Tuesday, December 31, 2019
Sociological Analysis On Interfaith Marriage Essay
Sociological Analysis on Interfaith Marriage The family issue I will be analyzing is interfaith marriage. Interfaith marriage is simply marriage between two people who belong to or identify with different religious groups. However simple the definition may seem, the reality of interfaith marriage can be far more complex. For most of human history it has been a social taboo to marry outside of one s faith. However, in recent years it has become much more acceptable, even to the point of seeming to essentially be a non-factor as far as society is concerned. Nevertheless, with the inevitable differences in customs and beliefs, and despite social acceptance, interfaith marriages can still cause major conflict in the household. This paper will explore seven different sociological theories, and attempt to explain how they can decipher the effects of interfaith marriage upon the family. Family Ecology Theory Family ecology theory looks at how families are influenced by, and subsequently influence their environment. In their text, The Marriage and Family Experience: Intimate Relationships in a Changing Society, Bryan Strong and Theodore Cohen (2014) list four levels to the environment to which individuals adapt: the microsystem, which contains the most immediate influences with which individuals have frequent contact, e.g. families, peers, schools, etc.; the mesosystem, which consists of the interconnections between microsystems, i.e. school, work, and home experiences; theShow MoreRelated The Impact Sociological Theories Have on Religion Essay2086 Words à |à 9 PagesThe Impact Sociological Theories Have on Religion Sociological theories are usually constructed from ideas of early sociologist through scientific research in regards to developing a better understanding of how our social world operates. By gaining this type of knowledge, sociologist can better explain (to those who are interested) the social world that we have grown accustom to, as well as make predictions of how the social world will develop and function in the future. Three are three major categoriesRead MoreThe Effect of Crisis on Religion in Europe: Black Death vs. Wwii4285 Words à |à 18 Pages Candidate Name: Katie Miller Candidate Number:____________ May 2013 History Extended Essay Supervisor: Mr. Derek Parsons Word Count: 3,133 Abstract This essay is a comparative analysis of the effect that two major crises in Europe had upon religion. Europe was a central hub for both the events of the Black Death, as the place where the devastation of the plague was most accurately documented, and World War II, as it was the main
Sunday, December 22, 2019
An Approach to the Regional Neoliberal Governance in...
An approach to the regional neoliberal governance in Southern Africa from a critical perspective. In order to examine the possible implications of neoliberalism in contemporary Africa, an analysis based on a regional dimension is important. The multiplicity of strategies and methods of governance in a specific regional context can appear merging, mingling or even clashing, since regions can be understood as political and social projects, where different actors act in favour of the maintenance, protection or transformation of prevalent structures. In that way, according to Sà ¶derbaum, regions can be disrupted from within and from without by the same forces that build them up. (Sà ¶derbaum 2004a, p. 421). The process of economicâ⬠¦show more contentâ⬠¦(Ibid: p. 433) The problems that arise from the expansion of the neoliberal policies, as a core element of the attempted regional governance and regional integration, become more obvious if we focus on concrete cases from the region. Taking in consideration the limited scope of the essay, I will refer to problems that have arosen in the case of South Africa and its foreign and domestic policies in connection to economic development and integartion of the southern african region. Domestically, South Africa was aiming at reducing state expenditure, at privitizations and the liberalization of trade and capital. Under the GEAR, since 1996, neoliberalism became the leading force in its economy, while the country appeared willingfull to dominate in the regions economic and political spheres, by establishing a market for its expanding economy, rather than being involved at the assistance of other continental countries. Contradicting the main assumption of neoliberal regional governance, South Africaâ⠬â¢s economic interests are served by a political strategy that is engineered to pry open markets, and to pave the way for establishing footholds in different economic sectors, especially if this will result in muscular corporate penetration. (Alden Le Pere, p. 159). The country managed to rapidly expand its economy through exports of products and capital, to the rest of the continent. This resulted at ââ¬ËSouth Africa Inc.ââ¬â¢ asShow MoreRelatedOne Significant Change That Has Occurred in the World Between 1900 and 2005. Explain the Impact This Change Has Made on Our Lives and Why It Is an Important Change.163893 Words à |à 656 PagesE SSAYS ON TWENTIETH-C ENTURY H ISTORY In the series Critical Perspectives on the Past, edited by Susan Porter Benson, Stephen Brier, and Roy Rosenzweig Also in this series: Paula Hamilton and Linda Shopes, eds., Oral History and Public Memories Tiffany Ruby Patterson, Zora Neale Hurston and a History of Southern Life Lisa M. Fine, The Story of Reo Joe: Work, Kin, and Community in Autotown, U.S.A. Van Gosse and Richard Moser, eds., The World the Sixties Made: Politics and Culture
Saturday, December 14, 2019
Survival Essay for Maniac Magee Free Essays
Life is very unpredictable and sometimes throws us challenges that we need to overcome, in order to survive. According to the Merriam-Webster Dictionary, survival means, ââ¬Å"The continuation of life or existence. â⬠Yoko Kawashima Watkins was the main character from So Far From the Bamboo Grove. We will write a custom essay sample on Survival Essay for Maniac Magee or any similar topic only for you Order Now She was an eleven year old Japanese girl who struggles with life in 1945 the last year of World War II. Jeffery Lionel Magee, or Maniac as some would call him, was the main character from Maniac Magee. He was a twelve year old, white orphan who runs into a racist town. The stories of these two characters are different; yet, they demonstrate two kids going through difficulties in life. Yoko went through many life or death situations, and she had to do whatever she could to survive. Yoko had to flee her home from Korean Communist Army soldiers with her Mother and her older sister. Yokoââ¬â¢s friends and family helped her a lot during this dangerous period in time. One of these people was her older sister, Ko. Their mother died and Ko had to feed, and take care of Yoko. She also shined shoes for money for their family. One of the biggest characters that helped Yoko survive was Corporal Matsumura. Soon after their initial meeting Yoko questions, ââ¬Å"How could I know this man was to be important in my life? â⬠He was the one that had told them to escape their house in Nanam (northern Korea). If he had not come to notify the family, she would not be alive today. Mrs. Masuda was a big help in Japan. She offered both Yoko and Ko a place to stay at and helped Yoko with her Mother when she died. Secondly, Yoko was very smart to use disguises during her journey to Japan. One example is when Yoko, along with her mother and sister, were on a medical train and the medic and nurse said that Korean Communist Army soldiers came to inspect the train, and they had to disguise themselves as sick people to avoid being captured. Yoko then shaved her head, to pretend she was a boy. Also, she took the uniform of a dead Korean Communist Army soldier so that the other soldiers would not be suspicious if they saw her. Finally, Yoko earned and found money to pay for food and other necessities for survival. One way she made money was by selling handmade items. Yoko and Ko also found over 36,000 yen in a secret pocket in Motherââ¬â¢s wrapping cloth. Yoko entered an essay contest, won first place and received 10,000 yen. She was very resourceful, which helped her to survive. Maniac came into a racist town and had to learn to survive. He had to survive homelessness. Maniac became an orphan at age three, and then had to live with his aunt and uncle who disliked each other, but would not get a divorce. This was the reasoning for all the running and trying to find a new home. He was very independent, yet he did have some people to help him out. The major family who helped him was the Beales. They gave him a home, family, love, and an address, all the things he has always wanted. Another person who helped Maniac to survive was Grayson. He found Maniac unconscious, outside of the buffalo pen at Elmwood Park Zoo. If it wasnââ¬â¢t for Grayson, who knows what would have happened to Maniac. Also, the Pickwells gave Maniac dinner and were one of the only families in the West End that Maniac could go to, to show Mars Bar Thompson the best that the West End had to offer. Maniac also had to survive all the racism and prejudice in the town. He didnââ¬â¢t see or care about what color people were. Some people even thought he was blind. His thoughts were ââ¬Å"He knew he should be feeling afraid of these East Enders, these so-called black people. But he wasnââ¬â¢t. It was himself he was afraid of, afraid of any trouble he might cause just by being there. â⬠Many of the East Enders told him to go back on his side of the town but he did not listen to them. He also did not see that some of the people in the town did not like him, but in the end he shows them, that they are all the same, no matter what color, and brought both ends together. Since Maniac was an orphan, he mostly had to survive on his own. Both characters suffered a big loss in their lives, but with help and determination, they found hope. Yoko completed her journey to Japan survived going through a loss, and reunited with her brother Hideyo. Maniac found what he always wanted, a home and family that loves him for who he is and brought both sides of Two Mills together. No matter how hard life can be sometimes you need to be able to adapt, and do your best to survive. How to cite Survival Essay for Maniac Magee, Essay examples
Friday, December 6, 2019
Eating Healthy Essay Example For Students
Eating Healthy Essay Staying healthy and eating right is a lifestyle that many people should consider. A juicy hamburger from McDonalds dripping with special sauce topped with cheese is not exactly considered a healthy meal. Our society today is busy and on the go at all times. It is so much easier to stop and get fast food and then continue on. However, we should stop and think; is it really worth it to not eat right and exercise? Studies have shown, people that eat right and exercise live longer. Eating fattening foods clogs your heart with cholesterol and fat. People that do not exercise and continue to eat unhealthy foods will slow their metabolism. This is why over 70% of our society are overweight today. My grandfather has had problems with his heart in the past mostly because he was very overweight and eating the wrong foods. The doctor advised him to exercise and eat right. Now, after two years of following this advice, his heart is stronger than ever. The doctor informed him that at least ten years has been added to his life. Exercising and eating right really does help you to live longer. Eating Healthy Essay foods and exercising also helps to build persons self-esteem. Many people who are overweight do not feel good about themselves. They want to be thinner but instead of doing it the right way, they try crash diets that seem to always fail or do nothing at all about their condition. If we would exercise at least 45 minutes per day, 3 to 4 times per week, it is guaranteed that we lose weight and get in shape. When a person is at the size and stature that they would like to be then their self-esteem rises. If one has a good attitude and think they look great then more than likely other people will also. When one exercises and eats good foods then they also physically feel great. The fact that one has just spent an hour on the treadmill and a salad was for dinner makes a person feel as if they are really accomplishing something. If people would realize what a great feeling a person gets from working out and eating healthy foods then everyone would be doing it. It is a lifestyle that people should adopt and live by. It