Soap Operas Vs Pop Culture - 1614 Words

When WGN Radio in Chicago first aired Painted Houses in 1930, a uniquely American form of entertainment came into the world (Allen, 1985). In the eighty-seven years since its birth, the American daytime soap opera has entertained the masses through a great depression, two World Wars, and 15 Presidents. The programs go by the moniker â€Å"soap operas† because the first producers and sponsor of the programs were soap manufacturers such as Proctor and Gamble (Allen, 1985). Since their introduction, the soap genre has captured the imaginations of millions and frequently influenced other forms of entertainment. Sadly, today this beloved and persuasive pop culture pioneer is at risk. At the present time, the number of American soap operas†¦show more content†¦Such celebrities include; Demi Moore, Meg Ryan, and Brad Pitt, just to name a few (Barnes, B., Instyle.com). Furthermore, some established A-list actors and actresses seek out roles on soaps as fans of the show t hemselves. One example is the case of Elizabeth Taylor seeking out a role on General Hospital in the 1980’s. Naturally, Gloria Monte, General Hospital head writer at that time, honored Taylor’s wish and cast her in the role of Helena Cassadine (Ford, 2010). Similarly, General Hospital again created a role for James Franco in 2009 when he took on the part of Robert Franco an artist/serial killer. Finally, celebrities aside, soap operas, as an undeniable pop culture phenomenon, have been relevant and thus significant to countless everyday Americans and American households over the past eight-plus decades. Soaps, originally designed to appeal to the average American, normally have at least one viewer in the midst of most families, while some families have several soap watchers, who make viewing a daily family ritual (Healy, 2012). Stay- at-home wives and mothers, the first target demographic of the daytime drama, historically felt the influence of soap operas first, then shared that influence with the rest of the family, often times without the rest of the family even realizing. One example of this is the number of children who share the nameShow MoreRelatedIs Protectionism Ever Justified6199 Words   |  25 PagesIntroduction b. Arguments for protectionism i. Infant industries ii. Free Trade iii. Anti- dumping iv. Environmental factors v. Employment opportunities and the concept of balance of payments disequilibrium vi. Cultural influences c. Protectionism vs. Free Trade d. An analysis based on % news articles from, The Economist i. Appendix.1 ii. Appendix.2 iii. Appendix.3 iv. Appendix.4 v. Appendix.5 e. Conclusion Is Protectionism ever justified? Explain with examples. a. Introduction ProtectionismRead MoreIntroduction to Marketing21178 Words   |  85 Pagesexchange to take place. It is possible, albeit a bit cumbersome, to exchange two ducks for a pair of shoes.) The parties must be able to communicate. This could be through a display in a store, an infomercial, or a posting on eBay. The marketing vs. the selling concept. Two approaches to marketing exist. The traditional selling concept emphasizes selling existing products. The philosophy here is that if a product is not selling, more aggressive measures must be taken to sell itÂâ€"e.g., cutting priceRead MoreMm-Chapter 1-3 Dawn Iacobucci17854 Words   |  72 PagesMcGrath/Getty Images ChaPter 6 B r a nds 62 What Is a Brand? Why Do We Brand? 63 Brand Name 64 Logos and Color 64 Why Brand? 66 What Are Brand Associations? 67 Brand Personalities 69 Brand Communities 70 What Are Branding Strategies? 70 Umbrella Brands vs. House of Brands 70 Brand Extensions, Line and Product Category Extensions, and Co-branding 71 How Are Brands Best Rolled Out Globally? 73 Store Brands 74 How Is Brand Equity Determined and Valuated? 74 Endnotes 76 ChaPter 7 ne w Pro duct s 78 WhatRead MoreMarketing Management130471 Words   |  522 Pageshave come to dominate our thinking about business and the environment. Conventional marketing within industry is very much a product of this techno-economic perspective. This has created a ‘grey’ culture which is not sustainable and is therefore terminal. To transform this into a ‘green’ sustainable culture, there is a need to balance consideration of the economic and technical impacts and aspects of businesses with understanding of their social and physical implications. It is now widely acceptedRead MoreBrand Building Blocks96400 Words   |  386 PagesOrganizations must reduce overhead, trim staff, downsize, and cut all unnecessary expenditures. What, then, happens to the people who support the brand with market research or other brand-building activities? They are vulnerable to the organizations new cost culture. 2. Proliferation Of Competitors New, vigorous competitors come from a variety of sources. A host of food categories have watched Weight Watchers and Healthy Choice enter their markets through brand extension strategies. In the snack categoryRead MoreLanguage of Advertising20371 Words   |  82 Pagespassers-by, advertising as we know it today hardly existed. Early forms of advertising were signs such as the inn sign or the apothecary`s jar of colored liquid, some of which have survived until today. Evidence of advertising can be found in cultures that existed thousand of years ago, but advertising only became a major industry in the 20-th century. Today the industry employs hundreds of thousand of people and influence the behavior and buying habits of billions of people. Advertising spendingRead MoreOne 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   |  656 PagesPublic 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 in Recent America Joanne Meyerowitz, ed., History and September 11th John McMillian and Paul Buhle, eds., The New Left Revisited David M. Scobey, Empire City: The Making and Meaning of the New York City Landscape Gerda Lerner, Fireweed: A PoliticalRead MoreMonsanto: Better Living Through Genetic Engineering96204 Words   |  385 Pagesratios. Included are exhibits describing proï ¬ tability, liquidity, leverage, activity and shareholders’ return ratios. Other ï ¬ rm characteristics that should be examined to study the internal environment effectively include leadership, organisational culture, structure and control systems. in order to reach strategies and objectives. Examples of strategic intent include: the relentless pursuit of perfection (Lexus). to be the top performer in everything that we do (Phillips Petroleum). we are dedicatedRead MoreStrategic Marketing Management337596 Words   |  1351 Pagesemphasis to the organizational culture, but fails to provide guidance on which customers to serve and how to serve them. Equally, Drucker’s initial views failed to take explicit account of competitors and the discipline of profit in the analysis of product and market opportunity. It is because of this that customer orientation has been replaced with the broader concept of market orientation. Given this, we can see marketing operating at three levels: 1 Marketing as a culture, characterized by a set ofRead MoreManaging Information Technology (7th Edition)239873 Words   |  960 Pagesthe open source Firefox browser from the Mozilla Foundation (more on open source in the â€Å"Sources of Operating Systems† section later in this chapter), Apple Computer’s Safari browser, the Google Chrome browser, and the Opera browser (which is more popular in Europe; Opera Software is based in Norway). Meaningful browser statistics are hard to come by, but one source reports that Firefox has 46 percent of the browser market, compared to 37 percent for Internet Explorer (W3Schools Web site

The Death Penalty Essay - 2314 Words

The Death Penalty When the term capital punishment comes up, consideration must be given to the history of mankind in relation to such form of retribution. From the beginning of recorded history, the death penalty has existed and for many crimes other then first degree murder. Before anyone takes a FOR or AGAINST position on capital punishment, perhaps we should take a look at the actual facts and statistics on this controversial topic. Then, with all this in mind, take a dialectical approach, with the idea of death itself and see if we can come up with a clearer understanding of the reason for such actions to be accepted in our society. However, if a stand needed to be taken to keep the death penalty or abolish it, one must†¦show more content†¦Dr. Gold, one of the many scientists who have proved an existence of an after life along with over 3 million cases of near death experiences states that since matter can neither be created or destroyed, it is reasonable that when we die, an energ y in some form survives and moves onto another dimension... (Martin 106). Furthermore, the real moral cause should be to determine what it is that makes a man commit murder or seek death as a justification of such crime. The ultimate punishment for the ultimate crime. Let us take a look at the death penalty from another standpoint, from a point that few people have dared to try to comprehend after we look at the facts and statistics regarding this issue and try to take a dialectical approach to ascertain that the death penalty is by all means a physical mans issue and a perfect example when two wrongs dont make a right. To date 38 states have the death penalty and according to NAACP LDF, there are 3,365 people on death row. The methods of execution are mainly by lethal injection, however, some states still use electrocution. In Louisiana, lethal injection is used but in some states more then one method can be applicable. Federal prisoner is lethal injection, pursuant to 28 C RR, Part 26. For offenses under the Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act of 1994, the method is that of the State in which the conviction took place, pursuant to 18 USCShow MoreRelatedThe Death Penalty Is Justified1143 Words   |  5 PagesAllison Shu 2/25/16 Period 2 Objective paper on the death penalty Capital punishment is legally authorized killing as punishment for a crime. The death penalty questions the morality of killing a person as justification for their crime. It also brings to question whether the death penalty actually serves as a deterrent for crime, and that some of the people executed are found innocent afterwards. The debates over the constitutionality of the death penalty and whether capital punishment should be usedRead MoreThe Death Penalty For Juveniles946 Words   |  4 Pages The death penalty for minors differs greatly from the death penalty for adult. The law that minor could be put on death row was decided to rule against the eighth amendment. The eighth amendment prohibits the act of â€Å"cruel and unusual punishment† which putting minors on death row breaks. On March 4, 2005 the law that minors could not be put on death row for their actions was set into place. The new laws say, â€Å"They cannot punish a minor by death penalty and they cannot punish someone for a crimeRead MorePro Death Penalty Speech1482 Words   |  6 Pagesintroduce myself before we get started. My name is Slick Perry and if you didn’t already know, I am the state governor of Texas. You are all aware that we are reviewing our recidivism rate to various crimes and reviewing our stance regarding the death penalty as we approach 2009. Everyone here understands that capital punishment is a very controversial topic in the United States. In Texas, from December 1982 through August 2008, only 361 criminals of the millions of Texans in our good state were executedRead MoreShould The Death Penalty Be Mandatory?925 Words   |  4 Pagesopinions on the subject. When we were discussing the death penalty although my opinion didn’t change, after hearing what some of my classmates had to say about the subject during our lab I was able to respectfully see why they had those thoughts and feelings about the subject. I believe that we should have the death penalty, and that it helps prevents more crime from happening. However, during our lab students that thought we should ban the death penalty had some pretty interesting reasons behind theirRead MoreThe Truth About The Death Penalty973 Words   |  4 Pages In her article â€Å"The Truth About The Death Penalty†, Carina Kolodny argues that the death penalty should be abolished in all fifty states due to the fact that it is ineffective and very expensive. Kolodny believes that capital punishment has too many complications and variables that cause it be more of an issue than a real solution for capital offenses. She proposes that the death penalty should be dropped and exchanged for better programs such as Proposition 34, which replaces capital punishmentRead MoreThe Death Penalty Should Be Legal1805 Words   |  8 Pagesthat we all know is the death penalty. This penalty has been going around for years. To many people it might be the best way of punishing a person. On the other hand there are people who think that if you kill a person you should be sentenced to die as well. For me I would say it might not be the best way and it not working as many would like it. When choosing if you are for the death penalty you have to okay with an insect person dyeing or even a family member being in death row. I know that is somethingRead MoreThe Death Penalty : An Effective Reliable Tool904 Words   |  4 Pagesthe death penalty has been a frequent topic of discussion, as our recent technological advancements have evidently led individuals to consider the â€Å"new found† legitimacy of our court systems, as statistics display that our previous racial bias and the apparent morality of the practice itself have a miniscule impact on our conviction rate. 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Some argue that death is a necessary retribution for murderous cases - but is it effective morally? Revenge only glorifies violence, which is most definitely not the message the world strives to display. The death penalty is a negative form of punishment and insinuates a harsh reflection of society economically, politically, and socially. Read MoreEssay on Death Penalty - Herrera vs Collins1337 Words   |  6 PagesDeath Penalty - Herrera vs Collins The Supreme Court addressed the constitutionality of executing someone who claimed actual innocence in Herrera v. Collins (506 U.S. 390 (1993)). Although the Court left open the possibility that the Constitution bars the execution of someone who conclusively demonstrates that he or she is actually innocent, the Court noted that such cases would be very rare. The Court held that, in the absence of other constitutional violations, new evidence of innocence is no

