African American Culture 5 Essay

Question# 4: African cultures, by and large, bring a similar world view to the relationship between man and the spiritual realm, one that is marked by an extremely personal interaction. In the broader African spiritual world human beings are seen to be under the constant influence of other people, their ancestors, minor deities, the Creator, and various forces of nature. As a result the African spiritual world can be described as interactive since all things are endowed with life-force. How is this idea expressed in ritual approaches to morality, wrongdoing, and spiritual empowerment? African American religion has always been heavily involved and influenced by the notion of morality, wrong doing and spiritual empowerment since the slave days if not earlier, African Americans came to embrace Protestant Christianity and adapted their own version of it which is consistent with evidence in the 19th century and a little bit of the 18th, at the time Christianity had little effect on slave society through the efforts of Anglicans, but it was not because African Americans rejected the gospel but because whites seized Christian brotherhood from blacks. As blacks in the South and in the British Caribbean struggled to develop individual and collective identities from the ideas and ways of African culture and their new conditions of life, the series of efforts by evangelicals to convert slaves eventually gave rise to a distinct African-American form of Christian theology, worship style, and religious community. The importance of religion and having their own take on it is among African Americans, as among all people, rests on fulfilling the human need for an understanding of one’s place in both the spiritual and temporal world. Although it was difficult, African Americans discovered in evangelical conversion requirements an opportunity to reassert personal authority based on their ability to communicate directly with God and to bring others to recognize the need for personal repentance and acceptance of Jesus. A perfect example that supports the connection between religious involvement and a sense of personal identity, is found in a slave woman who, back then it was not common for them to tell missionaries that her people have come from across the sea and lost their father and mother, and therefore want to know the Father. The displacement of Africans, for whom locality was critical to interactions with the spiritual world, did not strip them of their religious identity, but required them to learn the spiritual landscape of their new home and reshape their practices accordingly. â€Å"Come Shouting to Zion† details the many religious rituals that Africans preserved in the new world, especially those surrounding fundamental life events such as the birth and naming of children, marriage, burial ceremonies, and ritual dancing and singing to communicate with ancestors and deities. The influence of Africans with many diverse but fundamentally similar cultures in a strange new land encouraged slaves to form new pan-African cultures, which grew increasingly popular as later generations of slaves were born into bondage in America, establishing a distinct African-American culture. The pidgin African-English is a prime example of Africans in American creating a system of communication that was not traceable to a particular African ethnic origin, nor was it a perfect imitation of American English, but was instead shared by blacks in America. As slaves first encountered a foreign language that whites wished them to learn well enough to be more productive but not well enough to pose a threat to the race-based socioeconomic hierarchy, so they became acquainted with Christianity at the will of whites, but when given the opportunity, appropriated it for their own purposes. In the early encounters between slaves and Christianity it is without question that African, and particularly American-born slaves, sought a spirituality that would explain or show their temporal condition. Some salves looked to a theology of liberation and equality among Christians, which they could glean from 18th century evangelicals, mostly Anglicans, who tried to downplay these aspects of biblical teaching. The early period of evangelism was restricted by the fears of slave-owners that slaves who converted to Christianity would feel empowered to revolt against their bondage. Several conspired rebellions and many smaller incidents of black assertion were linked to blacks who had heard enough preaching to identify themselves with the enslaved nation of Israel. This fed the fears of whites, and Anglicans continued to complain that the planters who prohibited them from educating slaves on religious matters were the largest hindrance to saving African American souls. While racism was strengthened and slaves were unable to improve their social status by conforming to white European-American values, very few blacks found the Christian message Anglicans shared with them appealing . Anglican churches maintained strict separation of rich and poor, white and black, during services and sacraments. The high-church emphasized that learned men alone were authorized to teach and that blacks would listen without questioning and to accept the extension of their temporal message and isolation from whites into the religious sphere. Under these terms, it is I am not surprised that Christianity failed to take root as a meaningful religion, a spiritual world that Africans wanted to live in. But it is essential to recognize the role of whites in shaping the message that Africans were allowed to hear, and the role specifically of slaveholders in excluding blacks from access to Christianity. That blacks expressed their agency in rejecting this early version of Christianity offered to them. . At the same time Anglicans were confused over their lack of success in the Southern mainland, Moravians made a significant impact on blacks in the Caribbean by bringing a different vision of a Christian community. Moravians, Methodists, Separate Baptists, and a few other missionaries in the late 18th and early 19th centuries who sought out African Americans stressed spiritual, if not always worldly, equality. Africans identified with and embraced images of a savior who had suffered like they did, and joined these Christian images with African musical modes of expression to create spirituals that reminded: â€Å"Jesus been down to de mire/ You must bow low to de mire† (Stuckey, 139). However, you must finally accept Christianity as an affirmation of their lowly place in society and a divine exhortation to obedience and docility, as many white slaveholders had hoped they would. Rather, blacks found opportunities at biracial revival meetings which were meetings held at locations most often church, in which slaves and blacks were black would interpret what they heard and to share their divinely inspired interpretations of Christian faith, even from pulpits. During this critical period when a significant portion of blacks in the Caribbean and American South were first offered Christianity, they clearly adopted it and transformed it into something that was their own. After the period of revivals that first sparked wide-scale conversions in the South, many African-Americans focused on building a community in which they could support one another and worship in their own African-influenced style. Local black congregations extended their religious community, most notably with the founding of the African Methodist Episcopal Church in1816. As an institution spanning several states, the A. M. E. Church allowed blacks to take part at different levels in a collective, hierarchical social system as had never before been possible under American slavery. blacks continued to participate as minorities in biracial congregations (still with segregated seating) in most parts of the south and the expanding frontier, but found fewer opportunities to become ordained preachers or lay leaders in mixed parishes, where they were likely only to be allowed to â€Å"exercise the gift, provided they teach sound Doctrine sic† under the approval of whites (Frey & Wood, 166). In the creation of their own religious communities in which no whites were present to criticize â€Å"overemotional† black forms of religious expression and persisting practices, such as polygamy and dancing, African-Americans actively designed a spirituality that fulfilled their needs in the slave societies of the Americas. African-American religiosity was then, as it is now, â€Å"centered on extended and expanding families and households, the importance of self-determination and personal dignity, mutual aid, and shared responsibility for the progress of the race† (Hortons, xi). In my opinion, African agency is most clearly supported by evidence of Africans defining their faith, modes of worship, and religious ties as part of a larger emerging African-American culture. Change was a relentless fact of life for Africans in 18th and 19th century America, most tragically present in enslavement and removal from Africa and domestic trade within the Americas that broke up families as masters bought and sold property. Outside the personal struggles of individual slaves, the changes in ideology and society wrought by the era of the American Revolution exposed Africans and their descendents to evolving external ideas about their place within American society, their rights as humans, and their needs as spiritual beings. Religion was one of the few arenas in which African-Americans could control the changes in their individual lives and their culture as a whole. Evolving religious traditions provided individuals over generations with a source of spiritual renewal and a supportive community and prepared an institution that could serve future generations. The long and turbulent transition from African forms of religiosity to African-influenced forms of Protestantism shows that black Americans created, out of all religious ideas and structures available to them, a faith that was their own. Question#3 The musical selections in this section come from Africa and the Americas. Some are examples of the preservation of traditional musical styles; others are examples of the adaptation of traditional modes of expression to modern styles. Prevalent in each performance is the use of either percussion instruments such as drums or singing in groups or by soloists. How do these musical selections exemplify a common African musical aesthetic, i. e. rhythmic syncopation, call-and-response, melodic constructions, vocal colors, in both traditional and contemporary expressions? African dance has contributed many characteristics to dance in America. We see evidence of this in many aspects of dance today. Being such a diverse nation, America has the blessing of combining original dances from different cultures to create an amazing dance repertoire. American dance as we know would be completely different, if it weren’t for the Africans. African dance began with the different rhythms of the tribes. Its roots in America began with the slave trade. The American slave trade began in 1619, (However, Africans were imported as slaves to the West Indies staring almost a century before that) with the arrival of Dutch trading ships carrying a cargo of Africans to Virginia. They were first brought over by boat to places such as Brazil, Cuba, and Haiti. Eventually different countries end up taking over those nations and slaves fall under their rule. In Brazil, the Portuguese take over, in Cuba the Spanish take over, and in Haiti, the French take over. The retaining of African culture by those in slavery was stronger in the other nations than in America, as the Spanish and French rulers adhered to the more lenient view of dancing taken by the Catholic Church. In America, the Protestant church strongly disapproved of dance. Therefore, dances that occurred in the West Indies, Brazil, Haiti and Cuba retained more of the African dance structure, than those in America did. Those dances can be classified as recreational or sacred. An example of a recreational dance is the Juba, which was a competitive dance where opponents would outdo each other in feats of skill, sometimes while balancing something on their head. Sacred dances were based on the worship of religious gods. The goal of the dance was for the dancer to become â€Å"possessed† by the god so that it would speak through the dancer. Two examples are voodoo and Shango dances. Traces of the African religious practice of possession, or disengaging from reality through the combined effects of music and dance, can be detected in the appeal of some forms of jazz dance. In America, the dance movement of Africa was restrained mainly by two factors: the attitude of the church towards dancing as being immoral and the restricted use of the primary African instrument (the drum). Drumming was banned in 1739 following a slave insurrection. White plantation owners responded by banning all drums and that forced slaves to search for