Monday, September 30, 2019

Positive Relationship

HKU SPACE Community College Today’s agenda: ? After this class, you are expected to know : I. The features of a healthy relationship II. How to initiate interactions III. How to enrich a relationship How can you apply any one of the elements to improve relationships in your life? There are questions for your self-reflection! 2 I. Features of healthy relationship 1. Genuineness (Rogers, 1980) ? Revealing your true self and striving to be honest. ? More than absence of lying; openness and authenticity are significant facets. 3 I. Features of healthy relationship 2. Unconditional positive regard (Rogers, 1980) ?Warm acceptance of each other’s personhood. ? Positive responses not because of any conditions or reasons. ? , ? ? ? ? ? ? , ? ? ? ? ? I would love you most if you become the best among your classmates. 4 I. Features of healthy relationship 3. Empathy (Rogers, 1980) ? Ability to experience others’ perspectives, feelings, ideas and emotions. ? Feel what the o thers feel, being able to â€Å"put yourself into others’ place†. 5 I. Features of healthy relationship 4. Enjoyments of joy and â€Å"up†. ? Feeling of energized. ? Feeling better emotionally after meeting each other. ? Feeling 6 I. Features of healthy relationship . Self-disclosure ? As people reveal more of the hidden selves, a powerful basis for trust and understanding can be formed. 7 I. Features of healthy relationship 6. Dependability ? Can rely on each other. ? The feeling that you can count on the other to treat you fairly, and this is reciprocated. 8 ? Codependency ? ? ? Codependency is NOT one of the features of healthy relationship. Harmful to the parties involved in the relationships. Codependents feel compelled to help others. They are (excessively) responsive to the needs of the world to the exclusion of their own needs. ?Do you always try to please or help others to an extent that you may hurt yourself and others? 9 I. Features of healthy relatio nship 7. High self-esteem ? ? Enable one to reach out positively to others. I am ok, you are ok. 10 Self-reflection! ? ? ? ? ? ? ? Can you often show your true self to others? Do you like a person just because s/he does you good favors? Can you often empathize with others? Can you often disclose yourself to others with ease? Do you often find lots of fun when interacting with others? Do you have someone whom you can depend on in your life, if not, any possible reasons?Do you think that â€Å"I am ok, others are ok too†? 11 II. Initiating Interactions 1. 2. 3. 4. Managing first impression Tolerance, Acceptance and Appreciation Overcoming shyness Approaching people 12 1. Managing first impressions ? You have only one chance to leave a first impression to other people. On the other hand†¦. ? Be open to your first impression on others. ? Allow time and involvement to verify your first impression. 13 2. From Tolerance, Acceptance to Appreciation ? Tolerance of people who are different is a worthy, basic goal of interpersonal relations. Social Categorization (For instance, French) ?Stereotyping (Stereotypic labels towards French, such as romantic, stylish, dirty) ? Prejudice (negative attitudes towards French) ? Discrimination (unfair treatment towards French) 14 ? 3. Overcoming shyness ? ? Move beyond passiveness and inaction Start with small behavioral changes ? Sincere smile to your classmates ? Say â€Å"hi† or â€Å"good morning†to classmates 15 4. Approaching people ? ? Looking for approachability cues. ? Approach someone when he/she is in a hurry, involved in other issues? ? Or when they are waiting for a class to start, sit alone and looked open? Checking for approachability. Can I talk to you for 5 mins? ? Are you busy right now? 16 Self-reflection! ? ? ? ? Do you judge a person immediately based on the first impressions? Do you often prejudice people based on their social categories? Do you often disturb others because you never c heck for approachability? Do you often find it hard to converse with others? 17 III. How to enrich a relationship 1. Realistic expectation of relationships ? No one is perfect, neither are relationships ? I expect I would always be happy in the relationship. 18 2. Sensitivity ? Having an awareness about the perceptions and perspectives of others ?You sense that your friend is a bit unusual today, hence offers concerns and/help. 3. Appreciation ? Do you often deliver sincere compliments to people around you? 19 4. Little act of kindness ? ? ? Not time-consuming favors but brings significant joy Induce a helping and caring atmosphere The effects usually have been overlooked Demonstrate a little act of kindness to the person next to you NOW. 20 5. Assertiveness ? Maintain one’s legitimate rights and expressing thoughts and feelings in nonthreatening ways. Decline other’s requests assertively without feeling guilty ? ? I can’t help you this time, I need to finish so me other important things. † 21 6. Negotiation skills ? Conflicts is NOT a matter of right or wrong but is only caused by difference in opinions. Five Styles of managing conflict (Putnam, 1990; Thomas, 1988, cited in Weiten & Lloyd, 2000) ? 22 ? (1) Avoidance ? ? low concern for self and other People who prefer this style believe that ignoring a problem will make it go away Low concern for self, high concern for others Accommodator feels uncomfortable with conflict High concern for self, low concern for others Competitors possibly turn conflict into a win-lose situation ? (2) Accommodation ? ? (3) Competition ? ? 23 ? (4) Compromise ? ? Moderate concern for self and others Compromisers may give up something so both can have partial satisfaction. High concern for self and others Involves a sincere effort to find a solution that will maximize the satisfaction to both parties Conflict is viewed as a mutual problem to be solved as effectively as possible 24 ? (5) Collaboration ? ? ? 7. Supportiveness What is the most supportive utterance or gesture you have ever met? Empathy is important ? Verbal communication ? â€Å"Cry if it makes you feel better. I will be there for you. † ? ? Nonverbal ? a hug or a touch at shouldersJust â€Å"borrow your ears† patiently ? Empowering the person â€Å"I know you have been strong and tough. I believe that you can pass through the hard time. † 25 8. Dealing with difficult people If one of your group members doesn’t show much effort on the group project (e. g. , often late for the project meetings, submit work late), how can you deal with him/her? 26 Being assertive! ? Being patient, giving people more than one chance, and being empathic! ? Change your reality: just being she was short-tempered doesn’t mean it’s going to ruin my day! ? 27 Self-reflection! ? ? ? Can you express yourself truly while respecting other persons’ rights?Do you know how to resolve conflicts with othe rs successfully? Do you often show support to others when they are in need? 28 Work on your relationships with the knowledge. It’s only YOU who can bring about the betterments. 29 References Hanna, S. L. , Suggett, R. , & Radtke, D. (2007). Person to person: Positive relationships don’t just happen (5th ed. ). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice-Hall. Rogers, C. (1980). A way of being. Boston, MA: Houghton Mifflin. Weiten, W. , & Lloyd, M. A. (2000). Psychology applied to modern life: Adjustment at the turn of the century (6th ed). Stamford, CT: Wadsworth. 30

Life and Margaret Atwood Essay

This quotation was taken from Margaret Atwood’s story, â€Å"Homelanding.† This story recounts many aspects of human existence from an outside view, as if it was being told to an alien race. This story tells about human appearance, sex (both difference and the act of), sunbathing, sleeping, death, and many other human functions in a scientific way. This story takes a step away from the normal way of describing these objects. For example, Margaret Atwood talks about eating and describes it by saying â€Å"I destroy and assimilate certain parts of my surroundings and change them into myself.† Most people who have had human contact their whole life consider eating putting food in their mouths, chewing, and swallowing. This quotation at the beginning of the story shows that the author knows that she is writing this for a human audience. She starts this off with the line, â€Å"Where should I begin?† This is more of a conversational style that draws the reader into this as if she was talking directly to the reader. The human reader is supposed to take the role of the alien race. The reader has to take a duality of being both a human and from an alien race who has no knowledge of anything human. The next line restates this with, â€Å"After all you have never been there; or if you have you may not have understood the significance of what you say or thought you saw.† An alien race would never have been to earth, yet the human reader has spent his whole life on earth if never stopping to think of the significance of what he is seeing. The next line is: â€Å"A window is a window, but there is looking out and looking in.† This can be seen in all the number of times that someone sees something in someone else that the person does not see in himself. For example, often a teacher is responsible for helping a student develop a talent that was there but the student did not know that he had it. This story is attempting to do the same and show the reader characteristics that mankind has but do not know it has. In the next line, this is reiterated with the statement, â€Å"The native you glimpsed, disappearing behind the curtain, or into the bushes, or down the manhole in the mainstreet–my people are shy–may have only been your own reflection in the glass.† This shows the reader is the reflection in the glass and is seeing a portrait of himself in the story. Storytelling is often used to teach a lesson to the reader or listener. One of the most read examples of this is the Bible. Jesus often spoke in parables to help teach lessons to his listeners. This story attempts to make us take a step away from  ourselves and see ourselves in a different light so we could possibly understand ourselves better.