Leadership Notes Free Essays

Management Unit 6 Study Note: Leadership Leading Basics Leadership: The process of inspiring others to work hard to accomplish important tasks * One of the four functions that constitute the management process * Planning: sets direction and objectives * Organizing: brings resources together and turn plans into action * Leading: builds the commitments and enthusiasm needed to accomplish plans Controlling: makes sure things turns out right Vision: A term used to describe a clear sense of the future Visionary Leadership: Brings to the situation a clear sense of the future and an understanding of how to get there * Visionary leaders inspire others to take the actions necessary to turn vision into reality Power: The ability to convince someone else to do something you want, your way. Position Power: Temporary forms of power such as reward power, coercive power, and legitimate power. Personal Power: Permanent forms of power such as expert power and referent power Reward Power: Rewarding good behavior with compliments or assets Coercive Power: Deterring bad behavior with punishments or negative feedback Legitimate Power: Applying good behavior through the use of authority and rights of office Expert Power: Supporting good behavior through example, advice, and experience Referent Power: Inspiring good behavior through personal respect, integrity, and admiration Keys to Developing Position Power: Centrality: Establishing a broad network of contacts and getting involved with important information flows * Criticality: Taking good care of others * Visibility: Becoming known as an influential person Empowerment: The process through which managers enable and help others to gain power and achieve influence. We will write a custom essay sample on Leadership Notes or any similar topic only for you Order Now Important Leadership Traits: * Drive * Self-confidence * Creativity * Cognitive ability * Business knowledge * Motivation * Flexibility * Honesty and integrity Effective Leaders: Provide information, responsibility, authority, and trust. They encourage others to take initiative, make decisions, utilise knowledge. Task Concerns: * Plans and defines work to be done * Assigns task responsibilities * Sets clear work standards * Urges task completion * Monitors performance results People Concerns: * Acts warm and supportive toward followers * Develops social rapport with followers * Respects the feelings of followers * Is sensitive to followers’ needs * Shows trust in followers Leadership Styles Blake/ Mouton Leadership Grid: * Team Management: High task concern; high people concern * Authority-Obedience Management: High task concern; low people concern * Country Club Management: High people concern; low task concern * Impoverished Management: Low task concern; low people concern. * Middle of the Road Management: Non-committal for both task concern and people concern Hersey-Blanchard: Leadership theory that calls for adjustments of styles for per situation. Delegating: Low-task, low-relationship style that works best in high readiness-situations Participating: Low-task, high-relationship style that works best in low- to moderate-readiness situations Selling: High-task, high-relationship style that works best in moderate- to high-readiness situations Telling: High-task, low-relationship style that works best in low-readiness situations Fiedler Contingency Model: Good leadership is based on leadership style (task or relationship otivated) and situational demands (member relations, task structure, position power) Task – Oriented Leader: Leader that focuses on task completion. Strong in high control situations but weak in low control situations Relationship – Oriented Leader: Leader that focuses on employee relationships. They are strongest in middle control situations. House Path Goal Leadership: * Directive Leadership: When job assignments are ambiguous. * Supportive Leadership: When worker self-confidence is low. * Particip ative Leadership: When performance incentives are poor. Achievement-Oriented Leadership: When task challenge is insufficient Readiness: How ready, willing, and able employees are in performing tasks. Substitutes for Leadership: Factors in the work setting that direct work efforts without the involvement of a leader * Subordinate: Ability, experience, independence * Task Characteristics: Routine, availability of feedback * Organizational Characteristics: Clarity of plans and formalization of rules and procedures Charismatic Leaders: Develop special leader-follower relationships and inspire others in extraordinary ways. Vroom-Jago Leader-Participation Model: designed to help a leader choose the method of decision making that best fits the nature of the problem being faced. In this model, the best leader is someone able to choose and implement the most appropriate decision methods. * Authoritative decision – made by leader * Consultative decision – made by leader with help of group * Group decision – made by group members through participation Works best when: -leader lacks sufficient info -problem is unclear acceptance of others is necessary for implementation -adequate time is available to allow for true participation Transformational Leadership: Someone who is truly inspirational as a leader and who arouses others to seek extraordinary performance accomplishments. * Vision * Charisma * Symbolism * Empowerment * Intellectual stimulation * Integrity Transactional Leadership: Someone who is methodical as a leader and keeps others focused on progressing toward goal accomplishment. Emotional Intelligence: The ability to manage ourselves and our relationships effectively Male Leadership: Men tend to use transactional leadership Female Leadership: Women tend to use interactive leadership, a style that shares qualities with transformational leadership and behaviors. Ethical Leadership: * Integrity: The leader’s honesty, credibility, and consistency in putting values into action. Crucial for transformational leadership and good old-fashioned leadership. * Moral Obligation: Awaken people’s potential, instill high expectations and let others do their best. How to cite Leadership Notes, Papers