should also make one feel good that they are doing something to better themselves. All of us have areas that we can improve on. By improving our physical imperfections it makes us feel great. Some people were raised to eat everything on their plate whether it was healthy or not. If your mom made the food, then it was eaten. What our generation should do is learn from our parents mistakes. We should start cooking our children healthier foods so that they will grow up knowing and living healthier lifestyles. Others say that there is just not enough time to exercise or that fat free foods dont taste as good as fattening foods. However, we should make the time to exercise so that we can improve our mental and physical state. Also, there are now even fat free potato chips on the market that taste exactly the same as regular potato chips. Some people say that problems make them eat more, but we should practice more self-control during times that we are having problems. There are also the people that say they are not able to exercise because of physical problems, however, they are still able to eat healthy foods. In fact, people that do suffer from physical ailments and are not able to exercise should be that much more interested in learning to eat healthy. These excuses for choosing to live unhealthy in my opinion are just that; excuses! It is now time to make our choice. A healthy lifestyle and learning to exercise will benefit each one of us. Will we continue to live as unhealthy blobs, or will we take a little time out of our busy schedules so that we can live longer, raise our self-esteem, and feel great? .ufa7557a777545c40ee813e343d6fc43b , .ufa7557a777545c40ee813e343d6fc43b .postImageUrl , .ufa7557a777545c40ee813e343d6fc43b .centered-text-area { min-height: 80px; position: relative; } .ufa7557a777545c40ee813e343d6fc43b , .ufa7557a777545c40ee813e343d6fc43b:hover , .ufa7557a777545c40ee813e343d6fc43b:visited , .ufa7557a777545c40ee813e343d6fc43b:active { border:0!important; } .ufa7557a777545c40ee813e343d6fc43b .clearfix:after { content: ""; display: table; clear: both; } .ufa7557a777545c40ee813e343d6fc43b { display: block; transition: background-color 250ms; webkit-transition: background-color 250ms; width: 100%; opacity: 1; transition: opacity 250ms; webkit-transition: opacity 250ms; background-color: #95A5A6; } .ufa7557a777545c40ee813e343d6fc43b:active , .ufa7557a777545c40ee813e343d6fc43b:hover { opacity: 1; transition: opacity 250ms; webkit-transition: opacity 250ms; background-color: #2C3E50; } .ufa7557a777545c40ee813e343d6fc43b .centered-text-area { width: 100%; position: relative ; } .ufa7557a777545c40ee813e343d6fc43b .ctaText { border-bottom: 0 solid #fff; color: #2980B9; font-size: 16px; font-weight: bold; margin: 0; padding: 0; text-decoration: underline; } .ufa7557a777545c40ee813e343d6fc43b .postTitle { color: #FFFFFF; font-size: 16px; font-weight: 600; margin: 0; padding: 0; width: 100%; } .ufa7557a777545c40ee813e343d6fc43b .ctaButton { background-color: #7F8C8D!important; color: #2980B9; border: none; border-radius: 3px; box-shadow: none; font-size: 14px; font-weight: bold; line-height: 26px; moz-border-radius: 3px; text-align: center; text-decoration: none; text-shadow: none; width: 80px; min-height: 80px; background: url(https://artscolumbia.org/wp-content/plugins/intelly-related-posts/assets/images/simple-arrow.png)no-repeat; position: absolute; right: 0; top: 0; } .ufa7557a777545c40ee813e343d6fc43b:hover .ctaButton { background-color: #34495E!important; } .ufa7557a777545c40ee813e343d6fc43b .centered-text { display: table; height: 80px; padding-left : 18px; top: 0; } .ufa7557a777545c40ee813e343d6fc43b .ufa7557a777545c40ee813e343d6fc43b-content { display: table-cell; margin: 0; padding: 0; padding-right: 108px; position: relative; vertical-align: middle; width: 100%; } .ufa7557a777545c40ee813e343d6fc43b:after { content: ""; display: block; clear: both; } READ: Uncle Toms Cabin Argumentative EssayHealth Care .
Friday, November 29, 2019
Homosexuality Research Essays - Gesture, Nonverbal Communication
Homosexuality Research Over the past decade the author has been presenting seminars, speeches and workshops around the United States on the subject of international behavior. This book is the result of accumulation of more than ten years of research on the subject and it includes research on his travels to England, Germany, Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia and the Philippines. All this reinforced a conviction that gestures are powerful communicators used by people all over the world. The purpose of this book is to let people know how powerful gestures can be when used correctly or incorrectly. He also wants you to know how a gesture can mean one thing here and another thing somewhere else, something as simple as a wave good bye, could get you into a lot of trouble in another country. This book was broken down into seven chapters: Chapter 1, illustrated with numerous examples, is that not only are gestures and body language powerful communicators, but different cultures use gestures and body language in dramatically different ways. Chapter 2 discusses the most popular gestures found around the world, beginning with how we greet each other. Shaking hand is not the universal greeting. In fact, there are at least a half-dozen other social greetings - even different ways of shaking hands. This chapter also deals with farewells, beckoning, insulting, touching and other types of gestures. Chapter 3 gets into the special types of gestures such as, American Sign Language, Tai Chi, flirting & kissing. Chapter 4 is designed to help you learn or trace a particular gesture, using scores of drawings. Chapter 5 describes what the author calls the ultimate gesture, which is simply the smile. It is rarely misunderstood, scientist believe this particular gesture releases chemicals in the brain called endorphins into the system that create a mild feeling of euphoria. It also may help you slip out of the prickliest or difficult situation's world wide. Chapter 6 is an important list of gestures to keep in mind. It is compiled of 20 gestures that can help you separate right from rude, and rude from crude. Chapter 7 is a listing of country-by-country common gestures and body languages. They group the countries by major geographic region. The organization of the book was a combination of narrative and topical. The basic point of view of the entire book was that if you are planning to leave the United States and travel to another country, you better either keep your hands in you pockets at all times or know the proper gesture for the country you intend on visiting. I would like to site some examples. An American teenager was hitchhiking in Nigeria. A carload of locals passed him. The car screeched to a halt. The locals jumped out and promptly roughed up the teenage visitor. Why? Because in Nigeria, the gesture commonly used in America for hitchhiking (thumb extended upward) is considered a very rude signal. An American couple on an auto tour in Australia was stopped by a police officer in Sydney for failing to signal before turning. Since they were tourists the officer gave them only a friendly warning. Relieved, the American man responded with a smile and the thumbs-up sign. The police officer became enraged, ordered the couple out of the car, called a backup, searched the car, and finally gave the driver an expensive ticket. Later, back in their hotel and recounting their experience, the tourist learned that in Australia the thumbs-up gesture means screw you! As you can see this book has a humorous, but yet serious overtone. It covers important aspects of body languages & gestures in society which is serious stuff, that has a very strong impact on all that come in contact with you. Yet the author is able to express it in a comical nature. I enjoyed the book immensely. There are many ways the ideas in this book can be related to sociology. In fact the whole book is directly related to the subject of sociology especially the culture aspect of it. I will explain in the following paragraphs. Anthologists divide our actions and gestures into three broad categories: instinctive, coded and acquired. Instinctive gestures are those we do almost unconsciously. An example would be when we are suddenly shocked or surprised,
Monday, November 25, 2019
Wind Turbine and Windmills Essay
Wind Turbine and Windmills Essay Wind Turbine and Windmills Essay The energy in the wind turns blades around a rotor, and the rotor is connected to the main shaft, which makes a generator turn to create electricity. The shape of the blade causes the air pressure to be uneven, higher on one side and lower on the other side. And thatââ¬â¢s what makes it spin. On the top, thereââ¬â¢s a weather vane thatââ¬â¢s connected to a computer to keep the turbine turned into the wind so it captures the most energy. The blades are attached to a rotor which only turns about 18 revolutions a minute and thatââ¬â¢s not fast enough to generate electricity by itself. So, the rotor spins a series of gears that increases the rotation up to 1800 revolutions per minute. At that speed the generator can begin to produce electricity. The windmills are tall, because the higher you go, the winder it is. The blades can sweep circle in the sky longer than a football field. A windmill can power up to 9,000 homes Oceans and the Great Lakes provide consistent source of w ind that we can capture and turn into electricity. The wind turbine works opposite of a fan. Wind turbines use wind to make electricity instead of using electricity to make wind. The wind turbines convert the kinetic energy in the wind into mechanical power. There are two types of windmills horizontal-axis and the vertical-axis. Horizontal-axis windmills have two or three blades. The vertical-axis windmills main rotor shaft is set traversed and the main components are located at the base of the turbine. This arrangement allows the generator to be easy facilitating service and repair. The
Thursday, November 21, 2019
Human Resource Management Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words - 3
Human Resource Management - Essay Example Boddy (2008) defines Human Resource Management (HRM) as ââ¬Å"the effective use of human resources in order to enhance organizational performanceâ⬠(p.354). Human resource management is one of the core areas of organizational functions. Even though an organization has many resources such as manpower, materials, machines and money, manpower or human resource seems to the most important one. Context for HRM & key concepts and practices associated with HRM According to Torrington et al. (2011), ââ¬Å"Human resource management (HRM) is the basis of all management activityâ⬠( p.4). In fact all the management activities in an organization start from HR. If HR fails to identify and post suitable talents, the organization may not develop properly. The right person at the right place at the right time will always bring benefits to the organization. Since human resource managers are responsible for recruitment, placements, training, development and retention of the employees; the performances of human resource department is vital for the success of an organization. It should be noted that most of the current organizations are operating internationally and diversity in the workforce is not a myth but a fact. Diverse workforce often brings different types of conflicts in the workplace. HR department is responsible for settling such disputes. Strategic HRM is gaining popularity at present because of the globalized nature of organizations a nd the workforce. Paauwe & Boselie (2005) mentioned that ââ¬Å"HRM practices should focus particularly on employee development, the encouragement of learning and knowledge managementâ⬠. Knowledge management is vital for organizations to stay competitive in the heavily globalized and competitive market. It is necessary to update the knowledge of the employees periodically to make them capable of dealing with the new challenges. Training and development are necessary for the employees to update their skills and knowledge. HR department is responsible for organising training for the employees. As mentioned earlier, majority of the organizations have diverse workforce at present. Diverse workforce often brings a variety of challenges to HRM. Work philosophy, attitudes, skill sets, ethics, values, language, communication means, socioeconomic and cultural backgrounds of diverse workforces are extremely different. For example, many American companies are currently operating in China and these companies have many American employees along with Chinese employees. China and America are entirely different countries in terms of politics and culture. American employees may face lot of problems related to culture and politics while working in China. HR managers are responsible for providing necessary training to such employees before sending them to China. In short, HR management principles are changing as time goes on because of the huge changes happening in the global business world. The success of an organization depends on how well the HR department deals with such changes and makes corrections in its strategies. Along with employee recruitment, training and development, employee retention is another critical area handled by HR department. It should be noted that smart employees always get better opportunities. It is the duty of the HR managers to provide necessary motivation for work to the employees. Better remuneration and incentives alone may not motivate the employees to stick w ith an organization. Along with remuneration, current employees are particular about the work culture, organizational climate and work-life
