regard is by reducing our own prejudices thereby reducing prejudice in our communities. Also, our exposure to other cultures, or rather our lack of it, greatly influences our understanding of what is normal behavior and what is not. The fact is that people who strongly identify with their group and have limited exposure to different cultures, people and culture are more likely to consider the values of other groups as alien and therefore be prejudice against them. As an example of how we can help reduce prejudice in this world, we must endeavor to tolerate other cultures that are alien to ours. Others believe that we must try to live as compassionate as possible without sacrificing our principles. 3.0 The problems of prejudice in the work places There are many problems associated with prejudice in our work places. These problems range from racial discrimination to other social issues. In the case of social prejudice, it kills motivation and raises overhead cost of a business. This could be in different forms such as, I am better than them, I come from a better neighborhood, I have a better education and authority and therefore I must make all the decisions, etc. Racial or social prejudice carries a heavy price, lowers efficiency and increases overhead cost. Racial prejudice is more prominent in western countries. In mot cases prejudice create barriers between white-collar and blue-collar employees. One of the harmful things about prejudice in work places is that it kills communications, innovations and many other good attributes that drives a business to success. For instance, departments will limit communication with other departments; craftsmen will consider production workers of low intelligence to name two. At each level, people believe lower levels have low capabilities and this becomes the mindset of the organization. Self-fulfilling prophecy proves everyone right. 3.1 Example of how we can change the problem of prejudice in our work places Lets consider and incident that occurs in one of the outlets of the organization I am working for. It is a health service provider unit that supports health insurance scheme operating in a division within my organization. A patients chart was labeled High Risk in respect of HIV infection and made clearly visible to other patients and other members of staff, an action that the management of our company actually frowned at. On further investigation, we found out that the information had only been put on display because the man was known to be homosexual and so thought of as being at risk from HIV. Everybody, including the nurses started behaving strangely to the patient and in a discriminatory way even before we realized the truth about the matter. I publicly reached out and started encouraging the patient even before I knew the facts. I engaged the patients and it was through this I came to realize that the man was a homosexual and with such information I decided to push for investiga tion on the matter. With this effort the truth was revealed. In another instance, one of our frontline staff at the customer service department had refused to give one of our customers an appropriate attention whilst the man was requesting for his pension payment. Upon inquiry the staff replied to me that he knows the man and that he is a drunker who does not deserve to be treated seriously. Questioning the man, we realized that he knows what he wants and his rights as a customer. After I witnessed a repetition of such behaviors from our frontline staff, I requested Management to design a comprehensive customer service training program for our frontline staff which includes a teaching on how we can reduce prejudice in discharging our official duties. Another effort I am making to change the prejudicial behaviors in our workplaces is through a deliberate effort to encourage colleagues from other religions and tribes. In the case of tribal prejudice, it is so evident in our company but I am making enough effort to reduce it through the making of close friend from other tribes.

Tension In California Politics Essay -- American Government, Proposit

Being part of a nation that is founded on the pillars of democracy, it seems to make sense to give the people a voice in the governing process. In California as well as other states, the initiative and referendum process is a tool of direct democracy utilized by the citizens. California allows statutory and constitutional initiatives to be placed on the ballot. In a utopian world, direct democracy is an ideal form of governance for it gives the people the power to decide; however, direct democracy is an idealistic tool for it gives the ability to create policy and constitutional changes to people who are not knowledgeable of the issue. William Jennings Bryan argues that direct democracy such as the initiative and referendum process does not decrease the importance of the legislative body nor does it take away the authority of the legislators elected into the legislature. However, it is evident that past propositions had a great impact on the function of the legislature by changing its institutional processes and norms. Through the passage of different initiatives pertaining to the legislature, it is undeniable that the relationship of direct democracy and the California legislature has created tension in Californian politics. In order to understand how the tension formed, we must address the changes that the initiatives brought to the legislative system. Addressing the consequence and benefit of the passage of propositions on the legislature is crucial in understanding the formed tension. We must also address how direct democracy has impeded the function of the legislature. By tackling these issues, we will better understand the tension it created in Californian politics. First, initiatives like any other issues have two sid... ...th the legislative body. The premise that direct democracy has impeded the job of the legislature is evident. We see that the usage of direct democracy has created a tension in California politics. The initiative process is not solely used by the citizens but by legislators as well. Tension is created when the job of legislator and the function of the legislature are affected. However, there is lack of tension when the initiative benefits the legislature. The constraint created by the passage of Proposition 13 and 140 contribute to the tension and only reinforces it. Although we see a tension between direct democracy and the California legislature, it does not mean the legislature lost its full authority but rather slowly decrease some of it. The legislature cannot lose full authority for the legislative body is an integral part of representative governing.