Legalizing Drug

Question: Write an essay on Legalizing Drug. Answer: In many countries, the cannabis use is termed as marijuana and its illegal? Marijuana is often misunderstood as a drug, and many assume that marijuana use is quite dangerous, but its exactly opposite of it (Gallup 2013). It can be evident that from last few years, cannabis is termed as an illegal drug in various countries (Brookoff, Cook, Williams and Mann 1994). Therefore, the question arise that, why legalization of cannabis in U.S is considered as such an important issue for many people in present days? Considering it as the gateway drug and the reason behind the reduction of young in present days, cannabis is gained negative publicity (Gallup 2013). Harvard University professor, Mr. Lester Grinspoon states that there are few drugs produced in America has as much efficient heat just like marijuana, mainly in last decade. This controversy largely revolves around the question, how safe or dangerous this drug is? (Which Drugs are the Most Addictive? 2009). However, there are many persistent users of this drug, and they believe that it is not so harmful as compared to smoking cigarettes (Kmietowicz 2010). Despite all its favorable medical impacts during pain and nausea, cannabis is considered as a psychedelic drug that could be viewed, due to its wrong claims (Brookoff, Cook, Williams and Mann 1994). As people often tend to overlook at the positive impacts, marijuana has become illegal for different bad reasons. But cannabis should be legalized (Kmietowicz 2010). Nevertheless, in present time, many countries that had legalized the use of marijuana, while other states haven't authorized its use (Which Drugs are the Most Addictive? 2009). Especially, small cannabis quantities are permitted in different regions like South America, Europe, and North America (Kmietowicz 2010). Moreover, in the case of America, some states like Colorado and Washington have legalized the use and possession of cannabis for the medical reasons (Brookoff, Cook, Williams and Mann 1994). On different side, various penalties are applied on cannabis in different nations (Kmietowicz 2010). These penalties range between simple to highly severe punishments (Ellis and Silverstone 2012). Use of marijuana in small quantities is not considered as punishable in the same way as the use of large amounts (Kmietowicz 2010). In this essay, the arguments are presented why cannabis should be legalized and why? Cannabis can be legalized as its use in medication process, and legalization implies high-quality standards of health, for instance, Sativex, which is a recent drug and is discovered as a cure for various scleroses (Moffat 2002). This medication is used in the UK for treating patients with MS, and its quite useful. Therefore, cannabis ban can prove to be a disadvantage for all those people, who are suffering from different diseases, and can make use of marijuana as the essential element in their medication (Moffat 2002). The cannabis use for the purpose of the drug is the proper reason for legalizing it. Cannabis supports the condition that is termed as cancer chemotherapy. This situation leads to extreme vomiting. It can assist in opening the lungs for asthma patients (Moffat 2002). Moreover, cannabis legalization can yield towards the new government tax source that can slowly enhance the revenue of government (Lewis 1978). Through this argument, it can be viewed that the viewpoint on the present economic situation makes a lot of sense. Indeed, it can be considered as the case, as most of the returns through the marijuana business end through the criminal gangs, which could control the trade in different regions of the world (Lewis 1978). However, this situation might get change if cannabis went legalized, and government can try to control its trade. As per Moudgil (1997), Americans who are for legalizing cannabis has consistently enhanced the figures that had reached at the high level in the year 2013, as around 58% Americans were identified for cannabis legalization (Moudgil 1997). In this regard, it can be argued that increasing the number of Americans is supporting cannabis legalization, and its the right time that government should do so (The United Sates D epartment of health and human studies 2008). On different perspective, people who argue over cannabis should be restricted to make cannabis legalized, as they often claim that marijuana is lethal for people as compared to alcohol that is legal (The United Sates Department of health and human studies 2008). As per their views, the impact of both cigarettes and alcohol to the people is quite dangerous, as it might cause cancer, as well as liver cirrhosis (The United Sates Department of health and human studies 2008). The department of health and human research in the USA had conducted a survey in the year 2008, which had been explored in American 69.7 million populations, who are addicted to tobacco; where else there are around 15 billion who are abuse to alcohol (The United Sates Department of health and human studies 2008). Moreover, this study had also found that there was around 4.2 million population in USA that is abuse to cannabis, while around 1000 deaths were registered due to smoking related issues, and 550 deaths happe ned due to alcohol related accidents and problems (The United Sates Department of health and human studies 2008). The illegalization critics of cannabis like research findings try to claim over the fact that marijuana is used in USA and in other parts of nations. Marijuana has failed in causing any death in comparison to other dangerous drugs (The United Sates Department of health and human studies 2008). In reason to this, proponents of legalization of marijuana often argue that marijuana need to be legalized, because its quite dangerous as compared to various other elements, which are actually legalized (The United Sates Department of health and human studies 2008). On the other side, it is viewed that legalization of marijuana is irrational for few humans that try to argue about different cannabis features is good feeling and its effective in pain (Miron 2005). Nevertheless, it can be countered by the evidence that there are prescribed painkillers available in the market (Brookoff, Cook, Williams and Mann 1994). Therefore, arguing over cannabis is that it can be made use of having medical reasons (Miron 2005). From this viewpoint, it is argued that if health reasons are made use for legalizing cannabis, then in that case cocaine can also be authorized before cannabis, as it had strong numbing impact (Miron 2005). Other point that is forwarded through the cannabis opponents legalization mentions that cannabis should be made legalized, as there is issues involved that its use might get more increased (Charles 2002). For instance, the American today had around 15.2 million consumers of marijuana; where else, there are around 129 million consumes o f alcohol in the country (Murphy 2009). The reasons are that drugs like marijuana is addictive in nature and it often try to steal people to move towards interest to the point that critics make use of arguing against cannabis legalization (Murphy 2009). For instance, as per Murphy (2009), it might become challenging for drug users that use marijuana for forming informed decisions towards quitting the behavior, as the cannabis use might impact the logical thinking of that person (Murphy 2009). Moreover, it is viewed that marijuana can lead towards taking irrational thinking and under drivers that consume marijuana has explored that it might also impaired the process of judgment and it can lead to accident (Which Drugs are the Most Addictive? 2009). The drug usage for other reasons apart from the medical reason can be considered as dangerous, as the harm it can cause by its use will not only on the users, but also to the people who are associated with it (Which Drugs are the Most Addictive? 2009). Moreover, use of drug often improves individual health cost, who abuses the drugs, and it also often related to its violence (The United Sates Department of health and human studies 2008). Moreover, drug addicted parents in most of the cases neglect their children that result from children, who later on become street children (Urena 2002). It can be evident that legalization of cannabis might cost extra finance to government for catering the rehabilitation and medication of people who might suffer from cannabis symptoms of withdrawal (Urena 2002). It can be concluded that, there are various argument given in favor and some in against of cannabis legalization. According to my perspective, cannabis should never be made legal in any nation. The cannabis legalization might lead towards both immorality and improvement in crime rate. The presented arguments in favor of marijuana only try to compare marijuana effects with the results of other drugs, but from that it cannot be said that, the effect of cannabis are good for human body. It can be summarize that if most of the government tries to legalize cannabis across the world, there might be notable changes seen in the well-being and stability of people all over the world. References Brookoff, D., Cook, C.S., Williams, C., and Mann, C.S 1994, Testing Reckless drivers for Cocaine and Marijuana, New England Journal of Medicine, vol. 331, pp. 518-511 Charles, P 2002, Critical issues in the debate on decriminalization or legalization of cannabis in South Africa, South African Medical Journal-Cape Town-Medical Association of South Africa, vol. 92, pp. 1-696. Gallup 2013, For First Time, Americans Favor Legalizing Marijuana, [Online]. Available at: https://www.gallup.com/poll/165539/first-time-americans-favor-legalizing-marijuana.aspx [Accessed on: 28th March 2016]. Kmietowicz, Z 2010, Countries Should Consider Legalising Cannabis In Light Of Futility Of Bans,BMJ, vol. 341, pp. 1-5471 Lewis, A 1978, Legalisation of cannabis, British Medical Journal, vol. 2, pp. 1-56. Miron, J 2005, The Budgetary Implications of Marijuana Prohibition. [Online] Available at: https://www.prohibitioncosts.org/mironreport.html [Accessed on: 28th March 2016]. Moffat, A 2002, The Legalization of Cannabis For Medical Use, Science Justice, vol. 42, pp. 55-57 Moudgil, G.C 1997, The Patient with Reactive Airways Disease, Canadian Journal of Anaesthesia, vol. 44, pp. 77-89. Murphy, K 2009, How Marijuana Became Illegal. [Online] Available at: https://wafreepress.org/article/090304marijuana.shtml [Accessed on: 28th March 2016]. The United Sates department of health and human studies. Health United States, 2008, [Online] Available at: https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/hus/hus08.pdf [Accessed on: 28th March 2016]. Urena, A 2002, Legitimate Reasons to Legalize Cannabis. [Online] Available at: https://cannabisnews.com/news/14/thread14829.shtml [Accessed on: 28th March 2016]. Which Drugs are the Most Addictive? 2009, [Online] Available at: https://www.druglibrary.org/SCHAFFER/library/basicfax5.html [Accessed on: 28th March 2016]. Ellis, T and Silverstone, D 2012, Legalise Drugs?' in Ellis, T and Savage, S (eds). Debates in Criminal Justice, London: Routledge