other percussion options. They substituted with banjos, clapping hands, stomping feet, and the fiddle. Dances that occurred on the Plantations were for recreation and religious reasons also. Because of the European influence in America, the movement gave a distinct American appearance, rather than a strictly African one. Many dances imitated animals. There were also circle dances and dances for celebrations. Another category that emerged was competitive dances. The most well known one was the cakewalk. The slaves had witnessed their owners’ dancing festivities and imitated their stiff upper bodies while contrasting it with loose leg movements. The owners enjoyed watching this and gave a cake to the best dancer. The observation of African dancing by the whites led to them stereotyping the dancing slave. They began to blacken their faces and imitate them using such indigenous movements as the ‘shuffle’. The imitation dances by whites started an era of American entertainment based on the stereotype on the dancing ‘Negro’. Before the Civil War, professional dancers were mostly white, with the exception of William Henry Lane. He was also known as â€Å"Master Juba† and was a freeborn slave thought to be the best dancer in the World. He had lived in Manhattan where the Irish immigrants also lived. His dancing was a combination of Irish jig dancing and African rhythm, just like the slaves who were forced to compete with the Irish migrant workers aboard the ships. Both his movements and the Nigerian slaves are said to be the start of tap dance. Minstrelsy was also a popular form of entertainment in America from 1845 –1900. The Minstrel show was a group of male performers that portrayed the Negro as either slow and shuffling or sharply dressed and quick moving. The minstrel show proved prominent in spreading vernacular dances like the cakewalk and jig dancing on a wide scale. The next major change after minstrelsy came with the birth of ragtime music and ballroom dancing after 1910. A bunch of animal dances were seen in white ballrooms. Examples were the Turkey Trot, and Chicken Scratch. The invasion of ballrooms with native inspired dances set the stage for the same process to occur on Broadway. Zeigfield borrowed some of these dances for his Follies. Social dance became introduced on the theatrical stage. The big aspect being borrowed wasn’t the actual dances, but their swinging qualities. In 1921, Shuffle Along featured a jazz inspired dance called the Charleston. It left the audience with a lot of energy and a new respect towards black dancing. Tap was now also brought to white audiences and the musical comedies took on a new, more rhythmic life. In the late 1920s, jazz inspired songs replaced the popular white standards and America accepted Jazz music as its own. Louis Armstrong was a big part of the creation of swing music. It was a style of jazz music that emphasized African influenced rhythm and was played by big bands. Faster and sharper footwork came about and the Lindy was the new dance craze. It incorporated the shuffle and glide and buck and wing movements from early African dances. The Lindy was significant for starting jazz dance styles used in later musicals. It also gave the opportunity for white choreographers to experience African swing. Jazz music and dancing slowed down in popularity after WWII. Technology and music were evolving. The beat became more complex and musicians like Charlie Parker and Dizie Gillespie explored more with improve. The overall result was, jazz music became something more to listen to rather than to dance socially. The advent of Television in the 1950s also kept people at home instead of on the dance floors. African American dance became more of an artistic expression than a social means. Professional companies and dancers restored early African rhythms and the beauty and emotion of their traditional songs, including Catherine Dunham’s â€Å"Shango†, Alvin Ailey’s â€Å"Revelations† and Bill T. Jones’ â€Å"Uncle Tom’s Cabin†. In the past 50 years, African American dance has been rich in innovations as well as connections with the past. The definition of professional dance has broadened beyond ballet, modern, and jazz. Popular and social dances, including the urban black dance forms of break dancing and hip-hop have been recognized for their artistry and expressiveness. Dance created and performed by African Americans has become a permanent part of American dance. Every dancer and almost every person in America, in one way or another has danced steps that resemble early African polyrhythmic movements. Personally, I think the dance World in America could no have flourished as well as it did without it’s African influences. since the slave trade the drum has been used all over the world as a means of communication and self expression. Its broad variety of users includes the early African tribes, using them for ceremonial purposes. The Africans brought drums with them to the Americas and helped to develop their popularity among American musicians. In the mid 1900’s drum sets were brought about. These revolutionary collaborations of percussive pieces started off with a pair of hi-hats, a bass and snare drum, and a couple of tom toms. Later as the music progressed, so did the drum kits, completely eliminating the need for an entire drum section. With the coming of the rock and roll movement the drum kits were changing, they needed to accommodate the new music styles. They became sonically diverse and even electronic drums were brought about; making them infinitely adjustable both ergonomically and musically. With every major drum manufacturer competing to have the best product on the market drums will always be evolving. African American musicians and early slaves choose to use drums as a common form of expression because of the deep bass that was used to duplicate heart beat and thunder. The sound waves for open ended and string instruments is fairly straight forward. However, for a closed end instrument, such as a drum, the sound waves are different. A lot of the energy is dissipated through the shell of the drum, which is the reason for the variance in drum construction these days. Many different kinds of wood are used to generate different sounds, or a different amount of energy absorption. For a warmer, deeper sound maple construction is used while birch is used to get a high, resonant tone full of vibration. The heaviest wood that dissipates the most amount of energy is oak, creating a lower, flat sound. Question#1 I believe that Egypt’s economic progress over the last decade is a great example of showing how They have come a long way and are still vastly improving. Egypt is the third-largest economy in the Middle East and North Africa region (after Saudi Arabia and Israel), as well as one of the strongest, with significant potential for future economic growth and diversification. With a real commitment to economic reform, which favors a large privatization program and the encouragement of private investment and growth. The improvement in Ghana is evident in how their country has such a diverse economy. The Gold Coast was renamed Ghana upon independence in 1957 because of indications that present-day inhabitants descended from migrants who moved south from the ancient kingdom of Ghana. By West African standards, Ghana has a relatively diverse and rich natural resource base Minerals–principally gold, diamonds, manganese ore, and bauxite–are produced and exported. Exploration for oil and gas resources is ongoing. Timber and marine resources are important but declining resources. Agriculture remains a mainstay of the economy, accounting for more than one-third of GDP and about 55% of formal employment. Cash crops consist primarily of cocoa and cocoa products, which typically provide about one-third of export revenue, timber products, coconuts and other palm products, shear nuts , and coffee. Ghana also has established a successful program of nontraditional agricultural products for export including pineapples, cashews, and peppers. Cassava, yams, plantains, corn, rice, peanuts, millet, and sorghum are the basic foodstuffs. Fish, poultry, and meat also are important dietary staples. Ghana’s industrial base is relatively advanced compared to many other African countries. Industries include textiles, apparel, steel (using scrap), tires, oil refining, flour milling, beverages, tobacco, simple consumer goods, and car, truck, and bus assembly. Industry, including mining, manufacturing, construction and electricity, accounts for about 25% of GDP. I strongly believe that since Ghana and Egypt have improved so vastly it is helping African Americans improve in general, the saying â€Å"We come from a long line of kings and queens is such a truthful statement if you look back on history. We have a lot of ancestry that lies within Ghana and Egypt. With the knowledge of the past it will help us to continue realize our past and bring us to terms with the future. We can reverse the process by not letting people hold us back and to not blame others. I also believe that strong knowledge of Ghana and Egypt and Mali, will also further our culture by being educated and not told how our past was. There are a lot of invention by many great African Americans that most people do not know that black inventors were behind the idea, not that is matters that a black or a white person constructed or came up with an idea for a patent, it is essential that we are have contributed just as many things if not more than any other culture. There have been so many contributions to society to western civilization and I feel it is so important that we surround our selves with knowledge of our ancestors because they worked hard to get us to the point today where we are able to vote and the possibility of a black president. The saying that we come from a long line kings and queens is so powerful because it shows you that black really is beautiful and if you retrace our ancestors you will find out that our people were just as important as kings and queens. Lewis Temple was the inventor of a whaling harpoon called the â€Å"Temple’s Toggle† and the â€Å"Temple’s Iron. † He was born in Richmond, Virginia in 1800 and arrived in New Bedford, Massachusetts in 1829. He worked as a blacksmith and had lots of friends that were whaler’s who bought harpoons and had lots of conversations with them. Granville T. Wood was known as the black Edison. Woods was born in Columbus, Ohio on April 23,1856. He never finished elementary school and he worked in a machine shop at a very young age. He moved to Missouri in 1872 at the age of sixteen. By 1881 he opened a factory in Cincinnati, Ohio and manufactured telephone, telegraph and electrical equipment. He filed for his first application for a patent in 1884 for an improved steam-boiler furnace. Woods patented the† telographony ,† a combination of the telegraph and the telephone. He produced one of his most important inventions in 1887, it was called the Synchronous Multiplex Railway Telegraph. It enabled messages to be sent from moving trains and railways stations. In 1890 he set out to improve the lighting system by creating an efficient safe economical dimmer. It was safer and and resulted in 40% energy savings. Woods also created an overhead conducting system for electrical railways and the electrified third rail. By the time of his death in 1910 he had 150 patents awarded to him all together. Lewis H. L was a pioneer in the development of the electric light bulb. He was also the only black member of the Edison Pioneers, a group of inventors and scientists who worked with Thomas Edison. He was born in Chelsea, Massachusetts in 1848 and was raised in Boston. He enlisted in the Navy and served as a cabin boy on the U. S. S Massaoitta the age of sixteen. Latimer was given the assignment to draw plans for Alexander Graham Bell’s telephone patent . In 1879 Latimer went to work as a draftsman for Hiram Maxim, who invented the machine gun and headed the electric lighting company. Latimer worked on improving the quality of the carbon filament used in the light bulb. In 1882 he received a patent for an improved process for manufacturing carbon filaments. Gerrett is best remembered for his invention of the gas mask and the three way traffic signal. Mogan was born on March 4,1875 in Paris, Kentucky. He left school after fifth grade at the age of fourteen. He left Kentucky and headed for Cincinnati, Ohio and got a job as a handy man in a sewing shop. Morgan directed his attention to the frequent instances of firemen being overcome by fumes and thick smoke when they went into burning buildings. He perfected breathing device which he patented in 1914. In 1923morgan patented an automatic traffic signal which he sold to the General Electric Company for four thousand dollars. In 1963 Garrett A. Morgan died at ht age of 88 in Cleveland, Ohio after he was ill for two years. Just to name a few ,those were a couple of major contributors to the African American culture and western civilization.