Rich World Poor World

Debt is made when one party owes party money (Sofas, 2005). Just like people, governments of both developed and developing nations borrow money in order to function well and to maintain their economies (George, 1994). Debt is the economic mode that promotes economic activity in the global market (Lombard, 2004). The acquisition of debt comes through loans, grants and aid that are provided to developed and developing nations by multilateral creditors and bilateral lenders George, 1994).These creditors are international institutions such as the International Monetary Fund (MIFF), the World Bank (WEB) and other banking institutions (Millet & Toasting, 2004). The international community with their neo-liberal approach and capitalist notions of eradicating poverty was through, economic growth and development (Schaeffer, 2009). Due to increased profits (petrol-dollars) made off increased oil prices developing countries were encouraged and some even coerced to borrow money from developed na tions in the sass's and sass (George, 1994).Although their profits were invested in Western banks it did not yield impressive returns thus encouraging the global South to acquire debt (George, 1994). The global South grasped the opportunity and borrowed money to advance their infrastructure (roads and dams) and also fund industrial projects in their countries Airman, 2006). Some countries even borrowed more money what they needed. So keen the developed nations were to borrow money that they disregarded any moral and ethical standards they might have had, and granted loans knowingly, to corrupt governments and military regimes (George, 1994).Unfortunately like everything else this spending spree did not last and came to a sudden halt in the sass's, which even left the United States economy in a recession (Study Guide, 2012). Developing countries had borrowed so much money that domestic currency and macro- economies collapsed, paralyzing everything Airman, 2006). This created the firs t international debt crisis of the inalienable era (George, 1994). When Mexico announced their inability to make debt repayments in 1982, it shocked the financial community (Ambition, 2004).The impact of the debt crisis affected the entire global racket, causing interests to rise, commodity prices to fall, and income earnings to fall (Lombard, 2004). All this eventually made it difficult for developing nations to make debt repayments. The Western nations acted quickly and gained control of their economy and for them the debt crisis was soon over (George, 1994). Unfortunately the debt crisis and the nightmare for the poor developing countries were far from being.In fact it had only Just begun when they found themselves faced with much bigger debt than they initially acquired this despite having made repayments since the sass's (George, 1994). Even though Mexico was the first to default on their debt panic (Lombard, 2004). Growing concerns for the financial stability of the lending in stitutions, major creditors, and international financial institutions, sought new strategies to address the lending criteria in order to bring debt relief (Millet ; Toasting, 2004).This resulted in the implementation of the Highly Indebted Poor Countries Initiatives (HIP), and the Multilateral Debt Relief Initiatives, under the supervision of the World Bank and the International Monetary fund (Sofas, 2005). According to the MIFF and the World Bank these organizations were the answer to the bet crisis (Sofas, 2005). The notion that the debt crisis is over, is purely a myth and we will see. This essay will reveal the causes and impacts that resulted from these debt relief organizations, and incinerate the myth of the debt crisis having been addressed.The debt crisis affected the lives and dreams of many people living in developing countries Airman, 2006). Debt is nothing new but as the debt crisis grew the gap between the rich and poor widened Airman, 2006). A country debt is not just measured by the size of their particular debt, but also clearly how it impacts or effects that nation's economy Airman, 2006). A country GAP (gross domestic product) per capita is also a clear indication of a countries capacity to not only service their debt, but to also ensure that the health and well-being of their citizens are met (George, 1994).If this does not happen then clearly there is a problem, not Just a financial one but a humanitarian one (George, 1994). This was the result for many poor developing countries that led to the debt crisis Airman, 2006). But it was not only developing nations that had debt, United States is the world's biggest debtor tit $6 trillion being owed at 2002 Airman, 2006). The total debt owed by developing nations in the world came to 2. 5 trillion dollars in 1999 Airman, 2006). In Nicaragua (Latin America) their debt repayments in 2004 consumed 43% of their total earnings Airman, 2006).Many commentators argued that the debt crisis was also due t o irresponsible lending by the Western Nations (Millet ; Toasting, 2004). Like the Bhutan nuclear power station in the Philippines, that was built on a volcano in 1974 Airman, 2006). A clear indication where misleading advice caused poor developing overspent to make wrong decisions Airman, 2006). A nuclear power plant that had never ever been used, but a debt that was incurred with interest are expected to still be repaid Airman, 2006). What exploitation of the poor!The Jubilee 2000 (social justice group) lobby's that debt crisis be recognized and that unjust debt like the Philippines be cancelled Airman, 2006). They argued that poor countries cannot afford to make repayments without meeting the basic needs (education, food, healthcare) of their citizens (Cheer, 2002). They maintain that debt was conducted on unfair terms and contracted illegally (Cheer, 2002). Jubilee argues that all debts be forgiven because it perpetuates a balance of power Voluble Debt Campaign, 2007).The soluti on for the debt crisis was restructuring the debt of developing and developed countries (Millet & Toasting, 2004). The International Monetary Fund and the World Bank formed Structural Adjustments Programmed (SAPS), to provide debt relief and bring it to sustainable levels in order to maintain repayments (Millet & Toasting, 2004). SAP's were conditionality's set up specifically for poor developing countries to meet their debt repayment obligations (Cheer, 2002).They squired that poor developing countries raise interest rates, cut government barriers on trade, increase their export production and even cancelled subsides on local food production and healthcare (Cheer, 2002). This was met with criticism and caused outrage in the world. Critics argued that the West used controlling measures to control the economic policies in the poor developing counters Voluble, 2000). When Jamaica signed up with the MIFF and SAP conditionality's, they experienced catastrophic impacts Airman, 2006).Soci al service spending dropped 50% between 1980 and 1986, unemployment rose, living conditions deteriorated, infant illumination, poverty levels increased and even school pass rate dropped by 50% Airman, 20060) Not only poor developing countries had conditionality's imposed but even developed nations like New Zealand experienced the wrath of the Miff's Airman, 2006) SAP's were abandoned and the MIFF and World Bank launched the Highly Indebted Poor countries Initiative (HIP) in 1996 (Cheer, 2002).The HIP was implemented to act as an international relief mechanism, in order to reduce bilateral, multilateral and commercial debt to a â€Å"sustainable level† in poor developing counties (Cannot & Mammogram, 2009). The principle objective was to reduce debt burdens and to ensure that no poor country through restructuring was compromised, that would cause them to default on their debt repayments (Cannot & Mammogram, 2009). In other words, their mission was to assist to a certain point and then ensure that the creditors and lenders still got their money!Just like the SAP's, the Hip's initiative came with conditionality's (Cohen, 2000). The eligibility criteria required that a country be very poor, have no unsustainable debt burden and have a reformed policies track record, all under the guidance of the MIFF and the World Bank, of course (Cohen, 2000). This eligibility process was further imposed with more conditionality's until a country came to the â€Å"completion point† (George, 1994). The HIP was met with criticism because only 30 countries benefited under the HIP intuitive, and that the eligibility process took too long causing further danger to poor developing countries (Cohen, 2000).The â€Å"one size fits all† notion was unfortunately not working, because they failed to address the real issues of the inability of countries being able to provide for the basic needs of their citizens Airman, 2006). Jubilee activists pressured the MIFF and the W orld Bank with a petition at the 68, with the mission to write off all debt completely (Cohen, 2000). The enhanced HIP initiative was then launched and implemented. The enhanced HIP initiative was to provide stronger, faster, deeper and broader debt relief (Cohen, 2000). The 67 and bilateral creditors promised 100% debt relief for highly indebted poor countries (Cohen, 2000).This was unfortunately empty promises. Further protests and pressure to â€Å"drop the debt† led to Millennium Development Goals (MEG) being launched in 2000, as a benchmark for measuring the reduction of poverty (Sofas, 005). Meg's were goals set to eradicate extreme hunger and poverty, to achieve universal education, promote gender equality and empower women, reduce child mortality, improve material health, combat HIVE/AIDS, malaria and other diseases, ensure environmental sustainability and develop a global partnership for development (Sofas, 2005).In conjunction to this the Multilateral Debt Relief In itiative (MIDI) was launched in 2005 at the â€Å"Make Poverty History campaign in the UK (Sofas, 2005). MIDI was about granting debt relief and their requirement was Although many countries benefited from debt relief, only 23 countries reached implosion point and 10 reached the decision point. The HIP initially promised to cancel $63. 4 billion, but only $45. 4 billion delivered in April 2008 Airman, 2006). In April 2008 MIDI promised $50 billion cancellation, but cancellation delivered only $42. Billion Airman, 2006). All this structures and organizations that were set in place only looked to help poor developing countries on a superficial level (Cheer, 2002). The impacts of the debt crisis led to devaluation of local county currencies as inflation increased. Import costs rose, debts increased proportionally and there were he rise in export (Cheer, 2002). Employment opportunities were not enough to offset these losses. Poor developing countries made loans on the notion that their export taxes would be able to repay or maintain their loans (Cheer, 2002).Government's commitment to pay their debt came with conditionality's that exhausted their economies, unemployment increased due to income and living standards declined. When health care and food subsidies were cancelled by international creditors it forced food prices to soar causing families not able to feed themselves. This led to malnutrition and poor health. According to Jubilee Campaign (2000) Just like debt, Aids is a ‘killer† and although sickness and diseases adversely affected men, it hurt both women and children (Cheer, 2002).The burden of meeting their debt repayments caused some to compromise on the health status of their citizens (Cheer, 2002). South Africa has the largest HIVE/Lads infected population 4. 2 million) more than 12% of its people and this affects their employment market (Cheer, 2002). A health crisis that caused the health of lawyers, doctors, ordinary workers and teache rs unable to be active in their Job market, further affecting the countries social economy (Cheer, 2002). Teachers that had HIVE/AIDS are unable to work, then unable to buy medication which ultimately leads to ill-health and even death (Cheer, 2002).Disease, epidemics and pandemics places a huge burden on a countries health sector (Cheer, 2002). Children from these families suffered too because when one parent was affected some were kept home so the other could go work. If both suffered from Hides it often left children orphaned (Cheer, 2002). Girls in unemployed families were often kept home, while boys were sent to school because the cost of education was too dear. This increases the gender inequality in developing countries (Cheer, 2002).Due to unemployment, rise in prices and taxes most people in developing countries were living well below the poverty line (Thrall, 2008). According to Thrall (2008), the economic and social development of the world's poorest countries is perhaps the greatest challenge facing society at the present moment (Thrall, 2008). Over 1 billion of the 6 billion populations live in absolute poverty and suffering malnutrition (Cheer, 2002). The MIFF and the World Bank entrapped highly indebted poor countries with foreign debt that far exceeded heir entire national yearly income (Cheer, 2002).In 2000, the debt repayments of sub-Sahara African countries were about 38% of their individual country budgets (Cheer, 2002). This is unreal and even immoral, that a country earnings through import and export, is overshadowed by an unbearable burden of debt repayments (Cheer, 2002). When debt repayments affects the basic needs of any country, and a country is unable to maintain their social obligations of providing health, education by the window society survival is really slim. Hughes (1999) argues that debts hooked not be forgiven because the debt crisis is the developing nations own fault.Corrupt governments caused their countries to be in this situations and conditionality's are they only way to maintain control (Hughes, 1999). There are too many flaws in the so called economic model, and we have created a society where material gain supersedes moral and ethical commitments and standards. I believe an erosion of trust erupted, because of the exploitation of the poor by the rich colonists. The fallacy of promoting poverty reduction and debt relief had surfaced, ND exposed that the Western strategies was built on greed and power.So has the debt crisis been addressed, unfortunately not? If the international community is serious about the Hip and the MIDI initiatives then their design needs to be improved in favor of developing countries. The focus should be less on filling the coffers of the West but, instead maximize burden sharing. Have a heart and share in the burden of the developing nations by ensuring that projections are more realistic. The HIP and the MIDI could maybe become responsible for ensuring that the interna tional community commit to reducing poverty and reach their millennium goals.The mission to transform societies, improve the lives of the poor, eradicate poverty, encourage and enforce the right to healthcare, education and economic growth, is what true development is all about. By completely writing off, deleting all foreign debt gives all countries an opportunity to start afresh. This then could be the start of bridging the gap between the wealthy West and the poor South. The creation of a new world order where there is no suffering and the right to live is not questioned, but encouraged, the way it should be.

