Dignity and Freedom: Immanuel Kant

Kant’s theories vary greatly with that of other philosophers. He was a retributivist who believed that it is alright to punish the wrongdoers as long as such punishment is tantamount or equivalent to the weight of the crime that was done. Punishment without proper reasons or justifications, such as jailing someone for petty theft is (according to the Kant) unjust. He spoke about punishment on the critique of practical reasons which is in contrast with Jeremy Bentham’s theory. Jeremy Bentham was a utilitarian theorist who considers punishment as evil (Robert, 2000).While Bentham supports rehabilitation efforts in prisons Kant found such efforts immoral. Kant further argued that such actions acted against ones personal rational choices. Kant rejects manipulation of people even when the causes and reasons are just. He believes that people should be allowed to reason for themselves and their decisions should be respected. Kant criticized other theories on the grounds that t hey were only hypothetical and could not be applicable in the real world.Some theories argue that the greater good ought to be considered when acting, nevertheless, such theory would be irrelevant to someone whose interest is contrary to the maintenance of the common good. Hypothetical moral systems should not be used to determine the moral action since they are very subjective. He rejected Hume’s theory on the ideal theory of the mind. To Kant, analytical methods should not be used to explain what is physically evident. He believes that synthetic reasoning involves relating concepts that are not directly related to the subject concept. A prior knowledge can be used in the metaphysics study. (Bayne, 2000)Kant criticizes the utilitarian view regarding happiness as the highest goal. He opposes this view as it created loopholes in arguing that people simply wants to achieve happiness. Happiness as far as Kant is concerned is a product of emotion. Following Kant’s argument s, acknowledging happiness as man’s final goal would be like ignoring the fact that human beings are rational and can choose or plan and anticipate their future. Kant portrays the categorical imperative approach where he sees all human beings as occupants of a special place in creation. People have different needs which ought to be satisfied using certain means.He uses the term maxim to refer to intentions or principle of action. Human beings should not act in a way that portrays other people simply as means to an end but as an end to itself. In working to attain the maxim people should not use others as means. People used should benefit from the arrangement and their consent should be sought. To him, duties should be beneficial to people used in the process of attaining the goals. I agree with Kant’s theory as all people should be treated with equality and with respect. There are two types of imperatives. The hypothetical imperative tells what we ought to do in order to achieve a goal.The categorical imperative leads to absoluteness since human beings are rational and can govern their actions. People should only act on maxims that can become ‘universal law’. To Kant, there are universal moral laws that are logically necessary. People’s actions should therefore be performed according to the acceptable universal laws of morality. Individuals should act according to the same moral laws (Robert, 2000). All people should be treated with moral respect. Deception should not be considered even when being applied for wrongdoers. To Kant, duties can be perfect or imperfect.Imperfect duties entail working to develop our talents since they are given to us for a purpose while perfect duties entail a duty to others. Kant rejected the ethical force brought about by tradition and coined the modern idea of autonomy. Autonomy is simply the capability of an individual to act on behalf of his own. Autonomy of the will is the ability of the will to be a will in itself while the will refers to the means by which a maxim can become a universal law. This lies in contrast with the notion of Heteronomy which is acting after observing the various consequences that an action has produced.He brought about the idea of centrality of rational thought. Each person can make free and autonomous choices and they are compelled by rationality and the categorical imperative in their decisions. Adherence to categorical imperative provides for autonomous ethical choice since people make their decisions rationally. In pursuit for various maxims all parties involved benefit from the arrangement (Collins, 2000). To Kant, objects do not have value but man gives them value through their rational goals and desires. Human beings have an intrinsic worth or dignity.They should therefore act in good will out of a sense of duty and use the categorical imperative. What we give to society comes back to us and we ought not to harm others but work in ensurin g that they benefit from out actions. I agree with the ideas presented by Kant, provided the way in which he had defended the rationality of people. I also agree that there are categorical imperative laws or universal maxims which comprise our ethical standards. Nevertheless, I could not agree that people are ought to be treated as ends in themselves, for there are hard cases wherein one must treat someone as a means to an end.For instance, if the only way for a person to survive is to get an organ from someone who is already dying, wouldn’t it be rational to take the organ and use it for the person’s benefit since its real owner is already dying. Thus, there might be cases wherein Kant’s theory may fail or may not be of any use. Another famous example is the situation that involves lying. It is a universal maxim for Kant that people must not tell lies. However, if there is a killer at the lobby looking for a certain person, whom by chance you know where, was hi ding; would it still be wrong to tell a lie (Bass).

Church and Government Essay

According to Article II, Section 6 of the 1987 Philippine Constitution states that, the separation of Church and State shall be inviolable and Article III, Section 5 states, No law shall be made respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof. . The free exercise and enjoyment of religious profession and worship, without discrimination or preference, shall be forever be allowed. No religious test shall be required for the exercise of civil or political rights. Given the articles of the constitution regarding the relationship of the church and the state, is the Catholic Church violating the principle of the Separation of Church and State by daring to speak out against certain bills? First, what does the separation of the church and state really means? The separation of the state means that the state does not have an official religion. It means that the people are free to choose in what religion depending in their own belief. It also means that there should be no laws that shall be pass that favors a religion over the other. It also means that there should be no discrimination of the religion and belief of the people. In short, what the union of the church and the state really means is that the citizens should be forced to follow a particular doctrine and those that do not follow should be penalized. We can see from banners outside of cathedrals the popular phrase â€Å"No to RH Bill, Yes to Life.† But can we consider this action as a violation of the constitution? The separation of the church and the state does not mention that church officials cannot speak or try to influence the state policy. Since the Philippines is a democratic country, every person, group and organization is free to express their own opinion regarding certain issues. The church does not force people to go against a certain bills; the decision still lies in the people according to their conscience and understanding. It means that the church is not violating the constitution since it is only expressing its right to speak in order of its belief. Given the reasons above, that the Philippines has no state religion and given that the state does not subsidize the church, and that no church has any official access to the instruments of state power, I believe that the church does not violate the constitution and that there is really a separation of the church and the state.

A Belief Essay

â€Å"I believe in God, the Father Almighty†¦Ã¢â‚¬  starts the famous Catholic prayer, the Apostle’s Creed. And this is how I will also start this paper. I am not a very religious person but I do believe in a Supreme Being, in God, in an invisible an invincible hand that has created everything there is in on earth. This belief of mine is probably one of the most difficult things to prove since no one has ever actually seen this God I am pertaining to. However, a lot of people share my belief and a proof of this is the many religions and religious sects all over the world.The world kneels down and prays. Most of us pray for ourselves, our families, our relatives, our neighbors, even for people we do not know, and even for our enemies. We say our graces before and after meals; we close our eyes and talk to God before we rest for the night; and we blurt out God’s name when we are caught up in extremely tough situations. Why do we do these things? It’s as if p rayers are our e-mails, text messages, or phone calls to the God we cannot see but can only feel.We believe that somebody out or up there actually will read through our messages and reply or someone will answer our calls to listen to our pleas and eventually grant our wishes and fulfill our dreams. Even for not-so-religious or not-so-spiritual people, a simple â€Å"Thank God! † or â€Å"Oh my God! † is already an indirect or subtle acknowledgment that indeed there is a God. But where is God? Is he a male? Is she a female? Who knows? What I know is that when I was a kid, my Mom would always warn me to be good because someone up there in heaven is watching over my actions.So I came to believe that God lives in the heavens, smiling every time I am obedient but frowning in times I am naughty. As I grew older, I knew about the church, the sacred place for worship. It is here where people honor and praise God. A united community gathers and celebrates God’s goodness. Prayers and songs of praise fill the air in glorifying God’s name. But still, no physical being comes down from heaven to join in the holy celebration. Now that I am much wiser, I am told that I can find God in my fellowmen – in my so-called brothers and sisters.God can actually be anyone from my Dad, to the cab driver, to my teacher, to a beggar, to a waiter, to whomever who does good deeds. God can be in disguise, in nameless faces, in unfamiliar places, in unexpected circumstances. Wherever happiness and goodness exist, God definitely exists. The Bible, which has existed since time immemorial, is a living proof of God’s divine existence. Just like us today, the earliest people have felt God’s presence in their lives. However, just like us as well, they only knew God as the creator, the Supreme Being, the higher one.Nobody knew God’s ways – how he/she looks, how he/she speaks, his/her mannerisms or hobbies, what have you. Except probably for films and TV shows that portray God either as an old man in a white shining robe or just plain white light, speaking in a mellow commanding voice, we know nothing of his/her true nature. What we know are the marvelous wondrous things God has done for us. I believe God knows what is best for each one of us that’s why we call him/her the great provider who gives us only the things – material or non-material, which we truly need.God is the hand that showers us with blessings. God is the light that guides every step or endeavor we take. God is the teacher who teaches us valuable lessons to learn in life. God is the kind heart that forgives all our shortcomings. God is the perfect epitome of how we should all live our lives. In my life, I always adhere to â€Å"To see is to believe. † But in the case of believing in God, not everything I do not see is unbelievable. I believe in God and will continue to do so. Why? Just simply call it faith.

Adult Educational and Training Opportunities Essay

Adult Educational and Training Opportunities - Essay Example Research has proven that baby boomers who approach the retiring age of 65 often find themselves in good health and willing and able to work (Kelch & Harris, 2000). Hence, there is enormous potential for adult education and training opportunities for them. Keeping in view the above scenario, the dilemma lies in how to steer educational and training efforts of adults towards helping the older adults (baby boomers) maintain their skills at workforce. A training need analysis would reveal that there are three key aspects involved in doing so: preparing the in-service, current pre-professional and paraprofessional educational and training opportunities, training certifications, funding and cultural issues as well as issues in climbing up the corporate ladder (New York State Office for Ageing, 2011). Research also shows that the baby boomers tend to be more ethnically diverse and have higher education level than preceding generations (New York State Office for Ageing, 2011). Shortages in l abor supply are likely to result as people providing ole age care will be simultaneously retiring in large numbers.