Family on Government and vice versa Essay

As far as the government’s functions go, it is the unit of the family that is able to gain the most benefits. I view the family as the most basic and the most unprotected aspect of society. It is the government’s ability to provide regulations, guidelines, and protection that the family is able to continue its development. It might be raised at this point that the individual should be considered the most unprotected unit of society. However, I persist in believing that it is the family. The individual can still become a member of larger societal units. In fact, the individual can even go so far as to become a member of government. It is because of this fact that the collection of individuals called the family is the most in need of the services offered by the government that presides over it. However, there are forms of government wherein it is the family that comprises it. In oligarchies and monarchies, for example, the royal family comprises the governmental unit. It is in these cases that the interaction is reduced to one of family with family, of ruling class family with non-ruling class family, of bourgeois family with lower class family. This can also be likened to the type of interaction described to exist between the family and the society to which it belongs. In other ways, the family is also able to affect the government. Because the family forms the entirety of society and because it is able to mirror the mechanisms of society, it is also able to mirror and spread the mechanisms of government. The family is in charge of the education of the younger generation with regards to the powers of the government, the need to follow the impositions of the government, and also the specific laws and regulations set forth by the constitution. The task of propagating the ethics and morals of a good citizen that obeys the government lie on the shoulders of the members of the family. The concepts of restriction of behavior, meting punishments for unacceptable actions, and of obeying authority figures are also first understood by the child in the confines of the family. (Hegel, 2001) Society on Government and vice versa The government is said to be the regulating institution of society. It represents the majority of the population and provides frameworks as well as maintains peace and order. However, as I have stipulated, I believe that the inherent state in nature is peace and not war. Why then would a government be needed to maintain peace and order between its constituents and even with other governments? The state of war is not inherent in nature. However, it is also very much present in observable society. Why is this so? I believe that war stems from the inability of society to meet the needs of its members. This is in accordance with the propositions of Habermas (1998). Because of the society’s inability to completely meet the needs of its members, there is unrest and turmoil. War and violent conflict arise from these feelings of dissatisfaction. It is only through a strong power of the will that dissatisfaction is allowed to exist in an individual’s consciousness. I believe that the ineffective structuring of society creates feelings of unrest and dissatisfaction. When those with more are given more and those with less are asked for more, society is placed at an imbalance. This imbalance is unnatural. It is not the natural order of things. There is disequilibrium in society and as a result, there are individuals who are abused and unsatisfied. Again, this is also in accordance with the views of Marx and Engel (1978) regarding ruling class and non-ruling class. There is no chance for equilibrium or stability to be attained because as Marx and Engel (1978) stated, the ruling class practices hegemony. They use their ideologies to maintain power over the lower class. It is only with active revolt from the lower class that the structure of society can be changed. Thus war becomes an option to those whose dissatisfaction has become so great that they can no longer live with it. Without the government, these feelings of dissatisfaction would reign across the world. There would, indeed, be numerous states of war across the globe. Peace would be hard to find and individuals would find it impossible to achieve their true personal goals in life. A government is needed in order to regulate the interaction of the ruling class and the non-ruling class. Without the government, society would be in a constant flux of change and revolt. It is the institution of the government that allows society to remain its peace and as such to progress. However, it may well be the case that the government is simply a tool of the ruling class to maintain power, a means to their option of hegemony. This is exactly why even though there are governments in place today, wars still occur. There is still a disequilibrium in the social structure. Also, the government is not representative of the majority. This is a fact stressed by Kant (1983) to be of the utmost importance in considering government models and systems utilized in a given state. There is, therefore, a type of government that will best serve the purposes of society and the individual. Although there are numerous forms of government, not all are adaptive to society and its members. The mode of government is a point of greater consideration than the type of sovereignty afforded. (Kant, 1983) Society, however, plays a greater role in government. It is more than just a place wherein the functions of government can be practiced. In fact, it is my belief that society and government act in much the same way that the President and the House of Congress act in a Republic government. That is that society and government act as checks and balances of each other. Although it is true that there is no clear definition of legal power that society has on a particular government – in the way that government has on society – it is also true that the dominant form of politics in a state are defined by society. Because most governments rely on society’s good will towards it, society is able to check and balance the processes of the government. In modes of government involving votation, society dictates the candidates to be deemed more capable and reliable to place in position. This is done through the ideologies espoused by society. Thus two different political parties can be chosen from but the thrust of the resulting government will be based on the value systems established by society on its members. For modes of government, on the other, hand that do not include an electoral system, society is able to operate as a larger checks and balances system. Because monarchies and oligarchies and other similar forms of government give the ruler the right to decree laws and statutes by himself, society plays a crucial role. Social agreement or social rejection may be the only difference between a ruler’s decree of implementing the death penalty, for example, as a punishment to a severe crime. Thus we see that society plays a large role in defining government actions even in these individualistic or familial forms of governance. On this point, however, the revision and reconsideration of laws in systems with electoral systems and with more formal methods of passing laws is also highly dependent on society’s moral and ethical stand. The three-strike law for example, wherein criminals convicted of a crime three times receive a heavier sentence or a longer imprisonment period, was not revised because the constituents of the State of California did not agree to the provision that only severe crimes would be subject to this law.

Principles of communication in adult social care settings Essay

How would you explain the term ‘confidentiality’ to Hannah? Whilst it is Hannah’s right to make decisions for herself and choose not to want to take the medication, in this case from the information given it could be detrimental to her health and therefore I would explain to Hannah that the information given to me is in confidence. Although Hannah not taking her prescribed medication could put her at risk of harm and therefore I would need to pass the information on to my Manager to ensure her wellbeing is being addressed. It is Hannah’s choice who she shares information with and I would give her my assurance that the information would not be shared with her daughter unless she consented to it. BiiDescribe the possible tensions that may arise between telling others of Hannah’s decision and keeping this information totally confidential. The range of people that would need to share the information would be those directly involved with her care, healthc are professionals including her GP who can work with Hannah to help her understand the benefits of taking her medication. If the information was shared with the daughter this could cause upset and potential breakdown of the relationship. Hannah has the choice to inform her daughter or not. BiiiDescribe ways to maintain confidentially in day to day communication. Ways to maintain confidentiality in day to day communication are to keep all patient details and any information relating to them should not be in view of anyone and kept safe at all times. You should always not discuss any information with anyone other than legally involved, this sometime includes a family member. When patient are in clinic you should make sure that curtains are closed, doors are locked and making sure there is privacy. You should always make sure you have permission to pass on any information to other colleagues, new carers etc. BivExplain when and how a social care worker should get advice about confidentiality. It is very important as a healthcare worker that you understand when to seek advice about confidentiality. Confidentiality is essential in health care to improve trust and working relationships between the patients and their carer’s. Certain information is however shared amongst teams if it is needed to effectively support service users and others involved in their care. When there is a prospect of risk of danger or harm to the patient, staff or  members of the public. Additionally if abuse is suspected within the home or seen anywhere, or if there is a misconduct of a staff, it is the responsibility of the staff around to pass such information to their managers to take appropriate action. In most cases organisations have whistleblowing policies to protect staff after blowing the whistle and also to guide them on how to break confidentiality .