The Beauty of the Tropical Monsoon Climate

The tropical monsoon climate is found in those regions where there is a complete seasonal reversal of winds. It is mainly found beyond the equatorial region between 10Â ° and 25Â ° North and South of the Equator. On-shore summer winds blowing from over tropical warm oceans generate the abundant precipitation, while the off-shore winds from over land make the weather dry during winter. The most clearly defined monsoon climates are located in the coastal areas of the eastern and southern Asia. For example, India, Burma, Bangladesh, Indochina, Southern China and the Philippines experience a tropical monsoon climate.Surface relief, direction of the coast line and the extension of the monsoon into middle-latitudes cause a number of sub-types of the monsoon climate found over this most widespread continent. Rains are abundant and intense in tropical monsoon areas. But there is a distinct dry season, though very short. However, the amount of precipitation during the rainy season is so hea vy that it more than gives back the absence of rainfall for a few months. Soils retain moisture to support the plant cover. In the tropical monsoon climate summer is generally the rainy season.During the high-sun period the on-shore winds bring a lot of moisture from over the tropical warm oceans to the land. Wherever these moisture-laden winds are forced to rise, abundant precipitation results. However, the coastal regions, if backed by highlands, receive the maximum amount of precipitation. It is important that the leeward sides of the coastal ranges suffer from the rain shadow effects. During the winter monsoon period, January and February are the driest months in South-east Asia. The distribution of rainfall in the subcontinent is more uneven than elsewhere.The rainfall decreases from east to west and from north to south in so much so that the western and north-western regions have almost semi-arid climate. The monsoon circulation in South-east Asia is characteristically governe d by the migration of ITC. Because of differential heating of the continent and the adjoining oceans, there is a complete reversal of pressure gradient over the huge landmass of South-east Asia. During winter there are centers of high pressure over the continent so that there is a flow of air towards the oceanic low pressure centers.These winds are termed ‘the winter monsoon' in the eastern and southern Asia. In summer, the huge landmass of Asia develops low pressure centers. These centers are reinforced by the ITC which moves suddenly to the north into the Indian subcontinent. Under these conditions the sea-to-land pressure gradients are established resulting in on-shore winds in eastern and southern Asia. These winds pick up huge quantities of moisture from the warm tropical oceans. Thus, the summer monsoons blowing from southwest Asia and eastern Asia are capable of giving heavy rains wherever conditions are favourable.As the winter approaches, the low-pressure centers are gradually replaced by the high pressure systems. The change in precipitation is what gives this climate type its name. Precipitation only falls during the summer months, usually from May-August with June and July having the heaviest rain. The whole dry season usually has less than 4 inches of rain. During the wet season, at least 25 inches will fall. Some areas of Tropical Wet and Dry in the path of monsoon winds can receive incredible amounts of rain due to seasonal winds called monsoon.Seasonality of its precipitation is the hallmark and most well-known characteristic of the monsoon climate. Though the annual amount of precipitation is quite similar to that of the rain forest, monsoon precipitation is concentrated into the high-sun season. Maritime equatorial and maritime tropical air masses travel from the ocean on to land during the summer, where they are uplifted by either convection or convergence of air to induce condensation. The low-sun season is characterized by a short dr ought season when high pressure inhibits precipitation formation.In the case of the Asian monsoon, the replacement of the thermal low with the subsidence of the Siberian High suppresses uplift. Air masses that dominate this period are dry given their continental origin or stability. A distinct dry season from October to May, when the temperature are lower, the interior of Asia is a region of high pressure. Wind blow over the land in a north east direction , carrying little or no moisture with them. These cool , dry North East Monsoon winds blows toward areas of low pressure and do not bring rain.A wet season from June to September, when the wind change in direction, the wind blow in the region of low pressure. Winds blow across the equator and blow over the oceans, they are warmer and carry a lot of moisture. They bring alot of rain. Total rainfall can reach 600 m The grasslands of Tropical Wet and Dry support many herbivores (plant eaters) who graze in the grasses. Most of these an imals usually migrate and run in large herds for safety. Examples include wildebeests, gazelles, zebras, elephants, giraffes, etc. Many carnivores (meat eaters) follow and hunt the herbivores.Lions, cheetahs, hyenas, and large birds hunt the savannas of Africa. In the coastal regions of the tropical monsoon climate the temperatures are uniformly warm. Air temperatures show a marked annual cycle. The highest temperatures in this climate are recorded during summer just before the arrival of rains.. Average temperatures for the summer months vary from 27Â ° to 32Â °C. During winter, however, the average temperature at inland stations may vary from 10Â ° to 26. 7Â °C. In higher latitudes the drop in the minimum temperatures is large. During the wet seasons, there is extensive cloud cover.This blocks most of the incoming solar radiation during the day, and traps the outgoing radiation at night. Thus, the diurnal temperature range is small. Range of temperature in the tropical monsoon climate is a bit larger than that in the equatorial climate. The annual range registers a variation ranging from 2Â °C to 11Â °C. The diurnal range in the coastal regions is less than what it is in the continental interiors. Another characteristic feature of the diurnal range of temperature is that it is considerably higher in the dry summer months than in any other part of the year.The monsoon circulation in South-east Asia is characteristically governed by the migration of ITC. Because of differential heating of the continent and the adjoining oceans, there is a complete reversal of pressure gradient over the huge landmass of South-east Asia. During winter there are centers of high pressure over the continent so that there is an outflow of air towards the oceanic low pressure centers. These winds are termed ‘the winter monsoon' or the ‘dry monsoon' in the eastern and southern Asia. In summer the huge landmass of Asia develops low pressure centers.These centers are r einforced by the ITC which moves suddenly to the north into the Indian subcontinent to 20Â ° or 25Â ° N latitude. Under these conditions the sea-to-land pressure gradients are established resulting in on-shore winds in eastern and southern Asia. These winds pick up huge quantities of moisture from the warm tropical oceans. Thus, the summer monsoons blowing from southwest in the southern Asia and southeast in eastern Asia are capable of giving heavy rains wherever conditions are favourable. As the winter approaches, the low-pressure centers are gradually replaced by the high pressure systems.In fact, the so-called winter monsoons are nothing but the re-establishment of the northeast trades which are dry except in those areas where they reach after passing over the sea. Rains are abundant and intense in tropical monsoon areas. But there is a distinct dry season, though very short. However, the amount of precipitation during the rainy season is so heavy that it more than gives back t he absence of rainfall for a few months. Soils retain moisture to support the plant cover. In the tropical monsoon climate summer is generally the rainy season.During the high-sun period the on-shore winds bring a lot of moisture from over the tropical warm oceans to the land. Wherever these moisture-laden winds are forced to rise, abundant precipitation results. However, the coastal regions, if backed by highlands, receive the maximum amount of precipitation. It is important that the leeward sides of the coastal ranges suffer from the rain shadow effects. During the winter monsoon period, January and February are the driest months in South-east Asia. The distribution of rainfall in the subcontinent is more uneven than elsewhere.The rainfall decreases from east to west and from north to south in so much so that the western and north-western regions have almost semi-arid climate. In the tropical monsoon climate, the amount and distribution of precipitation determine, to a large exten t, the type of natural vegetation. Towards the equator-ward margins, where the precipitation is heavy, the tropical monsoon forest resembles the tropical rainforest. However, because of the seasonality of rainfall, species are limited in the monsoon forests. Towards the drier margins, rainforests are replaced by more sparse jungles, thorn forests and savanna grasslands.In India, for example, there are different types of natural vegetation ranging from the tropical rain-forests of the Malabar and Assam to the deciduous forests of the areas with moderate rainfall to thorny bushes of the more arid regions with scanty rainfall. Teak is the most valuable timber, and it is found in Burma and certain other parts of India. Besides, shisham, sal, mahua, mango tree, jamun, neem, and many more species of trees are found in the deciduous forests which shed their leaves before the commencement of the long dry season in order to conserve moisture.In fact, the deciduous trees of the monsoon forest are a fine illustration of their adaptability to a wet-dry climate in which rainy season with adequate water surplus alternates with a dry season with soil-water deficit. These forests are generally more open than the tropical rainforests. The trees are less tall and the branching starts at a lower level. Tree species may vary from 30 to 40 in a small area. Trees have thick and rough barks as moisture conserving device. Tree tops are fairly large and round. Outside India, the typical monsoon forest is found in Burma, Thailand and Cambodia.In West Africa and in Central and South America there are large areas of deciduous monsoon forest bordering the equatorial rain forests? In more humid areas where the forest is dense, the flying and climbing species of the animal life of the equatorial forest are dominant. But in drier regions where the trees are widely spaced with grasslands, large animals constitute the animal kingdom. Some of these animals are carnivores, while others are herbi vores, such as, tigers, lions, leopards, wolves and jackals, elephants, wild buffalo, rhinoceros, deer, and antelopes.