A central assumption made in Mean-Variance Analysis and the Capital Coursework

A central assumption made in Mean-Variance Analysis and the Capital Asset Pricing Model (CAPM) is that investors prefer to invest in the most efficient portfolios available - Coursework Example The concept of the efficient portfolio can be well understood after revisiting the preceding portfolio management theories. One such theory is the famous capital assets pricing theory (CAPM). The CAPM is a model that shows the association between the required rate of return and the risk on assets that are held in a portfolio that is well diversified. According to Fama and French (2004), the origin of the capital asset pricing model is the prominent work of William Sharpe (1964) and John Lintner (1965). The CAPM model is very useful in activities such as the determination of the companies’ cost of capital and in assessing portfolio performance. A portfolio is a group of assets (more than one asset) held by an investor (Sharpe 1964). The theory of portfolio attempts to guide investors on how to make the best combination of assets to optimise returns as well as minimise the risk associated with the investments. The commonly used CAPM equation is a follows: ER = Rf + (Rm – Rf)ÃŽ ², where Rf is the risk free rate, ER is the expected return on the portfolio, (usually denoted by the interest rate on treasury bills), Rm is the expected market return for the same period, and ÃŽ ² is the beta, which measures the relationship between the portfolio performance and the market performance. In other words, beta indicates how sensitive the portfolio’s performance is to the variations in the market performance. The above equation shows that a portfolio’s return can be expressed in terms of the risk-free return, the risk premium and the beta. Based on the equation, which is a linear, it is revealed that the portfolio return is directly related to the risk. That is, the higher the portfolio risk, the higher the portfolio’s return. The CAPM theory brings us to another idea of the efficient portfolio. A portfolio can be efficient under

Lewis Carroll's Photographs Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2250 words

Lewis Carroll's Photographs - Research Paper Example Carroll embraced this theme of the child as a shadow of humans in his photographs in order to call attention to how misconceived children were by adults, particularly using the real children that hr met in his life. Lewis Carroll sought to show children as adult shadows, the children’s identity as being shadowed by the adults, as well as the shadows that the children cast (Foulkes 11). Therefore, this paper will seek to show how Lewis Carroll used children in his photographs to show their innocence and the misconceptions that adults have about children. Xie Kitchin (Nickel 5) Lewis Carroll in his photographs exemplified how misconceived children were by undressing them or dressing them through a creation of what he perceived to be his own shadow of being a child (Foulkes 14). Recognized as a leading amateur and child photographer during the Victorian era, Lewis used the photographs he took to displace reality. Because photography in this period was a relatively new phenomenon, Lewis Carroll took it as a means of writing by using light with his most preferred photographic subject being the child as shown in the photographs above. At least sixty percent of all his known photographs were of children. At the time, photography was taken as the only art form that could accurately record reality, which Lewis Carroll took and created a reverse text for the discussion of children, which falsified how real a photograph could be (Foulkes 14). In various photographs, rather than giving the audience his own view of who a child should be, he comes up with the composition an adult would have of a child. The photo of Xie Kitchin has the child dressed in clothing that is foreign to that era and region, while also setting the photograph in a foreign land. In the other photograph of Evelyn Hatch, Lewis Carroll removes all social conventions from her photograph and takes a photo of her in the nude lying on a bed. In yet another photograph, he pictures Alice Liddell in a loo se fitting dress seemingly begging for alms. Lewis exerts an agency on the photography act by rewriting the literal text that the initial image would have created to give rise to a new dialogue about what it means to be a child (Foulkes 15). Therefore, Lewis took photography as a way to write commentary on childhood and the way it was shadowed by adults. While it can be argued that Lewis Carroll used children as objects, this was necessary, especially since the child has for a long time been the centre of study by theorists and scholars as they looked for a definition of the child that was consistent (Foulkes 18). While it is difficult to offer a definitive explanation of what a child is, Lewis sought to provide a lens through which it is possible to distinguish the child in this era as an entity that was completely separate from grown ups. Lewis Carroll used his photography to define the child’s character via shadows that were cast by the children, rather than as shadows of the adults, i.e. what adults thought children were supposed to be. Alice Liddell (Nickel 7) In the photo of Alice Liddell, the viewer sees a young girl who is approximately 7 or 8 years old. Lewis ensures that her entire body can be seen with her tattered and ill-fitting clothes appearing to suggest that she is a beggar (Foulkes 22). However, while

Walker Evans photographs in the book Let Us Now Praise Famous Men Essay

Walker Evans photographs in the book Let Us Now Praise Famous Men - Essay Example Most of Walker’s work were in the 1930s and were even incorporated in some of the documents of the Great Depression. However, these issues did not only concern the 1930s tribulations but also reflected on modern films, literature and traditional visual arts. Although this particular book is presented as documentary and true critics say that the pictures were somewhat posed for technical and aesthetic reasons. This has led to number of controversies over the truth of historical records (Kaja, 2008). Evans pictures are photographic, very direct and even appear to be literal. Perhaps the most remarkable picture in this book is the third, the picture of Mrs Gudger. It shows a woman with a beautifully bony face, thinning black hair, sunken or perhaps bitten-in mouth and sun-narrowed eyes. The face is a single concentrated phrase of suffering; you are bound to have an immediate outgoing impulse toward it, but this is at once hemmed in, at once made careful and respectful, by what the camera does. It is significant that, like all the pictures in the book, this is a portrait; it was "sat for" and "posed" and not only does the pose tell more than could be told by unconsciousness of the camera but the sitter gains in dignity when allowed to defend herself against the lens. The gaze of the woman returning our gaze checks our pity; and it is further checked by the cameras observance of the strands of jetty hair, of the sharp horizontals of eyebrows, eyes and mouth which are repeated in th e three parallel shadows of the clapboard wall behind, and by the cameras light emphasis on the early wrinkles and the puckered forehead, which are delicately repeated in the grain of the wood. And this is true of all of Evans pictures of the Gudger, Woods and Ricketts families. The entire hullaballoo about the photos; the rocking chair being moved, about the time on the clock, about the time the photos, about objects being added or removed is much fuss over

Social learning theories Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 4000 words

Social learning theories - Essay Example At the time when populations were expansively diffused, the implications of any particular aggressive act were primarily restricted to individuals whom the act was aimed at. Under circumstances of modernised life, in which the wellbeing of groups of inhabitants depends upon harmonious functioning of complex mutually supporting systems, aggressive behaviour that can be effortlessly carried out without demanding complicated mechanism immediately damages enormous numbers of people (Geen, 2001). Interest over the destructive implications of aggression confuses the reality that such behaviour normally has purposeful importance for the user. Certainly, there is a characteristic distinct to aggression that commonly generates circumstances cultivating its incidence. Dissimilar to social behaviours that are not useful without a degree of reciprocity satisfactory to the partakers, aggression does not necessitate eager receptiveness from others for its effectiveness (Moeller, 2001). An individual can harm and destroy to self-benefit despite of whether the victim agrees to it or not. Through destructive behaviour, or authority through verbal and physical coercion, individuals can gain important resources, modify rules to suit their personal desires, acquire power over and haul out compliableness from others, get rid of circumstances that negatively influence their wellbeing, and break down barriers that hamper or interrupt realisation of desired objectives. Hence, actions that are harsh for the victim can be gratifying for the one committing the aggressive act. Though aggression has several various roots its practical value certainly contributes greatly to the occurrence of such behaviour in the dealings of everyday existence (Moeller, 2001). Throughout the years several theories have been suggested to clarify why individuals act

History paper Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words - 1

History paper - Essay Example On the other hand, Bulgarians acted in a manner preserving the lives of the Jews. They persecuted, tortured and harassed the Jews living in Bulgaria, but they never killed them. There are various testimonies recorded that portray the brutality of the Polish community. On 5th April 1945, Wasersztajn recorded a testimony before the Jewish History Commission reporting on the war against the Jews living in Jedwabne (Zimmermann 70). According to Wesersztajn, about 1,600 Jew lived in Jedwabne before the war. After the war, only about seven Jews survived because they were saved by a Polish woman who resided in the vicinity. According to Wesersztajn, the Germans entered Jedwabne on the 23rd June, 1941. Two days later, local bandits, composed of Polish population started an anti-Jew pogrom. The following day, the local priest requested the Polish population to stop the pogrom as the German fight against the Jews was not for the Polish population. Although this stopped the pogrom, the local Po les did not sell foodstuffs to the Jews. On 10th July 1941, the Germans issued an order for the destruction of the Jews (Zimmermann 71). However, although the Germans gave the order, the Polish hooligans carried out this order using horrifying methods. On the same day, a meeting was held to deliberate on how the Jews would be murdered. With the support of the mayor Karolak, they decided to destroy all the Jews in Jadwabne. According to other witnesses, the war begun on the 10th of July, following the convocation of the adult Polish males in Jedwabne town hall. Mayor Karolak and Sabuta ordered the Jews along with the Poles to gather at the town hall for some cleaning duty (Zimmermann 73). Although she did not gather with the other Jews at the town hall, she had screams of a young boy who was beaten to death. The Poles gathered with clubs, knifes and other tools of war while Jewish took brooms and other tools used for cleaning. In addition, the Polish vigilant groups ensured that the Jews were not able to escape from Jadwabne. On the other hand, Bulgarians were not willing to bend to the evils of the Nazi Germans. Majority of the Jews living in Bulgaria survived as the Bulgarians refused to surrender the Jews to the German Death camps. However, they lost property and many of the Jews were imprisoned. In the Bulgarian labor camps, the Jews were tortured, maimed, persecuted and harassed. Despite this hostility, the Bulgarians did not murder the Jews. However, in 1941 the Bulgarian parliament passed a bill that had numerous restrictions on the Jews living in Bulgaria. They were not allowed to vie for any office in parliament, serve in the military, work in government offices, own rural land and marry or cohabit with Bulgarians. In addition, they had limited access to education and medical facilities. In spite of these, the Bulgarians did not participate in the killings of the Jews. Before the war against the Jews, the Jewish community significantly dominated variou s regions in terms of religion, culture and economic welfare. A majority of the Polish population supported the Nazi Germans on their hatred towards the Jews. The Germans ordered for the preservation of one family member in the Jewish family (Zimmermann 73). However, the Poles decided to kill all the Jews that lived in Poland. Although the Bulgarians looked at the Jews with suspicion, they did not fully support the Germans on the issue concerning the Jews. Therefore, the Jews in Poland were persecuted and killed while those in

Outlook and policy statement Term Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Outlook and policy statement - Term Paper Example However, with the recent hike in consumer spending with a 2 ? percent increase annually witnessed during the third quarter of 2010 has provided hope that economic recovery will eventually occur. The increasing investments in equipment and software industry have given a boost to the recovery. On the housing front the hikes in home prices and construction costs have not been able to contribute to this growth and at the same time not drastically affected the recovery process. While the labor market has been unable to accommodate the huge losses of jobs during 2008-09, the number of job openings and the hiring rate is on a constant rise in the past recent months. However, considerable time will be required in order for the unemployment rate to return to normalcy and this time period could have a lasting impact both on the financial status of those unemployed and also on their skills and future employment and earning prospects. The testimony also notes the downward trend witnessed in the inflation rate compared to the previous years. This trend has been mainly attributed to the struggling job market and the associated decrease in utilization of resources. However, the inflation expectations in the long-run are expected to remain stable.