Recession in the United Kingdom Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Recession in the United Kingdom - Essay Example The causes of the recession in general cannot be determined but the onus falls on the administration and the financial system of the economy. (Recession, n.d.) The recession in the latter half of 2000 was severe and the effects were visible in various economies of the world. The focal point of the recession of the 2008-09 was on the USA and it soon spread to the different corners of the globe. The main reason for the recession can be attributed to the housing sector of the USA and the inability of the financial system of the USA to tackle the problem. The components of the financial system like the banks and the financial companies were many ways responsible for the origin of the recession. USA, being one of the financial epicenters of the world, had a control over the global financial system. Therefore, the effects of the recession were visible in many parts of the world and the companies were cutting their manpower to cut the costs. The global economy suffered and the Governments o f the various countries had to take severe measures to counter the effects of the recession. UK being another nerve center of the global financial world faced the severe effects of recession. Another cause for the recession in the UK was that the economy of the country was dependent on the economy of the US and after the globalization of the economy companies of the other countries started to function in the UK. The Government had to put some efforts and it had to renew the policies to control the effects of the recession. The paper will explore the issue recession in the UK with special emphasis on the impact of measures undertaken by the government to tackle the recession. As discussed in the earlier part the origin of the global recession was the USA and the reasons for the recession can be attributed to the failures of the banks and the financial companies. The sector, which contributed to the

Improving Supply chain performance through Auditing Research Proposal

Improving Supply chain performance through Auditing - Research Proposal Example This calls for an audit of the supply chain when an organization is facing difficulties in carrying out its procurement, production, and distribution of its product. Accordingly, this research proposal paper has come up with a number of objectives that managers of an organization should evaluate in enhancing the supply chain of a typical organization in a modern market. In carrying out the audit of the supply chain of the organization, the researcher was motivated by the difficulties the organization is facing in receiving raw materials, distributing final products, and increasing transport and inventory cost. Thus, the audit the researcher has undertaken on the supply chain of the organization is critical in improving its efficiency. Indeed, the evaluation of the objectives in this research proposal is beneficial to managers and employees of the organization in crafting supply chain policy in future. Furthermore, the research question that helped in compiling the supply chain audit is how best the supply chain can be improved in an organization. Accordingly, the research question was answered by questioning the efficiency of information sharing, inventory management, and decision making certainty in the organization. In addition, the researcher evaluated the question of motivation in an organization to find out the effect it has on the supply chain performance. Objectives One of the major objectives that an organization should focus on is the sharing of information in an organization (Atilgan and McCullen, 2011). This objective implies the presence of a communication channel in the organization to allow sharing of information between the various parties involved in the supply chain component. Indeed, empirical studies have shown that when information between the relevant parties in the supply chain component is not clear, there is potential of duplication of tasks. In addition, conflicts are likely to arise between the parties when the tasks of each party are not clearly communicated by the organization (Parmigiani and Klassen, 2011). Consequently, the efficiency of the supply chain will be highly compromised rendering the productivity, profitability, and sustainability of the organization at risk. The management of an organization are supposed to invent a communication system that will allow the parties to pass relevant information when it is needed to enhance the supply chain (Childerhouse and Towill, 2011). Similarly, the communication system should be able to capture the needs of the different parties in order to increase their efficiency (Parmigiani and Klassen, 2011). A clear investigation of the communication channels of the organization reveals the difficulties the parties involved in the implementation of the supply chain component face. One of the communication failures of the organization is that it lacks a coordinating platform for the relevant parties to share information simultaneously. Thus, the supply chain is faced with a tedious and time wasting process in sharing information between the parties. This makes the efficiency of the supply chain very slow since the parties have wait for long time to get the right information before making decisions. Ultimately, the time taken in acquiring the

Human Reasorce Mangment Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Human Reasorce Mangment - Essay Example All this is deemed to be in tune with the specific requirements of the organization (Bloisi, 2007). Before the review and after Caf Co adopted its new outlook of its human resource management, its human resource management had a number of similarities with its new outlook on human resource management. One of the similarities was that Caf Co recognized its personnel as the most important asset of the company and to this end various amendments were made to benefit the workforce of the caf. There was also the aspect that the human resource of the organization was deemed as a very important channel of the caf achieving its objectives and goals and this played a very important part in ensuring that the personnel were well trained and recruited to ensure that they met their objectives. This brought about the similarity that the personnel of the organization were well trained and also that new employees were well recruited before joining the organization. There was also the fact that the employees were handpicked from the best selection the market had to offer and old employees were subj ected to refresher course at a certain period. This method of human resource management can be classified as the classical form of human resource management (Marchington, 2005). When Caf Co adopted its new human resource management, the human resource though being deemed as one o... When this perspective was undertaken by the organization, the human resource of the organization started receiving extra benefits which were deemed as motivators for the personnel to accomplish their objectives and also realize their targets. To this effect the benefits were awarded to various individuals who showed that they were capable of achieving the 4Cs which denotes competence, congruence, competence and cost effectiveness. This new outlook by Caf Co indicated that they had adopted the Harvard human resource management which advocates for these policies to be implemented by any organization (Bloisi, 2007). 2. Necessity of more responsibility in the line management It is important for the management of any organization to portray a high degree of responsibility in their human resource management. This is especially true to the line management because in this aspect the management is responsible for the administration of all human resource activities which when brought together plays an important part in ensuring the organizational output is well coordinated to meet the organization's objectives as well as targets. When the management portrays an attitude of more responsibility, the personnel will also view the various projects as very important and in turn will put more effort in ensuring that the objectives are met. The supervising role that the management will play will act as a motivator for the personnel to ensure that they submit a high quality results. This will in turn play a very important role in ensuring that the organization offers the clients high quality products and services and this will play a very important role in improving t he public outlook of the organization. In this respect, the sales base of the

Preventable Hospitalizations for Congestive Heart Failure Article

Preventable Hospitalizations for Congestive Heart Failure - Article Example The independent variable in the study is from the year 1995 to 2009 while the dependent variable is preventable hospitalization for congestive heart failure among adults in sampled hospitals (Will et al., 2012). The study design in the article is cross-sectional research design using a sample of age, sex, and race of the patients. The sample size is 501 to 525 hospitals representing one percent of United States hospitalizations. The study uses stratified sampling with the sample characteristics being age, sex, and race of patients hospitalized of CHF in participating hospitals. Data was collected from the 1995 to 2009 National Hospital Discharge Survey (NHDS) conducted by the National Center for Health Statistics (Will et al., 2012). Data collection methods were entrance records by hospitals of the CHF patients admitted between 1995 and 2009. The procedures conducted were the removal of severe CHF patients to ensure the sample taken included that of patients whose hospitalization was preventable (Will et al., 2012). Data analysis involved weighting CHF hospitalization from 1995 to 2009 for the people above 18 and summation of numbers of three consecutive years to form 7 periods whose rates w ere calculated 100,000 of the population. Standardization, development of confidence intervals, Z-tests, and other statistical tests followed the analysis. The results depict increased rates of CHF hospitalization among all ages, and blacks have higher hospitalization rates than whites (Will et al., 2012). The strengths of the article are the in-depth data analysis and use of large sample data. The study limitations are non-reporting of 17% to 21% of the CHF hospitalizations and classification of people as multiracial from 2000 onwards. Another liability is the inability to exclude CHF hospitalizations occurring from transfers from other facilities (Will et al., 2012). Heart Failure in Hispanics is a qualitative research study done in the United States where the risk  factors, etiological conditions, diagnosis and treatment, and barriers to health care are done on Hispanic Patients.  

Crisis Management Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Crisis Management - Essay Example Reputation has now become a ticket to success because it is what earns revenue. A good reputation is built when the company conducts itself in a way it is expected to. Reputation is build and maintained through communication (Coombs, 1995). The accounting theory creates assumptions, methodologies and frameworks that businesses should use when applying the financial principles (Benoit, 2000). This aids in providing information that is objective, reliable, timely, clear, consistent and comparable. It is necessary to provide this information so that the stake holders, namely trade creditors, financial creditors, employees, shareholders, trade unions, the present and the current investors, can make decisions based on that information. The information released is not only used for outsiders, but it may also be used internally in order to correct the things and decisions that are wrong. In this sense, this accounting theory informs the discussion of this paper by emphasising on the importa nce of information and communication in decision making. A crisis is that unfortunate situation that has created a threat to an organisation and its clients, and the organisations' management has to respond to the ongoing threat (Hooghiemstra, 2000). Action has to be taken otherwise the problem was not a threat to be categorised as a crisis. The structural functional systems theory provides some insight into crisis management. It emphasises information flow in an organisation through patterns called networks. It implies that companies with rich communication channels that are clear are able to handle crises better than those who do not. The diffusion innovation theory informs the theoretical framework of this study by providing and describing that innovation is disseminated and communicated only through certain channels over a period of time making consistency of essence (Benoit, 1995). The Case Context This study will examine a case where there was a crisis and how well, or otherwi se, was it handled. The case chosen is that of Toyota crisis of 2010 involving faulty accelerators and braking systems. On 29th August 2009, a police patrol officer Mark Saylor was cruising down the highway at well over 100 kph when he realised that the breaks were not working and that the accelerator was stuck in. It finally ended up crashing on another car killing four people. This was the onset of this crisis as several other accidents followed in that month up to the end of the year before the Toyota Company decided to recall all the Toyota models that had been affected by that defect (McDonald, 2010). Data It is only after a hyped media reporting that Toyota came out publicly to admit that there was a problem. This was in January 2010, and 34 drivers had already lost their lives. It was clear that Toyota was in a crisis, and it owed it to its customers and the society at large to take action. It therefore, took the high road action of recalling more than 16 million vehicles wor ldwide with 10 million of those being in the US (Bensinger, 2010). At this time, the crisis was already at an advanced stage but Toyota being a market leader in Automobile manufacturers had its image, identity and reputation at stake. The only available measure was to hold a press release in which they were to admit that there were vehicles that were manufactured at a certain period of time and had unintended accelerators and faulty breaking system (McDonald, 2010). On February 1 2010, Jim Lentz, Toyota’s CEO in America held a press release meeting on behalf of Toyota’