Edgar Allan Poes life and Work

Edgar Allan Poes life and Work Free Online Research Papers Edgar Allan Poes life experiences had a major impact on the topics and themes of his writing. Edgar Allan Poe lived a very heartbroken, dejected, short life compared by todays standards. One theme that Edgar wrote about often in his stories and poems was death. He wrote about that topic because most everyone he loved or cared for died. Another prevalent topic in his writing was the theme of revenge. A recurring topic in his literature is the alcoholism. He wrote about that because in real life he was an alcoholic and drunk for a lot of his life. Probably the event In Edgar Allan Poes life that affected and impacted him the most was the death of his wife Virginia. That was the basis of many of his stories. Edgar Allan Poe constantly mentions death in his writing. In The Raven, Poes wife, Virginia, has died. Poe just cannot imagine life without his wife. He is so overcome with grief that some believe he hallucinates about the raven in this story. In the story, the raven taunts him, repeating Never more to all of his pleas. This topic, death, also connects to a time early in Poes life when his parents died. Poe experienced a lot of death, even early in life. Because Edgar Allan Poe lost his mom and step-mom at a young age, he became very depressed. This was aided when the love of his life, Virginia also died. In the story, â€Å"The Cask of Amontillado,† Poes emotions show the most. In The Cask of Amontillado, a man, named Fortunato, insulted a very powerful man named Montresor. Montresor wants revenge and says, â€Å"nemo me impune lacessit.† In other words, No one insults me without punishment.† As they walk along a hallway to the dungeon, Montresor hints at his plot. However, Fortunato is too drunk to notice. Montresor then chains Fortunato to a wall. After doing so, Montresor bricks it up, burying him alive. This story shows the prominent topic of revenge in Edgar Allan Poes stories and poems. Because Edgar Allan Poe was an alcoholic, it was a common theme in his poems and stories. An example of the influence of alcohol is The Black Cat. Here, Poe writes about committing gruesome acts while he is intoxicated. He also admits in this masterpiece that he has an alcohol abuse problem by restating it multiple times. An example of this is when Poe says, â€Å"But my disease grew upon me for what disease is like Alcohol!† Edgar Allan Poe related The Black Cat to his own life experiences because he had an addiction to alcohol in real life. Though Edgar Allan Poe showed many emotions, his depression held a constant grip on his mind. Losing so much caused Poe to end up bitter and twisted. Another of Poe’s strong emotions was anger, leading him to seek revenge. He got his revenge through stories. Poe created fictional characters who became victims of his imagination. By that I mean that he would take all of that anger and sorrow that he had built up in his soul and express it through writing, and more often than not, bad things happened to the characters he created. Although Edgar Allen Poes life was relatively short, what he experienced was more than most do in an entire lifetime. Edgar Allan Poes life and stories represented death, revenge, torture, grief, anguish, sadness, insanity, disease, and love. Edgar was an unusual man to say the least, but he wrote about the most deadly scary things that are in the back of our minds when we walk into a dark room or turn a corner in that erie basement many of us have, a nd in that way he stays with us. Edgar Allen Poes life experiences had a major impact on the topics and themes of his writing. One of the most common themes in Edgar Allen Poes poems and stories relating to death are â€Å"The Black Cat, The Masque of the Red Death, Cast of Amontillado, Annabel Lee and The Raven. They are some examples that empahsis this. The Raven is a poem dedicated to his wife who died very young. Prophet! said I, thing of evil-prophet still, if bird or devil!- This in my opinion relates to how he did not know many things. Wether they were good or bad, he just knew what they were. Although Edgar Allen Poe only lived for 40 years, he will always be remembered and studied as one of the greatest American Writers of all time. Research Papers on Edgar Allan Poe's life and WorkThe Masque of the Red Death Room meaningsMind TravelBook Review on The Autobiography of Malcolm XCapital PunishmentHonest Iagos Truth through DeceptionThe Fifth HorsemanHarry Potter and the Deathly Hallows EssayHip-Hop is ArtArguments for Physician-Assisted Suicide (PAS)19 Century Society: A Deeply Divided Era

world essays

world essays Chapter One: Were moving I come home from school, put my torn, ready to be thrown out blue school bag down on our round island in the kitchen and storm outside to enjoy the very first day of summer vacation. The air is warm and the sun is shinning brighter than ever. My spirits are so high and Im ready to begin the most exciting two and half months of the year. I put on my pink diva flip- flops and run as fast as I can to my best friend Rachaels house. I feel the warm air tickle my face as my adrenalin reaches sky high. Dancing and singing as I run, I dont care who sees. I want the whole world to know of my excitement. I get to Rachaels and plop right down on her soft, comfy couch. I sink right into the butt-grove I created on it after many years of hanging out with her and our friends. Next to me is her fat cat named George which I call cow cat due to his massive size and white dots over his black body. She brings me a glass of Pepsi (my favorite drink) and plops down right next to George. He meows, stretches, runs away and jumps onto the dusty windowsill. This is the life I say to Rachael as I pull my legs out onto the foot stool and take a sip of my refreshing ice cold drink, the bubbles tickling my nose. Were free for a whole two and a half months she says as she looks at me with that twinkle of excitement in her eyes. Theres nothing better than soaking up the sweet summer with your very best friend. Hours go by and my mom calls for me to come home for dinner because she has something important to say. I can tell by the sound of her voice that its something big, something that could change my life. Possibly more important than anything shes ever had to say. Her voice doesnt sound angry; I am relieved because at least I know I havent done something wrong....

Construction in Dubai Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Construction in Dubai - Assignment Example This paper illustrates that regardless of the dangers that await the working sector, the construction business is considered to be the backbone of Dubai's flourishing economy. Dubai has gathered much attention in recent years with their fascinating and innovative building ideas and architectural wonders, like the Dubai Skyline and the Burj al Arab, among others. Real estate and construction( 22.6%) are the largest contributors to Dubai's economy, and are considered amongst one of the key sources of employment, income and growth. Before jumping into attempting this building survey, we first need to understand and familiarize ourselves with the construction world, who are the people involved, what are their key roles, what are the challenges they face etc. Coordinating one aspect of a construction is a difficult task. But coordinating the entire process, from initial planning and foundation work, through the final coat of paint, takes someone with a lot of managerial skills. Being a co nstruction manager demands organization, attention to detail, an ability to see the â€Å"big picture,† and an understanding of all facets of the construction process, usually acquired through experience. A construction manager is the intermediary between his clients and his workers, between the architect and his subcontractors, and between the project and any regulatory personnel. A construction manager's foremost functions include planning, directing, coordinating, supervising etc. Their construction projects include, but are not limited to, buildings, residential areas, commercial, industrial structures, roads, bridges, schools and hospitals. A construction manager(CM) may take on an entire project or part of a project depending on contract. They are either salaried or self-employed people, who oversee construction projects. They supervise the construction process from its abstract stage till its completion, making sure that the job is completed within the allotted time fr ame and budget. General responsibilities of a construction manager include helping in the acquisition of land(they know what type of land is necessary and what size), to obtain permits, to hire workers and speciality contractors. A CM must review the project thoroughly before undertaking it, so he has an understanding of what will be needed along the way, and what needs to be done prior to beginning the project. Many constructions managers are given the duty to come up with a budget for the construction project. They will then come up with a detailed cost analysis to get an estimate of the cost to be incurred. This is of fundamental importance as any delays in the project may cause a considerable amount of money. A CM should be an excellent multi-tasker. He should be able to jiggle multiple things at the same time, work under stress and pressure, and have the ability to meet deadlines. It is also the construction manager's job to provide a worker friendly environment, and to come up with a health and safety plan. Safety should be of utmost importance during the architectural plan of the building. The managing contractor should be able to design out unnecessary hazards and come up with a plan to minimize, if not completely eliminate them. He needs to prepare the pre-tender stage plan, which is a collection of information about the significant health and safety risks of the construction project which he will then have to manage during the construction phase. A construction contract

CIS 206 U1 Review Assigment Coursework Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

CIS 206 U1 Review Assigment - Coursework Example Linux also offers more flexible and configuration options. It supports compilers and interpreters for a quite number of computer languages like C, C++, Ada, Java, Lisp, Fortran, Python, Perl, Pascal inter alia (Sobell, 2012). The Free Software Foundation is the chief sponsor of the GNU Operating System. GNU is an operating system offered for free (Free Software Foundation, Inc., 2015). Linux is a completely protected multitasking operating system, which allows users to run many jobs at a time. Parties that helped in the development of Linux are the AT&T and UNIX system Labs, universities and colleges. Utility program is the software that assists in the management, maintenance and control of computer resources. They provide assistance to the day-to-day computing tasks and keep the system running. The shell can be used as a programming language. Therefore, with the support of utility program that will keep the computer resources running, programmers can use the shell to develop some applications (Sobell, 2012). Commands will be typed, and the shell processes them and through this approach, patterns of the desired application can be constructed bearing special meaning. A multiprocessor is an integration of two or more CPUs, with input-output equipment and memory. On the other hand, a multiprocessor system has its control carried out by a single operating system, which is responsible for coordinating activities of several processors, either through interprocessor messages or shared memory. Several parties have taken part in the development of Linux. This traces back to the era of UNIX, which was developed by a group of researchers who needed contemporary computing tools for use in their projects. Then universities and colleges were involved in furthering its popularity. Bell Labs further promoted it by offering it to schools at low costs. Further popular changes were made, and it was called Berkeley UNIX. Another major version