Wednesday, November 20, 2019
Liberal Government 1906-1914 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words
Liberal Government 1906-1914 - Essay Example The Liberal Government came into existence in 1906 after a landslide victory over the conservatives. The Liberal government was led by Prime Minister, Henry Campbell Bannerman. The Liberal government passed various legislations once it came to power. All the legislations passed by the liberal government collectively came to be known as Liberal Reforms. The concept of 'new Liberalism' had begun to permeate through the party. The members unanimously began to promote appreciation of the interdependence and mutuality of modern society; collective action over individual action and sympathetic response to poverty. This report aims at enumerating the various liberal reforms that were outlined by the liberal government and its consequent impacts on people. The report in specific speaks about how the liberal government dealt with the problem of poverty. The liberal government went against the previously existing concept of Laissez Faire. The report also talks about how the new policies of the liberal government had an impact on the state of poverty. Solving the problem of poverty was a top priority objective of the liberal government. The report discusses the measures taken by the liberal government to tackle the problem. The conservative party that was in power before the liberals took over passed several legislations for social reforms. Particularly the 'Employment of Children' act in 1905 and Unemployed Workman's Act in 1903 aimed at alleviating the distress of the unemployed poor and destitute children (learningcuve.gov, 2005). However most of these reforms were carried out on the scale of local authorities and not by the Government as such. The liberal party too; before 1906, had assumed a Laissez Fare system of governance, according to which people are responsible for their own welfare. According to the Laissez Fare, prevalent conditions of poverty and illness were due to the ill practices of people themselves. The government never accepted responsibility for the prevalent hardships. The poor were seen by the wealthy as an unfortunate but inevitable part of society (Lednum, 2006). Although there were some prevalent acts and regulations; on the whole; the state did not do much to alleviate the lives of the poor class of people in UK. For instance, if the bread earner of a particular family died, the entire family would be plunged to doom. However, the state would not take any measures to rehabilitate the kin of the dead (Lednum, 2006). The main role of the then government was just to maintain the law and protect the country from foreign invasions. It was in the late 19th century and early 20th century that, several representatives of the state began to feel the importance of the state taking measures to deal with the problem of poverty. Several reasons can be enumerated for the upsurge of the notion of collective action to tackle the problem of poverty. Primarily the upper class and the MPs of UK feared that Britain would decline as a world power if the prevalent conditions persisted. They realized that if UK had to remain as a world power; they needed to obtain higher levels of
Monday, November 18, 2019
Schooling as Growth Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words
Schooling as Growth - Essay Example But the present trend seems to be upbeat on everything else except in the field of education. Education today is based and defined more in terms of stringent testing and examinations and a person is valued according to the number of qualifications he/she has. Airing his views Anron Falbel stated that, ââ¬Å"Today our social environment is thoroughly polluted by education ââ¬â a designed process in which one group of people (educators, social engineers, people shapers) try to make another group (those who are to be ââ¬Å"educatedâ⬠) learn something usually without their consent, because they (the educators) think it will be good for them.â⬠(Anron Falbel) Most of the schools fall within these parameters and there seems to be no release from its destructive grip. Educationists and parents are beginning to realize that this is not what they want for their children. The answer to their prayer comes in the form of democratic schools. There are many such schools across the globe in places like Japan, Israel, Thailand and New Zealand. One such ancient and very popular school is ââ¬Å"Summerhillâ⬠which comes in like a breath of fresh air to fill that vacant void. This school which is one of the most famous schools in the world was founded in 1921 and is situated on the East coast of England. Summerhill Schoolââ¬â¢s democratic approach that is based on the Philosophy of A.S. Neill has influenced scores of educational institutions around the world. Education at Summerhill is community based with most of the children coming from diverse backgrounds and boarding in the school premises. There is no strict syllabus drawn up and children are never pushed or compelled to study. They are free to choose what they want to study and when they want to study. According to a professor at Summerhill, lessons are not mandatory but it is more about inculcating the right values in the
Saturday, November 16, 2019
Analysis of Critical Psychology Theories
Analysis of Critical Psychology Theories Introduction One of the most important bodies of knowledge is psychology. It is through psychology that so many disorders have been dealt with. The disorders referred to here are disorders to do with the state of the mind as well as the environment affecting the well being of the mind of the individual. An example of a disorder that psychologists treat is referred to as sexual compulsive behavior. Many people would still be in problems were it not for psychology. Through psychology, other bodies of knowledge have benefited. As any body of knowledge, psychology has grown to have branches within it and one of them which are relevant in this research paper is critical psychology. This research paper is going to deal with the question; Is critical Psychology essential to clients rights in Mainstream Psychology? This research is going to argue that Critical Psychology is essential to clients rights in Mainstream Psychology. The research paper is going to look at psychology and give an overview of psychology Then move on to critical psychology where it will give a detailed explanation of what critical psychology is all about by looking at how it came to existence and what it is all about then finally relate it to mainstream psychology so as to show how relevant it is in psychology. Critical psychology is a branch of psychology that was developed with the aim of criticizing the mainstream psychology. It also has a goal or a purpose which is to try and put into practice the knowledge that psychology has accumulated into practice and at the same time learning something new without being rigidly constrained within the borders of psychology. Psychology knowledge is used in ways that are progressive under critical psychology. The main focus of critical psychology is the use of social change in its bid to criticize mainstream psychology but also as a tool to treat as well as prevent psychopathology. Many criticism bullets have been shot at mainstream psychology. The most common highlights the manner in which mainstream psychology does not put into consideration or ignores deliberately the way in which the differences in power between the classes as well as the groups of society can greatly have an impact on the well-being of the person in terms of the mind and the physical bodies of either individuals or groups of people. This is very relevant material. A body of knowledge that is not constantly criticized is a body of knowledge that tends not to grow over time. It is just like a life that is never criticized and never examined. Before criticizing, there is examination. When something is examined then that means there loopholes within the existence of something are looked into and the relevance of the thing in todays world. A human being will want to be current with the fast growing world and he or she is always constantly looking at ways in which he or she can improve him or he rself. A human being is always updating him or herself to be current with the world and the changing times. This may explain the reason people do not dress in the olden day fashion styles but embrace what the fashion brings. An employee will take a course in something so as t upgrade him or herself in the field of work a person is. The human beings who listen to criticisms and work on them well always improve themselves and become better people in society but those who done never grow much. It is clear that criticism is a very aspect of growth in todays world. Businesses pay a lot of money in order to be criticized! They do this by asking their customers how their company has served them. They probe consumers with a wide range of questions in a bid to get the worst out of people about the companys product or products. This can be done with the online focus groups that are being used as marketing tools at the end of the day because the product that will emerge will be based on the improvements that the customers said they will want to see. This is the same thing with mainstream psychology. Given the nature of mainstream psychology then it would make sense for there to be a body that looks into psychology as a body of knowledge to identify the things that can be done better and the factors that have to be considered when treating psychopathology. Mainstream psychology has not mentioned the impact that the various social groups and differences we have in society can have o n an individual. Say for example that in a neighborhood, there are those that are doing really well and those that are not doing so well in terms of the financial stability. Most of the times rather than not, the people who are doing very well will come together and form some kind of social group and within this social group, they will have their own way of thinking then in the other group where people are not doing so well, there will be a way of thinking. With time these two groups will always compare themselves. This may explain why some rich people with no happiness and no people to love in their lives envy the genuineness of the love of people in the poor settings and the genuineness of their love for each other. This has an impact on the mental well being as well as the physical well being of a person. One may start to limit him or herself and decide that some things are a certain group of people and some are for a different group of people. There are many people who are a liv ing proof of such influences and have either become very poor as a result or very rich as a result. It is therefore very clear and important on the role critical psychology plays in the application of mainstream psychology. It acts as an update of mainstream psychology as well as a tool to keep mainstream psychology on its toes. It also brings psychology to life as it ensures that it is practical in its approach during the treatment of psychopathology. This is a very important aspect of critical psychology. This is the main reason as to why this research paper is going to look at the relevance of critical psychology in the role of mainstream psychology. Mainstream psychology has to be very grateful to critical psychology as critical psychology