Adaptive Web-site Design Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Adaptive Web-site Design - Essay Example Currently, there are technologies that allow Web programmers to separate the conceptual representation of an application domain from the content of the actual Web-site. One such popular technology is eXtensible Markup Language (XML). XML is a markup language that was designed to transport and store data. It separates the document’s contents from its presentation. This makes it possible to use a single document to contain all the website’s content independent of presentation attributes. Secondly, the XML source document is processed with an eXtensible Stylesheet Language (XSL) file to produce a variety of outputs including HTML pages, rich text formats (RTFs), PDFs and mobile devices. This single source capability decreases errors in content and ensures consistency of format throughout entire Web sites and between formats for multiple devices (Costello et al. 2006). Another technology that promotes adaptive web design is Cascading Style Sheets 3 (CSS3) which supports u se of fluid layouts, flexible media and media queries (Gustafson 2011). CSS is a style sheet language, which like XML, enables the separation of document presentation from document content. CSS3 is the latest standard for Cascading Style Sheets.

Why I Prefer to Marry Late Essay Example for Free

Why I Prefer to Marry Late Essay For me, marriage is a promise. A promise that we give, without wanting to receive the equivalent reward. Hence, we must have enough ability to maintain this relationship. The salient characteristic of many traditional marriage systems is that women, seem to have little independence, because of education and income. In South Asia, brides are even taken to groom`s family as soon they move into property. In this case, marrying late can provide us opportunities to fulfill and pursue our achievement in education, and therefore have a better social status and income to be financially independent. In addition to be financially independent, this also give us a chance to satisfy ourselves, in accomplishing our goals in lives. And psychologists say that the want for independent success is the main reason why people are marrying at a later time. Besides, marrying late also provides an opportunity to get to know your future companion better. We may often see in the news that many young people get married on impulse, which is, they don’t really get to know each other more. As George Bernard Shaw said, â€Å"Beauty is all very well at first sight; but who ever looks at it when it has been in the house three days?† When two people first met, and they had a crush on each other. In order to show the best of themselves, they tend to hide their drawbacks . However, this lead to a serious problem that they didn’t get to â€Å"know† more about the mate. And as time went by, the drawbacks emerge and they have contradiction in their personality. That`s when young couple decide to get divorced. Nevertheless, marriage is a promise for me, so I`d rather take time to choose the one I love and appreciate his virtue as well as imperfection, rather than presume the one we first met an object to marriage. Because It`s not a game that could be quit when we later on feel tired or bored ,especially when there are children of us. After all, the main function of marriage in most traditional societies is to bring up children. Moreover, because marriage is a promise for me. So I`d choose to marry late so that I could enjoy a free time doing whatever I want, going wherever I like, dating whomever I appreciate without having to care about my husband`s feelings. That`s the time I could broaden my horizons and meet many people  from the opposite sex without a burden. According to the China Daily: â€Å"There`s nothing wrong with a man or woman who is not married by 30. IT`s not about being disrespectful to parents or to social traditions. It`s certainly not a sure sign of pending poor health or psychological problems. â€Å" And according to an article in Helium written by Dawn Hawkins, â€Å"getting married when you are younger doesn`t allow you to grow as a single person quite enough sometimes, there are many things that you learn about yourself such as who you want to be and where you want to go in life as you get older. The older you are , the more chance you have of knowing exactly who you are.† Marriage implies an enormous responsibility, that why marrying late offers the best advantage. And marrying late provide us time to have emotional maturity, that is very crucial in dealing the rigour of married life later. So if you are beyond 36 and still complaining bitterly why a potential mate is yet to notice you, please think it twice. There are many advantages a single life can provide rather than taking a plunge for a wrong reason. Moreover, getting married late means that we could have more tools and resources and not to mention a stable emotion state to back on if the situation would not set well.

Dying Hopes The American Dream English Literature Essay

Dying Hopes The American Dream English Literature Essay Prosperity and freedom are the values in which America was founded on. America symbolizes hopes and dreams in which people claim that anyone in America can achieve with hard work. The foundation of America is based on equality and the American Dream. The American Dream is the idea that people can achieve their goals through hard work and live happy lives. This is also expanded to being able to be treated with equality no matter what your ethnicity is. The idea of an American Dream is older than the United States, dating back to the 1600s when people began to come up with all sorts of hopes and aspirations for the new and largely unexplored continent. During the 1920s many immigrants came to America aspiring to achieve this dream. They wanted a place to call their own, and successful jobs where they would have enough money to feed their families. This is much like George and Lennies dream of owning the little ranch with the rabbits. However, the reality of the American Dream was not w hat it was all thought out to be. People coming America during the 1920s where ignorant and taken advantage of; much like the ranch hands in Of Mice and Men. People were also discriminated against even though America was founded on the ideas of equality. Women and African Americans were seen as inferior; much like Curlys wife and Crooks. During this time in history, the glorified ideas of the American Dream were not true. The reality of the American Dream was largely dependent on social standing and economic background. American culture is made of a great diversity of people. Under the Constitution it says that all men our created equal, but that is simply not the case with the way discrimination was in the 1920s. During this time there was a great migration of of non-protestant Europeans to America; Jews and Catholics. Many hate groups committed crimes against these people, like the Klu Klux Klan. Not only was religion discriminated against, but race was as well. Hispanics and blacks did not have the same rights as white males. They were treated as inferior for being different. Jim Crow laws in the South made it legal to segregate black people from whites. Not only were minority races separated and not treated with equality, but were also given hurtful racial names. Women were another minority group during this time. They were not given the same rights as men. Women suffragists fought for their rights during this time period. John Steinbeck portrays discrimination in the 1920s in Of Mice and Men. I n this novel all of the ranch hands live in poor conditions; they live in rundown bunk houses. However, the conditions Crooks lives in are far more worse. He lives in the barn around the horse manure. The only activities Crooks is allowed to be involved in is working and playing horse shoes. It is even unheard of for him to enter the white ranchers bunk house. Crooks response to segregation is intended to show the results of discrimination. Crooks becomes a separatist, if he is not allowed in the bunkhouse, then the men are not allowed in his room. -Stella Mcintyre. Also, this novel shows how women were seen in the 1920s. Curlys wife is not even given a name in this book. She is only seen as a sex symbol and jail bait. The men on the ranch refer to her as a tart. The character she is given is not even true to her personality, she really aspires to make something of herself and be an actress. However, she is suck there because she married Curly and it is seen as if he owns her. This shows how little of their lives women has control of in the 1920s. This also show that the American Dreams aspect of equality was not as true as it seemed. In Of Mice and Men, the ranch is a microcosm for the capitalist society of the 1920s. Immigrants in the 1920s expected to come to America and own their own land and make a good living. However, the reality of this was that the people they worked for only used them for their own gain. The employers paid their workers as little as possible so their business could prosper while the workers suffered. The workers never got anywhere in capitalist businesses because they were seen as part of the cycle of keeping Americas economy running. The wealthy ranch owners in Of Mice and Men are seen as the Capitalist employers who use their workers purely for their own gain. The ranch workers are seen as the people trying to support themselves unsuccessfully. When they became to weak to work, they ranchers were simply canned. This represents the ideas of Social Darwinism in the 1920s, only the fittest members of society will survive. The American Dream says with hard work people will prosper, but dur ing the 1920s hard work did not gain success. It got people stuck in dead end jobs where they could be easily replaced when they worked to death. Machine Bosses took advantage of peoples stupidity in the 1920s. They helped immigrants get a place to work and a place to stay. This all was seemly good, however, they asked in return for political support for their candidates who did not support hard working people. These new immigrants did not care though, as long as they had a job and money. In the end, immigrants ended up losing everything because the jobs they were given were not secure and the people they voted for did not support them. This is parallel to how the ranch workers were manipulated on the ranch. The ranch hands were caught up in the racial drama with Crooks to see the real problem which was the wealthy owners. With this preoccupation, they could not see that they were going nowhere staying at the ranch working because the only purpose they served for the ranch owners was to make them money. This shows how during the 1920s in America, the jobs were not for the hard working people to gain any thing. It was for big b usiness to prosper. This conflicts with the ideas of the American Dream. In Todays society, the American Dream has become obscured. It means many things to many different people. However, it is still based on social class. It is believed, in America, that anybody can achieve anything. That any person can go from rags to riches. People today are not satisfied with having property to call their own and getting by successfully. Most people want millions of dollars and all the newest things. The American Dream today is very materialistic. For some people who are impoverished, the American Dream is still the same for them, they want to easily have basic necessities available. The American Dream today is much more attainable today than the 1920s, however. Since Americas government has created laws to prevent the unfair advantages of capitalism, people are able to achieve things through hard work. There are benefit programs for the lower-class so they do not have to live like the poor people of the 1920s. Also, it is true today that people can go from rags to ri ches many of Americas most famous and richest citizens today were once poor. But, today the American Dream is about living comfortably, it is based on the greed that has come over America through the years. During the 1920s, immigrants who believed in the American Dream and came to the United States got a raw deal. The dream of most Americans at this time period surrounding the book Of Mice and Men was only a large cesspool of dying hopes. They were treated with hate and tricked by their employers. These people never made any real money because they were stuck in dead end jobs. The reality of the American Dream is that it is based on race and social class. Today, much has changed about the American Dream but it is not free of corruption; now it is based on greed and consumerism. The American Dream is never what it appears to be.