Codes of Conduct for Lawyers Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Codes of Conduct for Lawyers - Essay Example sts a future use of the ABA Model for, â€Å"†¦may be consulted for guidance in interpreting and applying the Nevada rules† (Comparison of Rules p.1 2007). The additions and subtractions of the ABA Model by Nevada might be construed as nominal in numbers but the changes are constant throughout the â€Å"Nevada Rules†¦Ã¢â‚¬  and are strikingly unique’ in more than one instance. (2) To prevent the client from committing a criminal or fraudulent act in furtherance of which the client has used or is using the lawyer’s services, but the lawyer shall, where practicable, first make reasonable effort to persuade the client to take suitable action (ABA Model vis-avis NRPC 2007) (c) A lawyer shall reveal information relating to the representation of a client to the extent the lawyer reasonably believes necessary to prevent a criminal act that the lawyer believes is likely to result in reasonably certain death or substantial bodily harm. (NRPC 2007) By comparison, the operative words are, â€Å"A lawyer may reveal information†¦Ã¢â‚¬  in the case of the ABA Model and â€Å"A lawyer shall reveal information†¦Ã¢â‚¬  in the case of the Nevada Code of Conduct. The difference is clear: Nevada puts the responsibility directly on counsel’s shoulders, under an order â€Å"shall†, for responsibility directly related to ineffective action or inaction from counsel when counsel has knowledge that results in the prescribed outcomes of a client’s representation found in paragraph (c ). The ABA makes no demonstrative statement to counsel’s responsibility but infers a passionate and ethical response by counsel â€Å"may† without providing for possible responsibility of ineffective action or inaction of client

Healthy People 2020 Evaluation Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Healthy People 2020 Evaluation - Assignment Example Objectives and topic areas can never be included without appropriate sources of data. The use of this data technology has created easy access to the stakeholders. On the other hand, Healthy People 2020 suffer an imposed social economic weakness. The fact that the health of a person is greatly influenced by the environment is true but historically, the world has not been fair enough to embrace social and environmental consciousness in nursing. Poor health is known to be threatened by illiteracy and poverty which are more prevalent in America. In as much as Healthy People 2020 is present to increase the health status of the citizens, it has been incapacitated by the level of poverty and illiteracy in the US (Mischkovsky 2010). Therefore it cannot carry out its full functions before addressing this problem. Moreover, this is a kind of problem that cannot be corrected using national policy implementation making it a harder problem to deal with. The US government can ensure the success of the program by providing social economical opportunities to its citizen so as to unravel the crisis from its origin given that it is a data based program that requires one to have some technical computer skills (Nolan,

Understanding of the importance of literary techniques Essay - 1

Understanding of the importance of literary techniques - Essay Example Robert Browning is a master craftsman when it comes to the use of dramatic monologues in his poems. The Dramatic monologue is defined as â€Å"a literary, usually verse composition in which a speaker reveals his or her character, often in relation to a critical situation or event, in a monologue addressed to the reader or to a presumed listener† (Dramatic Monologue-Definition of Dramatic Monologue). Browning’s "My Last Duchess" possesses all these criteria of a dramatic monologue. The speaker in the poem is not the poet himself. In fact, Browning’s speaker in the poem represents a ‘psychological portrait of a powerful Renaissance aristocrat’ (Duke Ferrara) and the poem very well draws, in the minds of the readers, the image of a submissive presumed listener who pays heed to the Duke’s narration of the failings and imperfections of his late wife (My Last Duchess: Introduction). However, the reader can perceive from the dramatic monologue that t he so-called imperfections of the dutches are nothing but expressions of her virtues and her courtesy towards her servants. The very opening lines of the poem are quite suggestive. The lines, â€Å"Thats my last duchess painted on the wall, / Looking as if she were alive† clearly demonstrates the presence of an unseen audience or listener and the reader understands that the duchess is no longer alive. Similarly, towards the end of the poem, when the Duke states that â€Å"This grew; I gave commands;/Then all smiles stopped together† the reader grasps that it was he who ordered her murder. The actual character of the Duke is thus revealed through the dramatic monologue even when the listener remains absolutely silent. Thus, the poem’s elements of soliloquy (as there is only one speaker) and its dramatic, and lyrical qualities make it a perfect example for dramatic monologue and it is the effective use of dramatic monologue that offer new dimension to the theme an d treatment of

Cinematography in Alfred Hitchcock's Vertigo Essay

Cinematography in Alfred Hitchcock's Vertigo - Essay Example a kind of a disabling sensation which describes people’s feeling that they (and the world around them) are in the state of constant movement, so is the cinematography of the film (â€Å"Vertigo†, A Dictionary of Nursing). Carefully sequenced and innovative shots, elaborate camera movement, effective use of light and color, as well as other cinematographic tools all contribute to the fact Vertigo’s cinematography ideally fits in the overall vision of the film and effectively serves to create the intended feeling in the audience, namely that of horror. At the same time, the cinematography in Vertigo helps to create hidden meanings and set the story’s tone and mood. My goal in this paper is to discuss how cinematography is used in Vertigo and how exactly it effect contributes to the story unfolding. In particular, I will focus on the film’s techniques of lightning, color, matte shooting, and camera movement used in order to manipulate the audience†™s opinion and produce the scaring effect. First though, I will explore the meaning of cinematography and provide a necessary theoretical background to the research. Cinematography as an Art of Creating Films While cinematography is usually understood in terms of its technical, photographic value for the ‘big picture’ of the film, it is certainly an art. Specifically, the following definition by the American Society of Cinematographers seems appropriate: â€Å"Cinematography is the art and craft of the authorship of visual images for the cinema extending from conception and pre-production through post-production to the ultimate presentation of these images.† (â€Å"Cinematography†, Internet Encyclopedia of Cinematographers) ... aphy†, Internet Encyclopedia of Cinematographers) Explaining the vision of cinematography, the author of this definition further states that cinematography is about the effective use of photography in a film subject to a variety of organizational, interpretive, physical, image manipulating, and managerial techniques (â€Å"Cinematography†, Internet Encyclopedia of Cinematographers). Hence, cinematography is a process both creative and interpretative which results in an authorship of a unique work contrary to mere recording of a given event. Similar understanding of cinematography is expressed by Brown in his recent book Cinematography: Theory and Practice: Image Making for Cinematographers and Directors. Brown links the concept to the literal meaning of the term â€Å"cinematography† based on the Greek root translated as â€Å"writing with motion† (Brown 2). For Brown, cinematography is about creating an original visual world through the use of a cinematic technique. In particular, he explains that at the heart of cinematography is shooting. Yet, cinematography is more than this. It should be seen as â€Å"a process of taking ideas, words, actions, emotional subtext, tone, and all other forms of nonverbal communication and rendering them in visual terms.† (Brown 2). Technically, cinematography is based on photography of moving images while the motion picture is being made. Konigsberg in The Complete Film Dictionary says it is about the use of camera angles, movement, and distance, lightning, color, etc (â€Å"Cinematography†, Internet Encyclopedia of Cinematographers). Brown, in his turn, identifies the following tools of cinematography: the frame, the lens, light and color, the texture, movement, establishing, and point of view (Brown 4-10). Respectively, a variety of

Healthy People 2020 Evaluation Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Healthy People 2020 Evaluation - Assignment Example Objectives and topic areas can never be included without appropriate sources of data. The use of this data technology has created easy access to the stakeholders. On the other hand, Healthy People 2020 suffer an imposed social economic weakness. The fact that the health of a person is greatly influenced by the environment is true but historically, the world has not been fair enough to embrace social and environmental consciousness in nursing. Poor health is known to be threatened by illiteracy and poverty which are more prevalent in America. In as much as Healthy People 2020 is present to increase the health status of the citizens, it has been incapacitated by the level of poverty and illiteracy in the US (Mischkovsky 2010). Therefore it cannot carry out its full functions before addressing this problem. Moreover, this is a kind of problem that cannot be corrected using national policy implementation making it a harder problem to deal with. The US government can ensure the success of the program by providing social economical opportunities to its citizen so as to unravel the crisis from its origin given that it is a data based program that requires one to have some technical computer skills (Nolan,

