Analyze and assess the understanding of the relationship between Essay

Analyze and assess the understanding of the relationship between Judaism and the modern world outlined in Jonathan Sacks' 'The Dignity of Diference' - Essay Example d has always resulted in clash of civilizations resulting in large scale devastation, melancholy, and disaster as is evident from the September 11, catastrophe in the United States. This sends out an unblemished message – that of the disastrous consequences of attempting to establish a single way of life in a multicultural society. Jonathan Sack’s book on The Dignity of Difference: How to avoid the clash of civilizations is based on this ongoing issue of changing face of religion in an age of globalization and its various implifications. For better or for worse, religion, has re – emerged amidst an atmosphere of heightened apprehension and uncertainty. And more often than not mankind is faced with its detrimental consequences. A careful study of religious sermons across the globe reveals that the apathy shown by the torchbearers of religion in the name of God, are often the result of the malicious intents of the highly manipulative religious leaders and their communities. A brief probe into the contemporary clashes spurred on religious grounds would reveal a series of non exhaustive and disheartening events that history has witnessed over the years, some of which are still ongoing, such as the clash between Hindus and Muslims in Kashmir, India, Jews and Palestinians in the Middle East, Catholics and Protestants in Northern Ireland, and the fearsome Taliban in Afghanistan. Sack’s book provides a stimulating and elevated view of his religious perceptions that seek to promote inter – cultural congeniality and benevolence. The author, being a staunch follower of Judaism: an orthodox Jew is highly religious and yet disapproves of overbearing display of one’s religious beliefs and its imposition on the followers of other faiths. His position as the chief rabbi of the United Hebrew Congregations of the Commonwealth1 and his approach towards following one’s own cultural values in a multicultural environment enables him to confront and enlighten aggravating

Human resources Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words - 3

Human resources - Essay Example On the other hand, human resource management has previously been defined as the act of managing an organizations workforce and is responsible for attracting, selecting, training, assessing and the rewarding the workers (Price, 2011). The field of human resource management is also responsible for overseeing an organization’s culture in addition to its leadership as it ensures they comply with the set labor and employment regulations (Aswathappa, 2009). Storye provided numerous dimensions offering various difference points between the concepts of personnel management and human resource management. This paper reviews and discusses some of these dimensions in regards to how they have impacted upon an organization’s structure and culture. Storye suggested that personnel management and human resource management differ in terms of the nature of existing relations and their impacts upon organizational structures and cultures. According to him, the nature of the relations can be viewed through two different perspectives which are the unitarist and the pluralist views (Storye, 1992). In personnel management, which is pluralist, more focus is laid on individual interests than is laid on the group’s interest. The relationships that exist between the managements and the employees are merely on contract basis with one party hiring while the other performs duties (Koster, 2007). Alternatively, human resources management follows the unitarist principles with more focus being laid on the groups’ interest (Aswathappa, 2009). The organization’s culture and structures under the human resources management enables the sharing of missions and visions between the workers and the management. These missions and visions are associated to the goals of the organization and help in fulfilling the organization’s and employees mutual interests (Storye, 1992). This implies that the organizations wants are effectively satisfied by the employees whereas the employees’ needs are efficiently satisfied by their organization (Brumfitt et al, 2001). However, under personnel management, the top management of an organization yields utmost power with most of it being centralized (Storye, 1992). The top level managers have absolute power in the process of making decisions with their personnel managers not being allowed to air their views or take part in these processes (Koster, 2007). This impacts the organizations culture and structures since the employees may not have appropriate channels through which they can air their grievances or views regarding the organizations operations (Aswathappa, 2009). The human resources department allows for the decentralization of the control of an organization with power being shared out between the lower and middle level managements. This facilitates the empowerment of employees and the human resource managers within the organization as they play vital roles in making decisions that are shared and collective (Price, 2011). The process is done for the benefit of both the organizations employees and the management (Brumfitt et al, 2001). In other words, the human resource managements focus more on the approaches known as TQM which implies that an organizations management and its employees have shared authority and power