Object Relations Theories: Klein and Winnicot.

Object Relations Theories: Klein and Winnicot. A Critical Evaluation of the Object Relations Theories of Melanie Klein and Donald Winnicott. Klein describes conflicting forces within the psyche, detailing how they interact with equally conflicting external forces, producing a mental structure understood in terms of relationships. The central elements of her theory are the â€Å"death instinct† and the â€Å"paranoid skitzoid position†, in which part objects are created by splitting. Along with the â€Å"depressive position† which arises upon the child realising those part objects are actually whole objects, (Frosh, 1987). In the depressive position guilt makes its appearance, as the childs realizes that the object of its envious attacks is also the object that it loves (Segal 1992). Along with guilt the child feels gratitude towards the mother and thus the desire for reparation arises. It is this conflict between love and hate, torn by conflicting desires for the caring preservation of others against the malicious destruction of others that Klein saw as being central to the human experience (Greenberg, 1983). I am speaking of an innate conflict between love and hate, I am implying that the capacity both for love and destructive impulses is, to some extent, constitutional, although varying individually in strength and interacting from the beginning with external conditions. (Klein, 1957, p180(Frosh, 1987)) Winnicott did not produce a coherent theoretical structure he did evolve ideas which have stood the test of time (Gomez, 1988). His ideas being centred around dependence conflicting with the stages of â€Å"absolute, relative and toward† independence (Jacobs, 1995). With children beginning life in â€Å"absolute dependence†, and the mother in a state of â€Å"primary maternal pre-occupation† (Winnicott, 1965) by helping to contain the childs primitive agonies (Jacobs, 1995)providing a ‘holding enviroment for the infants sense of ‘omnipotent phantasy'(Stevens, 1996). Potential Space Transitional Objects This provides a sense of trust and goodness in the world leading to the â€Å"capacity to be alone† and â€Å"play†. (Stevens, 1996). Within the realms of â€Å"potential space†, facilitated by â€Å"transitional objects† Winnicott proposed mismanagement of impingements encourages development of a false self covering and distorting the childs true self (Jacobs, 1995). KLEIN MAIN BODY DEATH INSTINCT 94 Klein considered the death instinct is the central source of disturbances in a childs experiences (Frosh, 1987) Klein argued that early channelling of the death instinct must take place for the infant to survive (Greenberg, 1983), proposing that even in good nurturing environment children still experience fears and anxieties creating aggressive and destructive emotions (Frosh, 1987). Winnicott doubted Kleins retention of Freuds death instincts (Winnicott, 1965), considering the concepts to be superfluous rather than wrong (Gomez, 1988). And Kernberg (1969) proposed the death instinct could be dropped without damaging her other presentations due to the â€Å"total lack of clinical evidence† supporting an innate death instinct (Segal, 1992). PHANTASY 106 Klein thought the death instinct taints childrens phantasys (Frosh, 1987), with sensations being interpritated as unconscious phantasys based on innate knowledge and experience (Hinshelwood, 1991). Unconscious phantasy differs from Fantasy, being a vaguer, primitive composition of images and sensations at a pre-linguistic stage, taking place on an unconscious level (Hough, p88). Klein proposed children view the external world through phantasies, not perceiving things as they are (Segal, 1992), and observed childrens lives to be dominated by unconscious and sometimes conscious phantasies about parental sexuality (Segal, 1981). Unconscious phantasies underlie every mental process and accompany all mental activity. They are mental representations of those somatic events in the body which comprise the instincts, and are physical sensations interoperated as relationships with objects that cause those sensations. A Dictionary of Kleinian Thought (Hinshelwood, 1991) Guntrip (1971) accused Klein of depicting the objects of human passion as phantasmagoric, without real connection to other people, counterclaiming this argument is Kleins frequently mentioning the importance of real others (Greenberg, 1983). SPLITTING 84 words When fantasies and perceptions are kept apart infants split both the object and themselves (Segal, 1992), this splitting is a defence manoeuvre arising from projective and introjective defence mechanisms (Frosh, 1987). Seeking to disown and distance either projection created anxiety inducing objects or hostile elements the mind often resorts to this disasociative psychic process (Likerman, p88). Klein viewed the mind as inherently split, unlike others who propose the minds initial unity which becomes divided by experiences (Frosh, 1987), extreme splitting can become a threat at times due to its terrifyingly persecuting nature (Segal, 1992). PART OBJECTS 99 words Splitting creates part objects which are considered to be modes of relating rather than the building blocks of phantasy. (Gomez, 1988). Klein considered the original part object to be the mothers breast (Hinshelwood, 1991) It may seem curious that the tiny childs interest should be limited to a part of a person rather than the whole, but one must bear in mind first of all that the child has an extremely underdeveloped capacity for perception, physical and mental, and then.. the child is only concerned with his immediate gratifications. (Klein 1936, p290) (Hinshelwood, 1991) Needing to make sense of the chaos of the world a child makes the division between good and bad, with both categories kept far apart as Klein belived that it was more important to achive some order than to assimilate an accurate interpretation of reality (Gomez, 1988). Astor (1989) challenged this based on observations, claiming the breast is initially whole, later becoming part of the whole body before becoming a combined object (Jacobs, 1995). PARANOID SKITZOID POSITION Klein proposed the paranoid skitzoid position as the first organization of experience in everyones early years, being maintained episodically throughout life. She considered a clear distinction between bad and good objects important, being maintained with the both extremes polarized in emotional tone and conceptual organization (Black, p91-3). As regards splitting of the object, we have to remember that in states of gratification love feelings turn towards the gratifying breast, while in states of frustration hatred and persecutory anxiety attach themselves to the frustrating breast. This twofold relation, implying a division between love and hatred in relation to the object, can only be maintained by splitting the breast into its good and bad aspects. With the splitting of the object, idealization is bound up, for the good aspects of the breast are exaggerated as a safeguard against the fear of the persecuting breast. Paranoia is the persecutory fear of invasive external melevolance, and skitzoid refers to the splitting of good and bad. It is considered a position being a fundamental way of formulating experience, enabling individuals to relate to others from the different perspectives of oneself, rather than being a passing phase (Black, p91-3). PROJECTIVE IDENTIFICATION 98 Projective identifcation describes extensions of splitting in which parts of the ego are separated from the self and projected into objects (Greenberg, 1983). By putting bad qualities into another, the other is considered to possess the bad qualities which they cannot stand in themselves. A â€Å"phantasy remote from consciousness† that entails a belief in certain aspects of the self being located elsewhere. A Dictionary of Kleinian Thought (Hinshelwood, 1991) Being a very deep split creates amplified perceptions of people and emotions as they cannot be regulated by their opposites. (Segal, 1992). Ogden (1979) proposed projective identification to be a threefold process, firstly ridding oneself of internally attacking objects, then projecting fantasy into recipient through interactions with the recipient finally experiencing themselves as they are pictured in the projection (Fineill, 1985). CONTAINMENT 61 Klein derived containment from projective identification, where one person in a sense contains part of another, when a child splits off their fears and contains them in an object. Klein proposed that if these split fears are allowed to repose in the mother for long enough then they can be modified and safely reintrojected, considering this the beginning of mental stability (Hinshelwood, 1991). WHOLE OBJECTS 95 When ‘good and ‘bad part objects are realized as individual objects they are considered whole objects. As whole objects are realized the child begins to understand that others have mixed feelings and emotions, and also begins to perceive that others can suffer, resulting in the child no longer defining others by its own needs and feelings (Hinshelwood, 1991). Appreciating the mother as an individual and seeing her as an whole object, the mother becomes no longer simply a vechle for drive gratification, but instead an â€Å"other† with whom the child is able to maintain a personal relationships (Greenberg, 1983). ENVY 99 Envy is a two person emotion, experienced upon realizing the inability of being as good as the good object. This hatred directed towards good objects, and the childs desire to destroy the source of goodness due to â€Å"envy† of its independence (Greenberg, 1983), This phantasised destruction of the good object terrifies the child because it destroys the possibility of hope (Greenberg, 1983). Being projective, by trying to put badness in to the good object to destroy it (Frosh, p125). It is a destructive attack on the source of life, on the good object, not on the bad object, and it is to be distinguished from ambivalence and from frustration. It is held to be innate in origin as part of the instinctual endowment, and requires the mechanism of splitting as an initial defence operating at the outset. A Dictionary of Kleinian Thought (Hinshelwood, 1991) Winnicott, Bowlby and Fairburn took issue with Kleins perception of children possessing innate feelings of aggression towards the mother (Segal, 1992), considering envy a product of tantalizing mothering (Adams, 1988) DEPRESSIVE POSITION 126 The depressive position is considered a way of dealing with anxiety arising from the death instinct (Segal, 1992), being a combination of phantasies and attitudes begining around three months. This involves intergrating experiences rather than splitting them (Segal, p38), where loving and hateful relations are unified in whole objects (Greenberg, 1983) and the child gives up its omnipotent world perspective (Hinshelwood, 1991). Depressive anxiety is based on the fate of others both internally and externally. Not only being the childs reaction against its own destructiveness, but a genuine expression of love and regret, developing into gratitude for the mothers goodness. Alternitivly Racker claims that both depressive and paranoid skitzoid anxieties are due to childrens intense desire for their mothers love (Greenberg, 1983) and Winnicott preferred the term â€Å"concern† considering the infants protective feelings toward their mothers (Jacobs, 1995). GRATITUDE 22 Klein considered that love and gratitude are innate, with gratifying objects enhancing gratitude and love and frustrating objects provoking paranoia and hate (Hinshelwood, 1991) REPERATION 59 Reperation is considered the strongest element of the creative and constructive urges (Hinshelwood, 1991) It is in the depressive position when Klein proposes that guilt makes its appearance. Klein considered that a childs aggression gave rise to anxiety as it conflicts with the powerful loving impulses, these loving impulses proposed by Klein are often overlooked by those wishing to criticize Klein (Segal, 1992) Winnicott Absolute Dependence 110 Winnicott said:- There is no such thing as a baby If you set out to describe a baby, you will find you are describing a baby and someone. A baby cannot exist alone, but is essentially part of a relationship† (Winnicott, 1947) (Stevens, 1996) During the stage of absolute dependence Winnicott considered the mothers state to be â€Å"Primary Maternal Pre-ocupatoin† a very early sage of emotional development where she feels the baby is a part of herself, leaving the baby with no means of awareness of material provisions (Winnicott, 1965). Thus not differentiating between itself and its environment (Gomez, 1988), the child can only profit or suffer from disturbance being unable to gain control over how things are done. But dispite the infants physical dependence, psychologically it is paradoxically dependant and independent (Winnicott, 1965). Winicott considerd the development of a strong ego to be dependant on the mothers ability to meet the early absolute dependence of the infant (Jacobs, 1995) Primitive agonies Winnicotts primitive agonies are a description of the childs fear of going to pieces and eternally falling, having no relation to the body with no orientation in the world while in complete isolation with no means of communication. These may surface in later life as psychotic or borderline-state anxieties (Gomez, p88-89). He claimed the good enough mother creates a holding enviroment capable of containing these unthinkable anxietys enabling stable ego development (Jacobs, 1995). Holding Impingment Winnicotts reference to holding is both