Saturday, September 28, 2019

Henry Lee Lucas Essay

Henry Lee Lucas On July 11th 1983, a drifter named Henry Lee Lucas was arrested for illegal possession of a fire arm by a felon. Lucas was not at all happy about being locked up, because they were supposedly depriving him of cigarettes and coffee. After being locked up for 4 days, he admitted to one of the jailers that he had â€Å"done some bad things†. He told that he had killed for the last 10 years. He was already a suspect in 2 murders, and the offices were sure that they would soon have enough information to close these 2 cases. Lucas admitted that he had killed Kate Rich and Becky Powell. While in court for these murders, he admitted that he’d had sex with the body, cut it into pieces and burned it in a wood stove. He also said that he had killed at least a hundred more. Police started questioning Lucas about other unsolved murders all over the country. He would admit to them and tell them some details about the crime that would link him to it. Over a period of time, he started offering more information about murders that he had not even been questioned about. He said that he usually picked up hitchhikers then he would quickly kill them and have sex with the body because he preferred sexual contact with a corpse. He generally used a knife or strangulation, but said that he liked to try different methods so that he didn’t leave a pattern for the police to follow. Lucas also later confessed to killing his mother. He said that she was an alcoholic and was mean to him. Some claims say that she supported the family by bootlegging and prostitution. Lucas claimed that his mother made him watch her entertain her clients. He claims that after walking out of the room one time because he was disgusted with her actions, she found him and hit him in the head with a wooden board. He said that after that, he had dizzy spells and headaches. On January 11, 1960, Lucas and his mother got into an argument and Lucas grabbed a knife and plunged it into her neck. He was convicted of second degree murder and sentenced to 20 years. He served 10. Another claim that he made was that of one of his mother’s clients. He said that this man turned him on to bestiality by showing him how to have sex with the corpse of a dog or sheep. He said that he first killed someone just before he turned 15. He said that the reason was so that he could see what it felt like to have sex with a human. Lucas had a traveling companion/lover named Odis Toole. Toole supposedly assisted Lucas in these heinous crimes. Toole’s niece, Becky Powell, began to travel with them. Lucas began to fall in love with her. He decided to take Becky for himself, so he and Becky left Toole and went to TX. Toole was not happy about them leaving. He had lost his longtime lover and his niece. He supposedly killed several people over a 6 month period of time. He also confessed to kidnapping and killing a small boy named, Adam Walsh. Adam’s father was inspired after the killing of his son, to start the popular show, America’s Most Wanted. After living in TX for a while, Becky wanted to come home. Lucas resisted, but later told her to gather her things. They began to hitchhike. He continued trying to get her to change her mind. She did not. At one point, they got into an argument and she slapped him. He took his knife and stabbed her in the heart. He drug her off over and embankment and had sex with her corpse. He cut her up into 9 pieces and spread them over a field. He later returned and gathered the pieces and buried them under a tree. He then returned to where they were living in TX, and to a lady named Kate Rich. He wanted to kill again. He asked Kate if she wanted to help him look for Becky (knowing that she was dead). She agreed and went with him. He drove to the end of a dirt road and stabbed Kate in the side, puncturing her heart. He was immediately aroused. He dragged her from the car and had sex with her body. He cut her up, also, and took her back to where they were living in TX and put her in a stove to burn her remains. After much investigation, and examination of the times and places that some of the murders took place that Lucas had admitted to , police began to question whether or not he was telling the truth. They later figured out that he was lying about several of the instances, because some of them were even committed when he was locked up for other crimes that he had committed. It was also found that he was known to be in a different place when he claimed to have killed in another state many miles away. Lucas claimed to have committed over 360 murders. It was eventually claimed that the police were so interested in closing some of their open murder cases that they would show Lucas the case files to â€Å"refresh his memory†. He in turn used it to his benefit by tying himself to the murders by telling evidence that was never released to the public. The police actually cleared around 213 cases through Lucas’ confessions. He was convicted of only 11 homicides; although some criminologist say that he was responsible for between 40-50 murders. In 1998, Gov. George W. Bush of TX commuted the death penalty that Lucas was handed, to a sentence of life.

Friday, September 27, 2019

Annotated Bibliography Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words - 4

Annotated Bibliography - Essay Example The interests of the developed countries have not only remained protected, but have further explored. The level of competition has never distracted the economic and trade activities of the developed countries, much because the level of competition among the developed countries is diluted. Dell (2001) has concluded that the globalization has however resulted in the era of greater interdependence of the economies due to the provisions of the free trade and relaxed taxation policy, therefore the pace of political and economic convergence increased dramatically over the past few decades as states appear increasingly similar in terms of their political structures and economic functions. In the view of the above listed facts, the US Presidential candidates Republican John McCain and Democrat Obama have emerged in the field in quest for the presidential throne. Roger (2008) has supported Obama’s stand, the presidential nominee has adopted liberal economic policies with non-specific mentioned of taxation policies. Roger (2008) reported that the Democrat candidate, globalization of economy has weakened the states, control over their societies; thus, globalization promotes civil liberties and, eventually, democracy, through socioeconomic development, and this caused has resulted in the independence of the United states, therefore the globalization commenced soon after the independence of the United states, the integration of national economies into the global market place has served as a catalyst to the states political liberalization Republican Senator McCain has warned that the globalization has certain limitations; however the extent of those has diminished with the passage of time. Tom (2008) reported that the convergence on the economic and trade agenda has motivated the United States to develop mutual and cordial understanding with the developing countries, and such collaboration has

Thursday, September 26, 2019

Starwood Group of Hotels and Resorts Marketing Plan Essay

Starwood Group of Hotels and Resorts Marketing Plan - Essay Example The essay "Starwood Group of Hotels and Resorts Marketing Plan" aims at analyzing the profile of "Starwood group of Hotels and Resorts" company and recommending a one-year marketing plan for the company to improve the revenues and current standing of the company. The paper briefly touches upon the current standing of the group.Starwood has a large number of hotels worldwide naming a few: St. Regis, The Luxury Collection, Westin, Sheraton, Le Meridien, Aloft, Four Points, W, and Element. As of 31st December 2007, Starwood group’s portfolio included a total of 897 Hotels with 275,000 rooms across 100 countries that primarily cater to the upscale markets of the lodging industry. The company employs about 145,000 people and has its head quarters in White Plains, New York. Starwood has created a brand name for itself worldwide and has been able to gain a high number of loyal customers. The group has provided good service to customers and has received a number of positive feedbacks from the customers. The popularity of the group is seen clearly by its ranking in the Worldwide Top 10 hotels. Starwood has over 897 hotels worldwide which show the large operational scale. Starwood has grown by 3.0% in one year and this shows how rapidly the company is expanding and now has almost half the number of rooms as its biggest competitor. The main assets of a hotel are the properties owned by it. Starwood has ensured to get very distinct properties and has built the hotels in locations that are very sophisticated.