Debate On Gender Difference Sociology Essay

Debate On Gender Difference Sociology Essay From the moment we born, people have already been attributed as male or female, which is classified by our biological differences of body. However, there are other characteristic, e.g. mental, social definitions of sexes, for dividing us into masculine or feminine. From the past to present, gender difference has long been a debatable topic in our society. Different approaches, mainly essentialism and constructionism, have different view on the origin of gender different. The main debate is that whether gender differences are socially constructed or derive from biological differences. In the following, I will first look back the essentialist and constructionist debate on the issue of gender difference. Then, whether gender is socially constructed in the aspect of family, education and mass media will be argued. For essentialist, it is agreed that gender differences are of an intrinsic of nature, which is related to psychological and physical differences of our body. Determined by different genes and hormones, everyone have their own particular features and attributes. That means that people are born either women or men, which depends on whether they have penis or vagina. Besides, it is argued that gender differences are propelled by natural force which resulted in inequalities between male and female. As men and women are born to be fundamentally different, it is impossible to have an equal society root and branch. Oppositely, the constructionist thinks that the gender roles are created culturally instead of biologically. They argued that gender roles are culturally resulted as our emotion, action, desire and relationships with others are affected by the society and people. As we interact with others every day, we will learn what the society expects for male and female. Through gender socialization, feminine or masculine roles will be taught to the children by various social institutions, e.g. family, region, law and so on. It is claimed that when an infant is born, gender socialization starts. We are doing gender through socially guided activities which shapes our perception of masculinity or femininity. For example, in our society, most of the women are allowed to wear dresses and high heels. While for men having this kind of dressing, they will be classified as abnormal. For this situation, the constructionist will argue that because of the society, it is socially acceptable for women to wear dresses and high heels. The society has a norm that women are allowed to have this kind of dressing and this concept shaped our mind. However, for essentialist, they will argue that it is due to the womens biological organ, women are normal for wearing dress and high heel. Instead of social construction, the distinctive biological dissimilarity of body create these differences. From the above, it is known that there is a fierce debate on whether gender is of biological differences or is socially constructed among essentialist and constructionist. To a larger extend, it is thought that gender is socially constructed. As we are living in a society that we interact with others every day, it is undeniable that gender socialization is happened to us from child to adult. In other words, both Masculinity and femininity is the result of socialization. Thus, this implies that society creates gender role and differences, which is consistent with the view of constructionist. In the following, I will explain how the gender is socially constructed by various agents, including family, education and mass media. From Lindsey (2011), Family is the most crucial primary socialization agent for children since first knowledge and value are learnt. Kimmel, 2011 also claimed that Gender socialization have begun when we born. It is believed that families have the power to affect individuals emotion, behaviors and values. So, during the process of growing of children, they will learn to understand their own gender. Norms and customs of different genders are learnt from parent primarily. When we are small, our parents encourage acts that are consistent with the norm of our gender and prevent us from doing some behavior that are of the opposite gender. For instance, girls are encouraged to play doll while boys are encouraged to play gun. For constructing gender of children by family, there are mainly four ways which is proposed by Ann Oakley. Manipulation is one of the ways that parent encourage behaviors that are appeared to be normal for the childrens gender. For example, boys are encouraged to join basketball practice while discouraged from joining ballet lessons. The second one, canalization, is that parent guides the childrens interest to the activities of their gender. One example is that girls are guided to play cooking sets. Verbal appellation which means that childrens gender are constructed through naming them. Cute girl, dont be so rude. is an apparent verbal expression which teaches the children appropriate act of their gender. The final method is by different activities. Parents usually arrange girls take part in indoor domestic activities while boys take part in outdoor activities. According social learning theory, it is stated that people learn the social behavior primarily by observing and imitating others behavior when they are young. Children spend most of their time at home with their parent which they may learn the gender role from them by observing. A recent research done by Charles (2002) supports this point. It shows that family have a gender stereotype that males generally work outside and females have caring roles. This implies that boys and girls learn this kind of role from observing their fathers and mothers behavior. In addition to family, education also plays a key role