physical holding and the childs enviroment (Winnicott, 1965). Where the mothers creates the space and ability to facilitate the childs creative and imaginative self, while the child forms the object relations that it needs. This is dependant in part on the satisfaction that the mother is able derive from relating to and facilitating her childs internal struggling. (Newman, p789) reducing impingements to a minimum, with favourable conditions the infant is able to establish continuity in its existance The enviroment does not make the child. At best it enables the child to realize potential. (Winnicott, 1965) Impingments break the continuity of the infants existence, and constant impingments disrupt the childs ability to intergrate, encouraging future mental problems (Winnicott, 1965), Impingement anxiety is a product of environmental failure (newman, p790) Winnicott considered Kleins envious baby to be the product of a failed holding enviroment (Adams, 1988). Condidering the child as more benign, victimized product of its enviroment (Greenberg, 1983). In contrast Winnicott, Klein considered the childs internal environment to predominate the childs interactions with the world. False Self In unreceptive enviroments Winnicott argued that children cannot maintain genuine needs and wishes, because the caretakers agenda must be dealt with by the child. Thus the child shapes themselves according to the cartakers vision, compliently creating a false self (Michell, p105), a conscious, compliant version of the self, which under certain conditions hides and protects the ‘true self in the unconscious (Stevens, p312). This is due to the dual malignant introjection firstly of the faulty caretaker who is either too narcacistic or too controlling and secondly the caretakers incapacity to manage the childs resultant reactions to their shortfalls leading to the childs internalization of both the disappointing parent and the parents inability to deal with the dissapointment, this impingment leads to the development of a false self to deal with the anxiety created by this situation (newman, p791) True Self Winnicott considered the separated â€Å"Me† or â€Å"I am† from others is the true self (Jacobs, 1995). If there is sufficient attunement between the child and the mother then the infants ‘true self emerges from activitys in the ‘transitional space (Stevens, 1996). But if a childs bodily functions are managed impersonally or if it is left alone physically or mentally then it may attempt to identify more with the mind than the body, leaving the child perceiving its ‘true self as an ethereal intangible quality. (Gomez, 1988) Potential Space In order to give a place for playing Winnicott proposed a paradoxical dynamic dialectic position known as potential space between the baby and mother. (ogden, 1979) being a hypothetical area which exists (and cannot exist) between mother and child, this potential space varies a great deal according to each childs life experience in relation to their mother figure (Winnicott, 1971) Early life experiences determine each individuals use of this space, where each individual has their most intense experiences. Each infant has favourable or unfavourable experience within this space where dependence is maximal, thus potential space is only in relation to a feeling of confidence relative to the environmental factors, this confidence is evidence of the dependability that has being introjected by the individual. (Winnicott, 1971). Ogden (1979) proposed the each pole of the dialectic relationship within potential space creates, informs and negates the other as the child moves from absolute to relative dependence. Transitional Objects and Phenomina Transitional objects are concerned with the first possession and its relation to the intermediate area between subjective and objective perception of the child (Winnicott, 1971). It is not the object that is transitional, but rather that object is the first manifestation of the infants altering perspective of the world, shifting from a internal psychic reality to the external world. (Cooper, 1989) Unlike the mother the transitional object is neither under internal control, nor is it outside external control (Winnicott, 1971) being the first not me. It stands for the breast and is a symbolic part object (Winnicott, 1951, p231 233) The child cannot live without it. It mustnt be washed or altered, even if it becomes threadbare. The child must be allowed to abandon it in its own time and its own way. It is not mourned; it is left behind, ‘relegated to the limbo of half-forgotten things at the limbo of half forgotten things at the bottom of a chest of drawers, or at the back of a the toy cupboard. (Winnicott, 1971) Brody (1980) claimed transitional objects more comforting substitues for insufficient mothering than a universal phenomenon, citing reduced occurrence in rural areas (Jacobs, 1995). Play 88 Winnicotts concern with play arose from his interest in a childs experience of the ‘transitional object. (Cooper, 1989) Winnicott said â€Å"Play is immensely exciting because of the precariousness of the interplay of personal psychic reality and the experience of control of actual objects† (Cooper, 1989) Playing is the interplay between inter personal psychic reality and the experience of control of actual objects, the precarious nature of playing is due to its existence on the theoretical line between the subjective world and the perceived one (Winnicott, 1971) Winnicott agreed with Klein proposing that certain aspects of childrens play are external projections of their internal experiences with toys becoming subjective objects (Winnicott, 1965) and considered play to be a universal and healthy behaviour (Winnicott, 1971) The Capacity to be Alone 124 Although the infant is alone, the carer is still present in the general environment due to the presence of familiar objects (Winnicott, 1971) The basis of the capacity to be alone is a paradox, it is the experience of being alone while someone else is present. (Cooper, 1989) Winnicott proposed that it is dependent on the presence of a good internal object, for this presence enables a feeling of confidence in the present and future. Considering the capacity to be alone closely related to emotional maturity, its basis is the experience of being alone while in the presence of another, and is a highly sophisticated phenomenon with many contributing factors. (Winnicott, p 1971) Hà ¤mà ¤là ¤inen (1999), proposed that everyone lives in the solitude of subjectivity, considering the capacity to be alone a capacity to tolerate the absence and lack of aloneness along with yearning for closeness, while simaltaniously enjoying the unity and connection of social life. CONCLUSION The lack of critisism for Winnicotts work may be due to the fact that dispite his prolific writing he did not compose a comprihesive theory. (Jacobs, 1995) Kleins perspective is intrapsychic (one person) where as Winnicott is interpersonal (two-person) (Stevens, 305) (RELATES TO INTERNAL AND EXTERNAL) MASCULINE FEMININE. The premises of Kleins theorys are subjective rather than objective and philosophical rather than scientific (Gomez, p33), Winnicotts writing style is considered to be impressionistic than anylitical and although (Gomez, p86-8). A positive aspect of Kleins theory is achievement of gratitude and love with social relations can be achieved in the face of negative aspects such as envy and greed (Frosh, p127) Some consider Kleins approach to be to deterministic, proposing that she considers that events that happen in later life have a negligible effect on the psychic makeup developed in the childs formative period (Segal, p91). Kleins perspective that it is not only external influences that lead to childhood can be considered a important counterweight to the argument that it is purely the fault of parents when children suffer problems mentally (Segal, p88). Those who are followers of Winnicott consider a child to be a far more benign and victimised creature than Kleinian followers, in Winnicotts book â€Å"The Child the Family and the Outside World† Winnicott expresses strong disagreement with Kleins proposal of a child projecting personal hated and â€Å"bad† aspects onto or into objects, Critics of Klein consider her work to be tangential to Fruedian thinking in a highly speculative and fantastic manor noting that the forceful and certain manor of writing leads to hyperbole and overgeneralization (Greenberg, p120) In defence of Klein it can be argued that those who critize her work do so as they fail to take a close and balanced approach to her work and thus focus exclusively upon aggression with out considering the balancing factors of other motives (Greenberg, p120) It is claimed that the contribution of problematic features of the childs environment such as family and living conditions are not taken into account for their establishment of original bad objects in the psychopathology in individuals and it is claimed that Fairburn and Winnicot were able to explore possibilities of external factors due to their not being encoumbered by attachement to Freuds drive model of the human psyche (Greenberg, p147) REFERENCES Adams, P (1988). Winnicott. London: Penguin Astor, J. (1989). The Breast as Part of the Whole: Theoretical considerations concerning whole and part objects. Journal of Analytical Psychology. 34 (1), 117-128. Ad Black, M,J (1995). Freud and Beyond. New York: Basic Books. Cooper, R (1989). Thresholds Between Philosophy and Psychoanalysis. London: Free Association Books. Fineill, J.S. (1985). Projective Identification and Psychotherapeutic Technique. Thomas H. Ogden. New York: Jason Aronson, 1982, 236 pp.. Psychoanal. Rev., 72:671-673. Frosh, S (1987). The Politics of Psychoanalysis. London: Macmillan Press. Gomez, L (1988). An Introduction to Object Relations. London: Free Association Books. Greenberg J.R Mitchell S.A (1983). Object Relations in Psychoanalytic Theory. London: Harvard University Press. Hà ¤mà ¤là ¤inen, O. (1999). Some considerations on the capacity to be alone. Scand. Psychoanal. Rev., 22:33-47. Hinshelwood, R.D (1991). A Dictionary of Kleinian Thought. Sidmouth: Chase Publishing Services. Hough, M (1998). Conselling Skills and Theory. London: Hodder Stoughton Educational. Jacobs (1995). D.W.Winnicott. London: Sage Publications LTD. Klein, M. (1946). Notes on Some Schizoid Mechanisms. Int. J. Psycho-Anal., 27:99-110. Likierman, M (2001). Melanie Klein: Her Work in Context. London: Continuum. Mitchell, S,A (1988). Relational Concepts in Psychoanalysis. London: Harvard University Press. Newman K.M. (1996). Winnicott Goes To The Movies: The False Self In Ordinary People. Psychoanal Q. 65 (1), 787-807. Ogden, T.H. (1979). On Projective Identification. Psycho-Anal. 60 (1), 357-373. Segal, H (1981). Klein. London: Karnac Books. Segal, J (1992). Melanie Klein. London: Sage Publications. Stevens, R (1996). Understanding the Self. London: Sage Publications LTD. Winnicott, D,W (1965). The Maturational Process and the Facilitating Enviroment. London: The Hogarth Press. Winnicott, D,W (1971). Playing and Reality. London and New York: Routledge Classics. BIBLIOGRAPHY Astor, J. (1989). The Breast as Part of the Whole: Theoretical considerations concerning whol J. Anal. Psychol., 34:117-128. Bacal, H.A. (1987). British Object-Relations Theorists and Self Psychology: Some Critical Re Int. J. Psycho-Anal., 68:81-98. Balint, M. (1952). New Beginning and the Paranoid and the Depressive Syndromes. Int. J. Psycho-Anal., 33:214-224. Black, M,J. Mitchell S,A. (1995), Freud and Beyond, Basic Books, New York Cooper, R (1989), Thresholds Between Philosophy and Psychoanalysis, Free Association Books, London Frosh, S (1987), The Politics of Psychoanalysis, Macmillan Press, London Hinshelwood, R.D. (1991), A Dictionary of Kleinian Thought, Chase Publishing Services, Sidmouth. Hough, M (1998), Conselling Skills and Theory, Hodder Stoughton Educational, London. Gomez, L (1988), An Introduction to Object Relations, Free Association Books, London. Greenberg J.R Mitchell S.A (1983), Object Relations in Psychoanalytic Theory, Harvard University Press, London Kernberg International Journal of Psychoanalysis. L, 1969: A Contribution to the Ego-Psychological Critique of the Kleinian School. Otto F. Kernberg. Pp. 317-333. Likierman, M (2001), Melanie Klein: Her Work in Context, Continuum, London Mitchell, S,A (1988), Relational Concepts in Psychoanalysis, Harvard University Press, London Newman K.M. (1996). Winnicott Goes To The Movies: The False Self In Ordinary People. Psychoanal Q., 65:787-807. Segal, H (1981), Klein, Karnac Books, London Segal, J (1992), Melanie Klein, Sage Publications, London Stevens, R (1996), Understanding the Self, Sage Publications LTD, London Winnicott, D,W (1971), Playing and Reality, Routledge Classics, London and New York Winnicott, D,W (1965), The Maturational Process and the Facilitating Enviroment, The Hogarth Press, London. Yorke, C. (1971). Some Suggestions for a Critique of Kleinian Psychology. Psychoanal. St. Child, 26:129-155. REFERENCES Read up 2 p 792 http://www.pep-web.org/document.php?id=paq.065.0787atype=hitlistnum=1query=zone1%3Darticle%26zone2%3Dparagraphs%26title%3Dfalse%2Bself%2Bwinnicott%26sort%3Dauthor%252Caath_user=laprjgreen3ath_ttok=%3CSxcdiKPuNxKtfCaeBg%3E To Mrs. Klein, aggression inevitably distorts the childs picture of the world, making him feel attacked with hatred whenever he is at all thwarted or deprived. Early environment may do much to increase, or lessen, this sense of persecution; but a bad home does not create it, nor does a good one prevent it from appearing. Balint, M