Humanities Ethics Coursework Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words - 2

Humanities Ethics - Coursework Example Application of this understanding is equally to restate that human sexuality is to exhibit divine purpose that justifies why it is immoral to engage in sexual activities without the slightest intention and obligation to deliver the finality of the act. In other words, sexual activities are only mandated to be used for purposes of procreation. This one and the only end desire as evinced by the moral discourses. It is explained that only people in marriage that have the absolute authority of giving birth to offspring. Reproduction is essential in human life for the extensions of lineage (White 264). The family owns the moral objective ensuring that human beings multiply to fill the world as stated in the bible. The declaration does not however provide adequate information on giving birth to offspring outside the wedlock, but rather offers a poignant illustration on the danger of having children outside binding relationships that are sanctioned and approved by the society. For instance, if premarital sex can be used to raise offspring then there is a huge possibility that the family as a unit and a value will crumble (White 263). There will be immoral binding between such couples hence families will disappear and no one would take care of children. Sexual activities must therefore be for purposes of achieving the moral finality bestowed upon such an act, and this finality is procreation or reproduction. Other sexual engagements like homosexuality, pre-marital sex, masturbation are immoral since they do not possess any bit of the sexual moral teleology. They are meant simply for entertainment and recreation hence not justified by a moral discourse. There is no form explanation that can support sexual engagements outside marriage since they are not only valid for such important engagements b9ut most of them lack the ability to do so. It is immoral and unjustified by any available moral discourse. They do not meet the expectation of sexual activities as important and divine act given by the most high. 2. Explain the two sides of the debate regarding homosexual marriage and traditional heterosexual marriage, citing arguments both for and against. Which side appears to carry the weightiest arguments? Why? In a balance of acts, the society has undergone extremely severe changes. Many issues have not only cropped up, but they have delivered with them â€Å"moral justifications† for the respective acts. A huge proliferation of sexual acts has made the society succumb to a state of confusion. Many people are engaging in sexual activities such as homosexuality and masturbations. Homosexuality has gone to an extent of being integrated and accepted as a normal sexual act, hence people engaging in such kind of sexual activities should not be demonized or punished. In one way, this reasoning may be right because all human beings have the natural rights and freedom. They also have the constitutional right of liberty hence things that they do in thei r private lives should not be used against them as long as such acts do not affect others or those around them (White 274). On the other hand, these acts beat the logics of sexual morality. They do not see sexual engagements as unique phenomenon that is only entitled to provide the medium of reproduction or procreation. They defy the holiness that the religious moral emphasize in many occasions. Most of the religious mor

Wednesday, September 25, 2019

Enviromental issue Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Enviromental issue - Research Paper Example The severity of air pollution in China and the extent it creates serious health hazards are evident from alarm that its people are warned are warned to stay indoor in order save their breath from contaminated air. This piece of paper considers three articles that talk about air pollution and its effects on human environment and sums up major emphasizes from those articles. This paper is to analyze how media, based on these articles, played its role in spreading about this severe environmental issue and what solutions have been recommended by them to make people aware of its severity. Air Pollution: a superpower in to a ‘worst-land’? (defining the issue) BBC in August 2006 reported, in an article titled ‘China hit by raising air pollution’ that China has become world’s largest sulphur dioxide polluter, due to that it has emitted 26 million tons of the gas in 2005, showing a 27% increase from the figure of 2000. This excesses emissions of sulfur dioxide has been causing acid rains in different part of China and other parts of the world. As Kahn and Yardley noted in their article- ‘As China Roars, Pollution Reaches Deadly Extremes’, published in New York Times (2007), China’s air pollution itself is a cancer leading to a large number of deaths. Costs yield benefits. Its economically true and naturally very evident, especially from China’s case. This fact has been highlighted in their article. China, being unparalleled in the history, emerged as a major industrial power, but created a legacy of environmental issue, air pollution that may negate all the credits its economic growth has conferred. The article has defined and described the issue in detail. Pubic health is extremely affected by air pollution as it alone causes hundreds of thousands deaths every year. One of the most critical and perhaps more dangerous effects of this pollution is that around 500 million people lack access to safe drinking water . Both cities and rural areas have been turned to be toxic areas where only around one percent of air is considered quite safe. In industrial cities, people more often are not able to see sun, not due to raining or sky being cloudy, but due to the pollution that made the air and sky dry. The atmosphere has largely been contaminated. On one side, the economy gains ever-recorded growth and large multinationals still attempting to grab the slice of this international marketing pie, whereas on the other side, people die for bad breath due to air pollution. As this article emphasized, China’s pollution is not only China’s problem. It is adverse effects have widened to other countries. Dangerous chemical elements like sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxides that are spewed from China’s coal plants caused acid rains in Seoul, South Korea, Tokyo etc. Tatchell in 2008 wrote in their article titled ‘The Pollution Marathon’, published in the Guardian, about the iss ue of China’s air pollution and its drastic impacts on every one’s life in the Guardian newspaper. This article starts with Ethiopian long-distance runner Haile Gebrselassie’s decision not to participate in 2008 Olympics held in China. He was highly concerned about the extremely hazardous air pollution in China and its impacts on his health if he stays few days

Tuesday, September 24, 2019

Information Technology Infrastructure Library ( ITIL ) Assignment

Information Technology Infrastructure Library ( ITIL ) - Assignment Example Question 2 It is important to identify these business requirements at the initial level because the supply chain management system must align with all these business requirements and ITIL best practices. The business objectives for this scenario after implementing ITIL are: Recognizing and documenting the scope of support services along with dependencies and interfaces interlinked with the suppliers Document the accountabilities and roles of sub-contractors and imperative suppliers Implementing change management process within the organization for updating contracts Evaluating, monitoring and generating reports on performance of the suppliers to identify improvements Incorporating system auditing Risk assessment for calculating risks associated with all trading partners and contracts Evaluating the value as well as profits of trading partners and contracts Implementing and maintaining a database including all the records for trading partners and contractors Deliver Value to the custo mer Ensure product delivery on time Question 3 The goal for designing a service for one solution is to ensure stability and incorporation within all activities and processes of all IT function providing end to end business alignment by supporting functionality and quality. The primary objective for a service design stage is to introduce a new service design in to the live environment. Likewise, it is essential to take a holistic approach rather than just precisely focusing a domain because, the design may impact other dependencies available in the system i.e. service portfolio and service catalogue, the architecture, the technology, management system, tools, current service management processes and essential metrics. Goals of designing service are: Must meet business requirements that is associated with compliance, risk, quality, security, efficient IT and business resolutions Must meet allocated cost Not be too complex and time consuming to develop Risk mitigation before implementi ng service in the live environment Design metrics to measure service design performance Question 4 Configuration baselines that are also called standardized configurations is associated with configuring a service, product or infrastructure that has been reviewed and agreed previously and for changes in future, only formal change procedures can be used. These formal change procedures incorporate the structure and complete details associated with the configuration that demonstrates a configuration item related to each other. As per the current scenario, baseline configurations for one solution are: Service Design Baseline After a change Question 5 As demand management is considered as a vital part of service management, one solution can adopt off peak pricing, volume discounts and differentiated service levels can affect the transportation of demands in precise patterns. Though, capacity can still be compensated by demands. One solution can utilize unused capacity for delivering servi ce levels to the customers. In this, way, customers can receive the required product in a timely manner by and the unused capacity will deliver value by higher levels of assurance. In contrast to insufficient capacity, quality of services will be impacted as well as limits the growth of the organization, for example, one solution. Service level agreements with the customers, planning

Monday, September 23, 2019

Financial Institutions Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Financial Institutions - Essay Example As financial institution involves services of many people, it is hard to manage everything appropriately. Sometimes, due to some human errors, wrong data is stored in the records which then create problems for the managers and regulators of the institutions. Due to the increasing use of computer and technology, data is sometimes hacked or corrupted which then results in wrong approximation of assets and capital. Unfortunately, financial institutions also face troubles due to the disloyalty of their employees. In some cases, these employees reveal the private data of the institutions or get involved in stealing or bribery. Due to the lack of skills, sometimes employees make mistakes in even entering the details of the customer in the records, which then create huge problems for the institution (Operational Risk, 2008). Financial institutions are amongst the most regulated sectors in the world. They operate in an extremely regulated environment and follows laws and regulations very strongly. The reasons behind regulating financial institutions are: The operations of financial institution involve money transactions and valuable possessions of its clients and thus they need to be highly protected. The regulators of financial institution ensure its customers for the security of their belongings as any harm to these things would not only result in the financial loss of the institution but would also adversely affect its image in the world market. As technology is improving day by day, regulators of financial institutions need to monitor it closely so that they would be able to adopt it accordingly and become the trend setters. This can have a positive impact on their business and would also help in efficient storage of data and information. Financial institutions require very efficient ways of storing data as the operations of financial institutions rely mainly on the information of the

Sunday, September 22, 2019

Is Chinua Achebe Correct in Asserting That Heart of Darkness Is Essentially a Racist Novel Essay Example for Free