in constructing gender identity. School is a place that children are having second stage of socialization. It is clear that children spend most of the time at school after the age of three. So, Formal schooling provides a major medium for children to learn and reinforce the cultural expectations for males and females (Finn et al. 1980; Lee et al., 1994). At school, there is different treatment toward girls and boy. Teachers play a role in socializing girls towards femininity while boys toward masculinity as there must be interaction between teachers and students. From the words of the teacher, it already instills some gender characteristic for the students. For instance, girls are lauded for quiet and elegant, whereas boys are praised for active or speaking up by teachers. Clearly, role or norms of gender are shaped in this approach. Moreover, the content of textbooks or literature that is taught in the classroom may have some knowledge related to gender role. Some literatures with masculine pronoun or history that determined that role of men influence them as it may be the role models which are looking up. Besides, some gender roles are also distinguished from the curriculum. It is known that the curriculum is still different for girls and boys in some developing countries. For the case of Uganda, girls are receiving more knowledge related to family life and home while boys get information of sports or productive still. (Mirembe Davies, as cited in 9789241596435_eng, 2001) Another aspect of education which helps shaping the gender roles is the playground activities. Playground is a place that clearly distinguishes the gender role. For boys, they usually participate in sport game actively. For girls, they would have some social activities or indoor activities. Schools are made up of students with similar age and status. It is common to see that children with same gender play together. In this stage, children have already developed a much intense consciousness of gender identity. Thus, it will soon closure into a more rigid gender roles. From the above, we know that education is also one of agents which the gender constructed socially. Media contribute significantly to construction of gender in our early life. Media are the diversified media technologies that are tried to gain a large audience by mass communication. There are various kind of media, including broadcast, print, outdoor, internet, etc. Throne (1993) claimed that gender role stereotypes are often internalized by children from the media, especially television. Moreover, research done by Anderson, 1986 also shows that television influence childrens lives greatly. For teenagers, popular television drama and magazines help them develop and sustain the lifestyle of their gender through photos or dialogue. Prevalent gender ideologies or characteristics which imply gender differences are transmitted to the adolescent visually and verbally in the media. (Tinkler, 1995) For example, we seldom see male nurse in the television drama. In nowadays, since we have assumed that women are much more caring and benevolent to men, female are more suitable than male to be nurse. Again, gender differences can also be shown in the media which socially constructed the gender identity among male and female. Moreover, adolescents tend to share what they have read and saw through the media. By interaction between youngster, gender are constructed collaboratively. Moreover, it is claimed that presented gender behavior in images by music or movies help adolescents to take the idea of what meant to be a men or women. (Greenberg et al., as cited in d, 1986) When it comes to the media, gender stereotype are also found in different media, especially in propaganda. It is a powerful agent which affects our attitudes, beliefs and the values that we are of ourselves, others and the world. (1018899522353.pdf ) It is not difficult to find female or male stereotype among the news, magazines or on television. For example, advertisements promoting slimming programme and plastic surgery are found everywhere in Hong Kong, from magazine to MTRs advertisement board. Models in the propagandas are stereotyped that women should be slim, beautiful and with big breast. There are also some advertisements promoting masculinity among men. Muscular and powerful are the male characteristics which are stereotyped too. It is found that male characters were presented as a valued role model, but it were supermasculine with personal feature of aggression. (Peevers, as cited in mass media and gender, 1987). In most of the film, men are usually engaged in violent scenes of rape and kill. (Nelson, as cite in mass media and gender, 1985) This shown both good and bad men is aggressive. For instance, in film of Batman, Batman has an image that he is powerful, muscular, and aggressive in killing the bad guys. This c reates gender stereotype. As children or adolescent is easily access to these kinds of film, this kind of stereotype are easily instill in their mind which are process of gender construction. As a result, this kind of gender stereotype may change or shape the childrens view toward gender, which affect them constructing their gender. From the above, it is clear that gender is socially constructed through family, education and mass media. Besides, many socialization agents who are not mentioned play a role in shaping our gender identity. To a larger extend, it is thought that gender is socially constructed instead of biologically construct. Since we are exposed to different socialization agents every day and everywhere, it is impossible to say that we havent affected by the society. Famous sociologist George Herbert Mead also claimed that the self-identity is not present when we were first born, instead, it is developed with social experience.