No Child Left Behind is the Way to Get Ahead Essay -- Education Politi

No Child Left Behind is the Way to Get Ahead There are many students in America today that are struggling to make the grade. These students have not been given all opportunities and chances that they should have been given to be able to reach a higher level of education. Now children have a way to be able to get to the academic level that they rightfully deserve. President George W. Bush has created a plan for the future and a way to get all of our countries students to thrive in the education system and in life. With this initiative, America will be able to close the achievement gap between the Caucasian higher income students, and the lower income minority students. No Child Left Behind is the only way that lower income minority students will be able to succeed, and get the well deserved attention that they need in the form of assessment tests, and higher quality teachers. In 2001, President George W. Bush proposed a plan to close the gap between students in the United States education system. The act was then redefined and passed in 2002, and was fully put into effect. President Bush knew that the education system in this country was in trouble and faced the problems head on, addressing them and proposing solutions in this act. To make sure that students would raise the bar, a system of assessment tests were put into order, and will create a monitoring system with the students progress (Fact Sheet). Students will now have a record of test scores in mathematics and in reading. These scores will ensure that the students will make progress. The scores will also be accessible to parents so that they can check students progress (Fact Sheet). With these scores which the parents will be able to check, they can ... ...ference. The merit of teachers needs to increase, done. There is a need for more funds for educational programs, no problem. The knowledge of the minority students in the public school system needs to be elevated, it’s met. With this act all of the academic problems that American students face will be eliminated in the course of time. No child will have the fear that they will not meet the standards of our nation, or that they will fall behind any other student. America needs help, and America needs the No Child Left behind Act for the future of our country. Works Cited Delisio, Ellen R. â€Å"No Child Left Behind: What it Means to You.† Education World 2002. . â€Å"Fact Sheet: No Child Left Behind Act.† Whitehouse.gov January 2002. . â€Å"Reaching Out†¦ Raising Achievement.† Ed.gov 2004. .

Creationism Vs Evolution: Through The Eyes Of Jay Gould :: essays research papers

Creationism vs Evolution: Through The Eyes of Jay Gould It has been over 100 years since English naturalist Charles Darwin first told the world his revolutionary concept about how livings things develop. Evolution through natural selection and adaptation was the basis of his argument as it remains to this day a debated subject by many. Across this nation, a "return" to "traditional" values has also brought the return of age old debated topics. One issue that truly separates Americans is the issue of creation versus evolution. Since the 19th century, this divisive topic has been debated in school boards and state capitols across America. In many instances religious fundamentalists won the day by having banned the instruction or even the mention of "ungodly" evolutionary thinking in schools. With today’s social and political climate, this question is back with greater force than ever. This is why this subject is more important now than ever. In Jay Gould’s book The Panda’s Thumb, an overview of and an argument for Charles Darwin’s evolutionary thinking is conducted with flowing thoughts and ideas. This essay titled "Natural Selection and the Human Brain: Darwin vs. Wallace" takes a look directly at two hard fought battles between evolutionists and creationists. Using sexual selection and the origins of human intellect as his proponents, Gould argues his opinion in the favor of evolutionary thought. In this essay titled "Natural Selection and The Human Brain: Darwin vs. Wallace," Gould tells about the contest between Darwin and another prominent scientist named Alfred Wallace over two important subjects. These topics, one being sexual selection and the other about the origins of the human brain and intellect were debated by men who generally held the same views on evolution. However on these two subjects, Wallace chose to differ as he described it as his "special heresy" (53). The first of these two areas of debate between the two men was the question of "sexual selection." Darwin theorized that there laid two types of sexual selection. First a competition between males for access to females and second the choice "exercised by females themselves" (51). In this, Darwin attributed racial differences among modern human beings to sexual selection "based upon different criteria of beauty that arose among various peoples" (51). Wallace, however, disputed the suggestion of female choice. He believed that animals were highly evolved and beautiful works of art, not allowing the suggestion of male competition to enter his mind. The debate of sexual selection was but a mere precursor to a much more famous and important question . . . the question of the origins of the human mind.

Were the “cult of domesticity” sign of an improvement or a restriction in women’s status and condition

Were the â€Å"cult of domesticity† and the rise of the child centered family signs of an improvement or a restriction in women's status and condition (1790-1860) The â€Å"Cult of Domesticity† also known as the â€Å"cult of true womanhood† developed as family lost its function as economic unit. Prior to the late 1700's the family worked together to make whatever was needed to survive. Women and children's contributions to the family were as important as the males. The surfacing of a market economy where males were able to make a living at professions other than farming changed the way the family unit functioned. With the new system children were able to stay at home which forced the women to have to stay home as well to care for them. Another support for the appearance of child-centered families and the â€Å"cult of domesticity† was the emergence of a new class, which became known as the middle class. The middle class did not need to make what it needed to survive. Men were able to leave the home to make money to support the family, which became the standard. A woman's life in this time period was divided into her domestic duties and her duty to learn social skills, and she was not allowed to enter the public realm of life dominated by men. That was considered unladylike. Women who dared were usually exploited. Most women remained in the home, as a sort of cultural hostage and thus assigning women to unpaid domestic labor. The rising ideals of nineteenth-century in America redefined women's roles in all classes not just the middle class. Though women were no longer expected to work outside the home this placed greater significance on a male's ability to earn enough money to make his wife's labor outside the home unnecessary. This devalued women's contributions outside the home. The â€Å"cult of domesticity† was a byproduct of the nineteenth century's Industrial Revolution and the movement away from the homestead into big cities. This family pattern not only devalued women of all classes it also demoralized working class men, who had the burden of being the wage earner with employment that did not always provide adequately. (Landry) The women of this class had their workload in many cases double they continued to farm or take care of the homestead, which used to be the males role, while at the same time keeping up with their housework and the duties of a mother. Male dominance and female submissiveness was a result of the† cult of domesticity†. There were less restrictions and more equality in the pre industrial era. Work was carried out within the family unit. The family unit, which included male and female, engaged in common objectives and responsibilities that help connect them as a family. With the onset of the male leaving to make a living this put the male more in control and diminished the females role in the family unit to lesser valued activities. There were more restrictions placed on females during this time period than males. A female's status was lowered to one of unpaid and under appreciated labor. The conditions of females were only important if it had a negative impact of the male of the house. Society used social, economic, and political restrictions to reinforce the woman's place in the home.