gives mainstream psychology life. Overview of Psychology The study of psychology started when the world started to civilize. During this time, human beings got to try and explain the reasons behind almost everything they found into existence. Te civilizations of Egypt, Persia, China, India as well as Greece were the first to try and study the humans as well as try to explain why some humans behaved in a certain way and others behaved in another. The ancient Muslim physicians and psychologists introduced the experimental and clinical approach that psychology has today. They even went ahead to build hospitals to cater for people with psychological problems. More steps were made when the French physiologist who went by the name Pierre Cabanis added the biological aspect of psychology in the year 1802. He had done expensive biology studies and based on the knowledge he had acquired in biology, he explained the human mind from the same perspective. He asserted that the souls as well as sensibility characterize the nervous system. (Levin Troiden, 1988) Psychology had not become a field of study until the German physician whose name was Wilhelm Wundt built the first ever laboratory for the sole purpose of the study of psychology at an institution of higher learning referred to as the Leipzig University. Wundt became known as the father of psychology because of this brave move. It is no wonder that on the very same year that the laboratory was built which was the year 1879, the year was labeled the date psychology was born. An American who was a psychologist as well as a philosopher wrote a book in 1890 which laid the solid foundation son which psychology is built for many scholars of psychology. Hermann Ebbinghaus is also a very crucial contributor to the psychology bode of knowledge that did a lot of research and experimental studies on the memory compartment of the mind. A Russian who was a guru in psychology also contributed to the knowledge of psychology as we know it today. His name is Ivan Pavlov. He cam e up with a process human beings use to learn according to him and is referred to as the classical conditioning. In the mid 20th century, most of the work done by the psychology pioneers mentioned is referred to as experimental psychology as most of this work was concerned with the information that was collected from various sectors and subjects along with the processing of the same information. The information gathered during this time is a subset of cognitive science. This period is seen as a period that brought a revolution because the development made by the various pioneers of psychology answered as well as reacted to the different kinds of ways of thinking that were in existence and at that time, there were two major schools of thought; behaviorism and psychodynamics (Lopez, Schmidt Blanco, 2007). (Syed, 2002) Psychoanalysis is a psychotherapy that was developed by Sigmund Freud who was an Australian physician. His psychology was based on the methods of interpreting of the mind, the observations of patients with mental problems or problems that were related to mental problems and introspection. He concentrated on resolving of the unconscious conflict, psychopathology as well as the mental distress of the human being. The theories that were coined by Freud were popular because they addressed issues of sexuality, the unconscious mind and also repression. The society saw the discussion of the problems Freud tried to tackle as a taboo. He managed to engage society in such discussions and proved to them that such issues could be discussed openly. It helps to deal with issues when conversations about the issues are held then the way forward formulated. Psychoanalysis was criticized and seen not to be efficient enough as it wasnt empirical and had not proven to withstand experimental tests. John B. Watson founded behaviorism. This was inclined towards determinism as well as positivism. Behaviorism was based on the premise that the use of animals to experiment could give a more in-depth understanding of psychosocial behavior such as analysis that is psychonamic in nature. The behaviorists believed the scientific research methods would result in pursuing of the necessary weapons needed to control the problems life presents rather than searching for truths which are seen to be timeless. Behaviorists maintained that much of the components of the human mind are not open to the scrutiny of science and that scientific psychology should rely on the behavior observed. This led to behaviorist analyzing the behavior of humans and relating the behavior with the environment in which the human being exists or interacts with. The behaviorism model of psychology has been challenged and its fall in part paved the way for more models to come into existence (Syed, 2002). (Khaleefa, 1999)In reaction to psychoanalysis and behaviorism, humanism and existentialism emerged in the mid 20th century. Here the whole person was analyzed and not just some parts of the person. Humanism focused on practical human issues such as aloneness, meaning, self-identity, freedom as well as death. Emphasis was not on pathology but on determinism rejection, the positive growth concern as well as subjective meaning. Abraham Maslow an American psychologist played a major role in the development of humanism. There was the formulation of the hierarchy of human needs, client-centered therapy and Gesalt therapy. Existentialism focuses on the human nature as being neutral. It also focused on anxiety and positively assessed it. Existentialism argued that the human themes such as freewill, death and meaning are shaped by existing myths as well as narrative patterns. The human themes are allowed as authentic by the human freewill. (Levin Troiden, 1988) The cognitive revolution gave birth to cognitivism as a strain of thought. Naomi Chomsky is responsible for this. Cognitivism does not support the idea that research and analysis ignoring the innate child contribution to human behavior. Cognitivism had proven to have a practical approach as it assisted in the understanding of weapons operations during the World War II. By the end of the 20th century, cognitivism had taken the psychology world and other related subjects by storm. New concepts to replace the ones that were being used in behaviorism and psychoanalytic strains of thinking were formulated such a subliminal processing and implicit memory. Cognitive psychology did not throw all the work that was done by behaviorists and psychoanalysts but it took the better of the two worlds, made it make sense and incorporated it into cognitive psychology. Cognitive psychology comprised of various subfield that deal with psychology such as neuroscience, philosophy of the mind as well as computer science. One cannot strictly follow one school of thought and claim to completely understand the human mind. All schools of thought are very crucial in the understanding of the human mind. Modern psychology has come up with a school of thought that integrates all the other existent schools of thought; the biopsychosocial approach. This is so as to make it clear that any human mental process or behavior is governed by many interrelated biological, psychological as well as other social factors (Syed, 2002). Psychology is a very wide field and so much is yet to be learnt in the psychology field. There exists several subfield of psychology. In other words, we can easily come up with a long list of the psychology topics as well as the disciplines that psychology encompasses. Abnormal psychology as the name suggests involves the study of behavior that deviates from normal behavior. Biological psychology is the study that involves a combination of the biological processes in relation to the state of the mind. Biological psychology is related to cognitive neuroscience, neuropsychology as well as physiology. Clinical psychology is a subfield of psychology that deals with the application of psychology knowledge with the aim of solving problems to do with distress, personal development as well as the general well being of humans. Other subfields of psychology include; counseling psychology, cognitive psychology, critical psychology, comparative psychology, forensic psychology, educational psychology, development psychology, evolutionary psychology, legal psychology, global psychology, industrial psychology, health psychology, quantitative psychology, occupational health psychology, personality psychology, school psychology as well as social psychology (Miller, 1983) When professions in the psychology field research, they draw knowledge from other bodies of knowledge so as to understand the psychology phenomena. They can do this by abduction, deduction or induction. In any psychological research project, there is no reliance on only one type of inference but all of them help when used together. There are psychologists that do nothing but research on psychology. They play a very important role in adding to the existing knowledge that psychology has so far accumulated. These researchers make use of controlled experiments, animal studies, quantitative and qualitative research, qualitative and descriptive research methods, survey questionnaires, observations in natural settings, computational modeling, longitudinal studies, animal studies and lastly, neuropsychological methods (Steffens, 2006). Psychology has been criticized to be a fuzzy science. The main reason is because there is no pre-paradigm being that we can base psychology on. Some of the interests in psychology such as well being, thinking, personality, emotion and many more cannot be measured and inferential statistics applied to it. The empirical aspect is not complete as some things cannot be assigned a number value. The testing of hypothesis is normally not up to standard as most psychologists are not adequately train to be able to analyze data. The criticism sometimes comes from one psychologist to another especially when one is research oriented and the other is clinical oriented. One side may argue that the clinical practices are not backed by empirical evidence and the other side may argue that experiments are done in controlled environments which are not the same as the real world situations. There is also concern that the scientific theories of psychology are miles apart from the actual application of ps ychology. It is more like going to school to study something then not applying the same thing in the profession one studied for. Critical Psychology By the fact that the word critical psychology has the word psychology at the very end than this means that it is a branch of psychology. Just the same way you would have people that bear the last name in a family setting, this would tell you that the two children belong to the same father. The word critical is used as it in itself is critical as it tries to bring out the aspects that mainstream psychology has continually ignored or not considered. Its main aim is to criticize mainstream psychology and this was the premise on which this branch called critical psychology came into existence. It points out other factors that may also explain the reason as to why some people think the way they think as well as make us understand the reason as to why some people are not mentally well and why some people are not physically well. Even before getting into the details of critical psychology, it is already clear that the role of critical psychology in mainstream psychology is very important. T he fact that critical psychology provides some kind of checks and balances in the psychology body of knowledge is a very big reason for one to argue that for sure critical psychology plays a major role in mainstream psychology because it acts as a push to mainstream psychology for it to grow and for it to incorporate some of the things that have been hidden from it or may have not been in existence when the body of knowledge was established meaning critical psychology gives life to mainstream psychology. Freie Universitat Berlin is the institution in which critical psychology was started in the 1970s. It is largely based on the existing knowledge that psychology as a whole had accumulated by then but it also at the same time came up with its own theories and explanations as it sees the world at one particular moment. By the beginning of May 2007, there were very few words that had been translated into English. The main root of German Critical Psychology is the post-war babyboomers student revolt which happened during the late sixties. The main spark of the student revolt was the criticism of the political economy