Is Chinua Achebe Correct in Asserting That Heart of Darkness Is Essentially a Racist Novel Essay Chinua Achebe’s’ expresses his view on Heart of Darkness as an essentially racist novel and he is correct in saying this. His essay focuses mainly on the portrayal of the Congo as an ‘other world’ in which Conrad describes it to be an antithesis of Europe and the European standards and overall of civilisation as a whole. The racism presented by Conrad in the novel is evident through his manipulation of perspective and dehumanisation of the native Africans as discussed in Achebe’s essay. Joseph Conrad manipulates the perspective of the reader and the attitude they have towards the natives and Europeans alike through the bestowal of human expression to Europeans and the withholding of it from the Africans, as Achebe explains. When comparing the description of the two women, the African woman and European woman, the reader is able to depict a subtle yet definite difference in the way each woman’s expression is characterised. The African woman, who is seen to be as a mistress to Mr Kurtz, is illustrated as a very mysterious figure ‘’with an air of brooding over an inscrutable purpose’’ making her character unidentifiable. Whereas the European woman is talked about more clearly and the reader can easily recognise her character because she is given emotions and feeling, ‘’she had a mature capacity for fidelity, for belief, for suffering’’. In Conrad characterising each woman in such different ways, the reader feels as though the European woman is more relatable as opposed to the native woman who is not expressed with feelings. This lack of human expression in the description of the African woman, as commented on by Achebe, created a noticeable barrier between the complexity of natives and Europeans. For the most part, the natives are not given any dialogue but instead their speech is replaced with ‘’a violent babble of uncouth sounds’’. Achebe however, refers to two significant parts of the novel when native Africans are given English dialogue. These are when the cannibals request the humans to eat, ‘’catch ‘im. Give ‘im to us. ’’. As well as the famous announcement, ‘’Mistah Kurtz—he dead’’. When first read, the reader thinks of these as high points for the natives because they appear to be at the same level as the Europeans in terms of getting dialogue ithin the novel. Chinua Achebe opposes this by stating that in reality they constitute some of his best assaults as these examples of dialogue in fact degrade the natives. This changes the reader’s perspective into assume that through the use of grunts and incoherent speech they are inferior and inarticulate in comparison t o the language used by the Europeans. This difference in amount and quality of dialogue between the Africans and colonising Europeans contributes to making Heart of Darkness an essentially a racist novel. The novel reveals the Africans being reduced to metaphorical expanse of dangerous and dark jungle of animals into which the European colonists venture. Chinua Achebe is correct in criticising Heart of Darkness as a racist novel, this is seen particularly through Conrad’s dehumanisation of the Congolese natives. Throughout the novel Conrad’s descriptions of the natives are used to create the idea of uncivilised, savage being whom cannot be of the same standards as the Europeans. Conrad’s most effective way of dehumanising the African people is through his use of imagery, ‘’a whirl of black limbs, as mass of hands’’. This does not give the impression that these are human beings but instead that they are just parts of humans, therefore making them seem incomplete and inferior in comparison the way Europeans are described. This imagery is also important when Conrad describes native workers as ‘’decaying machinery’’, this creates the image that the Congolese are not valued as humans, as Europeans are, but rather as disposable articles who can easily be replaced after they have done their work. The language choices in which Conrad has made also have a great impact on the way the natives are perceived. By using phrases such as ‘’the beaten nigger groaned somewhere’’, the Congolese natives are referred to in a very uncivilised manner. A way in which no European would ever be described leads the reader to believe that the Africans are in fact inferior to the Europeans, making them less of a human. These descriptions make it evident that Conrad’s writing involving the natives made them appear beast-like and savage therefore dehumanising them in a way that can only be seen as racist. Although these racial depictions may not be used to knowingly dehumanise and objectify the Congolese people, Chinua Achebe rightly criticises Heart of Darkness as a racist novel. The constant comparison between the two cultures, African and European, are simply explained as one being civilised whereas the other is portrayed as savage. The unavoidable reality that Conrad’s descriptions of the natives were accurate expressions of the European perspective justifies Achebe’s assertion that Heart of Darkness is essentially a racist novel.