Middle Childhood Essay -- Child Development, Early Childhood

A. Freeze Tag, is another variation of the game Tag. Where the person who is â€Å"it† tags everyone but instead of being out of the game once tagged, the person will be frozen in place until another player â€Å"un-freeze† the player, for instance by touching the frozen player on the shoulder. Freeze tag, first begins by gathering a group of players, deciding on who is â€Å"it†, determining this may be volunteering oneself or playing a game like rock, paper, scissor. After determining the person who is â€Å"it†, he or she will count up to a number allowing the other players to scatter, giving them enough time to get away from the person who is â€Å"it†. When the person is finish counting, he/she will chase others to tag, once they are tagged; the person is frozen in place. The only way to unfreeze them is when another player touches them. The object of the game is for the person who is â€Å"it† to freeze everyone in the game and the last p erson to be tagged is the next to become â€Å"it† in the next game. Freeze Tag age range, when children start playing and understanding the rules of freeze tag would be from age 5-8. B: Cognitive During the transaction from early childhood towards middle childhood, not only is there evidence of physical change but also mental change in children. In 1996 Janowsky & Carper, and Sowell et al.,(2007), noted the increase of myelination in the frontal cortex, allowing further development of mental development, for instance the increase focus of attention, able to solve complex problems, planning and also ability to reflection upon their actions (Lightfoot, pg393). In the game Freeze Tag, when a child is â€Å"frozen† after being touch by the person who is â€Å"it† another child might lead the person who is â€Å"it† towards them allowing a... ... that one is exercising and just enjoying while having fun. It’s also a stress release from the pressures and expectation of the outside world, being only focus only on the short fast period of time. Older children would probably show the same excitement of when they first started playing the game Freeze Tag. Having more self control when frozen and more of a concrete focus on mental operation and strategy. Freeze Tag at any age would bring back a feeling of nostalgia to people who are playing, a feeling of being stress free and just focusing on the goal of the game. That just involves playing with a group of people until they get tired of playing. Freeze Tag starts from when you can understand and comply with the rules until determining that you have no more energy to keep up, it’s basically an ageless game that will continue for many generations of children.