by Marx. Berlin was the best spot for the student revolt as it was a free city which was circumference by East Germany. East Germany was socialist. This led to the sociological foundations upon which critical psychology is built to be Marxist. They have not gotten a listening ear from the many figures found in Critical Psychology. Klaus Holzkamp is a very important author in this field as he wrote the book Grundlegung der Psychologie. If the title of the book was to be translated in English then it would read Foundations of Psychology. This book is very sophisticated in the Critical Psychology field. Klaus Holzkamp might just be the man to be stamped the founder of Critical Psychology as far as the theories are concerned. Klaus had already two books which talked majorly about the theory of science as well as the sensory perception. He felt that the book on the foundations of psychology gave psychologists a reason to research as the book explains the solid paradigm upon which psychological research can be done. The book views psychology as a scientific discipline that is pre-paradigmatic. Aleksey Leontyev provides a unique approach to historical psychology as well as activity theory. According to him, the actions of human beings are as a result of the evolution of culture as well as the biological evolution. Leontyev drew from Marxs work where culture and its concepts have been materialized. He emphasized that the cognition of an individual is a subset of social action and social action is mediated by tools which are man-made such as cultural artifacts, social action is also mediated by language as well as systems and symbols that are made by man. Leontyev viewed this as something that provides a clear distinction between human cognition and human culture. Holzcamp in his attempt to give a comprehensive as well as integrated set of categories that were researched by Aleksey Leontyev, he did come up with this sophisticated book. The book was based on the research that Aleksey Leontyev had done as explained. One other theory we see Holzcamp using in his book in the fiel d of Critical Psychology is one that was developed by Lucien Steve; theory of personality. The concept here is of social activity matrices. The matrices are seen as the structure of mediation between individual reproduction as well as social reproduction. With the various theories Klaus Holzkamp is seen to use, he does not forget the works that were done at the institution in which Critical Psychology was born; Free University of Berlin. The works that were done at Free University of Berlin was done by critical psychologists and their works was greatly influenced by Mark, Steve and Leontyev. The materials he used included books that were written on sensory perception, animal behavior or ethology, cognition and motivation. Ideas from Freuds psychoanalysis which is a form of play therapy used to treat disorders and he also incorporated ideas from Merleau-Pontys phenomenology as he explained his approach. Holzcamp did a lot of comparative as well as historical analysis of perception, the human reproductive action as well as cognition. The core finding that he identified the symbolic meaning whether constructed culturally or historically to be structures that are conceptual and specifically useful to be structures that the human being will create in relationships that are close so as to make culture material. They also create the structures in close relationship in a culture that is material within the context of social reproduction that have been formed specifically in history. With this in mind, Klaus Holzkamp had a problem with behaviorism which he referred to as stimulus-response psychology or in short, S-R psychology. He looked at the analysis of the linguistics and he also showed how behaviorism created the illusion that is had scientific objectivity but at the same time behaviorism was not relevant in its understanding of human actions that are culturally situated and intentiona l at the same time. Klaus Holzkamp came up with his own approach that he drew a lot of ideas from a man that goes by the name Kurt Lewin and this he does in Chapter nine of his book titled Foundations of Psychology. This approach was to objectivity as well as generalization. Before Klaus Holzkamp died in the year 1995, he wrote on learning. His work was out in 1993 and he looked at learning from the object side and not the learner. Holzkamp was out to reinterpret the theories that were developed by psychology that was conventional. This means that he looked at the theories from the view of a critical psychologist and the paradigms of critical psychology. The useful insights that were found in conventional psychology were integrated into critical psychology but at the same time picking out and criticizing their implications that were limiting. In S-R psychology, the intentional action and the subject were eliminated. In cognitive psychology, the intentional action as well as the subj ect was taken into account. In the first part of the book, Holzkamp looks into the theories that were there in conventional psychology. The theories he focuses on most are those of learning. He then reinterprets the theories from a critical psychologist point of view. Jean Lave and Edwin Hutchins who contributed to the concept of classroom learning were very useful in the explanation of Holzkamps approach. In the second part of the book, Holzkamp looks at the modern world and the concept of classroom learning as something that is cultural and historical yet has an influence in socialization as well as learning. In the second part of the book, he looks at Michel Foucaults work of Discipline and Punish. According to Holzcamp, the historical way we know classroom learning is limiting to the student in that the ability of a student to learn is constrained to some finite teaching strategies. In his approaches, he strived to look for a way of learning that would make full use of the poten tial of the learner. Holzkamp explains expansive learning in the last part of the book which aims at overcoming the limitations that classroom learning presents. His ultimate plan was to write a book on life leadership but his demise came before he could go past the early stages of developing the book but some of this work was published in form of journals in Forum Kritische Psychologie and Argument. The period 1960s through to 1970s, critical psychology was known as radical psychology but the main reason it went by this term is to discourage the focus on the individual as the main object of analysis. It was also to discourage psychologists not to use the individual only as the only source of psychopathology. The close inspection of the role inspection plays was considered in radical psychology. The role of the society was looked at in the light that it causes and treats problems. Radical psychology looked at the change in society as an alternative therapy skill to treat illnesses of the mind as well as deal with the prevention of psychopathology. Anti-psychiatry was a term that was so common within psychiatry and so the British preferred the use of the term Critical Psychiatry. Up to today, the term Critical Psychology is still used to refer to the branch of psychology that seeks alternative methods of therapy to the conventional methods or forms of therapy that exist in the dis cipline of psychology. It is also against the idea of focusing so much on the individual that the influence the society has in the individual is not considered. In the 1990s, there were more authors writing about Critical Psychology. The one that caused a biggest shake and was most famous for its writings was an edited book and its title was Critical Psychology. This was a book written by Dennis Fox and Isaac Prilleltensky. Many different introductory texts that were written in the United Kingdom and were focused on critical psychology have a particular interest in the discourse. This was argued by different people in critical psychology as being as dangerous as mainstream psychology as it heavily relies on something; language. Heavily relying on one thing in a dynamic world is dangerous when you are supposed to explain something that interacts with so many things and in different ways. In the year 1999, Ian Parker came up with a manifesto that was very influential. The manifesto was on the Annual Review of Critical Psychology as well as the online journal Radical Psychology. In the manifesto, Ian says that Critical Psychology should have th e following components; Close examination in a systematic way of the manner in which various kinds of psychological action as well as experience have more weight over that of others, the manner in which the accounts of psychology which are dominant operate in ideologies as well as the service of the power. The manner in which the different varieties of psychology are constructed in the cultural and historical sense in their study and the manner in which the different kinds of psychology may assert or may refuse the assumptions of ideology of the mainstream psychological models The body of knowledge of the different kinds of the examination and the regulation by the individual himself or herself in day to day life and the manner in which psychological culture works when outside of the boundaries of academic practice as well as professional practice. The detail look at the manner in which mainstream psychology structures the professional work as well as the academic work in psychology and the manner in which day by day activities may provide a foundation for the act of resisting the happenings of the different disciplinary practices that are happening today. There are quite a number of journals that are international and are solely dedicated to Critical Psychology. Some of them include the Annual Review of Critical Psychology as well as the International Journal of Critical Psychology which is no longer being published. The journals lean more to the academic world. The Annual Review of Critical Psychology is an open access journal that runs online. In Britain, the Critical Psychologists and the Critical Psychiatrists have some commonality which they express via the Asylum Collective. Main Criticisms of Conventional psychology Different groups such as psychiatrists and patients as well as the public in general and the industrial lobbyists, or the very rich groups of society and the less rich groups of society, or even psychologists and their clients all have difference in power within the different groups. The psychiatrist is on a different power level as compared to the patient. They have met to discuss the same thing but it is clear that they will not discuss it from the same point of view. With such kind of treatments, the patient will mostly try to resist what the psychiatrist is saying. The psychiatrist and the patient may not agree especially when the patient has some knowledge on the same. Psychologists also have the same problem when dealing with their clients. They normally never have the same ground on which they base their actions. A patient will always want to stay in the comfort zone and what he or she went to do at the clinic is for him or her to be told that he or she is on the right course. The psychiatrist wants to gain millage as he or she interacts with the client but most of the time rather than not this millage are never easy to gain. The people who are very rich in society will definitely be at a very different level of power from the people who are less well-off in terms of finances. There are ideologies that the rich has formed about themselves and there are ideologies that the poor has formed about themselves. There also exist the theories the rich have come up about the poor and those that have come up about the rich. They are so different and I few were to put the two groups in a room there would be so much emotion that would feel the room. This already says a lot about their theories, they are based in the way they feel and not on how things are. Some poor people may have been raised by a mother who highly trained them to be beggars. They grow up not working for what they want in life. In life, you can work for whatever possibility possible that was create d by the creator of heaven and earth. The powers have been given to the human being but instead he or she will sit back and watch as things get out of hand for him o r her then start to blame some past experience or blame some one . As much as it is true that the way we relate with people I our childhood, the things that are said to us during our childhood and the things that are done