Managing Sustainability Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Managing Sustainability - Essay Example And the human economy is a subsystem of this biosphere. From the session I came to know that according to the neo-classical concept, the market system is considered to be the preferred institution for allocating scarce resources. The market system accomplishes this wonderful feat using prices as a means of gauging resource scarcity. In sharp contrast to the Malthusians, neoclassicists believe that economic growth, through increases in per capita income and improvements in technology, provides solutions for both environmental and population problems. In other words, the solution to environmental and population problems is more, not less, economic growth. It was quiet evident to me that according to Malthusian doctrine of resource scarcity and economic growth, technology is not the ultimate escape from the problem of resource scarcity from which I agree to some extent but it doesn’t means that we should stop economic growth. Human beings have a natural propensity for self-destru ction while critics consider that the Malthusian predictions of economic collapse are unwarranted and moreover not helpful politically. In the neoclassical economics I came to know that resources are generally considered to be fungible. On that point I agree to the criticism that the link between the flow of matter–energy in the economic system and the natural environment is very much ignored. From my point of view, economic growth and technological advances should be viewed not as problems in themselves – the way Malthusians tend to view them, but as cures for stresses involving population, resources, pollution, and other environmental damages which were rectified to some extent in ecological economics. According to ecological economics, systems are complex, adaptive, living systems that need to be studied as integrated, co-evolving systems in order to be adequately understood (Costanza et al. 1993). Here, the human economy is viewed as a subsystem of the natural ecos ystem. The nature of the exchanges of matter and energy between the ecosystem and economic subsystem is the primary focus of ecological economics (Ayres 1978; Pearce 1987). Except for information, the natural ecosystem is the ultimate source of all material inputs for the economic subsystem. In this sense, then, nature can rightly be regarded as the ultimate source of wealth. In Sustainable development economics we studied three different conceptions of sustainability, namely Hartwick–Solow sustainability, ecological economics sustainability and the safe minimum standards (SMS) sustainability. Ecological economics presumes that the sustainability of ecological systems is a prerequisite to sustainable human economic development, and it views human and natural capital as complements. Market failures can happen when the benefits of natural or social capital depletion are privatized and the costs are often externalized. When natural capital is undervalued by society since we are not fully aware of the real cost of the depletion of natural capital then also market failures happen. Information asymmetry can also result in market failure when the link between cause and effect is obscured, making it difficult to make informed choices. From the session I agree to the view of Boulding (1966) â€Å"

Research Paper on what influence the Salem Witch Hunts had on

On what influence the Salem Witch Hunts had on Nathaniel Hawthorne's short story Young Goodman Brown (1835) - Research Paper Example One of the major inspirations that the Salem Witch Hunt had on Hawthorne’s â€Å"Young Goodman Brown† was the connection that Hawthorne himself had with some of the people involved in the witch hunt. One of Hawthorne’s distant relatives on his father’s side, John Hathorne, was the primary judge in the accusing and condemning of supposed witches throughout the hunt and in the trials that proceeded (Moore 37-38). Knowing that Hawthorne was related to some of the people involved in the hunting of these people, Hawthorne wanted to learn all that he could about the events. The research that ensued resulted in Hawthorne compiling ideas, all of which were drawn from historical sources, for what would eventually become â€Å"Young Goodman Brown†. Similarly, being related by blood to some of the witch hunt’s lead players, Hawthorne felt a connection, though rather detached, with the mass hysteria that the witch hunt brought. Hawthorne essentially want ed to have an involvement in the historical event, and this prompted him to write. Hawthorne’s blood ties to the Salem Witch Hunt allowed him to be more intimate with his short story and its characters. By looking at records that were kept during the time of the witch hunt, such as those that dealt with the judges and the lives of those accused of witchcraft and then condemned, Hawthorne was able to submerge himself into a unique story that played on fiction while remaining true to historical facts. In a sense, Hawthorne was able to live out the trials though the protagonist of his short story, Goodman Brown; this act was able to be undergone due to the records and the familial connections that Hawthorne possessed. Hawthorne, through his resources and then through his characters, was able to shed new light on what took place during the witch hunt. The fact that Hawthorne had access to such astounding resources is part of what influenced his writing of the short story. Without the resources, the story, if at all written, would have just been another piece of fiction. Hawthorne also used the names of many of the condemned witches for his short story, which further connects his fiction with the great historical event. The names that Hawthorne used were found in the records and other documents that contained the names of people that were being tried for practicing witchcraft. Again, given the fact that one of his own relatives played a vital role in the witch hunt, Hawthorne was influenced by this personal connection of having known someone, which prompted him to use the names of real suspects. This would make the fictional story seem more lifelike, giving it an element of reality. By doing this, despite the fact that the short story was indeed fictional, the use of suspects’ real names gives the story some truth to it. Though Hawthorne was unable to witness the events of the witch hunt, including the rituals performed by the witches that he elaborat ed on in â€Å"Young Goodman Brown†, he was able to add to history by combining his own creativity with the historical facts that he already had. Hawthorne had been inspired by the facts of history, more specifically the names of the suspects, and combined them with his own creative elements. The

Locus of control and self-esteem Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Locus of control and self-esteem - Essay Example A drive to accomplish and maintain high self-esteem is one of the strongest motives of personality. People with high self-esteem possess a positive image about themselves while people with low self-esteem possess a negative about themselves (Baumeister, 1998). In recent times, psychologist and other social scientists have shifted emphasis on studying the personality traits of students. A number of researchers have studied the relationship between self-esteem and locus of control (Martin, 1978; Liu, Haiyan & Li, 2009). The findings of the researches suggested that locus of control and self-esteem has a negative or inverse relationship. This means that individuals having a high locus of control, that is, external locus on control will have a low self-esteem. Similarly, individuals having a low locus of control, that is, internal locus of control will have a high self-esteem (Martin, 1978; Liu, Haiyan & Li, 2009). These results are not only consistent in the academic field rather researchers investigated the relationship of the two variables among different ethnic backgrounds, socio-economic status, gender roles and discovered the same results (Goodman, Cooley, Sewell & Leavitt, 1994; Harrison, Guy & Lupfer, 1981). The main purpose of the research is to study the relationship between locus of control and self-esteem among students studying at Marshall Graduate College, Charleston. The study aims to investigate whether students having a higher locus of control have a low self-esteem and vice versa. In order to understand the two variables; locus of control and self-esteem better, the conceptual definitions are presented. The locus of control is an important concept of psychology which explains how a human perceives the events that he has gone through in his or her life. It is considered as an important part of an individual’s personality as it mainly refers to the way one perceives his/her actions and the events that his/his life passes through,

Memorial Day for Iraq and Afghanistan Essay Example for Free

Memorial Day for Iraq and Afghanistan Essay The current wars in Iraq and Afghanistan are a very big problem. Anyone will look at it as a serious peace concern. However, since any problems will also become solved in the future, it is a good thing that we have a fitting memorial when there is already peace in both countries. To memorialize the peace in Iraq and Afghanistan, there should be a dedicated date of holiday celebration. This day must be remembered as the liberating day for the people of Iraq and Afghanistan. There should be celebrations and that all people must have a break from their work and schools. It should be a national holiday for the two countries. It is also a good idea if both countries will build a monument in their capital cities. The monument should represent peace. It is very similar to the American War monument in Washington USA. Lastly, there should be a program of the Memorial Day. It means there must be parades and special public programs during the holiday event. A simple parade that will have children and youth participate so that they represent the future of peaceful nations in Iraq and Afghanistan. This will be simple but very significant. We all know that the peaceful days in our nation are very important to remember. We can have memorial days or independence days. But no matter what our plans of celebrating them, we should always memorialize the important contributions of people who sacrificed their lives for peace in our country.