Following the Path of a Diversional Therapist A Case Study

Introduction: South Eastern Sydney Local Health District Advertising We will write a custom case study sample on Following the Path of a Diversional Therapist: A specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More NSW Health. South Eastern Sydney local health district. The chosen organization can be referred to as the St. George Hospital of the South Eastern Sydney Local Health District. It is a state organization that provides healthcare services to the citizens of Sydney. As one might have already guessed from its title, the organization is located in the southeast of Sydney. South Eastern Sydney local health district (2013). Retrieved from Google Earth. Philosophy, Mission and Policies The philosophy of the given organization is not known as widely as one might want it to; however, according to what the people working at the hospital say, their mission statement can be summarized in the following words: â€Å"we are all here to provide the best care possible within those limitations and patients are our number one priority† (About St. George Hospital, 2008, March 25). The hospital provides a wide range of services to a number of patients of different age, gender and social/ethnical background. To define its basic purpose, the hospital officials declare that they can be called a â€Å"designated major trauma service† (About St. George, 2010, June 16).Advertising Looking for case study on health medicine? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More SESLHD and Ethics St. George also has a range of peculiar policies and principles. Among the most notable ones, the mobile heritage principle, which works not only for St. George, but also for the rest of the hospitals belonging to the South Eastern Sydney local health district in general. The staff, as well as the head of the district, must take proper care not only of the equipment and the heritage belonging to the hosp ital, but also about â€Å"any natural or manufactured object of heritage significance† (South Eastern Sydney Area Health Service, 2001, iv) within SHE, in accordance with the given principle. As for the principles and policies on patients treatment, St. George staff is supposed to provide each of their patients with the due care and decent services, striving for the well-being of each patient and addressing each health issue individually (Lindorff, 2010). With the latest resources at hand, be it surgical, therapeutic or pharmaceutical ones, the South Eastern Sydney local health district can offer its patients the most efficient medical assistance. The corporate culture of the organization is also quite peculiar. As it has been stressed above, the SESLHD Organization strives for the well-being of each of its clients and, therefore, maintains a specific corporate culture. â€Å"New employees in SESLHD MHS may need to be paired with a more experienced member of staff to act as a guide to the workplace and the corporate culture† (SESLHD policy cover sheet, n. d., 2). Goals and Rationale However, when it comes to defining the issues within the hospital setting, one must mention that some of the effects of the current management processes leave much to be desired. Because of the lack of cooperation between the members of the staff, which must have been spawned by the cultural differences between the younger trainees and the older staff, there are considerable disagreements concerning the methods of tending to the needs of the autistic patients (Olmstead et al., 2012). By developing a strong program that will help the staff feel more integrated, one can possibly shape the existing method of autistic patients treatment so that it could bring more fruitful result (Lobas, 2006). Management Plan Management As it has been stressed, the selected environment can be defined as the SESLHD nursing care and patient treatment. Both the nursing staff and the patien ts are going to be involved into the experiment for the program to work both in favor of the patients and he staff. Seeing how the age gap seems to be the basic problem, the environment can be defined as human and socio-cultural one.Advertising We will write a custom case study sample on Following the Path of a Diversional Therapist: A specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More When it comes to picking the leadership style, it is important to keep in mind that not only the process of training, but mainly the relationships between the staff members should be changed. Therefore, it will be necessary to reinvent the employees’ perception of training, as well as the attitude of the senior members of the organization to the trainees. Therefore, the transformational leadership seems to be the most reasonable option (Luzinski, 2011). That being said, it will also be required to introduce a role model for the senior employees and the traine es to follow. Thus, charismatic leadership model will be required as well (Levay, 2010). It is crucial that the elements of quality management should also be integrated into the program. As it has been stressed previously, patients are the focus of the given plan, and their progress is what one has to keep an eye on (Cherian Jacob, 2011). That being said, he relationships between the staff must also be coordinated to achieve better results. For the given purpose, the principle of knowledge sharing must be employed (Blyth, 2005). By establishing the principles of clarity and providing the staff with the ability to access information on any patient, one will be able to provide better quality and implement the program in a more efficient way. As the job description states, the program has to address the needs of the patients of the mental ward; therefore, it will be required to shape it in order to make it work within the aforementioned setting. Monitoring In order to provide efficien t monitoring of the activities, which are carried out to improve the state of the patients with acute mental disorders, primarily neuroses and psychoses, it will be necessary to make sure that the actions of the team of specialist are well coordinated. Therefore, it is curial that the system of knowledge sharing should be integrated into the monitoring process. Presupposing that the data shuld be stored in a single database, which every member of the team should have an access to, it will help make the process more cohesive and balanced. In addition, it is crucial that the results of the activities carried out to improve the state of the patients should be recorded properly. Therefore, it is mandatory that daily reports on the results of the daily activities should be filed by every member of the team into the database. Assessment When it comes to the assessment of the progress that the patients will have made by the end of the given program, it is necessary to stress that the way i n which the patients’ well-being is going to be assessed when the program is over depends greatly on their current state.Advertising Looking for case study on health medicine? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More Seeing how mental disorders remain one of the most complicated ones to deal with, it is required to take into account that in most cases, the disease will not be cured completely. In addition, the performance of the patients may vary depending on the severity of their disease, their age, hereditary diseases, etc. Nevertheless, the assessment rubrics can still be provided. It is imperative that the assessment rubrics should follow the DSM-V principles, seeing how there have been several important amendments made to the previous DSM in 2013. Therefore, the assessment must be based on the following elements: Categorical diagnosis The mental problem of the patient is defined and the proper treatment is prescribed. Functional diagnosis The basic ability of the patient to recognize, perform and make commands is evaluated. Follow-up Needless to say, it is mandatory to keep an eye on the patients and their state of health even after they will have recovered, for the instances of recidivism are especially dangerous when it comes to mental issues. Hence, it will be necessary to make sure that the patients will be doing just as well in the traditional setting as they do in the hospital. The follow-up can be provided by scheduling a series of appointments with the healthcare team. Despite the fact that during the first several visits, there might be no problems spotted, it is essential to encourage patients or their family to make sure that the patient attends the appointments. Thus, a case of recidivism can be spotted at the earliest stage and cured efficiently. Feedback By far the most important part of the given process, the procedure of gathering feedback must be approached with all due seriousness and attention. Activities Since the selected target group suffers from autistic spectrum disorders, it is important to make sure that the patients should develop their communication skills firsthand. Transition activities One of the most peculiar features of people with aut istic spectrum disorders concerns their ability to be engulfed by a specific activity that they are ready to perform over and over again. The given specifics, however, presupposes that the transition from the specified activity to other ones is very hard for autistic people to carry out. Therefore, one of the basic activities of the training program will include practicing the skill of transiting from one task to another. Sensory-feedback activities According of the existing researches, it is crucial that autistic people should have a strong link to reality, which can be established by helping the patients communicate their experiences of getting in touch with the outside world. Therefore, the activities in which the patients have to recognize a shape, a color, a taste, etc., by using all of their four senses, will be encouraged in the training program. Evaluation Seeing how the patients that have enrolled into the program have different diagnoses and were at different stages of aut ism development, the evaluation of the patients and their progress should be carried out at different levels and with the specifics of each patient’s character and severity of disorder taken into account (Kendrick, 2011). As it has been stressed, in most cases, the progress of the patients will have to be evaluated separately, since their cases are very individual. Therefore, it will be necessary to develop two types of assessment rubrics, i.e., the general one that will allow defining whether the person in question can be classified as a person with mental issues, and the assessment that will help evaluate a personal progress of each patient. Below are the rubrics for the general evaluation: Procedures Performance Good Satisfactory Not satisfactory (needs improvement) Poor (patient’s condition deteriorated) Behavioral social skills The patients are capable of communicating their requests, as well as understand and fulfill ones. The patients are capable of comm unicating most of their requests, as well as partially understand and fulfill ones. The patients fail to communicate some of their requests, as well as understand and fulfill several ones. The patients are incapable of communicating their requests, as well as understand and fulfill ones. Individual psychotherapy skills The patients are capable of performing the basic everyday tasks. The patients are capable of performing most of the basic everyday tasks. The patients fail to perform some of the basic everyday tasks. The patients fail to perform most of the basic everyday tasks. In the course of the assessment, the patients’ ability to carry out the tasks and activities that they are assigned with is compared to the assessment results. Comments Addressing the needs of the patients with mental issues is an especially challenging task, seeing how it involves not only analyzing both the outside and inside factors that have affected the patient and led to the current state of mental degradation, but also the specifics of the patients’ temper. The given experience has helped me realize how the process of adressign mental healthcare issues is carried out in hospital settings and what practical challenges a diversional therapist can possibly face in the course of the treatment procedure. The given experience has a comparatively big value in that it helps define the challenges that a diversional therapist is most likely to face in the course of the project implementation, such as different stages of mental breakdown that patients have and the need to bend the existing treatment plan in order to help all patients, the necessity to keep the follow-up record on the patients and make sure that the possibility of instances of recidivism is driven to nil, etc. Rethinking the given experience, I must admit that it has helped me define my future goals. Now that I know what diversional therapist’s responsibilities include and, more importantly, what a diversional therapist can accomplish and how he or she can help patients with mental issues, I realize that I may devote my life to helping people as a diversional therapist in the future. Reference List About St. George (2010). Web. About St. George Hospital (2008). Web. Blyth, A. (2005). An individual approach to leadership. Personnel Today, 12, 26. Cherian, J. Jacob, J. (2011). Impact of self efficacy on motivation and performance of employees. International Journal of Business and Management, 8(14), 80. Kendrick, J. S. (2011). Transformational leadership. Professional Safety, 56(11), 14. Levay, C. (2010). Charismatic leadership in resistance to change. The Leadership  Quarterly, 21(1), 127–143. Lindorff, M. (2010). Political research and human research ethics committees.  Australian Journal of Political Science, 46(1), 141–156. Lobas, J. G. (2006). Leadership in academic medicine: Capabilities and conditions for organizational success. The American Journal of Medicine, 119(7), 617–621. Luzinski, C. (2011). Transformational leadership. The Journal of Nursing  Administration, 41(12), 501. NSW Health. South Eastern Sydney local health district. Web. Olmstead, J. et al. (2012). Perioperative annual employee evaluation: A 30-second process. Association of Operating Room Nurses, 96(6), 627. SESLHD policy cover sheet. Web. South Eastern Sydney Area Health Service (2001). SHE movable heritage policy. Web. South Eastern Sydney local health district (2013). Retrieved from Google Earth. This case study on Following the Path of a Diversional Therapist: A was written and submitted by user Jolie Griffith to help you with your own studies. You are free to use it for research and reference purposes in order to write your own paper; however, you must cite it accordingly. You can donate your paper here.