to us during our childhood are very important in determining how we grow up, there exists so much media from which to learn from and so many people around us to learn from. There is no limitation as to what a human being can do that we are aware of in terms of improving their well being and taking it from one level to another. A human being can always improve himself. A human being can always fight for what he or she wants and still is in a position to wake up, shake the dust off and continue with life stronger than ever. The industrial lobbyists will have an angle from which they argue their points but the general public will always blame them for anything they can possibly utter when it comes Analysis of Critical Psychology Theories Analysis of Critical Psychology Theories Introduction One of the most important bodies of knowledge is psychology. It is through psychology that so many disorders have been dealt with. The disorders referred to here are disorders to do with the state of the mind as well as the environment affecting the well being of the mind of the individual. An example of a disorder that psychologists treat is referred to as sexual compulsive behavior. Many people would still be in problems were it not for psychology. Through psychology, other bodies of knowledge have benefited. As any body of knowledge, psychology has grown to have branches within it and one of them which are relevant in this research paper is critical psychology. This research paper is going to deal with the question; Is critical Psychology essential to clients rights in Mainstream Psychology? This research is going to argue that Critical Psychology is essential to clients rights in Mainstream Psychology. The research paper is going to look at psychology and give an overview of psychology Then move on to critical psychology where it will give a detailed explanation of what critical psychology is all about by looking at how it came to existence and what it is all about then finally relate it to mainstream psychology so as to show how relevant it is in psychology. Critical psychology is a branch of psychology that was developed with the aim of criticizing the mainstream psychology. It also has a goal or a purpose which is to try and put into practice the knowledge that psychology has accumulated into practice and at the same time learning something new without being rigidly constrained within the borders of psychology. Psychology knowledge is used in ways that are progressive under critical psychology. The main focus of critical psychology is the use of social change in its bid to criticize mainstream psychology but also as a tool to treat as well as prevent psychopathology. Many criticism bullets have been shot at mainstream psychology. The most common highlights the manner in which mainstream psychology does not put into consideration or ignores deliberately the way in which the differences in power between the classes as well as the groups of society can greatly have an impact on the well-being of the person in terms of the mind and the physical bodies of either individuals or groups of people. This is very relevant material. A body of knowledge that is not constantly criticized is a body of knowledge that tends not to grow over time. It is just like a life that is never criticized and never examined. Before criticizing, there is examination. When something is examined then that means there loopholes within the existence of something are looked into and the relevance of the thing in todays world. A human being will want to be current with the fast growing world and he or she is always constantly looking at ways in which he or she can improve him or he rself. A human being is always updating him or herself to be current with the world and the changing times. This may explain the reason people do not dress in the olden day fashion styles but embrace what the fashion brings. An employee will take a course in something so as t upgrade him or herself in the field of work a person is. The human beings who listen to criticisms and work on them well always improve themselves and become better people in society but those who done never grow much. It is clear that criticism is a very aspect of growth in todays world. Businesses pay a lot of money in order to be criticized! They do this by asking their customers how their company has served them. They probe consumers with a wide range of questions in a bid to get the worst out of people about the companys product or products. This can be done with the online focus groups that are being used as marketing tools at the end of the day because the product that will emerge will be based on the improvements that the customers said they will want to see. This is the same thing with mainstream psychology. Given the nature of mainstream psychology then it would make sense for there to be a body that looks into psychology as a body of knowledge to identify the things that can be done better and the factors that have to be considered when treating psychopathology. Mainstream psychology has not mentioned the impact that the various social groups and differences we have in society can have o n an individual. Say for example that in a neighborhood, there are those that are doing really well and those that are not doing so well in terms of the financial stability. Most of the times rather than not, the people who are doing very well will come together and form some kind of social group and within this social group, they will have their own way of thinking then in the other group where people are not doing so well, there will be a way of thinking. With time these two groups will always compare themselves. This may explain why some rich people with no happiness and no people to love in their lives envy the genuineness of the love of people in the poor settings and the genuineness of their love for each other. This has an impact on the mental well being as well as the physical well being of a person. One may start to limit him or herself and decide that some things are a certain group of people and some are for a different group of people. There are many people who are a liv ing proof of such influences and have either become very poor as a result or very rich as a result. It is therefore very clear and important on the role critical psychology plays in the application of mainstream psychology. It acts as an update of mainstream psychology as well as a tool to keep mainstream psychology on its toes. It also brings psychology to life as it ensures that it is practical in its approach during the treatment of psychopathology. This is a very important aspect of critical psychology. This is the main reason as to why this research paper is going to look at the relevance of critical psychology in the role of mainstream psychology. Mainstream psychology has to be very grateful to critical psychology as critical psychology gives mainstream psychology life. Overview of Psychology The study of psychology started when the world started to civilize. During this time, human beings got to try and explain the reasons behind almost everything they found into existence. Te civilizations of Egypt, Persia, China, India as well as Greece were the first to try and study the humans as well as try to explain why some humans behaved in a certain way and others behaved in another. The ancient Muslim physicians and psychologists introduced the experimental and clinical approach that psychology has today. They even went ahead to build hospitals to cater for people with psychological problems. More steps were made when the French physiologist who went by the name Pierre Cabanis added the biological aspect of psychology in the year 1802. He had done expensive biology studies and based on the knowledge he had acquired in biology, he explained the human mind from the same perspective. He asserted that the souls as well as sensibility characterize the nervous system. (Levin Troiden, 1988) Psychology had not become a field of study until the German physician whose name was Wilhelm Wundt built the first ever laboratory for the sole purpose of the study of psychology at an institution of higher learning referred to as the Leipzig University. Wundt became known as the father of psychology because of this brave move. It is no wonder that on the very same year that the laboratory was built which was the year 1879, the year was labeled the date psychology was born. An American who was a psychologist as well as a philosopher wrote a book in 1890 which laid the solid foundation son which psychology is built for many scholars of psychology. Hermann Ebbinghaus is also a very crucial contributor to the psychology bode of knowledge that did a lot of research and experimental studies on the memory compartment of the mind. A Russian who was a guru in psychology also contributed to the knowledge of psychology as we know it today. His name is Ivan Pavlov. He cam e up with a process human beings use to learn according to him and is referred to as the classical conditioning. In the mid 20th century, most of the work done by the psychology pioneers mentioned is referred to as experimental psychology as most of this work was concerned with the information that was collected from various sectors and subjects along with the processing of the same information. The information gathered during this time is a subset of cognitive science. This period is seen as a period that brought a revolution because the development made by the various pioneers of psychology answered as well as reacted to the different kinds of ways of thinking that were in existence and at that time, there were two major schools of thought; behaviorism and psychodynamics (Lopez, Schmidt Blanco, 2007). (Syed, 2002) Psychoanalysis is a psychotherapy that was developed by Sigmund Freud who was an Australian physician. His psychology was based on the methods of interpreting of the mind, the observations of patients with mental problems or problems that were related to mental problems and introspection. He concentrated on resolving of the unconscious conflict, psychopathology as well as the mental distress of the human being. The theories that were coined by Freud were popular because they addressed issues of sexuality, the unconscious mind and also repression. The society saw the discussion of the problems Freud tried to tackle as a taboo. He managed to engage society in such discussions and proved to them that such issues could be discussed openly. It helps to deal with issues when conversations about the issues are held then the way forward formulated. Psychoanalysis was criticized and seen not to be efficient enough as it wasnt empirical and had not proven to withstand experimental tests. John B. Watson founded behaviorism. This was inclined towards determinism as well as positivism. Behaviorism was based on the premise that the use of animals to experiment could give a more in-depth understanding of psychosocial behavior such as analysis that is psychonamic in nature. The behaviorists believed the scientific research methods would result in pursuing of the necessary weapons needed to control the problems life presents rather than searching for truths which are seen to be timeless. Behaviorists maintained that much of the components of the human mind are not open to the scrutiny of science and that scientific psychology should rely on the behavior observed. This led to behaviorist analyzing the behavior of humans and relating the behavior with the environment in which the human being exists or interacts with. The behaviorism model of psychology has been challenged and its fall in part paved the way for more models to come into existence (Syed, 2002). (Khaleefa, 1999)In reaction to psychoanalysis and behaviorism, humanism and existentialism emerged in the mid 20th century. Here the whole person was analyzed and not just some parts of the person. Humanism focused on practical human issues such as aloneness, meaning, self-identity, freedom as well as death. Emphasis was not on pathology but on determinism rejection, the positive growth concern as well as subjective meaning. Abraham Maslow an American psychologist played a major role in the development of humanism. There was the formulation of the hierarchy of human needs, client-centered therapy and Gesalt therapy. Existentialism focuses on the human nature as being neutral. It also focused on anxiety and positively assessed it. Existentialism argued that the human themes such as freewill, death and meaning are shaped by existing myths as well as narrative patterns. The human themes are allowed as authentic