Is General Will Compatible With Individual Freedom Politics Essay

Is General Will Compatible With Individual Freedom Politics Essay Jean-Jacque Rousseau wrote at a time before great social and political change in Europe. His texts remain one of the classic concepts of political theory. His writings have been thought of by many as, the bible for the French Revolution for his foresight and perhaps predictions for the violence and terror that followed. His text, The Social Contract (1762) is made up of 4 books. In Books 1 and 2 he aimed to address the problem of political morality and the theory of institutions in Books 3 and 4. Rousseau was a defender of democracy, an advocate for individual liberty and an egalitarian. Rousseau begins with the famous opening lines, Men are born free, yet everywhere are in chains He starts by explaining the way in which men are bound to the chains of civil society which restrain the natural right of man to an objective independent freedom. He believed that civil society does not give man the freedom, liberty and equality that were promised to him when joining society. Rousseau believed that the only way to prevent these shackles from becoming uncomfortable would be by the collective creation of a body in society forming a single will, the general will. When answering the question it is important to understand the idea of the rule of the general will to see if it is compatible with the freedom of the individual. The general will is expressed by the sovereign (either an individual with a unified will or a collective body in society). The definition and purpose of this general will is to act in the needs and desires of the collective and to sustain the common good for all people. Rousseau explains, The English people believed itself to be free. It is greatly mistaken; it is free only during the election of the members of Parliament. Once they are elected, the populace is enslaved; it is nothing . To Rousseau the idea of the general will is one of free debate in an assembly of individuals and equals of what is of common interest. In Chapter 15 of Book 3 he puts forward the idea that sovereignty cannot be represented, because it consists of the general will and the general will cannot be represented . J. Plamenatz (1992) gives this reason for Rousseaus argument for direct as apposed to representative democracy. Every citizen in Rousseaus ideal society should make the laws themselves and not entrust this job in the places of others. This was Rousseaus third principle. In essence general will gives every individual in the collective the freedom to vote how he pleases in the assembly and ultimately everyone has a say in the running of the society as the democracy is direct. However, Rousseau retains that general will should not be the desire of the individual will, but what will be beneficial for everyone. Rousseau also believed that whoever went against obeying the general will ought to be enforced to do so by the whole body. This means nothing other than that he shall be forced to be free . What Rousseau means by this is that by people having the obligation to adhere to the social contract and by having to receive the benefit of the general will, theyre gaining freedom. This is in contrast to Hobbes and Locke who believed laws were created to stop us wandering from the path of civil obedience and referred to as hedges. Rousseau asserts that it is the process of law making that sets us free. His key argument was that if we are the authors of the law then we could manifest our own freedom and independence. According to Rousseau we are all born free and have the capacity to be free but to achieve this Rousseau believed we have to build a social government that does not enslave us. It could be argued that Rousseaus idea of the rule of the general will, is compatible with the freedom of the individual. This is because Rousseau described the notion of there being 2 different types of freedom. There is social freedom and a personal freedom. He also refers to personal freedom as the state of nature. Rousseau said that freedom was only reachable when the populace obeyed the laws it set itself. J. Plamenatz (1992) describes this by explaining ideally we would say, I alone have made the law that I obey but that this is impossible and instead the most we can hope for is that each should say, I obey the law that we have made rather than I obey the law that they have made. This ideal is that every citizen should identify himself with the community that makes the law . Rousseau bellied that the ab ility to follow these rules and laws would only be possible once one recognised themselves as a part and member of the community of lawmakers. Rousseau had previously discussed the first explanatory problem of the origins of how we became unfree, when we are born naturally free in the state of nature. He wrote about this in Discourse on the Origin of Inequality (1755). It is in The Social Contract (1762) that he explained the second problem, the justificatory problem and suggested an answer. Rousseau asserted that power only becomes legitimate once the people consent to it and. He said, Each of us puts his person and all his power in common under the supreme direction of the general will; and in a body we receive each member as an indivisible part of the whole In conclusion, Iain Hampsher-Monk writes in A History of Modern Polticial Thought that, part of the main, objective of the general will, therefore is its constant tendency to equality . He says that the notion of obeying ourselves is a difficult one to understand, however he explains that in this way of setting and obeying our own rules, tyranny can be guarded against . Whilst some scholars have regarded Rousseaus political thought as pointing towards totalitarianism, (as he advocates complete subservience to the state) many others regard him as a firm liberal and a defender of freedom and equality. For this reason it is believed that Rousseaus idea of the rule of the general will is compatible with the freedom of the individual, as in Rousseaus state; the popular sovereignty effectively governs themselves by legitimising the chains of society and reconciling sovereignty , freedom and authority.

Methods of Neuropsychological Studies

Methods of Neuropsychological Studies The term ‘syndrome’ denotes the statistical co-occurrence of a cluster of symptoms. However, it is not imperative that all symptoms of a syndrome be present in a given patient. The statistical cluster is supposed to indicate an underlying cause of various symptoms. A major thrust of cognitive neuroscience is the clarification of structure function of relationships in the human brain understanding the relationship between the human brain structure and function is a major focus of cognitive neuroscience. The methods available to achieve this goal have undergone significant changes over the last 15 years; in particular, functional neuroimaging is rapidly replacing neuropsychological studies of people with brain lesions as the central method in this field, over the last several years, functional neuroimaging has risen in prominence relative to the lesion studies that formed the historical core of work in this field. At the outset, it is important to bear in mind that regardless of the specific method used, inferences from impaired performances following brain damage always focus on the same conclusion; which is, an assumption regarding which structures are necessary to perform a given task. The study of cognitive and behavioural consequences of focal brain lesions has been an indispensable method for relating brain structure to function. Lesion studies rely on correlating damaged structure and abnormal function to determine crucial brain regions necessary for normal function. For this purpose it is necessary not only to detect lesions but also to accurately delineate their spatial extent. The lesion method was influential for our understanding of functions as diverse as memory, emotion, hemispheric specialization, language, vision and motor control. For example, recent neuropsychological research has refined our understanding of how emotions are processed, with damage to the amygdala resulting i n difficulty in recognizing whether faces are expressing fear (Adolphs et al., 1995), and damage to the left insula and basal ganglia leading to a selective difficulty in identifying disgust (Calder et al., 2000).Work involving patients with brain damage has also shown that the posterior ventral cortex is involved in recognizing objects, and that the posterior dorsal regions are involved in integrating visual information with goal-directed motor responses e.g. grasping a door handle (Goodale Milner, 1992). Various types of disorders have been described by clinical neurologists and none has been more frequent and vivid than the syndrome of unilateral spatial neglect. Hemispatial neglect is a common disabling condition following unilateral brain damage, particularly of the right hemisphere. Although it can be caused by various different pathological conditions, it is most often observed after cerebral infarction or hemorrhage and affects up to two thirds of right hemisphere of stroke patients acutely (Stone et al., 1991; Bowen et al., 1999). Unilateral neglect is traditionally defined as a failure to report, respond to or orient towards stimuli in contralesional space (Driver Mattingley, 1998; Halligan, Fink, Marshall, Vallar, 2003; Heilman, Watson, Valenstein, 1993). Perhaps a more appropriate description, especially for severe neglect patients, would be to suggest that the patient behaves as if one half – the contralesional side (the left side for patients with right brain da mage) – of their world has simply ceased to exist, they attend instead to items towards the same side as their brain damage—their ipsilesional side. Their neglect may be so profound that they are unaware of large objects, or even people, in extrapersonal space. Neglect may also extend or be confined to personal space, with patients failing to acknowledge their own contralesional body parts in daily life (Bisiach et al., 1986; Zoccolotti Judica, 1991; Beschin Robertson, 1997). The earliest descriptions of unilateral neglect that were able to localize the underlying lesion with any degree of certainty came from cases initially described by Paterson and Zangwill (1944). Identifying the neuroanatomical correlate of spatial neglect in humans is as challenging because human brain lesions vary tremendously in size and the neglect syndrome itself is multifaceted. While the Paterson and Zangwill (1944) case described a patient with a discrete lesion resulting from a penetrating head wound, the more common cause of neglect is a middle cerebral artery stroke causing widespread damage to the lateral cortical surface and underlying white matter that this artery subserves (Duvernoy, 1999). Unilateral spatial neglect has been investigated in a systematic manner, by comparing performances of unselected groups of right and left brain-damaged patients, both of which were asked to perform tasks requiring an adequate exploration of space. However, the results of these studies have been somewhat varied, and there is still disagreement about both qualitative and incidence aspects of unilateral neglect in lateralized cerebral lesions. For example Battersby et al., (1956) found that lesions of the posterior areas of either hemisphere frequently produced unilateral neglect but Hecaen (1962), in his observation series of 59 patients with unilateral spatial neglect found only one case was suffering from a left hemispheric lesion, and emphasized the relationship between unilateral spatial neglect and lesions of the minor hemisphere. Also, Gainotti (1968) attempted to study the same problem by means of a battery of tests simple enough to be administered to all patients; his results s howed that unilateral spatial neglect is not only significantly more frequent, but also definitely more severe in patients suffering from lesions of the right hemisphere. Lesions of the right hemisphere are far more likely to lead to severe and enduring neglect than left hemisphere damage (Bowen et al., 1999; Stone et al., 1992), perhaps because of the specialization of the latter for language. Cortical damage involving the right inferior parietal lobe or nearby temporoparietal junction has classically been implicated in causing neglect (Vallar Perani, 1986). It has become apparent, however, that the syndrome may also follow focal lesions of the inferior frontal lobe (Vallar, 2001; Husain Kennard, 1997), although lesions confined to the frontal lobe may lead to a more transientneglect (Walker, 1998). Recent studies making use of fMRI scans in neglect patients have suggested that the critical region of overlap in a series of neglect patients’ lesions is either in the superior temporal gyrus (Karnath et al., 2001; Karnath et al., 2004) or the temporoparietal junction (Mort et al., 2003). Regarding localization of functions, research has demonstrated the variability (Kertesz, 1979) as well as the extent of the lesions that give rise to particular language disorders. Paul Broca (1861) suggested that lesions in the inferior frontal gyrus, now corresponding to Brodmann’s areas (BA) 44 and 45, were implicated in speech production disorders (Schiller, 1992). However, as advances in technology have made patients’ lesion information easier to obtain (e.g. CT and MRI scans), lesion–symptom relationships derived from the classical models of aphasia have proven to be less predictive than expected. In many instances, left frontal lesions do not result in Broca’s aphasia (Basso, Lecours, Moraschini, Vanier, 1985; Willmes Poeck, 1993). Moreover, fluency problems can be reliably associated to lesions outside of Broca’s area, including underlying white matter tracts and anterior insula (Bates et al., 2003; Damasio, 1992; Dronkers, 1996; Mohr et a l., 1978). Conversely, lesions to Broca’s area can cause deficits in domains other than speech production, indeed even outside of language (Saygin, Wilson, Dronkers, Bates, 2004). Research has shown that a lesion restricted to Broca’s area gives rise to a transient impairment of language production and that the full complement of symptoms associated with Broca’s aphasia (articulation problem coupled with simplified sentence structure—the pattern known as â€Å"agrammatism†) is the result of more extensive damage to the frontal cortex (Mohr et al., 1978). Evidence suggests, moreover, that the articulation problem present in Broca’s aphasia (â€Å"apraxia of speech†) is associated with damage to a portion of the insula, a part of the cerebral cortex that is not visible from the brain’s surface because of the growth of other parts of the frontal lobe (Dronkers, 1996). There are specialized mechanisms for the perception of speech, which consists of brief stimuli that change rapidly in wavelength composition. Isolating input to critical left temporal areas as a result of a left hemisphere lesion, or in some cases lesions in both hemispheres (the lesion on the right deprives the left hemisphere of transcallosal input), results in the disorder known as â€Å"pure word deafness,† in which patients can hear but cannot understand speech; their native tongue, for example, sounds to them like a foreign language. Moreover, these patients have difficulty discriminating between speech sounds (between â€Å"pa† and â€Å"ba,† for example), although they have little or no difficulty producing speech and understanding written language (Saffarn et al., 1976). Virtually all aphasic patients suffer from verbal short-term limitations (as measured, for example, by asking them to repeat digit strings; their performance tends to be well below the n ormal span of about seven.). One particular group with left posterior parietal lesions (Shallice vallar, 1990) suffers from short-term memory limitations but little else, and many of these patients have sentence comprehension deficits similar to those described in Broca’s aphasics (Saffaran Martin. 1990). It is interesting to note that Broca patients also have difficulty with certain grammaticality judgment tasks, in particular, those that entail linking particular word identities (and/or their meanings) to particular locations in the sentence. Thus, they proved to be insensitive to infractions involving reflexive sentences (e.g., â€Å"The woman looked at himself in the mirror†) in which the gender of the pronoun conflicts with that of the noun to which it refers (Linebarger et al., 1983; Linebarger, 1995). This further suggests that the capacity to integrate the various types of information required for the understanding of sentences is limited in these patients. It may also be the case that frontal activation is critical for sentence production. One view of the sentence production deficit in Broca’s aphasics is that it reflects a timing problem in which lexical items are retrieved too slowly to integrate with sentence structure (Kolk, 1995). Lesions that affect anteri or inferior regions of the left temporal lobe are known to result in semantic deficits in which patients have difficulty finding words and understanding them and often exhibit impairments with pictured materials as well (Howard Patterson, 1992).Studying aphasia and its associated lesions in the late 19th century led to many insights about the neural organization of language functions and many of these insights have been confirmed and elaborated in more recent studies using advanced imaging to localize areas of dysfunctional brain tissue associated with particular language deficits or using functional imaging to identify areas of the brain that were activated during a particular language task in normal controls (Wise, 2003; Bookheimer, 2002) or in recovering aphasic Individuals (Price Crinion, 2005). Technological advances in recent years (e.g. functional imaging techniques) have allowed neuroscientists to measure and localize brain activity in healthy individuals. This has fueled the zeitgeist that the lesion method is an inferior and conceivably antiquated technique. Nonetheless, while the lesion method has notable weaknesses, it can be argued that it supplements the newer methods. Additionally, recent developments deals with many of the criticisms of the lesion method. Patients with brain lesions provide a unique window into brain function, and this methodology will fill an important niche in the growing resource of tools that constantly become available to neuroscientists and neuropsychologists for future research. Nevertheless, it is beneficial to consider whether new technologies can be used to optimize the lesion method. Whilst, some of the lesion method’s limitations are intrinsic to the technique, other weakness can be addressed by recent technical innovations. Th e lesion method has much to offer, despite its limitations; new techniques for imaging the brain and analyzing lesion data have the potential to improve the lesion method. Still, the strength and weaknesses of the lesion method and other imaging techniques such as fMRI are complementary, as some brain functions might be difficult to determine using the lesion method alone or functional neuroimaging alone, but can be successfully undertaken with a combination of these techniques (Price Friston, 2002).