On The Fringes Of Society Professor Ramos Blog

On The Fringes Of Society Jonathan Brugh, Taika Waititi, and Jemaine Clement in What We Do In The Shadows The often horrifyingly unnatural and bloody representations of vampires can hardly predict some of the more modern takes on vampirism. Whether it is actor Tom Hiddleston playing the ancient vampire Adam, who muses on his distaste for the advance of computer technology, or the vampire myth parodying roommates in the film â€Å"What We Do In The Shadows,† who argue over the fact that the roommate responsibilities have not changed in hundreds of years. The passage of time has opened up the possibilities for adaptations of the vampire myth, and while fear and anxiety certainly remain an aspect of the myth, more often today the vampire has come to represent those who live on the fringes of society. They are individuals who have become disenfranchised, whether by their fading interest in the direction of society, or sometimes by their own social ineptitude. The vampires of â€Å"What We Do In The Shadows† fall into the latter category of individuals who are simply not as socially relevant as they once were in the past. The film follows a group of vampire roommates in New Zealand who have been living together for hundreds of years. Each of the roommates represent a different mythological vampire concept. Vlad, played by Jemaine Clement, is a take on the legend of Vlad the Impaler; Deacon, played by Jonathan Brugh, is a parody of the â€Å"cool† and â€Å"sexy† vampire; Petyr, played by Ben Fransham, shares a striking resemblance to classic-film vampire Nosferatu; and Viago, played by Taika Waititi, is the naive and impressionable window by which the audience views this world. Through each of these characters the film is able to confront multiple aspects of the vampire myth and place them into our society, where they awkwardly try to find their place among us. Viago, played by Taika Waititi The roommates, each with unique personalities, defeat the idea of the modern vampire by the simple act of portraying them in a modern time and playing into that absurdity. During the events of the film it becomes clear that the vampires are grossly outnumbered in society by humans and, as such, the world is no place for them. When a botched â€Å"feeding† inadvertently leads to the creation of a new vampire, Nick, this becomes even clearer. Though Nick does his best to enjoy the life of being a vampire, he admits that he â€Å"misses daytime television.† Later in the film, the vampires attend a masquerade ball for the local monster population, which looks a lot less like the bombastic and sexy rave seen in 1998’s Blade, and more like a local church’s bake sale (â€Å"Blade Rave Bloodbath Scene†). Still, the vampires are not without their admirers. One such devotee, Jackie, performs banal tasks for the vampires under the promise that they will one da y turn her into a vampire (hopefully soon, she hopes, as she doesn’t want to be old for all eternity). This plays directly into Jeffrey Jerome Cohen’s â€Å"Seven Monster Theses,† in particular thesis six, which states that the fear of a monster is actually a kind of desire. He writes, â€Å"the monster also attracts †¦ we distrust and loathe the monster at the same time we envy its freedom† (Cohen). Eternal life is an attractive concept to many, although, as we will see in the next film, it is a double edged sword. The vampires in the film â€Å"Only Lovers Left Alive† similarly approach society, if on another spectrum. They aren’t feared, or even necessarily noticed, by the general public. Instead they live on the fringes of society, though slightly elevated above the rest of us. Adam, played by Tom Hiddleston, lives in a dilapidated house in a borough of Detroit where he fiddles with analog music equipment, unable to cope with the direction society is taking. His lover Eve, played by Tilda Swinton, finds it easier to live among us humans, another category of monster which they sourly refer to as â€Å"zombies.† When the movie starts, Eve is Tangier with her friend Christopher Marlowe, the real life Elizabethan author whose mysterious death in 1593 has spurned endless conspiracy theories. Eve heads to Detroit to be with her long time lover Adam who is becoming suicidal and has even gone as far as to have a friend find him a single bullet made from wood. Tilda Swinton as Eve, eating a blood popsicle â€Å"Only Lovers Left Alive† plays with the myths of the vampire and places them into a modern perspective. The ages of Adam and Eve are ambiguously ancient, with each of them at various points in the film referring to moments in history for which they were personally present. Eve chastises Adam for who he has chosen for company in the past, specifically the romantic era poet Lord Byron, â€Å"among other assholes,† she says. Vampires, after all, have the burden of eternal life, but rarely does an audience get to see a less melodramatic portrayal of the curse. The vampires in the film are not drowning in sorrow over the commonly used trope of having seen â€Å"all of their friends and lovers pass before their eyes;† instead they are weighed down by overwhelming knowledge and the frustration of seeing us â€Å"zombies† slowly destroy the world. These vampires truly dwell at the gates of difference, one of Jeffrey Cohen’s seven monster theses. Adam a nd Eve, by having experienced the course of history before their eyes, have a much broader understanding of humanity than any person alive and as a result have come to loathe it. This perspective shatters the human perspective of society and the futile attempts within it to categorize history and justify behavior, and, as Cohen explains, it reveals that our rules are â€Å"arbitrary and potentially free-floating, mutable rather than essential† (Cohen). They are a threat to our society as we have come to know it. Adam and Eve The vampires in â€Å"Only Lovers Left Alive,† as well as the vampires in â€Å"What We Do In The Shadows† contribute some very essential pieces to the vampire mythos by imagining their place in modern society, not as the comically terrifying and villainous monsters of past, but as individuals on the fringes of society coping with their differences and their desires. The parodistic assault on vampire myth provided by the New Zealand vampire roommates allows us retrospect on the often silly tropes of vampirism while still offering a sincere take on modern vampires. Adam and Eve, the decidedly uncomic vampire pair, offer us a real perspective of the eternal life of a vampire. They are never frightening monsters on the prowl for blood, instead they are mostly just bored. In A.O. Scott’s New York Times review of â€Å"Only Lovers Left Alive† he is quick to criticize the â€Å"generational protest† put on by Adam and Eve as being â€Å"musty† and â€Å"conservative,† ignoring that these are the symptoms to eternal life. After all, one can only attend so many blood raves over their thousand year lifespan before it gets boring and they begin to dig a little deeper into society, art, and culture. For me, the vampires in these two films are absolutely essential to the future of the vampire myth, contained within highly competent and artful filmmaking, which are easily are among the better films of the last decade. I award each film three and a half stars out of four. â€Å"Blade Rave Bloodbath Scene.† YouTube, uploaded by Monsters and Critics, 2 July 2016, https:// youtube.com/watch?v=l_VT8c31vRo. Cohen, Jeffrey Jerome. â€Å"Monster Culture (Seven Theses). Only Lovers Left Alive. Directed by Jim Jarmusch, performances by Tom Hiddleston, and Tilda Swinton, Recorded Picture Company, 2013. Scott, A. O. â€Å"Art and Style Are Their Lifeblood.† The New York Times, The New York Times, 10 Apr. 2014, nytimes.com/2014/04/11/movies/only-lovers-left-alive-jarmuschs-vampire-malaise.html. What We Do In The Shadows. Directed by Taika Waititi performances by Jemaine Clement, Taika Waititi, and Jonathan Brugh, New Zealand Film Commission, 2014.

Communiction Theories Ch. 25 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Communiction Theories Ch. 25 - Essay Example nment, income distribution, time use, health condition, community vitality, psychological well being, good governance, ecological resilience, and cultural diversity (Snyder, 1992). In one of the international GNH meeting, some of the preliminary results regarding the factors, which are important for an individual’s happiness and the tracking of the changes in GNH, were revealed. Consequently, such factors as modern household equipment, household income, high positive emotions, amount of land owned, low negative emotions, good physical and mental health, regular socialization, meditation, education qualification, and trust were highlighted to be important factors leading to the happiness in the Bhutanese life. From the revelation of these factors, the institutions that can support and look into such other finer factors like trustworthiness, positive emotions, socialization, meditation, and personal health should be put in place. This will ensure that the resources are directed to where they are needed. Happiness deconstruction also calls for people to understand it as the most significant end of society in any government (Snyder, 1992). Considering the issue of consumer behavior in economics, the findings based on preferences and rational choices were considered sufficient metric showing people’s desires. However, the findings have been found to have limitations, since it is not true that whatever someone pays reveals the choice and preference. The person may have had financial constraints, and therefore, had no otherwise but to pay. In this case, such things as lack of information concerning alternatives, ideology, and addiction are blamed for shaping the choices in adverse way, hence-preventing proper choice making. Because of this deconstruction, our understanding on the effect of ideology in shaping our choices is likely to broaden (Snyder,

Business Environment and Strategic Management of Primark Essay - 2

Business Environment and Strategic Management of Primark - Essay Example From this study it is clear that Primark’s product categories include the ladies wear, children’s wear, men’s wear, lingerie, cosmetics, fashion accessories, and the home products. Primarily Primark’s merchandise is made especially for its own brands, but it also stocks other products from other recognised (well known) brands like the Disney, Haribo sweets, Warner Brothers, and Nivea. According to the paper the company’s apparel products lines typically showcase simple designs and fabrics in the popular sizes. Primark usually launches its stores in the high street locations and most of its products lines are usually stocked in bulk at every location. Its main competitors are BHS, Marks and Spencer, John Lewis, George at ASDA, Debenhams, and TK Max. Recognised globally for its quality in apparels and clothing at the budget prices, the company provides clothing for all sizes, ages, and sexes with different department for the household goods. Its succe ss is largely attributed to a highly organised business structures that provides its customers with what they need at within a reasonable prices. Primark’s cost leadership means that the company’s market research team are usually on the pulse of the fashion changes by providing products that are similar to its rival companies quickly. The majority of the company’s sources of supply is in the overseas countries such as China, India, Bangladesh, Philippines and Turkey. The company has developed the computerised customs clearance, the dedicated.

Conduct of Monetary Policy in Kuwait Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Conduct of Monetary Policy in Kuwait - Essay Example The International Monetary Fund (IMF) noted: "The fastest pace of economic expansion since the 1990 Gulf war, combined with the oil-related terms of trade gains, has boosted per capita income by 34.5% during 2003-04 and helped build up assets for future generations at a record pace." It added: "With oil prices likely to remain firm over the medium-term, Kuwait's medium-term outlook has improved and is likely to remain favourable, supported by large fiscal and current-account surpluses, and low inflation. The Kuwait economy is characterized by sound creditworthiness which in turn reflects sustained macroeconomic stability, good governance, twin surpluses (the government budget and current-account), manageable domestic debt (17% of GDP in 2005), the sophisticated banking sector and huge net (official) external assets. Overall GDP growth has been increasing at a steady rate from 2001 to 2005 due to the stability of the money supply. Through a judicious application of effective open market operations, the central bank was able to mop up excess liquidity in the system resulting in a stable economic growth. The Central Bank of Kuwait (CBK) has imposed a ceiling on the credit to deposit ratio. It was implemented in order to address prudential concerns over rapid expansion of credit to the private sector in recent years without a parallel increase in bank deposits. Kuwaiti banks are, however, heavily capitalised and liquid. The capital adequacy ratio remained comfortable (17.3% as of end-September 2004), well above its minimum regulatory level (12%). In 2004-05, asset quality improved further and net profits and returns on equity/total assets also rose significantly. The Kuwait central bank had reined in liquidity growth in order to attain macroeconomic stability. This policy resulted in a minimal incr ease in M2 supply from 9646.3 million Kuwait dinar (KD) in 2001 to 10401.2 million KD in 2002. This strict monetary policy resulted in a high increase in the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth rate of 11584 .5 million KD in 2002 to 14253.5 million KD in 2003. At the same time, inflation remained at respectable levels from 0.89 percent to 0.98 percent during the same period. The GDP climbed steadily from 14253.5 million KD in 2003 to 17466 million KD in 2004. The M2 supply increased only slightly from 10401.2 million KD in 2003 to 11655.2 million KD in 2004. The GDP scored a big leap from 17466 million KD in 2004 to 23588 million KD in 2005. Steady monetary policies kept the M2 supply level from 11655.2 million KD in 2004 to 13088.2 million KD in 2005.On the macroeconomic front, the authorities have pursued prudent monetary/fiscal policies, thus underpinning price stability and the exchange rate peg. Consumer price rises have averaged just 1.4% annually over 2000-05, thanks to a str onger currency and subdued import prices. The Kuwait central bank has maintained very stable exchange rate levels to maintain stable inflation rates. This effective policy has resulted in minimal inflation rates. The Kuwait dinar has been appreciating vis-a-vis the US dollar from 2001 to 2005. The exchange rate was 307.36 dinar to 1 US$ dollar in 2001 compared to 299.7 dinar to 1 US$ in 2002. Inflation rate at 2002 was only .89 percent. The local currency further appreciated from 299.7 dinar to 1