by the human freewill. (Levin Troiden, 1988) The cognitive revolution gave birth to cognitivism as a strain of thought. Naomi Chomsky is responsible for this. Cognitivism does not support the idea that research and analysis ignoring the innate child contribution to human behavior. Cognitivism had proven to have a practical approach as it assisted in the understanding of weapons operations during the World War II. By the end of the 20th century, cognitivism had taken the psychology world and other related subjects by storm. New concepts to replace the ones that were being used in behaviorism and psychoanalytic strains of thinking were formulated such a subliminal processing and implicit memory. Cognitive psychology did not throw all the work that was done by behaviorists and psychoanalysts but it took the better of the two worlds, made it make sense and incorporated it into cognitive psychology. Cognitive psychology comprised of various subfield that deal with psychology such as neuroscience, philosophy of the mind as well as computer science. One cannot strictly follow one school of thought and claim to completely understand the human mind. All schools of thought are very crucial in the understanding of the human mind. Modern psychology has come up with a school of thought that integrates all the other existent schools of thought; the biopsychosocial approach. This is so as to make it clear that any human mental process or behavior is governed by many interrelated biological, psychological as well as other social factors (Syed, 2002). Psychology is a very wide field and so much is yet to be learnt in the psychology field. There exists several subfield of psychology. In other words, we can easily come up with a long list of the psychology topics as well as the disciplines that psychology encompasses. Abnormal psychology as the name suggests involves the study of behavior that deviates from normal behavior. Biological psychology is the study that involves a combination of the biological processes in relation to the state of the mind. Biological psychology is related to cognitive neuroscience, neuropsychology as well as physiology. Clinical psychology is a subfield of psychology that deals with the application of psychology knowledge with the aim of solving problems to do with distress, personal development as well as the general well being of humans. Other subfields of psychology include; counseling psychology, cognitive psychology, critical psychology, comparative psychology, forensic psychology, educational psychology, development psychology, evolutionary psychology, legal psychology, global psychology, industrial psychology, health psychology, quantitative psychology, occupational health psychology, personality psychology, school psychology as well as social psychology (Miller, 1983) When professions in the psychology field research, they draw knowledge from other bodies of knowledge so as to understand the psychology phenomena. They can do this by abduction, deduction or induction. In any psychological research project, there is no reliance on only one type of inference but all of them help when used together. There are psychologists that do nothing but research on psychology. They play a very important role in adding to the existing knowledge that psychology has so far accumulated. These researchers make use of controlled experiments, animal studies, quantitative and qualitative research, qualitative and descriptive research methods, survey questionnaires, observations in natural settings, computational modeling, longitudinal studies, animal studies and lastly, neuropsychological methods (Steffens, 2006). Psychology has been criticized to be a fuzzy science. The main reason is because there is no pre-paradigm being that we can base psychology on. Some of the interests in psychology such as well being, thinking, personality, emotion and many more cannot be measured and inferential statistics applied to it. The empirical aspect is not complete as some things cannot be assigned a number value. The testing of hypothesis is normally not up to standard as most psychologists are not adequately train to be able to analyze data. The criticism sometimes comes from one psychologist to another especially when one is research oriented and the other is clinical oriented. One side may argue that the clinical practices are not backed by empirical evidence and the other side may argue that experiments are done in controlled environments which are not the same as the real world situations. There is also concern that the scientific theories of psychology are miles apart from the actual application of ps ychology. It is more like going to school to study something then not applying the same thing in the profession one studied for. Critical Psychology By the fact that the word critical psychology has the word psychology at the very end than this means that it is a branch of psychology. Just the same way you would have people that bear the last name in a family setting, this would tell you that the two children belong to the same father. The word critical is used as it in itself is critical as it tries to bring out the aspects that mainstream psychology has continually ignored or not considered. Its main aim is to criticize mainstream psychology and this was the premise on which this branch called critical psychology came into existence. It points out other factors that may also explain the reason as to why some people think the way they think as well as make us understand the reason as to why some people are not mentally well and why some people are not physically well. Even before getting into the details of critical psychology, it is already clear that the role of critical psychology in mainstream psychology is very important. T he fact that critical psychology provides some kind of checks and balances in the psychology body of knowledge is a very big reason for one to argue that for sure critical psychology plays a major role in mainstream psychology because it acts as a push to mainstream psychology for it to grow and for it to incorporate some of the things that have been hidden from it or may have not been in existence when the body of knowledge was established meaning critical psychology gives life to mainstream psychology. Freie Universitat Berlin is the institution in which critical psychology was started in the 1970s. It is largely based on the existing knowledge that psychology as a whole had accumulated by then but it also at the same time came up with its own theories and explanations as it sees the world at one particular moment. By the beginning of May 2007, there were very few words that had been translated into English. The main root of German Critical Psychology is the post-war babyboomers student revolt which happened during the late sixties. The main spark of the student revolt was the criticism of the political economy by Marx. Berlin was the best spot for the student revolt as it was a free city which was circumference by East Germany. East Germany was socialist. This led to the sociological foundations upon which critical psychology is built to be Marxist. They have not gotten a listening ear from the many figures found in Critical Psychology. Klaus Holzkamp is a very important author in this field as he wrote the book Grundlegung der Psychologie. If the title of the book was to be translated in English then it would read Foundations of Psychology. This book is very sophisticated in the Critical Psychology field. Klaus Holzkamp might just be the man to be stamped the founder of Critical Psychology as far as the theories are concerned. Klaus had already two books which talked majorly about the theory of science as well as the sensory perception. He felt that the book on the foundations of psychology gave psychologists a reason to research as the book explains the solid paradigm upon which psychological research can be done. The book views psychology as a scientific discipline that is pre-paradigmatic. Aleksey Leontyev provides a unique approach to historical psychology as well as activity theory. According to him, the actions of human beings are as a result of the evolution of culture as well as the biological evolution. Leontyev drew from Marxs work where culture and its concepts have been materialized. He emphasized that the cognition of an individual is a subset of social action and social action is mediated by tools which are man-made such as cultural artifacts, social action is also mediated by language as well as systems and symbols that are made by man. Leontyev viewed this as something that provides a clear distinction between human cognition and human culture. Holzcamp in his attempt to give a comprehensive as well as integrated set of categories that were researched by Aleksey Leontyev, he did come up with this sophisticated book. The book was based on the research that Aleksey Leontyev had done as explained. One other theory we see Holzcamp using in his book in the fiel d of Critical Psychology is one that was developed by Lucien Steve; theory of personality. The concept here is of social activity matrices. The matrices are seen as the structure of mediation between individual reproduction as well as social reproduction. With the various theories Klaus Holzkamp is seen to use, he does not forget the works that were done at the institution in which Critical Psychology was born; Free University of Berlin. The works that were done at Free University of Berlin was done by critical psychologists and their works was greatly influenced by Mark, Steve and Leontyev. The materials he used included books that were written on sensory perception, animal behavior or ethology, cognition and motivation. Ideas from Freuds psychoanalysis which is a form of play therapy used to treat disorders and he also incorporated ideas from Merleau-Pontys phenomenology as he explained his approach. Holzcamp did a lot of comparative as well as historical analysis of perception, the human reproductive action as well as cognition. The core finding that he identified the symbolic meaning whether constructed culturally or historically to be structures that are conceptual and specifically useful to be structures that the human being will create in relationships that are close so as to make culture material. They also create the structures in close relationship in a culture that is material within the context of social reproduction that have been formed specifically in history. With this in mind, Klaus Holzkamp had a problem with behaviorism which he referred to as stimulus-response psychology or in short, S-R psychology. He looked at the analysis of the linguistics and he also showed how behaviorism created the illusion that is had scientific objectivity but at the same time behaviorism was not relevant in its understanding of human actions that are culturally situated and intentiona l at the same time. Klaus Holzkamp came up with his own approach that he drew a lot of ideas from a man that goes by the name Kurt Lewin and this he does in Chapter nine of his book titled Foundations of Psychology. This approach was to objectivity as well as generalization. Before Klaus Holzkamp died in the year 1995, he wrote on learning. His work was out in 1993 and he looked at learning from the object side and not the learner. Holzkamp was out to reinterpret the theories that were developed by psychology that was conventional. This means that he looked at the theories from the view of a critical psychologist and the paradigms of critical psychology. The useful insights that were found in conventional psychology were integrated into critical psychology but at the same time picking out and criticizing their implications that were limiting. In S-R psychology, the intentional action and the subject were eliminated. In cognitive psychology, the intentional action as well as the subj ect was taken into account. In the first part of the book, Holzkamp looks into the theories that were there in conventional psychology. The theories he focuses on most are those of learning. He then reinterprets the theories from a critical psychologist point of view. Jean Lave and Edwin Hutchins who contributed to the concept of classroom learning were very useful in the explanation of Holzkamps approach. In the second part of the book, Holzkamp looks at the modern world and the concept of classroom learning as something that is cultural and historical yet has an influence in socialization as well as learning. In the second part of the book, he looks at Michel Foucaults work of Discipline and Punish. According to Holzcamp, the historical