Cinematography in Alfred Hitchcock's Vertigo Essay

Cinematography in Alfred Hitchcock's Vertigo - Essay Example a kind of a disabling sensation which describes people’s feeling that they (and the world around them) are in the state of constant movement, so is the cinematography of the film (â€Å"Vertigo†, A Dictionary of Nursing). Carefully sequenced and innovative shots, elaborate camera movement, effective use of light and color, as well as other cinematographic tools all contribute to the fact Vertigo’s cinematography ideally fits in the overall vision of the film and effectively serves to create the intended feeling in the audience, namely that of horror. At the same time, the cinematography in Vertigo helps to create hidden meanings and set the story’s tone and mood. My goal in this paper is to discuss how cinematography is used in Vertigo and how exactly it effect contributes to the story unfolding. In particular, I will focus on the film’s techniques of lightning, color, matte shooting, and camera movement used in order to manipulate the audience†™s opinion and produce the scaring effect. First though, I will explore the meaning of cinematography and provide a necessary theoretical background to the research. Cinematography as an Art of Creating Films While cinematography is usually understood in terms of its technical, photographic value for the ‘big picture’ of the film, it is certainly an art. Specifically, the following definition by the American Society of Cinematographers seems appropriate: â€Å"Cinematography is the art and craft of the authorship of visual images for the cinema extending from conception and pre-production through post-production to the ultimate presentation of these images.† (â€Å"Cinematography†, Internet Encyclopedia of Cinematographers) ... aphy†, Internet Encyclopedia of Cinematographers) Explaining the vision of cinematography, the author of this definition further states that cinematography is about the effective use of photography in a film subject to a variety of organizational, interpretive, physical, image manipulating, and managerial techniques (â€Å"Cinematography†, Internet Encyclopedia of Cinematographers). Hence, cinematography is a process both creative and interpretative which results in an authorship of a unique work contrary to mere recording of a given event. Similar understanding of cinematography is expressed by Brown in his recent book Cinematography: Theory and Practice: Image Making for Cinematographers and Directors. Brown links the concept to the literal meaning of the term â€Å"cinematography† based on the Greek root translated as â€Å"writing with motion† (Brown 2). For Brown, cinematography is about creating an original visual world through the use of a cinematic technique. In particular, he explains that at the heart of cinematography is shooting. Yet, cinematography is more than this. It should be seen as â€Å"a process of taking ideas, words, actions, emotional subtext, tone, and all other forms of nonverbal communication and rendering them in visual terms.† (Brown 2). Technically, cinematography is based on photography of moving images while the motion picture is being made. Konigsberg in The Complete Film Dictionary says it is about the use of camera angles, movement, and distance, lightning, color, etc (â€Å"Cinematography†, Internet Encyclopedia of Cinematographers). Brown, in his turn, identifies the following tools of cinematography: the frame, the lens, light and color, the texture, movement, establishing, and point of view (Brown 4-10). Respectively, a variety of

Lesson Plan Essay Example for Free

Lesson Plan Essay In modern times there are opposing views about the practice of education. There is no general agreement about what the young should learn either in relation to virtue or in relation to the best life; nor is it clear whether their education ought to be directed more towards the intellect than towards the character of the soul. And it is not certain whether training should be directed at things useful in life, or at those conducive to virtue, or at non-essentials. And there is no agreement as to what in fact does tend towards virtue. Men do not all prize most highly the same virtue, so naturally they differ also about the proper training for it. Aristotle wrote that passage more than 2,300 years ago, and today educators are still debating the issues he raised. Different approaches to resolving these and other fundamental issues have given rise to different schools of thought in the philosophy of education. We will examine five such schools of thought: Essentialism, Progressivism, Perennialism, Existentialism, and Behaviorism. Each has many supporters in American education today. Taken together, these five schools of thought do not exhaust the list of possible educational philosophies you may adopt, but they certainly present strong frameworks from which you can create your own educational philosophy. Essentialism Gripping and enduring interests frequently grow out of initial learning efforts that are not appealing or attractive. William Bagley Essentialism refers to the traditional or Back to the Basics approach to education. It is so named because it strives to instill students with the essentials of academic knowledge and character development. The term essentialism as an educational philosophy was originally popularized in the 1930s by the American educator William Bagley (1874A1946). The philosophy itself, however, had been the dominant approach to education in America from the beginnings of American history. Early in the twentieth century, essentialism was criticized as being too rigid to prepare students adequately for adult life. But with the launching of Sputnik in 1957, interest in essentialism revived. Among modern supporters of this position are members of the Presidents Commission on Excellence in Education. Their 1983 report, A Nation at Risk, mirrors essentialist concerns today. Underlying Philosophical Basis (American) essentialism is grounded in a conservative philosophy that accepts the social, political, and economic structure of American society. It contends that schools should not try to radically reshape society. Rather, essentialists argue, American schools should transmit the traditional moral values and intellectual knowledge that students need to become model citizens. Essentialists believe that teachers should instill such traditional American virtues as respect for authority, perseverance, fidelity to duty, consideration for others, and practicality. Reflecting its conservative philosophy, essentialism ten(tends to accept the philosophical views associated with the traditional, conservative elements of American society. For example, American culture traditionally has l)placed tremendous emphasis on the central importance of tile physical world and of understanding the world through scientific experimentation. As a result, to convey important knowledge about our world, essentialist educators emphasize instruction in natural science rather than non-scientific disciplines such as philosophy or comparative religion. The Essentialist Classroom Essentialists urge that the most essential or basic academic skills and knowledge be taught to all students. Traditional disciplines such as math, natural science, history, foreign language, and literature form the foundation of the essentialist curriculum. Essentialists frown upon vocational, lift-adjustment, or other courses with watered down academic content. Elementary students receive instruction in skills such as writing, reading, measurement, and computers. Even while learning art and music, subjects most often associated with the development of creativity, the students are required to master a body of information and basic techniques, gradually moving from less to more complex skills and detailed knowledge. Only by mastering the required material for their grade level are students promote(l to the next higher grade. Essentialist programs are academically rigorous, for both slow and fast learners. The report A Nation at Risk reflects the essentialist emphasis on rigor. It calls for more core requirements, a longer school day, a longer academic year, and more challenging textbooks. Moreover, essentialists maintain that classrooms should be oriented around the teacher, who ideally serves as an intellectual and moral role model for the students. The teachers or administrators decide what is most important for the students to learn and place little emphasis on student interests, particularly when they divert time and attention from the academic curriculum. Essentialist teachers focus heavily on achievement test scores as a means of evaluating progress. In an essentialist classroom, students are taught to be culturally literate, that is, to possess a working knowledge about the people, events, ideas, and institutions that have shaped American society. Reflecting the essentialist emphasis on technological literacy, A Nation at Risk recommends that all high school students complete at least one semester of computer science. Essentialists hope that when students leave school, they will possess not only basic skills and an extensive body of knowledge, but also disciplined, practical minds, capable of applying schoolhouse lessons in the real world. Progressivism We may, I think, discover certain common principles amid the variety of progressive schools now existing. To imposition from above is opposed expression and cultivation of individuality; to external discipline is opposed free activity; to learning from texts and teachers, learning through experience; to acquisition of isolated skills and techniques by drill is opposed acquisition of them as means of attaining ends which make direct vital appeal; to preparation for a more or less remote future is opposed making the most of the opportunities of present life; to statistics and materials is opposed acquaintance with a changing world. John Dewey Progressivisms respect for individuality, its high regard for science, and its receptivity to change harmonized well with the American environment in which it was created. The person most responsible for the success of progressivism was John Dewey (1859-1952). Dewey entered the field of education as a liberal social reformer with a background in philosophy and psychology. In 1896, while a professor at the University of Chicago, Dewey ounded the famous Laboratory School as a testing ground for his educational ideas. Deweys writings and his work with the Laboratory School set the stage for the progressive education movement, which, beginning in the 1920s, has produced major lasting innovations in American education. The progressivist movement stimulated schools to broaden their curricula, making education more relevant to the needs and interests of students. Its influence waned during the 1950s, particularly after the 1957 launching of Sputnik by the Soviets prompted schools to emphasize traditional instruction in math, science, foreign languages, and other defense-related subjects. In the late 1960s and 1970s, under the guise of citizenship education and educational relevance, many of Deweys ideas enjoyed a renewed popularity that decreased again during the education reform movement of the 1980s.