Developing Autonomy in Learning

Developing Autonomy in Learning Thinking of me as an educator or instructor, and entering in teaching profession is one of my dreams and goals of life. This time a graduate study is giving me the opportunity to explore my professional development in the field of teaching and education. Before entering to the first class of practicum, naturally I was feeling the burden of responsibilities in terms of thinking more critically about my objectives, actions and ethical ways of performing my duties within the context of my work as a preceptee. Interestingly, just before the beginning of the class I was asked by one of my facilitators that what will you do after MScN and getting training of an educator? My answer was â€Å"you are the inspiration for me and will walk on your steps†. The next comment that I received was â€Å"you may walk on my steps but what change will you make†? These comments squeezed my thoughts and motivated me to think of a change I may make and expect in the field of education through getting experience from the education practicum. Reflective practice is an integral part of teaching and learning. It helps in being honest to our selves, become aware of our surroundings and understands our own feelings. In this paper I am going to reflect on a wonderful experience of evaluating undergraduate students during double jump exam as a faculty, strategies to facilitate students’ anxiety during exam, and reflect on the purpose of double jump exam. It was challenging to assess students in limited time according to evaluation criteria that should be understood by faculty prior to assess. Since, I have to evaluate students as a faculty but, at that time I was having difficulty in getting into my role because I was realizing and feeling students’ anxiety within myself. I had to assess students and simultaneously to document their assessment findings at the same time. This was the most demanding work for me being honest and non-judgmental during evaluation. Students’ assessment and evaluation require inte nse preparation of self-management, control over your own beliefs and judgments, expectations and commitments towards students that articulate with the outcomes to be achieved. I encountered one student during the exam. He looked confident and well-prepared when he entered at history taking and health assessment station. I explained him the exam criteria and timings to complete the history taking and system assessment in 20 mins (10 mins for each) under the supervision of course faculty. When he started taking history from simulated patient, his physical appearance and way of asking questions from the patient depicted some physical and psychological symptoms of anxiety. He was feeling nervous, speaking very fast, shaking, going blank during history taking and health assessment. We did not interfere during his attempt thinking that he might be recalling therefore, he should not be distracted. After few minutes, the student verbalized that â€Å"mam sorry I am lost, I cannot concentrate, and I am feeling that I have forgotten everything†. This was the peak time where I didn’t have the authority to respond or intervene in this situation being pre ceptee. Moreover, due to time limitation of the double jump exam, the course faculty could not discuss the strategies to solve student situation with me. However, she counseled that student very positively, made him comfortable and gave 5 mins to list down the sequence of nervous system which he had to perform on the patient. The student made the sequence but even though he was unable to perform further and had withdrawn. Interestingly, the student performed very well in the next part which was identifying 3 medical diagnoses along with rationale and interpreting X-ray and ECG rhythm. This scenario was challenging in terms of facilitating student’s anxiety, justifying role and responsibilities as a faculty, and exhibiting non-judgmental attitude with other students. Faculty plays a pivotal role in addressing students’ stress during exam. Responding to students in stress or anxiety is often confusing and overwhelming. Some level of anxiety is productive in performing better in academia but non-productive stress or anxiety leads to failure (Burns, 2004). In this particular situation, there could be many reasons for having test anxiety and poor performance. The reasons could be lack of exam preparation, studying late night before exam, worrying about past performance, lack of confidence, fear of performing assessment on simulated patients, fear of faculty presence, and so forth (Birjandi Alemi, 2010). What I reflect throughout this exam is if I would have been in that situation as an invigilator, I would have allowed student to sit down and relax for 5 mins, and invigilate another student during that interval to save time; provided to use cue cards of health assessment to review since it was allowed to use it 3 times during the exam and there was no penalty or marks deduction. However, the student was not given chance to use cue cards which was questionable. The physical appearance of that student and his intellectual ability was revealing me that he has done his preparation but he was blank due to performance exam anxiety. Because, he performed outstanding job in making differential diagnosis, integrating lab values, and ECG and X-ray interpretation. If he would not have done his preparation, he would have flunked from the entire exam process. Course coordinator’s opinion could have been taken to facilitate student’s performance. Lastly, he could have given second chance to perform later as an exceptional case but it won’t be justified with other students who were prepared and performed on time. What is the purpose of double jump exam is very ambiguous to me. If it is to assess students’ interviewing skills, health assessment, and drawing clinical concept map than this is a part of their routine clinical practice that can be evaluated while caring for patients in the hospital setting. In contrast, the purpose of it is to evaluate critical thinking to identify patients’ clinical parameters and health issues. Therefore, they should have trained in hospital placement where they can analyze cardiac rhythms on monitor, identify ventilator parameters, monitor invasive lines according to patients’ pathological conditions, develop plan of care and treatment on real patients which is an actual experiential learning hence, is a goal to engage students in continuous learning and assessment process. The purpose of good academic assessment is to engage students in autonomous learning and to determine how to fuse theory and practice (Taylor, 1998). There will be no ex tra efforts required in terms of administration and arrangement of human and material resources to plan double jump test which is one of the lengthy and stressful assessment strategies for students. Moreover, it will also prevent from the duplication of assessment which is already a part of clinical learning goals and outcomes. Performing on simulated patients often doesn’t provide actual patients’ symptoms and medical problems to identify and intervene. Students usually get preoccupied in identifying and verbalizing normal findings so they prepare themselves accordingly. However, the purpose is to allow them to think critically and recognize patients’ actual medical problems. Therefore, in my perspective, this learning can be facilitated during clinical. Adult learners are responsible for their own learning. They are motivated when they are given autonomy of learning, ongoing facilitation and feedback from faculty. They require explicit instructions and appropriate responses from the faculty when they are flooded with stress and anxiety. Overall, this was a meaningful journey for me to experience the exam system from student’s and faculty’s perspectives.

Death Row and Women :: Feminism Law Culture Essays

Death Row and Women In Hamurabi Law, if someone is accused of murder they must take a leap into the closest river. If the accused drowns, the accuser shall take possession of his house. If the accused emerges unhurt, then the accuser is put to death and his house is given as compensation to the accused. While the system of capital punishment in the United States is not quite as random, it has its own problems that can oftentimes cross the fine line between arbitrary and absurd. The discrepancy between white and colored male inmates is often the subject of debate regarding this issue, and while that subject certainly does deserve notice, little attention is paid to women as a group on death row. It is interesting to explore how society represents and identifies with women on death row in a completely different manner than men or even other minority groups, even though they face similar discriminations in other facets of life. Why is it that we are able to see females not as killers, but first as women o r mothers? Our preconceived conceptions of â€Å"motherhood† and â€Å"womanhood† make a great difference in how we perceive female criminals, and in certain cases can be the difference between life and death. According to statistics from the Texas Department of Criminal Justice, of the 455 criminals on death row in the state only 7 of them are women . This should tip us off to the manner in which we treat female criminals, even in the most pro-death penalty state in the country. Overall, women account for one in eight of people arrested for murder in America, but this ratio sinks to only one in seventy people currently on death row . This discrepancy must be a direct result of something, and is most probably attributed to society’s perception of women that place these female criminals as women first, killers second. â€Å"It’s a reflection of society’s view that women are less prone to evil than men are†, claims Jenni Gainsborough of the ACLU National Prison Project. We also seem to feel sorrier for women than we do men, and assume that if a woman has committed a crime it is because she has faced abuse in the past (usually inflicted by a man). This is true to s ome extent as it is claimed that 95% of women in prison were victims of abuse , but the point is that we generally stress the importance of female abuse while oftentimes neglecting abuse endured by their male counterparts.