Care of a Dying Patient

My own perceptions about quality of life and health promotion might affect my care for a dying patient with a lingering illness such as cancer because the patient and I may have a different definition or outlook on what quality of life means. To me this would mean making the best of what little time the patient has left to live. Most importantly is to keep the patient comfortable which may include positioning the patient in bed, giving a gentle massage and administering pain medications if necessary. It is also very important to provide the patient and the family with emotional support.It seems as Mrs. Thomas’s children are somewhat distant at her time of need because they are upset about her condition and probably in denial because they know what her outcome will be. It would play a very crucial part in improving the quality of life for Mrs. Thomas if her children and their families would come to visit her in person. I know that this will be difficult for the children to see their mother suffering but her family should play an important role in emotional support. I think a visit from her children and their families would really uplift her spirits.Mrs. Thomas does not want take any pain medication because she does not want to become addicted to it but it should be explained to Mrs. Thomas that since she is truly in pain she will not become addicted to it. By Mrs. Thomas taking the pain medication it would not only help control her pain but it would also make Mr. Thomas feel more at ease knowing that she is comfortable and not suffering. Mr. Thomas is depressed because of Mrs. Thomas’s condition and he is not managing it very well and this is making Mrs. Thomas very sad.I think that getting a behavioral health specialist involved and providing the family with counseling with also improve the quality of life for Mrs. Thomas. I think that it would put Mrs. Thomas’s mind at ease knowing that Mr. Thomas is dealing with his depression professiona lly. Talking about their feelings to a professional with also help both of them better understand and cope with Mrs. Thomas’s condition. According to American Holistic Nurses Association (AHNA), holistic nursing is an â€Å"all nursing practice that has healing the whole person as its goal. A holistic nurse will not simply attempt to treat the physical symptoms of a disease or condition, but will consider the totality of the person being treated: mental, emotional, spiritual, social, cultural, relational, contextual and environmental aspects. Treating Mrs. Thomas holistically may not only help Mrs. Thomas but Mr. Thomas as well. As the community health nurse I would allow for Mr. Thomas to assist with Mrs. Thomas’s care when he is able to. At an institution where I once worked at offered â€Å"healing touch. During this time of healing touch the room would be made rather dark for calmness and comfort and soft calming music would be played. This is what I would recomm end starting with under my holistic care with Mrs. Thomas and Mr. Thomas may be present as well. During this time a light massage may also be preformed to assist with comforting Mrs. Thomas and hopefully assist with managing her pain. A way to assist Mrs. Thomas to optimize her functional ability would be to use range of motion (ROM) on her, which is when the nurse would mildly exercise her joints to minimize stiffness and Mr.Thomas may be taught how do range of motion as well. If Mrs. Thomas is not strong enough to walk to the bathroom I can assist in getting a bedside commode delivered to her home. I can also teach her how to transfer herself safely to the commode if she is strong enough or if she is unable to transfer herself I can also teach Mr. Thomas how to safely transfer herself and I could assist as well. As the community health nurse I could assist Mrs. Thomas with everyday care such as feeding, bathing and dressing herself. I would allow Mrs.Thomas to do as much as she ca n for herself. During the bed bath is a great time to apply lotion to her back and extremities and apply a gentle massage for comfort. I could also assist Mrs. Thomas with turning and positioning her in bed every 2 hours for comfort and to prevent skin breakdown. Mr. Thomas and I could assist her to complete feeding, bathing and dressing herself if she is unable to. Allowing her to perform as much tasks as she is able to will optimize her functional ability. According to Higuera, chronic depression can affect every aspect of a person’s life.The symptoms vary, but people with chronic depression often feel intense sadness and hopelessness. They have a negative outlook on life. As the community health nurse I could assist Mr. Thomas with his chronic depression by assisting him with getting in touch with a behavioral health specialist for one on one counseling. I could also assist Mr. Thomas with coming up with a medication plan that would work for him so that he can take his dep ression medications on a regular basis and hopefully not forget. I could also sit with Mr. Thomas and we could do some quiet relaxing breathing exercises together.I would also convince Mr. Thomas to take short and relaxing walks to clear his mind. I could also assist Mr. Thomas with checking with his employer to see if he could be relieved of some of his duties temporarily or take some time off from work. Although taking some time off from work may put a financial burden on their family but is may be best mentally and physically for both Mr. and Mrs. Thomas. One Mr. Thomas’s depression is managed appropriately then he can spend some quality time with Mrs. Thomas and enjoy just enjoy each other’s company.