Applications of Positivism in Social Research

Applications of Positivism in Social Research Scientific methodology in sociology, the study of the social world, is most often associated with what is known as the positivist approach. In this essay, to determine whether or not it is indeed possible to apply scientific methods to the study of the social world, I will analyse the strengths and weaknesses of positivist sociology. â€Å"As developed by Auguste Comte, positivism is a way of thinking based on the assumption that it is possible to observe social life and establish reliable, valid knowledge about how it works.† (Johnson p231) This established knowledge was then to be used to affect the course of social change and it would help improve humanity. Comte’s work was in part a reaction to the ‘anarchy’ that besieged France in the wake of the revolution. Comte sincerely believed that scientific rationality could temper the raw human emotions that had lead to such chaos. Sociology, in his definition (and others), literally the science of society, co uld apply such scientific rationalism, empiricism and positivism to social life, thus improving it and preventing continued anarchy. â€Å"Comte believed that social life is governed by underlying laws and principles that can be discovered through the use of methods most often associated with the physical sciences.† (Johnson p231) One would identify the methods of positivism thus; careful observation measurement; quantification; formalisation of concepts precision in definition; operationalisation of theoretical questions mathematisation (connects with all of the previous features; logic and systemisation of theory symmetry of explanation prediction; objectivity understood as value neutrality. â€Å"It consists in deliberately investigating phenomena with the expectations derived from the theory in mind and seeing whether or not the facts actually found agree with these expectations.† (Delanty p52) â€Å"If observed facts of undoubted accuracy will not fit any of the alternatives it leaves open, the system is in need of reconstruction.† (Delanty p53) Positivism, â€Å"Is above all a philosophy of science. As such, it stands squarely within the empiricist tradition. Metaphysical speculation is rejected in favour of positive knowledge based upon systematic observation and experiment. The methods of science can give us knowledge of the laws of coexistence.† (Marshall p510) However, as shall hopefully be shown later, these scientific methods can not show us anything about the inner ‘essences’ or ‘nature’ of things. Broadly speaking structuralism is, â€Å"Used loosely in sociology to refer to any approach which regards social structure (apparent or otherwise) as having priority over social action.† (Johnson p646) Positivism and structuralism are generally highly complementary, positivism effectively being the scientific methodology of structuralism. This can be observed in the works of Comte, Marx, Durkheim and the Vienna circle. Later theorists such as Parsons can also be described as both str ucturalist and positivist although in Parson’s case he does consider certain interpretivist sensibilities. Marx, Durkheim, Comte, the Vienna circle and many others all saw sociology as a science and all believed that social structure was the core component of society. â€Å"Perhaps one of the most important traits in naturalistic or positivistic sociology is the belief that social phenomena are patterned and are subject to deterministic laws much as are the laws governing the natural sciences. Sociological theory then becomes a quest for laws similar to the law of gravity or the law of material density in physics† (Poloma p3) The main difference between the social and natural worlds is that the subject of study in the social world is humanity. People, in basic terms, have a consciousness where as the subjects of the natural sciences, rocks or atoms or chemicals, do not. People are aware of themselves and their surroundings in a way that rocks, for example, are not. This, clearly, is a potential problem for positivist sociology. However, this problem is resolved, in positivist science, by arguing that the self-consciousness of human beings (the ability to think, act and feel) is not a significant factor in our ability to understand social behaviour. This, according to positivists, is because peoples behaviour is, at its genesis, always a reaction to some form of stimulation. This stimulation can be from their socialisation (as we shall see in Parsons work), or it can be something more direct like the need to earn a living or a confrontation with another human. This produces one of the criticisms of positiv ist sociology, as we shall see, action and the meaning placed on that action becomes unimportant for study, only the cause of the action, the stimuli, has any sociological value for positivists. The positivist view of sociology, of its aims, of its methods, is certainly a contentious one. Two of the first sociologists to question these methods, and the first that can be labelled as interpretivist, were Weber and Simmel. â€Å"Weber argues that sociology is not concerned with totalising explanations; only individuals have an ontological reality, society does not exist in that real sense, and so sociological explanations must be in terms of individual events and processes.† (Craib 1997 p51) Rickert’s term of Geisteswissenschaften (literally the sciences of the spirit/mind) greatly influenced Weber’s conception of what sociology should be. The ontological reality which Weber speaks of is that humans are very different from other natural beings. We have free will, an inner life, use symbols, possess language, live in culture and act meaningfully. This ontological reality ensures that humanity cannot be studied using positivist scientific methodology, or any other conventional scientific methodology, sociology must use other methods. While the natural sciences wish to explain natural events, sociology, as understood by Weber, Rickert or Simmel, wishes to understand social action. Social scientists should endeavour to understand social action in very much the same way as one attempts to understand other people, by communicating, through empathy, and through argument. These views are also associated with, and expanded upon, by the philosopher Peter Winch. (Winch 1958) As Weber states, â€Å"Even the knowledge of the most certain propositions of our theoretical sciences – e.g., the exact natural sciences or mathematics is, like the cultivation and refinement of the conscience, a product of culture.† (Delanty p110) In many ways the objective ‘fact’ of scientific enquiry is a fallacy. â€Å"Sociology differs from the natural sciences in that it does not deal with a pre given universe of objects. People attribute meaning to their social world and act accordingly.† (Baert p97) Weber, in his Methodology of The Social Sciences, points out that all knowledge of cultural reality is always from a particular point of view. The philosophical idea that there is no truth, only human opinion is prevalent in this argument. Simmel emphasises and expands upon this point, â€Å"In the last resort the content of any science doesn’t rest on simple objective facts, but always involves an interpretation and shaping of them according to categories and rules that are a priori of the science concerned.† (Stones p74) Any scientific conclusion, be it in the field of physics or sociology, has to be interpreted by its author, then represented by that same author and then reinterpreted by those that read it. In these interpretations any ‘truth’ or ‘law ’ is surrendered to human opinion, human meaning, human understanding. This criticism of positivist sociology is probably best illustrated by a discussion of a classic positivist sociological text, Emile Durkheim’s suicide study. In his study, Durkheim analysed the differential distribution of the occurrence of suicide by country and region. Durkheim professed to have found suicidogenic currents (Durkheim 1963) in society; the pressures to commit suicide, the laws of suicide. â€Å"These are called ‘social currents’†¦They come to each one of us from without and can carry us away in spite of ourselves.† (Delanty p28) Through a positivist, scientific methodology, Durkheim identified the pressures to commit suicide were greater in regions where the Protestant faith was dominant, and weaker where Catholicism dominated. Durkheim’s account posits an external force (suicidogenic currents) as the cause of suicide cause and effect. (Durkheim 1963) However why suicide occurs tends not to be the issue. To say that suicide is caused, not entirely obviously but in part, by the following of the Protestant faith is to assume that the term suicide is a simple one, a fixed one, with no room fo r differing meanings. This view is wrong. What is of importance is how a suicide comes to be defined as such by the coroner’s court. One must remember that a suicide is not an objective fact, but a interpretation, an interpretation that can be influenced by the coroner’s own personal feelings. If a ruling of suicide is likely to cause the deceased’s family pain and suffering, as is likely if they are Catholics, then the coroner may be inclined, where ever possible, to not record a suicide verdict, but an accidental death instead This alerts us to the problematic nature of Durkheim’s, and positivist sociology in general, reliance on statistics. For Durkheim takes those statistics as giving a ‘true’ picture of the incidence of suicide. But do they? Are they rather a representation of the interpretation of suicide as opposed to cold hard objective fact? Interactions/ interpretive work on suicide states that suicide statistics are a construction involving police, courts and coroners. Thus for a death to be counted as a suicide involves a complex social process concerning meaning and interpretation, two unquantifiable characteristics of humanity. Thus suicide is not just the effect of a societal cause, but an interpretation of events, thus not a positivist, scientific event. Therefore if sociologists wish a knowledge of social life, they cannot explain social actors’ action in terms of cause and effect. Rather, they must seek out what the social actors themselves say they are up to, wha t they mean. â€Å"Comte’s view shifted in later life, under the influence of Cloitilde de Vaux. He came to see that science alone could not be a binding force for social cohesion as he had earlier supposed. He argued that the intellect must become the servant of the heart, and advocated a new ‘religion of humanity.’† (Marshall p509) Comte, the originator of the positivist sociological methodology shifted his emphasis away from positivism in his later work, thus exposing the inherent problems and weaknesses at its methodological core. â€Å"Positivism has had relatively little influence in contemporary sociology for several reasons. Current views argue that positivism encourages a misleading emphasis on superficial facts without any attention to underlying mechanisms that cannot be observed.† (Johnson p231) For example, we cannot observe human motives or the meaning that people give to behaviour and other aspects of social life, but this does not me an that meaning and motive are nonexistent or irrelevant. The best way to illustrate the above points is to set them within the context of a positivist sociological study, in this case Parson’s work on personality. For society to function, it is logical according to Parsons to deduce that the individual members of society have to agree with society’s rule. â€Å"For Parsons, the social system is†¦made up of the interactions of individuals. Of special concern is†¦ that such interactions are not random but mediated by common standards of evaluation. Most important among these are moral standards which may be called norms.† (Hamilton p155) When people in society interact the interactions themselves, the emotions that seemingly control them, the goals that the individual actors (people) are hoping to obtain, they are all in fact controlled by the norms of society. â€Å"The concept of order is located predominantly at the level of the social system itself and the cultural system becomes a mechanism of the functioning of the social system.† (Hamilton p146) These norms are adopted and agreed by each member of the society for Parsons and this is his consensus theory. Imp ortantly Parsons’ theory suggests that the power of societal expectations, the power of norms, is more pervasive than merely being a moral standard that mediates interaction and personal relationships. They are in fact the organisational foci of personality, of people themselves. â€Å"Socialisation is the process by which we learn to become members of society, both by internalising the norms and values of society, and also learning to perform our social roles (as worker, friend, citizen and so forth.)