The History of the Holocaust Essay -- World History

Adolf Hitler said â€Å"I believe that I am acting in the accordance with the will of the all Mighty Creator, by defending myself against the Jew, I am fighting for the work of the lord.† This is how he rationalized his malicious acts against the Jewish people in Germany. A horrendous act that would later become known as the Holocaust. The first act toward the holocaust was on January 30th, 1933, when Adolf Hitler became chancellor of Germany. Paul Von Hindenberg, the current president of Germany, did his best to keep Hitler out of office, but in the end it wasn’t enough. At that time the Jewish population in Germany was approximately 566,000 people. From that point on things only went down hill for the Jews in Germany. Just a few months after Hitler became chancellor and a mere week after he became the dictator he passed a law ordering a boycott on all Jewish banks, shops, offices, and department stores that would take effect on April 1st, 1933. Then on September 15th, 1935 Hitler passed a series of laws that came to be known as the Nuremberg Laws. The first of these laws was put in place to protect the honor and blood line of the German people. It stated that no Jew would be allowed to marry or participate in marital intercourse with anyone that was not of the same race. The second law robbed the Jewish people of their citizenship. Kristallnacht, also known as the Night of Broken Glass, was a series of attacks on the Jewish people by the Nazi soldiers on the nights of November 9th and 10th, 1938. Nazi soldiers attacked Jewish homes and destroyed their businesses, not to mention the more that 200 synagogues that were burned to the ground. Nearly 100 Jewish people were murdered and approximately 200,000 were sent to concentrat... ...nihilate all the Jews in Germany. Instead Hitler ultimately left us with a lesson to be learned from his narrow minded vision. That lesson is simply this "We are all different; because of that, each of us has something different and special to offer and each and every one of us can make a difference by not being indifferent" Henry Friedman Chairman. Works Cited ïÆ' ¼ N.p., n.d. Web. 22 Mar 2015. . ïÆ' ¼ N.p., n.d. Web. march 15 2015. . ïÆ' ¼ N.p., n.d. Web. 22 Mar 2015. . ïÆ' ¼ Hill, Jeff. the holocaust. Print ïÆ' ¼ N.p., n.d. Web. 22 Mar 2015. . ïÆ' ¼ N.p., n.d. Web. 22 Mar 2015. . ïÆ' ¼ N.p., n.d. Web. 22 Mar 2015. .

Early Childhood Education and its Impact on Technology Essay -- essays

Early Childhood Education and its Impact on Technology Early childhood education is a time where young children develop important learning skills. Young children, aged birth through approximately 8 years (young children, 2004) interact with one another to develop social and even motor skills that they will carry with them later in life. Development in young children involves the early years in a child's physical, social-emotional, language, and cognitive development (Baur, 1998). Developmental aspects can be assessed by technology. Technology is growing everyday in our society, it is becoming a big factor in the use of early childhood education. Computer use is most popular in the classroom because it is easy for children to learn and develop learning (Clements, 1992). Computers increase social interaction and help children explore writing. Until age eight, activity of young children is symbolic since they communicate with gestures, language, and play (Shade & Caruso, 1994). The computer; therefore, provides a symbolic tool for children to use in school, which is very beneficial. As technology is a useful aspect in early childhood education, there are also negative effects. Overall, the use of technology in early childhood education has positive effects on children because it plays a major role in the learning development of young students from pre-school through out elementary school. Learning Development Learning development during early childhood is a very important part of learning. Activities and experiences that help the developmental changes in children through these years form birth to elementary school, around grades kindergarten to third grade, are aspects of early childhood education (early chil... ...that are less fortunate and can not afford technology equipment. It explains how computers in poor communities, such as cities, use computers in a negative way for drill practice on standardized tests. Clements, D.H. (1992). Technology as a learning tool. In The encyclopedia of early childhood education. (Vol. 504, pp. 369-371). New York: Garland Publishing The entry in the encyclopedia mentions why computers are a cooperative tool for children to use in the curriculum of teaching. Early childhood education (2004). Ebsco Publishing, Retrieved November 23, 2004 from ERIC database. The database gives a detailed definition of early childhood education in its thesaurus. Young children (2004). Ebsco Publishing, Retrieved November 23, 2004 from ERIC database. The database gives a detailed definition of young children in its thesaurus.