African religion Essay

Religion is being described as the belief in a supernatural power considered as creator and governor of the universe. The indigenous African people honored a superior being before the recording of history. They practiced voodoos, witchcraft, black magic, obyah and oledamare. The foundation of African traditional religion is faith based upon dogmatism. They have the kind of faith that does not require any evidence. The African traditional religion has great belief in the presence of spirits. Spirits, for the ancient African people, may be found in people, trees, animals, rivers, rocks, and mountains, and also in automobiles. The Africans loathe crimes such as adultery, stealing, cheating, and suicide. The Africans believe that these spirits convey their wishes, demands and instructions to other people through the traditional priests. These priests perform rituals to the satisfaction of their clients who turn to them for the interpretation of the spirit’s message. In Africa, there is a ritual performed for every event which are held through a dance, music or art that have been transformed into many forms. Yes, Africans do have their religion which actually centers on God just like Christians do. God is being perceived as the source of life and the creator of everything. For the Africans, creation is the sole work of God and there’s no other explanation for creation other than this. God is viewed as the omnipotent, the everlasting, ever faithful and the most merciful Father. Symbols also play an important part in the African society. These are conveyd into the religious sphere to build a strong connection between the unseen â€Å"spirits† and the living. We see these symbols on walls or printed on the clothes worn by the traditional priests and other people who wish to express their mood through any of these symbols. Source: Aderibigbe G. , â€Å"African religion and Christianity in dialogue: an appraisal from the African perspective,† Africana Marburgensia 32 (1999),

History and Underlying Assumptions Essays

History and Underlying Assumptions Essays History and Underlying Assumptions Paper History and Underlying Assumptions Paper The Encyclopaedia Britannica (2010) defines Biological Psychology as the study of the interrelationship of biology and psychology that affects behaviour. In other words, it takes careful examination on the physiological bases of behaviour that is manifested by an individual in certain conditions. Biological Psychology as a discipline concerns itself with: the relationship between psychological processes and the underlying physiological events- or, in other words, the mind-body phenomenon. Its focus is the function of the brain and the rest of the nervous system in recognized as characteristic of humans and other animals (britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/458833/biological-psychology). Nervous system in activities refers to functions of the brain such as thinking, learning, perceiving, feeling and sensing. Biological Psychology concerns itself with the application of biological principles to the workings of the mind and bodily mechanisms. Biological Psychology is also known as Behavioural Neuroscience, Psychobiology and Biopsychology. Basically, biological psychology makes use of the biology to explain and understand the behaviour of both human beings and animals through the use of controlled experiments. To understand Biological Psychology, it is best to trace its history and developments through the years. Avicenna, in the year 980-1037 C.E., was the first to study and associate psychology and physiology in his study involving treatment of illnesses that are related to emotions. Wickens (2005) gave background on the emergence of biological psychology as a contemporary discipline under psychology. He explained that even before the time of Plato and Aristotle, the mind-body-problem was already emerging in both the scientific and philosophical world. In the 1600s, dualism became popular through the works of to Renà © Descartes. Descartes was the first to distinguish the brain from the mind and awareness. Other notable philosophers also contributed a lot in the development of biopsychology. These people maintained that psychological processes can be associated with biological or physiological processes. The Principles of Psychology as written by William James in 1890 was one of the earliest books in the field of Biological Psychology. James argued that biology is always vital in the scientific study of psychology. Psychology must be grounded on the principles of biology. Influential scientific researcher made by William Harvey, Claude Bernard and Charles Bell also reinforced the legitimacy of the connections between psychology and biology. Moreover, the term Biological Psychology was made popular in the modern era through the work of Knight Dunlap in his publication entitles â€Å"An Outline of Psychobiology†. Leahey (2000) explained that Dunlap has published his research with great emphasis on the interconnection of mental and bodily functions and behaviours which has become the basis for the general validity of the discipline of biological psychology. The study of Biological Psychology also stems from the knowledge base of other disciplines such as psychology, biology, genetics and neurology. All these disciples are vital in explaining behaviour of animals and humans beings. The human brain is very complex that is why understanding it would require several inputs from other disciplines. Psychology and biology together with other related sciences can explain the workings of the mind in relations to bodily functions. It cannot be isolated from other disciplines as it is itself a product of a convergence of disciplines. Considering the scope and themes of Biological Psychology such as brain and behaviour, development of the nervous system, control and coordination of perception and actions, motivations, language and cognitive processes, memory mechanisms, mental disorders and emotional problems, it is indeed imperative that inputs from other sciences are being applied to biological psychology. All other disciplines overlap in biological psychology as this is crucial in the holistic understanding of the biological and physiological interconnectedness.