† (Marshall p624) The family, for instance, is controlled by the same norms as society because it is that society, just it is a smaller component of it. The subsystems of society are analogous to body parts in the Parsonian model, they are all essential, each provide their own unique function and all interrelate, interpenetrate and are dependent upon one another. Analogous to the human body where each body part has a specific function to perform, and all of those parts work in unison to keep the structure going, so society is organised. Immersion within these subsystems, such as the family leads to internalisations of norms and objects, and this in turn creates personality. Because personality is internalised from society, â€Å"The foci of organisation of both types of system lies in†¦the value systems.† (Parsons p357) The values of society are the values of people, or personality. People are not just guided by the norms of society, but their very personalities are organised by the very same norms and principles and morals, according to Parsons. Thus peoples actions are quantifiable, reducible to a law since they are mediated by common standards. As gravity is a constant, so are the norms of a society and therefore of personality. The positivist law here is that personality, every action of a human is controlled by the same standards of evaluation as society. The person’s personality is derived directly from society, it is society. Thus a scientific study of society is possible because there is cause and effect, there is a reaction to stimuli. Socialisation is the stimulation that people react to. For Parsons, laws can be discerned from humanity because people will react in predictable ways, mediated by norms, to the stimulation of events and socialisation. Thus sociology can be scientific, empirical and positivist. A major problem with Parson’s work is that it reduces human personality to being produced and organised solely by societal expectations and norms. This societal determinism fails to acknowledge or explain where certain feelings, motives and actions originate. Goffman argues that â€Å"it is . . . against something that the self can emerge. . . Without something to belong to, we have no stable self, and yet total commitment and attachment to any social unit implies a kind of selflessness. Our sense of being a person can come from being drawn into a wider social unit; our sense of selfhood can arise through the little ways in which we resist the pull.† (Goffman 196 p305) A favourite example of this for Goffman was that of mental patients in asylums. The total institution of an asylum probably forces more strict adherence to societal expectation than most other social situations by using methods such as drug induced control and disciplinary measures such as EST. Yet in the se institutions, despite being forced to play the role of the mental patient, to conform to societal expectation), patients still resisted those expectations. The hoarding of banned materials being an example of this. The motivation to do this does not come from internalisation of norms, as the correct way to behave is to not horde banned items. It comes from a need to keep ones own identity, to satisfy needs and drives and wants. These needs drives and wants are absent from the Parsonian model and a full understanding or explanation of society and social actions needs to take them into account. â€Å"The maintenance of this surface of agreement, this veneer of consensus, is facilitated by each participant concealing his own wants behind statements which assert values to which everyone present feels obliged to give lip service.† (Goffman 1990 p20-21) The norms and laws that Parsons believes to control personality and society, are revealed by Goffman as only being a veneer. Furthermore Goffman states that other feelings and motives in fact influence social action, not just norms. If, as Goffman claims, the so called common standards of evaluation that Parsons identifies are in fact a veneer that hides other motives and feelings, then the actions of humanity are not as easily quantifiable, reducible to a scientific, positivist law, as Parsons first shows. Freud’s metapsychology deals with the general structure of mental life. For Freud there were three psychic structures. The first, the id, contains, â€Å"those basic drives we have by virtue of being human, of which sexuality is the most important.† (Craib 1989 p3) The Id is often equated to by Freud as being like an infant, demanding immediate satisfaction irrespective of societal expectations. The Id makes up the greatest part of the unconscious and it is in this unconscious realm of basic biologically influenced drives that the motivational forces that Parson’s can not identity come from. The Id influences personality. It is important to remember that, as opposed to biological instincts driving us to act like a shark would, a mindless automaton, â€Å"the unconscious is composed not of biological instincts but of the mental representations we attach to these instincts.† (Craib 1989 p4) Thus each individual creates their own mental representation for the ir drives thus meaning that every persons internal world has a different geography. This clearly poses problems for the positivist approach to personality and society and social action, as represented by Parsons here, for if reaction to stimulation is not predictable because each person acts differently, then universal scientific laws can not be established. The second structure of personality according to Freud, the ego or the ‘I’ is the central organiser of mental life. The third, the superego is thought of as the conscience. â€Å"The superego is the internalisation of external control which demands the renuncification of instinctual satisfaction in order that society might be formed and maintained.† (Craib 1989 p21) The superego is the part of personality that Parson’s identifies the part that internalises norms. The basic drives of the id demand immediate satisfaction, immediate gratification of those drives, these demands are contrary to the superego norms and morality, and the conflict has to be resolved by the ego. Our consciousness, predominantly consisting of the ego and superego, protects us from our own id impulses that, if they were followed, would leave it impossible for us to exist within society. Freud stated that â€Å"Civilisation depends upon repression†¦If we tried to gratify all our d esires, sexual or otherwise, as and when they arose, society, civilisation and culture would vanish over night.† (Craib 1984 p195) For Freud the ‘I’, is the resolution of the conflict between the id biologically directed drives, and the superego’s societal restraints. Therefore personality is the site of the, hopefully, resolved conflict between the normative mind evaluated by common standards as Parsons identifies, and the basic id drives. These Id drives, as I shall show, influence personality thus influence social action and society. This being the case then Parsons’ explanation for personality is insufficient and so is the positivist claim for the scientific study of society. The positivist tenants of careful observation and measurement; quantification; formalisation of concepts precision in definition; operationalisation of theoretical questions; mathematisation; logic and systemisation of theory; symmetry of explanation prediction and objecti vity cannot be applied to individualistic Id drives and impulses. â€Å"The desire to kill anyone who frustrates us thus becomes unconscious, but none the less remains.† (Craib 1989 p24) Evidence for these desires for Freud appears in slips, where the unconscious desire can ‘slip’ into conscious conversation. â€Å"Freud quotes the husband who supposedly said, ‘If one of us two die, I shall move to Paris.† (Craib 1989 p24) One can not scientifically measure how these unconscious desires influence and effect social action, especially since it can be so hard to identify them as existing in the first place. â€Å"A feature of human life is that an instinct such as the sexual instinct is not directed at any one object, but has to be socially channelled, in our society usually towards members of the opposite sex.† (Craib 1989 p4) â€Å"Human beings are restrained by social organisation from a free and good expression of their drives. Through its oppression, society forces people into neuroses and psychoses.† (Craib 1989 p19) For Freud the very problems that he and other psychoanalysts dealt with were in fact often as the result of the repression of id drives by the superego and societal repression. As such the very existence of neuroses and psychoses can be seen as evidence to the fact that this conflict does indeed exist, that the resolution of this conflict does indeed produce the ‘I’ with all its faults and problems. To fully understand society, sociology needs to be aware of societal pressures, the Parson’s personality through positivism, but also nee ds to recognise the other meanings and emotions that cannot be quantified, cannot be analysed scientifically. Sociology needs to use interpretivism and positivism together. In terms of this example, Parsons positivist models needs to be considered at great length and detail as he does indeed identify a huge force in shaping society, that of norms and how they do penetrate into the psyche and personality. However, a study that only concentrates on the positivist methodology misses the crucial aspects of personality that Goffman and Freud identify, and that is not in the interest of any sociologist. â€Å"Positivism may be dead in that there is no longer an identifiable community of philosophers who give its simpler characteristics unqualified support, but it lives on philosophically, developed until it transmutes into conventionalism or realism. And even if in its simpler philosophical forms it is dead, the spirit of those earlier formulations continues to haunt sociology.† (Halfpenny p120) In conclusion positivism’s attempt at scientific sociological methodology, though fallacious is admirable and certainly many of the aspects of positivism should be considered desirable. As quoted elsewhere, â€Å"positivism is a way of thinking based on the assumption that it is possible to observe social life and establish reliable, valid knowledge about how it works.† (Johnson p231) The desire for reliable, valid knowledge is of course a relevant and important sociological aim and some of the tools that positivism uses to try to reach such knowledge are useful and wort hwhile. Careful observation, measurement; quantification; formalisation of concepts precision in definition; operationalisation of theoretical questions; logic and systemisation of theory; symmetry of explanation and prediction and objectivity, if all of these tenants of positivism can at least be attempted in a sociological study then that sociological study will indeed be the better for it. However, sociological study needs to recognise, as Comte himself did, that these aims, in their fullest, are unobtainable and that those aims are not ends in themselves, rather a very rough guide to sociological methodology. As I have hopefully shown above, sociological analysis needs positivism, needs scientific methodology, but a carefully tempered and monitored positivism. The aim of sociology is understanding and that understanding should not be limited by methodology, especially a methodology that is inherently flawed. Positivism shows us how to analyse data, data that is essential to soc iological understand, but that data must not be treated uncritically thus a synthesis of positivism and interpretivism is recommended. To study the social world using a strict scientific methodology is impossible, that does not, of course, mean that scientific methodology is not a useful and critical tool in sociological study. Bibliography Baert, P, 1998. Social theory in the twentieth century. Polity press Craib, I, 1984. Modern social theory. Wheatsheaf books Ltd Craib, I, 1989. Psychoanalysis and social theory the limits of sociology Wheatsheaf Craib, I, 1997. Classical social theory pub by Oxford university press Delanty, G, 2003. Philosophies of social science. Open university. Durkheim, E, 1963. Suicide, a study in sociology. Routledge Goffman, E, 1961 Asylums. Doubleday Anchor Goffman, E, 1990. The presentation of the self in everyday life. Penguin Halfpenny, P, 1986. Positivism and sociology. Routledge Johnson, G 2000 The dictionary of sociology Blackwell Hamilton, P, 1992. Talcott Parsons critical assessments. Routledge Marshall, G 1998. Oxford dictionary of sociology. Oxford university press Parsons, T, The structure of social action Free Press 1949 Poloma, M, 1979. Contemporary sociological theory. MacMillan Stones, R, 1998. Key sociological thinkers. Palgrave Winch, P, 1958. The Idea Of a Social Science. Routledge