Direct-to-Consumer Advertising Essay

Direct-to-consumer (DTC) advertising of prescription drugs has become common place in today’s society. Every household with a television is aware of DTC advertising as they interrupt their nightly programs. Every national magazine or local newspaper offers advertising on the latest drug remedy for what ails us. This multi-media approach is relatively new for pharmaceutical companies as previously such efforts were directed only at physicians who were the sole decision makers when choosing medications. With the 1997 change in the Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA) guidelines along with patients desires to be more involved in their own care and treatment, drug companies have expanded their promotional efforts to include the consumer. This essay will look at some of the current regulations concerning DTC advertising, pros and cons of these ads, and the ethical issues that arise from DTC advertising. Regulations Direct-to-consumer (DTC) advertising is the â€Å"promotion of prescription drugs through newspaper, magazine, television and internet marketing.† (Direct-to-consumer advertising, 2010) These ads are directed towards the end user, the consumer, and not the prescriber/physician. Prescription drug advertising has been regulated by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) since 1962. Their Division of Drug Marketing, Advertising, and Communications (DDMAC) is responsible for ensuring that companies that directly advertise to the public are providing â€Å"information that is truthful, balanced, and accurately described.† (FDA, 2010) Even though the FDA has oversight on DTC advertising, it should not impose unnecessary restrictions on them as they fall under the category of commercial speech protected by the first amendment (Evans & Friede, 2003, p. 387). The Federal Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act requires that anyone who makes, packages, or sells prescription drugs for hum ans must disclose information in their advertisements about the products uses and risks (U.S. Department of HHS, 1999, p. 3). This information disclosure is called the brief summary. Contrary to its name, the brief summary is rather lengthy as it must contain every risk associated with the drug’s approved use. Prior to regulatory changes made in 1997, these disclosures had to be included in every advertisement making television commercials impractical due to the restricted amount of time available. Now there is a distinction between print and broadcast advertising so that only print ads must contain this brief summary. The DDMAC’s 1997 revisions now only require audio and/or visual ads to disclose two things. The drugs major risks in consumer-friendly language, the major statement, and give adequate provision for the consumer to access the full product labeling (U.S. Department of HHS, 1999, p. 5). This can be achieved by providing a toll free number to call, referencing the full advertisement in a print ad, or making sure brochures are easily accessible outside of a physician’s office, like a pharmacy or grocery store. By decreasing the amount of information required in these ads, commercials suddenly became a viable form of marketing. Advertisements seen on television or in magazines are not required to be submitted to the FDA for approval prior to their release; however, companies must submit their ads to the FDA when they first appear in public. The FDA is available to offer their advice to pharmaceutical companies when asked for help (FDA, 2010). Once they see the ad and if they feel that it violates the law, they will send a warning letter requesting that the company stop the ad immediately. These letters are posted on their web site for public inspection. The drawback to this process is that an ad that violates the law may be aired without oversight. If the warning letters do not rectify the situation, â€Å"the FDA can work with the Department of Justice to seek injunctions against companies, or criminally prosecute firms.† (Vogt, 2005, p. 26) The FDA also has the authority to seize drugs that it deems as misbranded and can even reverse approval for the drug. Pros There are numerous arguments on the benefits of direct-to-consumer advertising. Supporters of DTC advertising contend that ads can be educational, provide important health information, and generate sales to further necessary research and development (R&D). One of the most commonly heard reasons is that DTC advertising has assisted consumers in â€Å"identify(ing) disease conditions and engage(ing) in more informed conversations with their health care providers.† (Pfizer, 2011) Supporters uphold that this advertising helps the doctor/patient relationship by being a conversation starter allowing discussions on disorders and options that a patient may not have known how to talk about earlier. Most patients today are educated and desire a greater level of involvement in their healthcare choices. DTC advertising gives the consumer power through knowledge. Important health information can be delivered in DTC advertising. These ads have the ability to reach millions of consumers rela tively easily. Through print and media advertising, pharmaceutical companies can play a useful role in raising awareness of certain conditions and disorders. Raising the public’s awareness can promote consumers to seek medical attention when they otherwise may not have. Seeing these conditions on television or in a magazine can lessen the stigma associated with them. Large pharmaceutical companies use the money made from DTC advertising to fund their R&D. This research and development plays an integral part in ensuring a drugs safety which in turn saves generic companies from needing to repeat R&D on the same drug. This makes generic manufacturers another supporter of DTC ads. By advertising new, name brand drugs, companies are causing a demand for the medication. Once the drug has lost its patent, physicians can begin prescribing the less expensive generic alternative. The generic manufacturer has benefited by default on the large pharma’s campaign. Cons There are an equal number of allegations on the negative effect of direct-to-consumer advertising. Opponents of DTC ads argue that ads can be detrimental to the physician/patient relationship, increase medication costs, and harm public health. Those against DTC ads feel that they have the potential to change the way doctors and patients interact with each other. A patient may see a particular advertisement and be convinced that they have a certain condition or that they need a specific drug. The patient may then present to their doctor feeling that they have diagnosed themselves and request prescriptions even if not needed. The physician may then feel pressured to oblige the patient rather than discussing other, possibly cheaper or drug free, treatment options. This scenario can lead to over-prescribing and over-use of a particular drug based on the effectiveness of the advertisement. Others have argued that advertising is expensive and the pharmaceutical companies have to recoup the ir cost somewhere. This leads to the cost being passed on to the consumer in the form of higher prescription costs. The amount of money spent on DTC ads has increase dramatically from 1997 to 2005 from $1.1 billion to $4.2 billion (GAO, 2006, p. 12). This increase expenditure could create higher healthcare costs across the board. Another cost of DTC advertising could be at the expense of public health. Most consumers lack the specialized knowledge required to evaluate the content of these ads and therefore take them at face value. They may not be fully aware of the harmful side effects or interactions of the drug. DTC ads can be seen as misleading since they are not required to mention other alternatives like diet, exercise or other preventative measures. These alternatives could treat the advertised condition without medication. By not including the alternatives, companies are advocating drug use as a primary response to medical conditions. Ethical Issues Pharmaceutical companies have a substantial obligation to ensure that their direct-to-consumer advertising is ethical. Their products not only have the ability to help consumers but they may also cause potential harm. Advertising of a drug is not like advertising of any other product where you are trying to convince the consumer to buy something they don’t need. Drug advertising needs to educate the consumer while still promoting their product. Persuasion tactics therefore should be ethical. How does one go about knowing if DTC advertising methods are ethical? In the book Persuasion: Theory and Practice, ethical persuasion is defined as â€Å"a communication activity that †¦ permits maximum individual choice† (Anderson, 1978, p. 3). The key is that the consumer must be able to make a voluntary choice without feeling coerced. DTC ads should not rely on deceptive or manipulative tactics. As previously stated, the consumer can be viewed as a vulnerable audience if the y are being spoken to at a level that is beyond their ability to understand (Baker & Martinson, 2001, p. 166). Ethical marketing requires that these audiences not be unfairly targeted because of this vulnerability. DTC advertising ethics is concerned with what drug companies ought or ought not to do. Lying is morally wrong and therefore considered unethical. Using lies or false impressions in a DTC ad distorts the information a consumer receives and can alter the choices they may make (Baker & Martinson, 2001, p. 160). Therefore DTC ads should not create false impressions or omit pertinent information just for the sake of the ad. The point of DTC advertising should not be increased sales but be more of a means to an important social end which should be consumer education. An example of an ethical advertisement would be one that utilizes those messages that demonstrate respect for the consumer to whom they are directed. Respecting the consumer means that their needs are placed before the needs of the advertiser. Currently, the DDMAC does not regulate the ethicalness of pharmaceutical advertising. Their mission statement is, â€Å"To protect the public health by assuring prescription drug information is truthful, balanced and accurately communicated.† (FDA, 2010) â€Å"Ethical ads tell the truth about their product and do not try to distort its capabilities or hide its defects.† (Vaux) Unfortunately an ad can be truthful and still be considered unethical. Ads that play to â€Å"base† human emotions such as fear can be considered unethical as they are just trying to promote emotions that would cause the consumer to seek relief through the advertiser’s product. Conclusion Direct-to-consumer advertising has been integrated into our culture and is likely not going to go away. Just as there are those who lobby against these ads, there are an equal number of proponents who support them. Regulations have been changed to allow the advancement of these ads to their current place in our society. As such, the DDMAC is constantly monitoring DTC ads and will need to be the ones to set ethical boundaries and ensure they’re being adhered to. Consumers must evaluate pharmaceutical ads critically so as not to be persuaded as much as they are educated. Although proponents of DTC advertising argue they provide important consumer information, too frequently the ads can operate dysfunctionally by â€Å"providing misinformation and inducing the consumer to make purchases that are not in either their short or long term interest.† (Baker & Martinson, 2001, p. 151) Ethical DTC ads should serve an educational purpose first and a promotional purpose second. They should offer consumers information on alternatives along with true representations of the risks their medications may have. Unethical ads are those that may try to point out your flaws, i.e. depression, and then tell you they have the answer, i.e. Prozac. These unethical ads will use your emotions to cause you to believe you are in need of a fix when in reality you may not be. I believe there is a place for direct-to-consumer advertising. Consumers are constantly looking for more and more information to help them make better informed decisions. DTC ads, when done appropriately, can be used to provide this information not only about medications but health conditions as well. Decreasing public stigma around certain health issues is another advantage advertising can bring; especially if it opens doors for patients to have difficult discussions with their doctors. That being said, I believe that a balance lies with the FDA needing to take a more proactive role in how they manage DTC ads. I think that all ads should be required to go through a pre-approval process rather than the current release and retract method. It is hard to take back something that has already been seen and that may cause damage to the consumer. References Direct-to-consumer advertising. (2010, June 11). Retrieved March 4, 2012, from Sourcewatch: http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Direct-to-consumer_advertising Anderson, K. E. (1978). Persuasion: Theory and practice. Boston: Allyn & Bacon. Baker, S., & Martinson, D. L. (2001). The TARES test: Five principles of ethical persuasion. Journal of Mass Media Ethics, 16(2), 148-175. Evans, G. W., & Friede, A. I. (2003). The Food and Drug Administration’s regulation of prescription drug manufacturer speech: A first admendment analysis. Food and Drug Law Journal, 58(3), 365-437. FDA. (2010, April 4). Drugs. Retrieved March 4, 2012, from FDA: http://www.fda.gov/Drugs/ResourcesForYou/Consumers/PrescriptionDrugAdvertising/ucm071964.htm GAO. (2006). Prescription drugs: Improvements needed in FDA’s oversight of direct-to-consumer advertising. Pfizer. (2011). Ethical Sales and Marketing. Retrieved March 5, 2012, from Pfizer: http://www.pfizer.com/investors/financial_reports/annu al_reports/2010/ethics-sales.jsp U.S. Department of HHS. (1999). Guidance for Industry Consumer-Directed Broadcast Advertisements. Food and Drug Administration. U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Vaux, R. (n.d.). What is the