Saturday, September 21, 2019

Money Is Not The Only Motivator Management Essay

Money Is Not The Only Motivator Management Essay We are presenting our term project which was chosen from one of the topics provided by the course instructor. We are pleased to present our report on topic Money is not the Only motivator This research gave us an excellent chance to understand the concept of motivation and its applications in practical world. We chose Pakistan State Oil as our organization for our research. We would also like to thank all our respondents, who were kind enough to answer our questionnaires and gave their valuable time in guiding and informing us about their perception on our topic. We acknowledge all of your help and support for this research. We sincerely thank our instructor Ms Unzela Hasni for her support and trust in our capabilities. Yours Sincerely, Syed Ahmed Asad (12131) Bilal Jawaid (12093) Riaz Ramzan Ali ((10712) Abdul Moiz Mughal (11540) Maryam Abbasi (11869) Acknowledgement We begin by expressing our gratitude to our Lord, the Almighty Allah without Whose Guidance and Will, all is impossible. We are also highly thankful to our teacher and instructor, Mr Unzela Hansni, whose teaching has given us great knowledge and a peek into the professional world of Human Resource Management and its various aspects. This report has sharpened our ability to interpret the concepts and methods with greater sensibility. Executive Summary Pakistan State Oil is the leading oil company in Pakistans energy sector with largest retail outlets to serve all industries and consumers of Pakistan. PSO takes pleasure to continue tradition of excellence and it is fully committed to meet energy needs of future. PSO is one of local organization that holds an award for attracting employees because of their strategic human resource practices.PSO takes it human resource management as the most important department of their company because they treat their employees as their most significant asset.PSO along its effective compensation plan (monetary) holds many other techniques and methods of modern era to keep employees engaged and make sure that they are striving for the attainment of companys goal. In this report we surveyed PSO to collect valuable information on different motivational aspects and methods used by management to make sure employees feel interested at work and have a sense of belonging to the organization. We learned var ious techniques such as performance management, motivational surveys, employee awards, recreational facilities , training and development and others. Hypothesis H0: PSO is successful in motivating its employees H1: PSO is not successful in motivating its employees In our research we assumed that PSO is one of the most successful domestic organizations to keep a motivated workforce in Pakistan, so to test our hypothesis we went to the organization and interviewed 2 top managers and got questionnaires filled from 12 employees linked to senior , middle and lower level management positions. Our hypothesis is to prove whether a motivated group of employees help individuals and business to achieve job satisfaction, productive employees, more profit, self development and an effective work environment (culture). Methodology We used research based methodology to work on this report. Our research was conducted in several steps that include: Planning which topic to choose Choosing the Organisation Collecting secondary information from different sources such as Human Resource Books Internet Articles from Harvard Business Review Next we designed a questionnaire Site visit (PSO) Get our questionnaires filled Interviewed two managers Assembled primary and secondary data 1st draft report to check plagiarism Final report INTRODUCTION PSO: Overview Just like any other competitive business, PSO is a challenging petroleum products marketer, supporting foresight, quick judgment and hard work and acumen. At PSO, we have been making new grounds since our situation in the market. By introducing a competitive product portfolio, aligning our corporate social responsibility, putting up up storage depots at far-flung areas, presenting relative marketing techniques, energizing industrial institutions, supporting the countrys defense forces, ensuring customers satisfaction and provision of new business challenges, PSO has been setting the benchmark for other oil marketing companies during the 25 years of its excellent existence. Under the strategy, State Oil Company Limited a private company owned by the Federal government in which undertaking were vested on 15th September 1976 took over the entire undertakings of Pakistans Oil limited companies and National Oil limited companies as disclosed in their respective financial statements declared on June 30th. The company then later converted in to Public limited company. In consideration for the transfer, the reconciliation program provided all shareholders of the two former companies, PNOL and POCL, be issued fully paid-up ordinary shares of PSO against their holdings in PNOL and POCL along with fully paid-up premium shares. This was done at the rate of 1,185 PSO shares for every 1,000 shares of PNOL and 1,136 PSO shares for every 1,000 shares of POCL. The inception period of any company is always comparatively difficult but for an organization emerging out of the merger of three separate units, the problems can be more complex. PSO, during its first year of operation, was no amazing. However, most of the problems were properly solved and taken care by the company. PSO sold a total of 2,514,000 tons of petroleum products till June 30th 1977. This made a turnover of Rs 404.53 crores. Such meager return was partially due to the unrealistic gross margins, which were available to the oil marketing companies in all main products and were fixed by the government as far back as 1963. At the end of the first year, the extent of the PSO operations was that it had four ocean terminals, 34 inland depots, four blending plants and 950 retail outlets. Of the retail outlets, 715 were gasoline and HSD stations, 126 service stations, 44 LDO farm stations and 65 kerosene stations. In its first year of operations, the upcountry storage capacity of the company was augmented by 33,000 tons. The storage capacity was established at Gilgit, Chitral and Skardu, enabling the residents of the Northern Areas to obtain their requirements of petroleum products throughout the year and at reasonable prices. By the second year of operations i.e. 1977, the company had successfully overcome the initial problems of the merger, establishing itself as a homogeneous commercial force capable of playing its rightful role in the economic progress of the country. It sold 1,826,000 metric tons of petroleum products during the year as against 1,746,000 tons in the first year. This indicated an increase of 4.56 per cent. Since then, PSOs success story has continued with the company making a strong impact on the countrys overall development over the years with excellent prospects for further growth. A cursory look at PSO at a Glance in the annual report reveals remarkable financial strength accumulated since inception. Statistics, though somewhat restricted, nevertheless, give a picture of all-round improvement despite temporary setbacks. The companys shareholders have reposed unwavering confidence in the astute financial policies followed by the company that have not only given extremely attractive cash dividends year-after-year but also a consistent increase in the shareholders equity from Rs 116.2 million in 1977 to Rs 9,808 million in 2001. Where do we stand today? PSOs sales revenue during FY-2001 rose to Rs. 170 billion, showing a growth of 25.7% over the previous year. The company earned an all-time record gross profit of Rs. 6.4 billion, which was up by 12.4% over the preceding year. The profit after tax was Rs. 2.25 billion. This was marginally higher than the previous years profit of Rs. 2.23 billion. If PSO had not made these provisions, the company would have reflected an additional profit of the same amount, which would have resulted in significantly higher profit than the preceding year. Not only that, the company has emerged as one of the countrys few largest taxpayers in the corporate sector. PSOs business operations have helped collect over the years Rs 338 billion in duties and taxes on behalf of the government. Integral to our success are our efforts to provide our customers an unmatched service based on innovation, deep care and our vision for the future. Accordingly, we have launched an aggressive plan to build New Vision outlets in order to provide better quality service to its customers. Some 330 New Vision retail outlets have been established all over the country in a short period of two and a half years, which is a record. At the same time, to set high standards of customer service, the number of Company-owned and Company-operated (CoCo) sites has increased to 20. Yet another ambitious program that PSO has launched will see the promotion of Internet, especially in inaccessible areas of Pakistan. A total of 500 retail outlets are to be provided with Internet facility, which is now available at 150 outlets. The philosophy of HR in PSO 1. Consider human asset as the only asset which gets appreciated by passage of time. 2. Always the right person at the right place for the right job. 3. Continuously re-align organization in line with contemporary business practices. 4. Make Organization responsive by making it lean and flexible. 5. All HR issues to be handled with transparency and keenness. Work environment in PSO Employee Recognition To boost the morale of employees a reward and recognition scheme is in place for the last few years and has been a great source of creating a spirit of healthy competition amongst employees. Each year employees are nominated for two company-wide ceremonies viz Shaukat Raza Mirza Management Excellence Award and PSO Managing Directors Performance Award Motivation Survey Special efforts for continuously enriching our business systems and implementing relative strategies have always been fruitful which are aimed at augmenting a work culture that enhances employee motivation as well as gaining a better understanding of forces that shapes motivation, attitude, behavior patterns and expectations. Employee Motivation surveys are conducted that recognize the needs, opinions, concerns and perceptions of our human capital about the organization and what they value in terms of professional and personal interests and incentives. Keeping a human element is mind these surveys help identify a meaningful employee relationship with the organizational objectives and understand their job responsibilities and work expectations. Communication: Open-book direct approach environment An assortment of forums/meetings at hand (Executive Committee, Management Committee, Employee Leadership Team) inspire discipline and accelerate establishment of processes systems. Encourage team work group dynamics while inculcating a sense of ownership through empowered Cross Functional Teams (CFTs) Employ Business Process Reengineering (BPR) to maintain an international working environment by streamlining processes and removing unnecessary layers Interactive sessions are regularly held by the Managing Director at all levels because clear, coherent and consistent messages ensure that employees are able to integrate the inputs into their thinking All organizational changes are announced Tolerance We have high ethical standards and a Business Principles and Ethics Policy in place. We value, encourage and inculcate corporate reforms, good governance, best business practices and an environment of continued adherence to Zero Tolerance, resulting in the development of our human capital and meeting all business challenges. Facilities and Recreational activities PSO encourages recreational activities of workforce at all levels. Formation and functioning of PSO Club provides assistance to employees for their mental and physical health as well as for their social activities. Sports and recreational activities are organized through this forum, where employees and their families are encouraged to participate. It is our top priority to ensure the employees are in good shape and health. To physically show that we care, we have in-house food service with subsidized meals in a cafeteria that can cater all the employees stationed at PSO House. Employees can enjoy gymnasium facility right in PSOs corporate vicinity, a convenience of walking from your workstation to a private gym for a revitalizing workout. Performance Management System of effective performance and feed back is worked out at PSO and is a significant figure of our appraisal management Individual performance is sorted with the business goals and objectives of the company Performance-based rewards are offered on early basis All management employees annual appraisal through a population spread Human Resource Awards In September 2007 Engage Human Resources (consultancy, solutions and services) in partnership with the Pakistan Society of Human Resources Management (PSHRM) conducted a preference study interviewing 550 graduating MBA students from 8 universities, chosen from the latest Higher Education Commission ranking survey. December 18, 2007, Karachi (PSHRM) and Engage Human Resources, announced the results of the first Most Preferred Graduate Employer 2007 study at the ceremony held for PSHRM Graduate Employer Awards 2007. As we create an aspiring internal credibility along with leading HR practices delivering that promise, we standout for graduating MBA students as the most preferred place to work. Pakistan State Oil won the Most Preferred Local Company Award as the highest ranked Pakistani company with their perceived attractive compensation package as the main reason for their ability to attract talent. Literature Review Motivation Motivation is the process that is a mixture of individuals intensity, direction persistence of effort toward attaining a goal. We would like to describe each element separately. Intensity- states how hard a person tries , or how much effort he will apply in his job Direction- A person should know the areas where he has to put more or less effort. Persistence-states how long a person could maintain his effort Effort that is directed toward and consistent with organizational goals is the kind of effort that we must be seeking. Managers are the nervous system of any organization, so they play the main role to make sure of motivational