Nature Nurture

The psychological debate of nature vs. nurture is one that has been deliberated and refuted for many years. This debate is so controversial because although it is fact that genetic makeup does play a major role in developing a person, the nurture and environment in which a person is brought up in is also an important factor. The nature vs. nurture issue dates back to Ancient Greeks, through the times of Aristotle and John Locke, with each philosopher projecting their own individual thoughts on the matter.Although nature depicts the development of a person in terms of their appearance and certain personality traits, nature and the setting and situations in which a person grows up is more important in explaining the development of a person because ultimately a person is an overall reflection of the environment of which they were brought up in. Psychologists are quick to support the nature debate because it deals with the genetic make-up of a person and biological psychology, which is f act. First of all, a person’s physical traits, such as eye color and blood type are genetically determined, even though there are certain ways to alter your look.Personality is proven to be heritable to an extent. Studies have proven that biological siblings are more similar in personality that adoptive siblings. In addition, a person’s genes can determine whether a person is predisposed to a disease or illness, such as diabetes and Alzheimer’s (Davies). A person who is affected with those types of diseases shows how nature can directly effect the development of an individual. A new technique called developmental genetic analysis is a procedure that examines the effects of genes throughout a person’s life.The technique concluded that a person’s intelligence is due about 50% to the genes they are born with (Huang). Furthermore, the nature debate is credible because of the genetic factors that support how people’s personalities and appearance develops, yet the nurture of a person ultimately overshadows the nature debate because environmental factors better influence the development of a person Each person comes from different backgrounds, religions, and environments, which are all external factors that play a large role in the development of an individual.Diet, stress, prenatal nutrition, peer pressure, and television are just some of the more specific environmental factors that can affect a person. Clearly, there are many more aspects of the nurture debate that contribute to the argument that a person’s upbringing is what will influence their development. For example, NBC reported that in a study where teenagers played violent video games and non violent video games, the violent video games were proven to enhance emotion in the amygdale, or the center for fear and aggression (Kalning).In this case the emotional effect from the video games supports the nurture debate because normal teenagers with non violent behav iors and tendencies were affected by an outside force that has the potential of affecting the teenager’s personalities. Nurture is more important in developing a person because despite a person’s genetic coding, the parents and the adults that a child is subjected to will play a greater role in the child’s development. Research shows that parents who talk to their children and spend time helping them interact ultimately raise more socially developed and intellectually stimulated children (Dewar).Even if a child born had genius parents, the environment and the early stages of development are crucial for the later stages of life. People are also highly influenced by their peers, and in the case of preschoolers who typically dislike a certain food will eat that particular food if children around them are eating it, showing that because it is the way of the human to want to fit and be liked, nurture has the greater impact and influence over a person (Harris).Further more, nurture is more important in shaping a human being because there are multiple factors that can influence a person differently, even if they have the same genetic background. Even though the nature vs. nurture debate is likely to always be challenged and discussed, it is possible that there may never be a right answer. The reason for this is that many situations and conditions factor in both the nature and nurture debate and there is reasoning in both cases to support either one as a reliable source.Overall, the biological traits and genes of a person enable individuals to learn and adapt to their surroundings, thus showing the debate is so closely related that it is difficult to determine which one more effectively contributes to the development of a person. However, the nurture issue states that a person is affected of the environment that they are brought up in, which is a more reliable source of the development of a person because there are more factors that influence envir onment than the biological aspects of the nature debate.Nature versus nurture. This has been a topic of debate for centuries. Years have passe still not been found regarding this issue. This is an argumentation of the utmost significance, not only because of its anthropological meaning, that will help us understand where we come from and how our personality is formed, but also because of the moral, political, ethical, educational, social, and statistical issues that it discusses. The nature side of the polemic says that humans behave as they do according to heredity, or even animal instincts.The nurture side believes that people think and behave certain ways because they are taught to do so. Neither of the above is the correct answer to the question, â€Å"Why do we behave like that? â€Å" The accurate answer is that heredity, meaning nature, is a true fact, but it has a role of â€Å"basis†, in the building of our mind and personality. The biggest impact in our developmen t is the environment in which we live and grow up: the nurture side. Therefore, nature is mostly influenced by nurture. Many scientists and authors have been arguing for the correct side, between nature and nurture.For example, William Golding, the English writer who wrote the book, Lord Of The Flies, states generally that every man has a capacity to be â€Å"evil† from the beginning of his life. This statement shows that from the point of view of Golding, every person has an inherited characteristic, which would basically mean he is on the nature side of the debate. Another notable person that agreed with the nature side of the polemic was the scientist, Francis Galton, cousin of Charles Darwin, the famous naturalist.Galton was the man who first started the debate between hereditarians, a group of people who believe that heredity determinates our human nature, and environmentalists, people who believe that our environment has the biggest impact on our development. In 1865, h e began to study heredity, basically the idea of nature. This was partly influenced by reading Darwin's publication, Origin of Species. This â€Å"thirst† for knowledge led him to do very significant and important studies, the twin studies, hoping to find the different contributions of nature and nurture.His huge contribution to the debate, especially to the nature side, proves that he agreed with the theory of heredity. As mentioned earlier, Galton had a cousin named Charles Darwin. He was a British naturalist and big defender of the nature side of the debate. According to the Indian University Archives, without Darwin there would be no nature vs. nurture debate. Darwin wrote various pages on his autobiography about his family’s contributions to his intelligence. However, he attributed his intellectual success on nature, not nurture. Proof is provided by, this sentence that he wrote about his brother: †¦I do not think that I owe much to him intellectually-nor to my four sisters†¦I am inclined to agree with Francis Galton in believing that education and environment produce only a small effect on the mind of any one, and that most of our qualities are innate â€Å"(Darwin, 43). Darwin believed that intelligent behavior came from the instincts of our previous, nonhuman ancestors. This proves that Charles Darwin, one of the brightest minds of the 19th century believed in the nature part of the argumentation. The point clearly stated through these three examples is that, the genetic predisposition (heredity) is real.Genetic predisposition may be a fact, but it isn’t the reason why we behave the way we do. Heredity is only the basis. The formation of ourselves is due to the environment in which we grow up. An example of this theory is shown, Lord of the Flies. In the book, a group of kids find themselves all alone on an island. In this group we find different characters with diverse personalities and manners. Also, as previously ment ioned, Golding, the author of the book, believed that everybody has the capacity of being evil. The kids in the story start developing that initial evil due to the new environment in which they live.A hostile, unknown, scary and dangerous environment; leads to the development of an aggressive and violent comportment. In the book, we see that in the first chapters, Jack is a born leader with self-control. Generally he appears as a normal kid. But, as the story progresses, and the kids find new problems on the island, he starts developing â€Å"his evil†. At the end, he becomes a belligerent and confrontational leader of a violent mob. The new environment in which he lives causes this enormous change in his personality. Another example situated in the book is the case of Ralph.He is also a born leader, a boy who listens to reason and logic, and someone who always finds solutions to his problems. But, in this new environment, as the kids around him start being â€Å"evil† , he starts losing his self-control, and develops a new character, where he is not the boy that he was before. This change occurs when Ralph joins Jack’s mob and starts dancing with them: â€Å"Piggy and Ralph under the threat of the sky, found themselves eager to take a place in this demented but partly secured society â€Å"(Golding, 152) . The last example is the case of Piggy. He is a tormented kid, a victim of bullying, but deep down he is a smart boy.In the book he finds himself being insulted by Jack all the time. For instance when Jack says: â€Å"Better call you Piggy than Fatty â€Å" (Golding, 26 ) . The results of this bullying are that he can’t say his opinion or ideas when he is around of Jack, opinions that could be very helpful sometimes. But later in the story, when Jack leaves the group, and the environment of their small society becomes more friendly and calm, he feels more free and happy and he finally express his opinion and shows his intellige nt ideas to everybody, so basically the change of environment change him too.The point I want to make with my examples, is that, we may all have, a â€Å"groundwork† , our initial nature that we inherited from our parents, but the biggest impact in the development of our personality is the environment in which we grow up, which can completely change us, like the characters in Lord Of The Flies†¦ Supporting my theory, Judith Rich Harris, the author of the book : The Nurture Assumption: Why Children Turn Out the Way They Do . She generally says in her book that she challenges the idea that the personality of adults is determined chiefly by the way they were raised by their parents.She also says that the role of genetics in personality has long been accepted in psychological research, however, even identical twins, which share the same genes, are not exactly alike, so inheritance is not all. Another example that proves the theory that nurture has the most impact in our pers onality is the case of Genie. Genie was a girl who spent nearly all her childhood inside a bedroom. She was a victim of one of the most severe cases of social isolation in American history (ABCnews). The police discovered her in 1970 after spending all her life tide to a chair.The result of this loneliness, was that she was unable to speak, walk, socialize, and generally being normal after being rescued. We can see, that due to the fact that she was in an isolated and lonely environment her attitude and personality weren’t usual, so this proves that the environment in which somebody lives has a direct connection with his/hers development, even if she inherited a bright and regular attitude from her family. To finish ill say that heredity is a well known, scientifically proved, theory. A fact.But without the help of nurture, it isn’t accurate. We become who we are, and we act the way we do because we are taught to do so. That’s how we learned . It doesn’t matter how our genes are, and what we inherited from our parents. The environment in which we live in will define us. â€Å"Genetic predisposition is not destiny â€Å" David Kranzler WHEN THE BRITISH EDUCATOR Richard Mulcaster wrote in 1582 that †Nature makes the boy toward, nurture sees him forward,† he gave the world a euphonious name for an opposition that has been debated ever since.People's beliefs about the roles of heredity and environment affect their opinions on an astonishing range of topics. Do adolescents engage in violence and substance abuse because of the way their parents treated them as toddlers? Are people inherently selfish and aggressive, which would justify a market economy and a strong police, or could they become peaceable and cooperative, allowing the state to wither and a spontaneous socialism to blossom? Is there a universal aesthetic that allows great art to transcend time and place, or are people's tastes determined by their era and culture ?With so much at stake, it is no surprise that debates over nature and nurture evoke such strong feelings. Much of the heat comes from framing the issues as all-or-none dichotomies, and some of it can be transformed into light with a little nuance. Humans, of course, are not exclusively selfish or generous (or nasty or noble); they are driven by competing motives elicited in different circumstances. Although no aspect of the mind is unaffected by learning, the brain has to come equipped with complex neural circuitry to make that learning possible.And if genes affect behavior, it is not by pulling the strings of the muscles directly, but via their intricate effects on a growing brain. By now most thinking people have come to distrust any radical who would seem to say that the mind is a blank slate that is filled entirely by its environment, or that genes control our behavior like a player piano. Many