Women have been dealing with what we call today as ‘gender issues’ (to be politically correct) since the beginning of time

Women have been dealing with what we call today as ‘gender issues' (to be politically correct) since the beginning of time. Most other people refer to it as chauvinism or discrimination. This thing however we refer to it as has existed since the beginning of time. Referring back to the bible times of Adam and Eve there was well documented issues of gender differences. We go back to the creation of ‘man' do you really think that man is superior because he was created first, or the fact that man was used to create woman? Or the fact that is was the woman who ate the fruit off of the forbidden tree, does that make the women less superior. Both man and women were ultimately created equal and everybody makes mistakes. Look at cave men for instance, have you ever heard the phrase cave women. No you haven't, when we picture ‘cave men' the way society has groomed the thoughts into our mind, we picture very unattractive men with their clubs dragging their women around by the hair. Women were there only to cook and to bare the children of the tribe. But why has society chosen to put these images out there for us to believe. Do we have any proof that their woman were dragged around by the hair, or is it a simple rhetoric devise to play in the mind of our subconscious thinking to lead us to believe that men have and always have been more superior than women. As the ages have passed not much has changed for women. It wasn't until WWII that women were even given the chance to work. During that era there were no men to work, the economy was taking a serious hit, so they looked upon the women to fill the positions that the men had filled for so long. The women took to their new roles as champions doing the manual hard labor in the factories, leaving their children at home to be cared for by another. During that time in our history I think many people have forgotten the significance of what happened. While then men in our country were out fighting and dying to ensure our freedom, the women were here keeping our country alive the best they could, and they succeeded. At that time women had no education and no training but they managed to be strong and get out there and fight. They also in a way fought for the freedom of our country, the men could have not succeeded without the women that took that stand. It is a known fact that even some fifty years later women do not receive the same opportunities as men. Women have earned the right to be considered as equals and deserve the same equal rights to work as men do. Women have earned that right and have fought for equality, but they still do not receive it. Women do not receive the same job opportunities, promotions and pay as men do. Men are more likely to gain the success in these areas than women, even if the woman is more qualified. Women are the caretakers of the world. Women are the ones who take care of the families; families are what form communities, communities are what make the nations. â€Å"If women have a chance to work and earn as full and equal partners in society their families will flourish. When families flourish, communities and nations will flourish. † (Clinton, H. R. ). If women are successful they will be able to better provide for their families. In doing so, they give their families a better chance at a prosperous life. Society still has a long way to go; according to The American Prospect Inc. Over twenty-five years ago the United Nations developed a global bill of rights to end discrimination against women. The All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) was signed by all nations except the United States, Iran, Somalia, and Sudan. For years Jesse Helms led the attack against CEDAW, calling it the work of â€Å"radical feminists† with â€Å"anti-family agenda. † à ¢â‚¬Å"I do not intend to be pushed around by discourteous, demanding women,† he said proactively on the Senate floor in 1999. Helms, is no longer around to exercise his objections. George W. Bush is now standing in the way, even as he justifies two wars against fundamentalism, at least partly in the name of advancing the status of women abroad. † (Chesler, E). Which shows that this world still has along way to go before it sees women as equals. George W. Bush is worried about â€Å"advancing the status of women abroad†, but what about the status of the women right here in the United States. He is the president of the United States and not that of the women abroad. As long as we still have these views that women are not equal. Society will never gain the talent, perspective, and ambition for success that women can bring to the table. â€Å"Around the world, empowering women is now widely considered essential to expanding economic growth, reducing poverty, improving public health, sustaining the environment, and consolidating transitions from tyranny to democracy. A near universal consensus is calling for fundamental changes in practices that have denied rights to women for centuries. If the democrats retake the White House and/or the Senate, it will be rime to insist that the United States finally become an official party to this agreement. † (Chesler, E) A good example of empowering women right here in the United States is based on an article in the San Diego Union Tribune. Based on the statistic of the United Nations, â€Å"Women made up 16. 3 percent of parliament worldwide at the end of 2005, edging up from 15. 7 percent a year earlier. Based on this groups latest statistics, according to the annual survey women have made steady progress in elections since a landmark world conference in Beijing in 1995, when females made up just 11. 3 percent of the world's lawmakers. Women on an average made up 20 percent of the deputies elected in the 39 countries that held parliamentary elections last year. Out of nine countries more than 30 percent of those elected or returning to office in 2005 were women, with Norway topping the list at 37. 9 percent. † (Reuters 2006) The Inter- Parliamentary Union found that women fared the best in Nordic countries and the worst in Arab states. The United States on the other hand ranks 69th among the world's nations, with 66 women in the House of Representatives (15. 2 percent) and 14 female senators (14 percent). The proportion of female legislators fell in eight countries last year: Bolivia, Bulgaria, Denmark, Dominica, Egypt, Germany, Kyrgyzstan and St. Vincent, and the Grenadines. In two countries, Kyrgyzstan and Micronesia, elections were held in 2005, but no women won seats. In Saudi Arabia, whose parliament was appointed, no women were named because women there do not have the right to vote or run for election. Turns out, that brought the number to a total of nine countries without a single female lawmaker as of the end of last year in 2005: Kyrgyzstan, Micronesia, Nauru, Palau, St. Kitts and Nevis, Saudi Arabia, the Solomon Islands, Tuvalu and the United Arab Emirates. A new and recent study has shown an impressive and dramatic change from the numbers that we have been seeing in the past. Since 1975 women from all different races have struggled to compete with men on a professional level. As it appears race as well as gender plays a big part in what kind of job one will get, not to mention how much they will be earning. From the graph below is information collected from the online almanac, and as you can see over the past twenty-eight years. White males have dominated the economy white men have maintained a hundred percent of the median annual earnings. While white women, on the other hand over the same twenty-eight year span have increased their median annual earnings by approximately twenty percent, and still only hold seventy-five percent of the median annual earnings. That is twenty five percent less than white men. The Wage Gap, by Gender and Race This graph shows the median annual earnings men and women of different races. It also measures the difference in wage earnings over a twenty -eight year period. As we can see from the graph above race plays an equal part in the effect of annual earnings. Black males are up only four percent in twenty eight years. Hispanic males are down by nine percent over the same twenty eight year span. Black women are up only ten percent and Hispanic women are up ten percent over the past twenty eight years. In America and in other countries all over the world it is about time to start breaking through the barriers and stereotypes that society has welcomed for too long. America should be a role model for the rest of the world. America is considered the land of the free, but as long as these barriers continue to discriminate and divide our country by race and color is it really free? Sure America is known for having the best opportunities in the world, but what is the benefit of having those opportunities if it is subject to race or gender? These are the questions that one must ask every time that thought of race or gender comes into question. That's just it; it shouldn't be a question or an issue. If the qualifications meet the need then there's your answer. Have you ever wondered if you were to submit a resume without a full name just a first initial and a last name what kind of response do you think you would get? Well let me give you some insight into what might happen. I tried this research method to prove my theory that men are more preferred for a job than women and the responses I received were unbelievable. I submitted my resume to several different lines of employment such as computer technology, emergency medical technician (E. M. T), and firefighter. I have significant experience, training, certifications in all these lines of employment. When I received calls from perspective employers they would call (my cell phone, my phone contact number listed on the resume and T. Torres as the name listed on the resume. ) and ask if Mr. Torres was available. Right there they automatically assumed that my gender was male when in fact I am female. When the correction was made the response that I received was even more amazing. All of a sudden they did not have any openings at the time but would call me in the future if anything was available. It is amazing that the judgments that are passed in society today based on your gender or race. We as society could accomplish more than we know if we eliminate gender and racial boundaries, not to mention to overcome the stereotypical images that society has painted for us to believe. According to Russian Education and Society, â€Å"Men hold stereo typical traits of professional competence, rational thinking and an active life stance. Women hold the stereotype of social and communicative skills, heartfelt warmth, and emotional support. † (Razumnikova, O. M. ). We, as society are blaming the gender issues on tradition or religion. Boys and girls are taught at a very early age that ‘girls do this and boys do that'. Eventually as the world progresses children should be taught that girls and boys can do anything alike. There is nothing a man can do that a woman can't, and this is how children should be raised. Motherhood shares the same responsibilities as fatherhood does. So in turn family obligation should not be a factor into a woman getting a job, a promotion or how successful she can be. Women's rights should not be talked upon as if they are separate from human rights. Women are in fact human and should be treated alike. There is a lot of talk classified as human rights, women's rights, and civil rights: they are one in the same, rights are rights and every person should be entitled to the same equal rights as the other, man or woman. I do truly believe that if this was the case the world could be and would be a better place.