practices that are necessary for an organization. Major steps which managers should take to motivate employees are: Recognize individual differences Use goals and take feedback on these goals Link reward to performance Check the reward system Make sure that employees are present in decision making which directly affect them There are two basic ways to motivate employees. These are monetary and non-monetary approaches that are used by management. Moreover before using rewards to motivate employees we have to take some strategic decisions. These are what should be the pay structure? How to pay employees? Whether there should be flexible benefits or not? How the company should build its recognition programs? First major decision is what to pay, that is to establish a pay structure. It is a rather complex decision and entails balancing internal and external equity. However the best pay system pays the job what it is worth while also paying competitively relative to the labor market. Second decision is how to pay, whether there should be variable programs or skill based programs. Variable Pay Programs A portion of an employees pay is based on some individual and/or organization measure of performance Piece Rate: Workers are paid a fixed sum for each unit of production completed Merit-Based: Based on performance appraisal ratings. This merit based pay is motivating for employees because if they are designed properly, individuals can see their performance and reward they are getting. Bonuses: Reward recent performance rather than historical. SKILLED BASED PAY: It is also known as knowledge based pay, it sets pay based on jobs or skills an employee can perform. Profit Sharing plan: These are organization wide programs that distribute compensation based on some established formula designed around a companys profitability. These can be cash outlays or stock options. Gain sharing: It is a formula based group incentive plan. Rewards are tied to production gains not to profits. Employee Stock Ownership Plans: In this program employee acquire stocks mainly below market price as part of their benefits, it increases employee satisfaction but its impact on performance is still not clear. Third decision is what benefits to offer, another component is known as flexible benefits. Flexible Benefits: It allows each employee to put together a benefits package individually tailored to his needs and situation. Three most popular benefits plans are: Modular plans- a predesigned package of benefits put together to meet needs of specific group of employees Core-plus plans- consists a core of benefits and a menu like selection of other benefits. Flexible spending plans- allow employees to set aside up to the dollar amount offered in the plan to pay for particular services. Employee Recognition: Fourth is to build a comprehensive employee recognition program. It ranges from a THANKYOU to widely publicize formal programs in which specific types of behavior are encouraged and procedures for attaining recognition are clearly identified. Two of the most popular methods are giving gifts certificates and cash rewards. It also includes giving personal attention to employees. But all factors described above holds some pros and cons. Benefits of it are Fulfill employees desire for recognition Inexpensive to implement Encourage repetition of desired behaviors Non Monetary Approaches to Motivation: There are some non monetary approaches to motivate employees. To proceed further we need to understand job design first i.e. way the elements in a job are organized. First way to redesign a job to motivate an employee is job rotation that is periodic shifting of employee from one job to another. When an activity becomes unchallenging employee is shifted to another job usually at the same level of skills requirements. Another way is job enlargement in which variety and number of tasks of an employee are increased; it is a horizontal expansion in an employees job design. Similarly, we expand vertically to which is known as job enrichment. It increases the degree to which worker controls planning, execution and evaluation at the work. Furthermore there are some alternative work arrangements. These are: Flexitime: Employees work during a common core time work each day but can arrange their total hours a day by themselves from the set of hours outside the core. Job sharing It is a practice in which a 40 hour a week job is split between two to three employees. It allows management to draw on talents of more than one individual in a given job and is mostly suitable for female workers. Telecommuting It refers to employees who do their work at home atleast 2 days a week on a computer that is linked to their office. Three types of jobs suits this method Routine information handling task Mobile activities Knowledge related jobs Employee Involvement: It is a process that supports participative management by using employees input to increase their commitment to the organizations success. By increasing worker autonomy and control over work lives (involvement), organizations: Increase employee motivation Gain greater organizational commitment Experience greater worker productivity Observe higher levels of job satisfaction Three major forms of employee motivation are: Participative Management Subordinates share a significant degree of decision-making power with their immediate superiors Representative Participation Works Councils: Groups of nominated or elected employees who must be consulted for any personnel decisions Board Representative: An employee sits on a companys board of directors and represents the interests of the firms employees. Quality Circle A work group of employees, who meet regularly to discuss their quality problems, investigate causes, recommend solutions, and take corrective actions. Articles on Motivation from HARVARD BUSINESS REVIEW: To make our research more interesting we decided to summarize some very interesting article from Harvard Business Review which we were told to read regularly by our instructor. References to these articles are given at the end. Article 1: Say, Tom, Let Me Whitewash a Little: The Power of Intrinsic Motivation: Article Link: http://blogs.hbr.org/erickson/2007/07/say_tom_let_me_whitewash_a_lit.html Summary or the Article: This article develops clear sense of what intrinsic motivation is. Intrinsic motivation is the willingness to engage in an activity without some external rewards (i.e. French benefits) or in other words we can say that it is the motivation that comes from inside of an individual rather than from any external reward. It is the pleasure one gets from the task itself or from the sense of satisfaction in completing or even working on the task. The computer games are the best example as its suckled on the principle of intrinsic motivation. The growing skill level and the increasing degree of difficulties led to effective online learning with the motivation for players to move towards the next level. Similarly within this type of cultural norms, smaller steps are far better than the big infrequent increment. If workplace adopt same culture than the workers will work harder to compete with colleague and move towards the next level in order to attain the desired goal. Nowadays the workforce are adopting this culture i.e. using games (whether addictive or not) in which there is a use of intrinsic principles to encourage self-motivated work activities that can led to enormous effective production. This is a successful strategy because people want to move to next level as fast as they can and in workforce competition among workers motivate them to work hard and to move towards the next level in order to attain goal after which they get self satisfaction and pleasure which is known as Intrinsic Motivation. Article 2: Four Motivation Mistakes Most Leaders Make: Article Link: http://blogs.hbr.org/cs/2011/10/four_motivation_mistakes_most.html Summary This articles talks about the motivational mistakes the leaders make while leading their employees. The first mistakes they make are by always thinking rational and create frustrating unintended consequences. The leaders should rather focus on five sources of meaning for humans at work: the impact of the work on society, the customer, the company, the team, and me. Another blunder that is made by the leaders is focusing on offering monetary incentives only. Experience and numerous studies, however, show that big bonuses are less effective than smaller, unexpected gestures, because gifts create a relationship while bonuses are purely transactional also leaders are habitual of giving orders rather listening to the employees perspective. Lastly the leaders need to be optimistic and dont search for problems. Focusing on problems tends to create fatigue and resistance,  instead focus on how your organizations or individuals, strengths can be used to overcome your challenges. Questionnaire For how long have you been a part of this organization? Less than 5 years 5-10 years 10-15 years More than 15 years What is your level of satisfaction with the working culture of the company? Highly Satisfied Satisfied Moderate Dissatisfied Highly Dissatisfied Rate the following statement Executives are interested in motivating the employees? Strongly Agree Agree Neutral Disagree Strongly Disagree What is your satisfaction level with the incentives provided by the company? Highly Satisfied Satisfied Moderate Dissatisfied Highly Dissatisfied Please rate the statements given underneath according to the following ratings. 1 for Strongly Agree 2 for Agree 3 for Neutral 4 for Disagree 5 for strongly disagree Reasonable periodical increase in salary Job Security Good Relationship with other staff members Effective performance appraisal system Effective promotional opportunities Performance appraisal activities are helpful to get motivated Support from the other staff members is helpful to get motivated Organization recognizes and acknowledges your work. Organizational Policies motivates for achieving its aims and objective Do you think that incentives and other benefits will influence your performance? Yes No Opinion No Does the Top Management involve you in decision making which are connected to your department? Always Usually Often Sometimes Rarely Never Do you think Internal Competition plays an important role in employee motivation? Strongly Agree Agree Neutral Disagree Strongly Disagree Does ethical principles of the organization influence employee motivation? Strongly Agree Agree Neutral Disagree Strongly Disagree Do you agree that employees are placed on their jobs according to their field of interest? Strongly Agree Agree Neutral Disagree Strongly Disagree Does your job provide you the opportunity to continually advance to more senior positions. Strongly Agree Agree Neutral Disagree Strongly Disagree How does pressure motivate you? Handling Competing Priorities Facing Tight Deadlines Managing Setbacks Being in a team motivates you? Strongly Agree Agree Neutral Disagree Strongly Disagree Results For how long have you been a part of this organization? Less than 5 years 5-10 years 10-15 years More than 15 years Out of 12 people we interviewed 4 were working for less than five years , 6 were working for more than five years and 2 employees were PSOs part for about 12 years. What is your level of satisfaction with the working culture of the company? Highly Satisfied Satisfied Moderate Dissatisfied Highly Dissatisfied A very positive reply was noticed as 59% of the sample was satisfied with the corporate culture of PSO as it has a policy of orienting employees according to their need , which then leads employees to understand the culture more easily. Secondly, open door policy and corporation of colleagues is encouraged in PSO which allows high satisfaction levels. PSO is recognized as an EMPLOYER OF CHOICE for which it received an award in 2007. 25% of the sample was satisfied moderately while remaining 16% were employees who were working for more than 10 years and showed their extra satisfaction because of the growth, status and respect which they received in their career at PSO. Rate the following statement Executives are interested in motivating the employees? Strongly Agree Agree Neutral Disagree Strongly Disagree Open door policy, performance management, career development, training sessions, authority and being a part of departmental decision making are some factors that aroused 67% of the sample to rank this statement with the second option, however some employees who are still new to the organization rated it as neutral that executives are not biased towards other employees but they are also not directly involved in decision making. Top management provides guidance on particular issues, they encourage Cross functional teams, Employee Business Process Reengineering, meeting with employees, different informational and interactive sessions and make sure that all organizational changes are well announced. When the response of these 33% employees was shown to a top executive Rashad Usama brand manager lubricants, he provided us with the answers that it is our policy of first assessing fresh employees and let them show their potential then with their respective supervisors a complete training and development plan is made for them. What is your satisfaction level with the incentives provided by the company? Highly Satisfied Satisfied Moderate Dissatisfied Highly Dissatisfied 16 % employees were highly satisfied with their benefits that include medical insurance , petrol , children education , pension fund, paid holidays, vacations and etc , 67 % employees were just satisfied as they think even in difficult times PSO assumed them as their assets and rest showed moderate responses. Moreover employee recognition awards, ethical standards, tolerance policies and facilities such as gym, cafeteria and PSO club plays a great role in keeping employees proactive. Please rate the statements given underneath according to the following ratings. 1 for Strongly Agree 2 for Agree 3 for Neutral 4 for Disagree 5 for strongly disagree Reasonable periodical increase in salary Job Security Good Relationship with other staff members Effective performance appraisal system Effective promotional opportunities Performance appraisal activities are helpful to get motivated Support from the other staff members is helpful to get motivated Organization recognizes and acknowledges your work. Organizational Policies motivates for achieving its aims and objectives 84 % employees strongly agreed with 2nd, 3rd and 7th