way we know classroom learning is limiting to the student in that the ability of a student to learn is constrained to some finite teaching strategies. In his approaches, he strived to look for a way of learning that would make full use of the poten tial of the learner. Holzkamp explains expansive learning in the last part of the book which aims at overcoming the limitations that classroom learning presents. His ultimate plan was to write a book on life leadership but his demise came before he could go past the early stages of developing the book but some of this work was published in form of journals in Forum Kritische Psychologie and Argument. The period 1960s through to 1970s, critical psychology was known as radical psychology but the main reason it went by this term is to discourage the focus on the individual as the main object of analysis. It was also to discourage psychologists not to use the individual only as the only source of psychopathology. The close inspection of the role inspection plays was considered in radical psychology. The role of the society was looked at in the light that it causes and treats problems. Radical psychology looked at the change in society as an alternative therapy skill to treat illnesses of the mind as well as deal with the prevention of psychopathology. Anti-psychiatry was a term that was so common within psychiatry and so the British preferred the use of the term Critical Psychiatry. Up to today, the term Critical Psychology is still used to refer to the branch of psychology that seeks alternative methods of therapy to the conventional methods or forms of therapy that exist in the dis cipline of psychology. It is also against the idea of focusing so much on the individual that the influence the society has in the individual is not considered. In the 1990s, there were more authors writing about Critical Psychology. The one that caused a biggest shake and was most famous for its writings was an edited book and its title was Critical Psychology. This was a book written by Dennis Fox and Isaac Prilleltensky. Many different introductory texts that were written in the United Kingdom and were focused on critical psychology have a particular interest in the discourse. This was argued by different people in critical psychology as being as dangerous as mainstream psychology as it heavily relies on something; language. Heavily relying on one thing in a dynamic world is dangerous when you are supposed to explain something that interacts with so many things and in different ways. In the year 1999, Ian Parker came up with a manifesto that was very influential. The manifesto was on the Annual Review of Critical Psychology as well as the online journal Radical Psychology. In the manifesto, Ian says that Critical Psychology should have th e following components; Close examination in a systematic way of the manner in which various kinds of psychological action as well as experience have more weight over that of others, the manner in which the accounts of psychology which are dominant operate in ideologies as well as the service of the power. The manner in which the different varieties of psychology are constructed in the cultural and historical sense in their study and the manner in which the different kinds of psychology may assert or may refuse the assumptions of ideology of the mainstream psychological models The body of knowledge of the different kinds of the examination and the regulation by the individual himself or herself in day to day life and the manner in which psychological culture works when outside of the boundaries of academic practice as well as professional practice. The detail look at the manner in which mainstream psychology structures the professional work as well as the academic work in psychology and the manner in which day by day activities may provide a foundation for the act of resisting the happenings of the different disciplinary practices that are happening today. There are quite a number of journals that are international and are solely dedicated to Critical Psychology. Some of them include the Annual Review of Critical Psychology as well as the International Journal of Critical Psychology which is no longer being published. The journals lean more to the academic world. The Annual Review of Critical Psychology is an open access journal that runs online. In Britain, the Critical Psychologists and the Critical Psychiatrists have some commonality which they express via the Asylum Collective. Main Criticisms of Conventional psychology Different groups such as psychiatrists and patients as well as the public in general and the industrial lobbyists, or the very rich groups of society and the less rich groups of society, or even psychologists and their clients all have difference in power within the different groups. The psychiatrist is on a different power level as compared to the patient. They have met to discuss the same thing but it is clear that they will not discuss it from the same point of view. With such kind of treatments, the patient will mostly try to resist what the psychiatrist is saying. The psychiatrist and the patient may not agree especially when the patient has some knowledge on the same. Psychologists also have the same problem when dealing with their clients. They normally never have the same ground on which they base their actions. A patient will always want to stay in the comfort zone and what he or she went to do at the clinic is for him or her to be told that he or she is on the right course. The psychiatrist wants to gain millage as he or she interacts with the client but most of the time rather than not this millage are never easy to gain. The people who are very rich in society will definitely be at a very different level of power from the people who are less well-off in terms of finances. There are ideologies that the rich has formed about themselves and there are ideologies that the poor has formed about themselves. There also exist the theories the rich have come up about the poor and those that have come up about the rich. They are so different and I few were to put the two groups in a room there would be so much emotion that would feel the room. This already says a lot about their theories, they are based in the way they feel and not on how things are. Some poor people may have been raised by a mother who highly trained them to be beggars. They grow up not working for what they want in life. In life, you can work for whatever possibility possible that was create d by the creator of heaven and earth. The powers have been given to the human being but instead he or she will sit back and watch as things get out of hand for him o r her then start to blame some past experience or blame some one . As much as it is true that the way we relate with people I our childhood, the things that are said to us during our childhood and the things that are done to us during our childhood are very important in determining how we grow up, there exists so much media from which to learn from and so many people around us to learn from. There is no limitation as to what a human being can do that we are aware of in terms of improving their well being and taking it from one level to another. A human being can always improve himself. A human being can always fight for what he or she wants and still is in a position to wake up, shake the dust off and continue with life stronger than ever. The industrial lobbyists will have an angle from which they argue their points but the general public will always blame them for anything they can possibly utter when it comes
Wednesday, November 13, 2019
The Operation of Electric Motors :: essays research papers
I have written this science research paper to help people understand more about the electric motors and their operation. The electric motor transforms electrical energy into mechanical energy, which in turn makes motion possible. To better understand electric motors, one should first understand the basics of electric motors operation, electromagnetics. One can create an electromagnet by running an electric current through a wire which in turn will create a magnetic field. An electromagnet may only be a temporary magnet but it has the same magnetic properties as a permanent magnet. Any magnet creates a magnetic field and this magnetic field will contain two ends or polls, one North and one South. The fundamental law of magnets states that ?Opposites attract and likes repel? and the same holds true with an electromagnet. A simple electromagnet can be created by the use of a power source and a piece of wire as shown in Figure 1. The magnetic field created will be stronger then the magnetic field of the earth, effecting the compass and will cause the needle to move in the direction of this newly created magnetic field. As current flows through the wire, a magnetic field is created around the wire. Figure 2 shows the circular shape of the magnetic field around the wire as if you were able to look down the end of the wire. The magnetic field itself is invisible, but the magnetic field strength can be measured through the use of special equipment. The magnetic field weakens the further you move away from the wire and will always be perpendicular to the wire and the fields direction depends on the which direction the current if flowing. Since the magnetic field is always circular and perpendicular to the wire, the magnetic field can be increased simply by creating a coil of wire. Figure 3 shows an example of a simple electromagnet by coiling a wire around a nail and connecting it to a power source. The magnetic field is amplified by each loop of wire around the nail. An electric motor depends upon magnetism to function, to be more specific, electromagnetism. By continuously changing the direction of the electromagnetic field in a motor, we take advantage of the basic magnet principle that ?Opposites attract and likes repel?. This allows an electric motor to rotate.
Monday, November 11, 2019
Asian American issue
Asian American's have engaged on the issue of sexuality. It started with the same sex marriage ordeal in Hawaii in the 1990's. Same sex marriage has been a regular ongoing debate and Asian American became involved since the 1998 ballot in Hawaii. In Hawaii there was huge debate between many groups. First off, The Japanese American Citizens League in 1994 decided to affirm its commitment to support the basic human right of marriage which included the right to marry for same-sex couples.In Helen Zia's book Asian American Dreams, JACL were concerned about protecting civil and constitutional rights, whereas the general populace of Hawaii was not. This was the first national civil rights membership organization to publicly and actively adopt this position, and has continue to be the forefront for advocating same sex marriage. The JACL tried to frame this as a political issue rather than a moral issue. Discrimination was the big factor of this.They linked the idea of same-sex arriage to in ternment camps and the redress movement (Barney Frank). The moral issue of this was that people says that same sex marriage is against religious belief but the US Amendment says that religion and state are separate so that this should not be a factor. This lead to the ballet initiative 2 in 1998 in Hawaii. ââ¬Å"Amendment to ban same sex marriage. â⬠The yes vote was ââ¬Å"no to gay marriageâ⬠and the no vote was ââ¬Å"yes to gay marriage. â⬠(Which made it a little confusing). A bunch of interest group played a big role in this.The movement to legalize same sex marriage failed in Hawaii because of how much the impacts of special interest groups. First off, JACL interest group voted no based on discrimination. The Japanese in Hawaii voted no as a block. Native Americans voted Yes on this ballet because they believed it would affect tourism and threaten sovereignty. The Gay/Lesbian voted no obviously base on their self interest discrimination. The Religious group vo ted yes on this because marriage in their religion is said to be a man and a women.And last, the land developers voted yes for their own self interest for real estate reason. The outcome of this was Yes 70% and No 30%. The gap in this was huge because of many reasons. The lobbing money of the Yes group helped. The moral vs the political debate played a huge role and the moral framing won because of the same sex was looked at as ââ¬Å"inappropriateâ⬠. Morally, those groups Just believed man-women was what marriage is even though they do not seem themselves Just discriminating in another way.
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