scientists, particularly those who don't study humans, have gone further and express ed the hope that the nature-nurture debate will simply go away.Surely, they say, all behavior emerges from an inextricable interaction between heredity and environment during development. Trying to distinguish them can only stifle productive research and lead to sterile polemics. But moderation, like all things, can be taken to extremes. The belief that it's simplistic to distinguish nature and nurture is itself simplistic. The contributions of this opposition to our understanding of mind and society are far from obvious, and many supposedly reasonable compromises turn out, under closer scrutiny, to be anything but.Let's consider some of the †reasonable† beliefs of the radical moderates. ‘Reasonable† Belief No. 1: No one believes in the extreme †nurture† position that the mind is a blank slate. Certainly few people today endorse the blank slate in so many words, and I suspect that even fewer believe it in their heart of hearts. But many people sti ll tacitly assume that nurture is everything when they write opinion pieces, conduct research, and translate the research into policy. Most parenting advice, for example, is inspired by studies that find a correlation between parents and children.Loving parents have confident children, authoritative parents (neither too permissive nor too punitive) have well-behaved children, parents who talk to their children have children with better language skills, and so on. Everyone concludes that to rear the best children, parents must be loving, authoritative, and talkative, and if children don't turn out well, it must be the parents' fault. But there is a basic problem with this reasoning, and it comes from the tacit assumption that children are blank slates. Parents, remember, provide their children with genes, not just a home environment.The correlations between parents and children may be telling us only that the same genes that make adults loving, authoritative, and talkative make their children self-confident, well behaved, and articulate. Until the studies are redone with adopted children (who get only their environment, not their genes, from their parents), the data are compatible with the possibility that genes make all the difference, the possibility that parenting makes all the difference, or anything in between. Yet in almost every instance, the most extreme position – that parents are everything – is the only one researchers entertain.Another example: To a biologist the first question to ask in understanding conflict between organisms of the same species is †How are they related? † In all social species, relatives are more likely to help each other, and nonrelatives are more likely to hurt each other. (That is because relatives share genes, so any gene that biases an organism to help a close relative will also, some of the time, be helping a copy of itself, and will thereby increase its own chances of prevailing over evolutionary time. But when the psychologists Martin Daly and Margo Wilson checked the literature on child abuse to see whether stepparents were more likely to abuse their children than biological parents, they discovered not only that no one had ever tested the possibility, but that most statistics on child abuse did not even record the information – stepparents and biological parents were lumped together, as if the difference couldn't possibly matter. When Daly and Wilson did track down the relevant statistics, their hunch was confirmed: Having a stepparent is the largest risk factor for child abuse ever examined.The finding was by no means banal: Many parenting experts insist that the hostile stepparent is a myth originating in Cinderella stories, and that parenting is a †role† that anyone can take on. For agencies that monitor and seek to prevent child abuse the finding of a greater risk with stepparents could be critical information. But because of the refusal to entertai n the idea that human emotions are products of evolution, no one had ever thought to check. †Reasonable† Belief No. 2: For every question about nature and nurture, the correct answer is †Some of each. † Not so.Take the question, †Why do people in England speak English, and people in Japan Japanese? † The †reasonable compromise† would be that the Japanese have genes that make it easier for them to learn Japanese (and vice versa for the English), but both groups must be exposed to the language to acquire it fully. This compromise, of course, is not reasonable at all; it's false. Immigrant children acquire the language of their adopted home perfectly, showing that people are not predisposed to learn the language of their ancestors (though they may be predisposed to learn language in general).The explanation for why people in different countries speak different languages is 100 percent environmental. And sometimes the answer goes the other way. Autism, for example, used to be blamed on †refrigerator mothers† who did not emotionally engage with their children. Schizophrenia was thought to be caused by mothers who put their children in †double binds† (such as the Jewish mother who gave her son two shirts for his birthday, and when he turned up wearing one of them, said, †The other one you didn't like? †).Today we know that autism and schizophrenia are highly heritable, and though they are not completely determined by genes, the other likely contributors (toxins, pathogens, chance events in brain development) have nothing to do with parenting. Mothers don't deserve †some† of the blame if their children have these disorders, as a nature-nurture compromise would imply; they deserve none of it. †Reasonable† Belief No. 3: Disentangling nature and nurture is a hopeless task, so we shouldn't even try. On the contrary, perhaps the most unexpected and provocative disco very in 0th-century psychology came from an effort to distinguish nature and nurture in human development. For a long time, psychologists have studied individual differences in intellect and personality. They have assessed cognitive abilities using IQ tests, statistics on performance in school and on the job, and measurements of brain activity. They have assessed people's personalities using questionnaires, ratings by other people who know them well, and tallies of actual behavior such as divorces and brushes with the law. The measures suggest that our personalities differ in five major ways.We are to varying degrees introverted or extroverted, neurotic or stable, incurious or open to experience, agreeable or antagonistic, and conscientious or undirected. Where do these differences come from? Recall those flawed studies that test for the effects of parenting but forget to control for genetic relatedness. Behavioral geneticists have done studies that remedy those flaws and have disco vered that intelligence, personality, overall happiness, and many other traits are partly (though never completely) heritable.That is, some of the variation in the traits among people in a given culture can be attributed to differences in their genes. The conclusion comes from three different kinds of research, each teasing apart genes and environment in a different way. First, identical twins reared apart (who share their genes but not their family environment) are far more similar to each other than randomly selected pairs of people. Second, identical twins reared together (who share their environment and all their genes) are more similar than fraternal twins reared together (who share their environment but only half their genes).Third, biological siblings reared together (who share their environment and half their genes) are more similar than adoptive siblings (who share their environment but none of their genes). In each comparison, the more genes a pair of people share (holding environment more or less constant), the more similar they are. These studies have been replicated in large samples from many countries, and have ruled out the alternative explanations that have been proposed. Of course, concrete traits that patently depend on content provided by the home or culture are not heritable at all, such as the language you speak, the eligion you worship in, and the political party you belong to. But the underlying talents and temperaments are heritable: how proficient with language you are, how receptive to religion, how hidebound or open to change. So genes play a role in making us different from our neighbors, and our environments play an equally important role. At this point most people leap to the following conclusion: We are shaped both by our genes and by our family upbringing: how our parents treated us and what kind of home we grew up in.Not so fast. †The environment† and †our parents and home† are not the same thing. Behavi oral genetics allows us to distinguish two very different ways in which our environments might affect us. The shared environment is what impinges on us and our siblings alike: our parents, our home life, and our neighborhood (as compared with other parents and neighborhoods). The unique environment is everything else: anything that happens to us over the course of our lives that does not necessarily happen to our siblings.Remarkably, study after study has failed to turn up appreciable effects of the shared environment – often to the shock and dismay of the researchers themselves, who started out convinced that the nongenetic variation in personality had to come from the family. First, they've found, adult siblings are equally similar whether they grew up together or apart. Second, adoptive siblings are no more similar than two people plucked off the street at random. And third, identical twins who grew up in the same home are no more similar than one would expect from the eff ects of their shared genes.Whatever experiences siblings share by growing up in the same home in a given culture makes little or no difference in the kind of people they turn out to be. The implications, drawn out most clearly by Judith Rich Harris in her 1998 book †The Nurture Assumption,† are mind-boggling. According to a popular saying, †as the twig is bent, so grows the branch. † Patients in traditional forms of psychotherapy while away their 50 minutes reliving childhood conflicts and learning to blame their unhappiness on how their parents treated them.Many biographies scavenge through the subject's childhood for the roots of the grown-up's tragedies and triumphs. †Parenting experts† make women feel like ogres if they slip out of the house to work or skip a reading of †Goodnight Moon. † All these deeply held beliefs will have to be rethought. It's not that parents don't matter at all. Extreme cases of abuse and neglect can leave permanent scars. Skills like reading and playing a musical instrument can be imparted by parents.And parents affect their children's happiness in the home, their memories of how they were treated, and the quality of the lifelong relationship between parent and child. But parents don't seem to mold their children's intellects, personalities, or overall happiness for the rest of their lives. The implications for science are profound as well. Here is a puzzle: Identical twins growing up together have the same genes, family environments, and peer groups, but the correlations in their traits are only around 50 percent.Ergo, neither genes nor families nor peer groups, nor the interactions among these factors, can explain what makes them different. Researchers have hunted for other possible causes, such as sibling rivalry or differential treatment by parents, but none has panned out. As with Bob Dylan's Mister Jones, something is happening here but we don't know what it is. My own hunch is that the differences come largely from chance events in development. One twin lies one way in the womb and stakes out her share of the placenta, the other has to squeeze around her.A cosmic ray mutates a stretch of DNA, a neurotransmitter zigs instead of zags, the growth cone of an axon goes left instead of right, and one person's brain might gel into a slightly different configuration from another's, regardless of their genes. If chance in development is to explain the less-than-perfect similarity of identical twins, it says something interesting about development in general. One can imagine a developmental process in which millions of small chance events cancel one another out, leaving no difference in the end product.One can imagine a different process in which a chance event could derail development entirely, or send it on a chaotic path resulting in a freak or a monster. Neither of these results occurs with a pair of identical twins. They are distinct enough that our instrumen ts can pick up the differences, yet both are healthy instances of that staggeringly improbable, exquisitely engineered system we call a human being. The development of organisms must use complex feedback loops rather than prespecified blueprints.Random events can divert the trajectory of growth, but the trajectories are confined within an envelope of functioning designs for the species. These profound questions are not about nature vs. nurture. They are about nurture vs. nurture: about what, exactly, are the nongenetic causes of personality and intelligence. But the questions would never have come to light if researchers had not first taken measures to factor out the influence of nature, by showing that correlations between parents and children cannot glibly be attributed to parenting but might be attributable to shared genes.That was the first step that led them to measure the possible effects of parenting empirically, rather than simply assuming that those effects had to be all-po werful. The human brain has been called the most complex object in the known universe. No doubt many hypotheses that pit nature against nurture as a dichotomy, or that fail to distinguish the ways in which they might interact, will turn out to be simplistic or wrong.But that complexity does not mean we should fuzz up the issues by saying that it's all just too complicated to think about, or that some hypotheses should be treated a priori as necessarily true, necessarily false, or too dangerous to mention. As with other complex phenomena like inflation, cancer, and global warming, when it comes to the development of a human being we have no choice but to try to disentangle the causes. Steven Pinker is Peter de Florez Professor of Psychology at MIT and author of †The Language Instinct,† and †How the Mind Works. † This essay is adapted in part from his latest book, †The Blank Slate