Mis Chapter 7

Chapter 7 Telecommunications, the Internet, and Wireless Technology1) Telephone networks are fundamentally different from computer networks. Answer: TRUE 2) Increasingly, voice, video, and data communications are all based on Internet technology. Answer: TRUE Â   3) To create a computer network, you must have at least two computers. Answer: TRUE 4) An NOS must reside on a dedicated server computer in order to manage a network. Answer: FALSE 5) A hub is a networking device that connects network components and is used to filter and forward data to specified destinations on the network. Answer: FALSE 6) In a client/server network, a network server provides every connected client with an address so it can be found by others on the network. Answer: TRUE 7) Central large mainframe computing has largely replaced client/server computing. Answer: FALSE 8) Circuit switching makes much more efficient use of the communications capacity of a network than does packet switching. Answer: FALSE 9) A protocol is a standard set of rules and procedures for the control of communications in a network. Answer: TRUE 10) Two computers using TCP/IP can communicate even if they are based on different hardware and software platforms. Answer: TRUE11) In a ring topology, one station transmits signals, which travel in both directions along a single transmission segment. Answer: FALSE12) Coaxial cable is similar to that used for cable television and consists of thickly insulated copper wire. Answer: TRUE13) Fiber-optic cable is more expensive and harder to install than wire media. Answer: TRUE14) The number of cycles per second that can be sent through any telecommunications medium is measured in kilobytes. Answer: FALSE15) The Domain Name System (DNS) converts IP addresses to domain names. Answer: FALSE16) VoIP technology delivers video information in digital form using packet switching. Answer: TRUE17) Web 3. 0 is a collaborative effort to add a layer of meaning to the existing Web in order to reduce the amount of human involvement in searching for and processing Web information. Answer: TRUE18) Wi-Fi enables users to freely roam from one hotspot to another even if the next hotspot is using different Wi-Fi network services. Answer: FALSE19) WiMax has a wireless access range of up to 31 miles. Answer: TRUE20) RFID has been exceptionally popular from the technology's inception because of its low implementation costs. Answer: FALSE21) The device that acts as a connection point between computers and can filter and forward data to a specified destination is called a(n)A) hub.B) switch.C) router.D) NIC.22) The Internet is based on which three key technologies?A) TCP/IP, HTML, and HTTPB) TCP/IP, HTTP, and packet switchingC) client/server computing, packet switching, and the development of communications standards for linking networks and computersD) client/server computing, packet switching, and HTTP23) The method of slicing digital messages into parcels, transmitting them along different communication paths, and reassembling them at their destinations is calledA) multiplexing.B) packe t switching.C) packet routing.D) ATM.24) The telephone system is an example of a ________ network.A) peer-to-peerB) wirelessC) packet-switchedD) circuit-switched25) Which of the following is not a characteristic of packet switching?A) Packets travel independently of each other.B) Packets are routed through many different paths.C) Packet switching requires point-to-point circuits.D) Packets include data for checking transmission errors.26) In TCP/IP, IP is responsible forA) disassembling and reassembling of packets during transmission.B) establishing an Internet connection between two computers.C) moving packets over the network.D) sequencing the transfer of packets.27) In a telecommunications network architecture, a protocol isA) a device that handles the switching of voice and data in a local area network.B) a standard set of rules and procedures for control of communications in a network.C) a communications service for microcomputer users.D) the main computer in a telecommunicatio ns network.28) What are the four layers of the TCP/IP reference model?A) physical, application, transport, and network interfaceB) physical, application, Internet, and network interfaceC) application, transport, Internet, and network interfaceD) application, hardware, Internet, and network interface29) Which signal types are represented by a continuous waveform?A) laserB) opticalC) digitalD) analog30) To use the analog telephone system for sending digital data, you must also useA) a modem.B) a router.C) DSL.D) twisted wire.31) Which type of network is used to connect digital devices within a half-mile or 500-meter radius?A) microwaveB) LANC) WAND) MAN32) Which of the following Internet connection types offers the greatest bandwidth?A) T3B) DSLC) cableD) T133) Which type of network would be most appropriate for a business that comprised three employees and a manager located in the same office space, whose primary need is to share documents?A) wireless network in infrastructure modeB) domain-based LANC) peer-to-peer networkD) campus area network34) In a bus networkA) signals are broadcast to the next station.B) signals are broadcast in both directions to the entire network.C) multiple hubs are organized in a hierarchy.D) messages pass from computer to computer in a loop.35) All network components connect to a single hub in a ________ topology.A) starB) busC) domainD) peer-to-peer36) The most common Ethernet topology isA) bus.B) star.C) ring.D) mesh.37) A network that spans a city, and sometimes its major suburbs as well, is called aA) CAN.B) MAN.C) LAN.D) WAN.38) A network that covers broad geographical regions is most commonly referred to as a(n)A) local area network.B) intranet.C) peer-to-peer network.D) wide area network.39) ________ work by using radio waves to communicate with radio antennas placed within adjacent geographic areas.A) Cell phonesB) MicrowavesC) SatellitesD) WANs40) Bandwidth is theA) number of frequencies that can be broadcast through a medi um.B) number of cycles per second that can be sent through a medium.C) difference between the highest and lowest frequencies that can be accommodated on a single channel.D) total number of bytes that can be sent through a medium per second.

Myth of Model Family

Myth of the Model Family The image of the model family is breathtaking, a housewife-mother, a breadwinner father, a couple of kids and a pet or two. This is the dream of most Americans but at the same time is a cliche. â€Å"The â€Å"traditional† family†¦ has existed for little more than two hundred years† (18). This idea has been so widely accepted due to the attention that it has received in the media. Like Gary Soto in â€Å"Looking for Work† the perfect family misleads people into thinking what is truth and what is fiction.Of course the truth is that there is no such thing as the â€Å"perfect† family. One family cannot represent all the variation of families all around the world. The universal nuclear family is the same with the stay-at-home mother, the breadwinner father, a couple of children and maybe a pet or two. Preferably, people would like to see what a family should be or act like, but not everyone is the same. Each and every culture is different, with each of them having there own definition or idea of what the model family is like.In Soto’s â€Å"Looking for Work† the story is about a child's expectance of a family life filled with love and comforts, which is contrast with his real working class family life. In the story Soto, back at the age of nine, dreams to live is a life where his family is straightforward in there routine. Soto lived in a working class family that had only a breadwinner mother and three children. There was no mention of a father. Over the years there has been the question of who has the authority in an American family. It used to be the male of the family who had the most authority.Over the years, that has slowly changed. As in Soto’s story he lives with his mom and no mention of a dad. Today there are families that have two fathers or two mothers or only one of each and not the other. The idea of the â€Å"perfect† model family is so widely accepted, due to the attention that it receives in the media. So the idea of two fathers, or two mothers, is a rare thing to see on a television show. But who in the media decides what a family is? The media has a lot of influence over what we think a family is.For example, Soto’s idea of his family being perfect came from him watching Father Knows Best. It gave him the idea that there is a certain way a family should act that he â€Å"so much wanted to imitate it† (26). Every one has his or hers own definition of what a family is. Soto’s idea of a family, was given by the media, not his own idea. In Soto’s family there was a difference between the American family and other families. Soto’s family ate â€Å"beans and tortillas in the stifling heat of [the] kitchen† (27). A perfect family would have turkey for dinner and apple pie for desert. Related essay: â€Å"Realism and Expressionism in Death of a Salesman†Like Soto we often see other people’s families differently than we see our own. In other words people can be â€Å"blinded† to the truth of a family. People have said that a person deprived of sight â€Å"see† what the naked eye can’t. Yet they may not have the physical sight but have another kind of vision. The vision of seeing what they want to see. Many Americans only see what they want to see and not what is really there. This in turn goes back to the media who gives us this picture of what is and what should be rather than what really is.In conclusion the perfect family is nothing other than a dream that Americans have. The dream if not having to worry about the image that they give off or the way they act. Ultimately there are many myths about the perfect family, but it is up to the person to choose whether to follow some ones vision of a family, or to follow their own views of a family. One way or another a family is a family, no matter the family members because each family is special or â€Å"perfect† in their own way.

Qualitative Article Review Essay

Purpose The purpose of this article is to show that there is a correlation between dropout rates and teen pregnancy, and to discuss ways to prevent teen pregnancy. The American Promise Alliance evaluated data on school districts that struggle with both poor school completion and high numbers of teen births. They identified 25 schools with the highest dropout and teen pregnancy rates. And they also evaluated school districts with high school completion rates and innovative pregnancy prevention programs to help students avoid early pregnancy and parenthood. The 25 persistently low achieving school districts account for twenty percent of all high school dropouts in the USA. Thirty percent of all teen girls that drop out of school cite pregnancy or parenthood as the reason. Thirty four percent young women who were teen mothers did not earn a diploma or GED. Less than two percent of teen mothers attained a college degree by age 30. School districts with higher school completion rates recognized the correlation between teen pregnancy and school dropout; they initiated programs to address these two high priorities. School districts collaborated with organizations receiving federally funded teen pregnancy prevention grants, such as US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), Office of Adolescent Health’s (OAH), and evidenced based Teen Pregnancy Prevention Program(TPP). Through their collaboration, grantees could use the funds in a variety of evidenced based models to meet the needs of their school, community and the age of the students being served. Description of Participants/Sample The participants in this study were all the teenagers in the USA. All USA students that attended public schools were a part of the data collection. School completion, pregnancy rate and dropout rate data was gathered from every public school in all the US school districts. Research Design/Data Analysis America’s Promise Alliance analyzed data from four reputable sources on teen pregnancy and dropout rates, and identified the school districts with the highest dropout rates. They also analyzed the data on teen birth rates or teen pregnancy rates from these school districts with high dropout rates. Method Diplomas Count 2011, Common Core of Data (CCD), VitalStats and Child Trend were the four sources of data information that was used to examine the number of dropouts and teen births within the 25 persistently lowest achieving school districts. Diplomas Count is a national report from Education Week and Editorial Projects in Education (EPE) Research Center, which provides graduation rates and graduation trends for all the public schools in the USA. Diplomas Count then identifies the 25 persistently lowest achieving school. Data on total school enrollment and enrollment by grade level was extracted from CCD. VitalStats and Child Trends provided data on teen birth rates and numbers. Results The data draws a parallel between high school dropouts and teen births. The data shows the school districts that struggle with poor school completion and high numbers of teen births and how various school districts are tackling these issues. Opportunities for Further Research The America’s Promise Alliance needs to collect more data for evidence that teen pregnancy caused dropouts, rather than just being correlated with dropout rate. After the 25 identified school districts with the high dropout and teen pregnancy rate implemented pregnancy prevention, the Alliance could check back in a year with these school districts to see if the dropout rate changed. Threats to Validity The four sources cited in this study are all very reputable sources that are cited often in the field of education. But although the America’s Promise Alliance spent a lot of discussion regarding the link between dropout rates and teen pregnancy, and suggesting that combating teen pregnancy could lower dropout rates, they ended the article by saying â€Å"readers should note that this data is meant only to draw a parallel between high school dropouts and teen births. No quantitative analysis to examine the statistical significance of the association between these two issues was performed and, therefore, causality should not be inferred.† They spent most of the article talking about things (teen pregnancy and dropout rates) that only made sense if there was causation, and then at the end of the article they retracted this conclusion from the readers. Insight and Criticism Teens getting pregnant while still in school are more likely to drop out of school, but the data in this article does not prove this, but I think it made a strange correlation between the two. There may be other factors that make pregnancy and dropping out more likely. Implications of Findings Thirty percent of teen girls who drop out of school cite pregnancy or parenthood as their reason. The connection between teen pregnancy or teen parenthood and educational attainment is strong. All interested parties in the prospect of these teen parents and their children need to collaborate and develop strategies to reduce the risk of them dropping out of school. References Shuger, L. (2012). Teen pregnancy and High School Dropout: What Communities are Doing to Address These Issues. Washington, DC: The National Campaign to Prevent Teen and Unplanned pregnancy and America’s Promise Alliance. Retrieved November 2012, from www.thenationalcampaign.org/resources/†¦/teen-preg-hs-dropout.pdf