Friday, September 20, 2019

Socrates And Importance Self Reflection Philosophy Essay

Socrates And Importance Self Reflection Philosophy Essay 1. Socrates developed this philosophy when he himself was facing some challenges as he was facing trial for corrupting young people and undermining the state religion. Socrates once said that the unexamined life is not worth living. In this he was Socrates wanted forward various issues including the independent of mind or autonomy, if an individual does not reflect on their values and life and just living life like they are going through a motion. One behaves like a mere cog in the machinery of that is the human universe. When we have experiences whether good or bad we should think about them and try to find out why they are happening to us. One should always question their personal actions, what drives them, and we should remodel our character into a way we feel it is the most appropriate and not what others or situations think. A life that has not been examined has no author, for the individual did not live his life but mere followed the force of nature or others. Therefore it is very important for an individual to be examined for it helps them to find their place in the society. According to Socrates the human life is supposed to be for one to achieve both personal and spiritual growth. An individual will be able to understand their true nature when they examine and reflect on the life they are living. By having an examination on the life we live we will better understand our pattern of behavior. By deeply contemplation on our life we will better understand our subconscious which is what controls our life. Therefore if we do not make time to understand our subconscious we will unconscious be living a repetitive life with no meaning. Examining our life relates to philosophy as it means we have to take time to study our behavior and find ways of improving this behavior. 2. Plato in the discussion that he made on the myth of the cave, he distinguished on aspects of awareness which are knowledge and opinion. In the myth of the cave he described how one has been deeply chained inside a cave. As they are chained in the cave their cannot see each other and they have restricted vision and what they can only see is the wall in the cave and which shows shadows from statues belonging to animals and various objects emanating from a burning fire. One of the chained individuals escaped from their captivity in the cave to the light of the day. After escaping the person sees real world for the first time and goes back to those still in the cave and informs them that they have only been seeing appearances and shadows and if they fight to free themselves they will see the real world out there. The environment in the cave which has appearances that are shadowy it shows to for Plato is the appearance that is there in the physical world. The escape to the world full of the sun outside of the cave is a symbol of transitioning into a world that is real, where things are full and perfect, and there are real forms, this are the true aspects of knowledge. Plato argued that Forms are arranged according to hierarchy. With the top Form being the form that is good, according to the myth of the cave is the sun. The sun which acts as the form of good helps to explain on how an individual becomes aware of how things they are the way they are or how they came to be. The cave stands for the world which is in our imagination, the in the shadows cave shows of how at passive state that we are at when thinking. Those who decide to learn in the cave are the individuals who have empirical knowledge and are able to make predictions. The knowledge that they have is not useful but a shadow. Educati on is only important if it can be able to free someone from their bondage. Every individual has an ability to think and If does not utilize this it is because he is held by chains. 3. Elizabeth Spelman once claimed that, women have been portrayed as bodily being. By portraying the woman this way she is denied her status that belongs to her as a human being. According to Rene Descartes who is accredited to have developed the theory of Cartesian dualism, he argued of distinction between the mind and the body and they are also separate. Cartesian dualism states that the thoughts of a man are a reflection of his beliefs, values, conditions, experiences, and development. The Cartesian dualism that speaks of the independence and separation of the mind and body perpetuates a sexist beliefs and behaviours. This is because it privileges the cognitive and intellectually is represented. This masculine discourses; Spelman argued that it works in reproducing a disembodied way of thinking which blinds people on how a normal world is. Spelman argued that the viewing of the woman as a property or a sex product undermines who the woman is. Elizabeth Spelman the Cartesian dualism is used to justify why the women are subordination especially in fields such as Politics. The stereotyping of women is a dangerous aspect in the society, judging a woman based on her body is an affront to the women. The theory tends to give certain roles to women, like that they have a certain position in the society and they are field that are specifically for them and others they should not venture into. They are seen as models and not engineers. 4. Aristotle refuted Plato Theory of Ideas arguing that, that the existence of various Ideas that contradict themselves and deny there being a possibility of a negation. He also argued that the portraying of Ideas was an empty metaphors and finally that the theory used various impermanent abstractions that created perception. The theory by Plato was meant to establish that the knowledge of reality was. Aristotle considered the argument to be full of inconsistencies and he believed that reality depended on correlations of other elements. These ideas, Plato believed were self contained absolutes and are permanent and they help in establishing what knowledge is and how it is attained by use of human thought. Plato also viewed Ideas as good standards to which it can be used to judge human endeavor and at the top of hierarchy of ideas leads is that of Good. Also the theory argued that that the states of being are based or dependent on the interaction of number of Forms of existence, also the objectivity of knowledge and therefore more real, it also argued that only the processes that are from nature are valid entities. However, Aristotle attacks this theory on the grounds that Platos arguments are inconclusive either his assertions are not al all cogent. Aristotle says, or his arguments lead to contradictory conclusions. Aristotle claimed that the argument by Plato makes one to conclude that those entities that might be man-made and the negation of great ideas can exist like from non good in when in opposition to good. This works in contradicting the belief by Plato which was that only natural objects can be used by unto themselves, that they are independent of the subjective experiences of human. Aristotle argued that Ideas cannot be abstractions but they are duplicates experiences that are witnessed by individuals everyday in their da ily life. Aristotle meant that Platos idea which stated that Ideas are not tangible to the subjective human experiences is perfect entities, has no grounds, since all standards are set by the perception and ordinary human activity. 5. Behaviorism is a theory of that believes that that all human behaviors are learnt or acquired through the process of conditioning. The process of conditioning happens when an individual interacts with the environment. Behaviorism experts believe that behavior can be effectively studied in an observable and systematic way without the consideration of the internal mental states in the subject of which the behavior is being studied. Behavior theorists believe that learning is just but the acquisition of behavior and this acquisition is conditioned by the environment that the person lives in. there are two methods of conditioning, namely the classical conditioning and the operant conditioning. According to dualism there are number a number of uses of thought. The idea of dualism believes that, for everything, there are two options or categories of principles or things. A dualist will believe that there is Good and Evil. The dualist belief that the two things or principles, are independent equal opposing forces in the world. In the mind philosophy, dualism theory believes that the mind and body is radically different thing. It is a theory that tends to say that everything comes from the mind and the body and that both are very different and distinct. The spirit, mind, or soul is thought to be the conscious and it help to show the self using the brain. The computational theory of mind argues that mind of human beings should be seen as a system for processing information. It also argues that thoughts are a form of computation. I prefer behaviorism as I belief that all behaviors that people exhibit are based on the environment that they live in. I strongly believe that behavior is learned by people. 6. Berkeley argued that the position of idealism can be held without any contradiction. Berkeley tried to portray realism as absurd, since it needed some concepts that cannot be conceptualized in reality. Therefore Berkeley made a conclusion that idealism was necessary, and the only theory we should work to understand. Realism is the ontological position which believes that there exists some things that which are neither in our minds or they are ideas in minds and idealism is the ontological position that believes that everything which exists it exists as either as an idea in a mind or a mind. Anti realist believe that what cannot be observed is not real. They insist that people can only understand anything if they come to understand the circumstances it is the way it is. They deny the objective reality that is of entities. They also deny the verifying of statement that are transcendent on a certain entity whether true or false. Berkeley and anti realist have several things in common which include that he did not believe in realism but believed in idealism which he considered to be essential to people. He argued that for a concept to be concrete it has to be observable. This is the same as what anti realist hold. 7. Jean-Paul Sartre, made the phrase that existence precedes essence. In the past it was assumed that nature or essence was more important eternal than existence. The phrase that existence precedes essence means, that humans and reality, exist before there are any morals or values. An individual is born with nothing in their mind. Also human beings do not have any universal or form of predetermined principles that are common to all. Sartre made an argument of there being two kinds of being, being-in-itself which demonstrated as being complete, fixed, and there being no reason of it there, it just is, it works to describe the external objects. The other being is showed as being dependent on the way it previously existed. It is fixed, absolute and works to describe the state of humanity. There being no preformed essence or a clear what to be human is, an individual is tasked to form their own concept about existence this can be achieved by an individual ensuring that they assert control and show responsibility for their choices and acts. Human beings gain their essence by their choices and actions that they make as individuals. It by living that an individual is able to define who truly they are. By life that we experience every day, we are involved in a process that shapes our identity. Since there is no set moral code that has been set for us to abide with, then there people as individuals have a fundamental freedom to ensure that they create their personal system of belief. 8. The ontological argument is an argument on the existence of God. The argument is based on reason and intuition alone. As per the argument, it states that that one should not look for any physical evidence to show that God exists. But by merely thinking about it we can realize that God exists. In philosophy this argument is referred to as priori argument. According to the ontological argument, human beings are wise enough to know claims false without even by looking into this claims and to find out. The argument claims that the thought that there is no God and does not exist is an absurd thought. According to the ontological argument, human beings can easily be able to decide that it is false or wrong to claim that there is no God; this decision can be made without one spending his time to look at the details of the existence of God. This is compared to one knowing what a triangle is which means it is obvious that it is impossible to have a four-sided triangle. The argument states that by one knowing the meaning of God it would be impossible for one to contemplate of God being non-existence. Descartes argued that it was impossible for people to demonstrating there being or existence of God who he considered to be supreme and a perfect being. Since human beings supposes and conceive the idea that there exists a supreme and perfect being. Therefore because we all have an idea of the supreme and perfect being, it is therefore imperative that we should all make a conclusion that this supreme perfect being does surely exists. 9. There being evil and a lot of suffering in the world poses a big challenge for one to belief in the existence of a God who is perfect. The problem of evil is an argument which argues that a God who is all-knowing, all powerful, and who is perfectly good should not permit any form of suffering or evil to happen. The world today is full of countless aspects of people suffering and there being too much evil.   The facts on the presence of evil and people suffering do conflict with the claim by the orthodox theists that there is a God who is perfectly good. This challenge by this conflict is known as the problem of evil. Some argue that God could have a reason that is morally enough reason for him to allow there being some evils to happen, by doing this he ensures that a big good is seen or comes out of the evil. But those against argue that God should only permit evil or suffering as it should be necessary so as to attain a bigger good. But when people look at the world, there are a lot of prevalent incidences of pointless evils that has no bigger good that comes out as a result. They also argue that the existence of pointless evil provide a strong case that God does not exist. Philosophers and theologians have worked to develop theodicies, which are responses that are meant to explain the argument from evil and help people to still have a belief in a God that is all-knowing, all-powerful and perfect and good. Some state that God allows people to undergo pointless evil for reason that are above human comprehension. 10. Pascal Wager argued that that is safe to believe that there is God since if later you learn that you were wrong you will have lost nothing. Also if one doesnt believe in God and it turns out to be incorrect, they will go to hell. He therefore believed it was not wise to be an atheist. I personally do not believe in this argument as it has several flaws. The argument doe not tell of which religion one should follow. Since there are many religions that are mutually exclusive and contradict each other example is Christianity and Islam. Therefore one might end up avoiding worshiping the wrong God thus avoiding the wrong hell and eventually end up in hell. Example is in both Christianity and Islam they both belief in there being hell yet their practices are very different and they both worship God, which God should one follow? Another flaw is that the argument that the person who the bet losses everything, it might be that he loses nothing. If an individual puts his bet on the wrong god, the True God just may decide to punish the person who bet wrong for his foolish behavior. Also the True God might be an independent God who respects the right of other people believing in what they reason rationally, therefore he does not pick on the bet. I also have a problem with somebody deciding to believe in a god since they think they have made a choice which will offer them a lot of benefits and less danger. This might be a problem as the god you believe in might have a problem in one believing in it so as to benefit by being allowed into heaven or not to be punished in hell. The god might be fair but on the choices that people made, were they selfish choice?

Thursday, September 19, 2019

Internet Research and Internet Plagiarism Essay -- Internet Online Com

Internet Research and Internet Plagiarism As wonderful as it is, the Internet is not the be-all and end-all of your research. A college-level term paper that uses only the Internet for information will probably not cover its subject adequately, and thus will not receive a high grade. There are several reasons for this. For one, the Internet tends to cover subjects more superficially than the printed literature, without the depth and context provided by a book. Most Internet sources also lack explicit citations to other sources for reference; such citation is an important part of articles found in professional journals and is one of the ways in which scholarly accountability is maintained. Another important reason that the Internet should not be the primary information source for a term paper is the considerable variation in the quality of information available on the Internet. This variation is due to the Internet's lack of a standard for information quality. Printed, or "hardcopy," literature has a built-in safeguard to promote high quality information -- peer-review. Peer-review means that the editor of the article or book has sent the manuscript to authorities in the subject matter (people like your professors). These reviewers evaluate the manuscript and reach a general consensus that the work meets the required standards. Reviewers cannot advise an editor to reject a manuscript simply because they might disagree with it. They can advise to reject it if there are flaws in the way in which the subject was investigated, if there are major internal inconsistencies, if the manuscript does not adequately deal with important counter arguments, or if the existing literat ure is not adequately referenced. Reviewers commonly off... ...re, because that implies the words are your own. If you find a particularly elegant or useful phrase in the literature, it can be included in the term paper provided the phrase is within quotation marks and its source is cited. Larger textual passages should be indented, but this is very unusual in science articles (it is more common in the humanities and social sciences), and is generally discouraged in scientific writing. Plagiarism can be avoided by reading the source material and taking notes and NEVER copying word for word. This must also apply to the Internet. Never cut and paste from a source into your term paper. As an added disincentive to cut and paste from the Internet, remember that, should your professor suspect that a phrase is not your own, the Internet could be easily searched for that phrase. Plagiarism from the Internet is very easy to catch!

Wednesday, September 18, 2019

A Strong Work Ethic Essay -- Personal Narrative Dad Father Essays

A Strong Work Ethic He was just an average guy. Nothing special to most people, I guess. But to me, my dad exemplified the epitome of a hard-working, loyal employee. He hardly ever called in sick; and if he did, he was really sick. He never dreamed of arriving late, clocking out early, or shirking his duties. He was glad to have a job that provided for his family and spoke proudly of his job with General Motors. I can still recall him going off to work in his freshly-laundered, navy blue uniform. Mom would pack Dad a nutritious lunch and carefully slip it inside his gray, metal lunch box. Then he’d kiss her good-bye and strut proudly out the door. Dad worked all kinds of crazy schedules. Sometimes he worked the late shift, so we would eat together as a family when us kids arrived home from school. Then Dad would go off to work. This schedule was extremely difficult in the summer because Mom would have a tough time keeping us quiet so Dad could sleep. Even on those occasions when my brother and I would have one of our spats and wake Dad out of a sound sleep, he seemed to take it all in stride. It was amazing how quiet we got when we heard the bedroom door creak open. My mom would be frazzled and say, â€Å"Sorry, Honey, I know you need your rest.† Dad would shrug his shoulders and say, â€Å"Don’t worry about it.† Dad never really complained about much. He worked hard to make ends meet so Mom could stay home with me and my brother. Of course, that was pretty much how it was in most households back then. We didn’t have a lot of money, but Mom and Dad always put us kids first. They rarely bought anything for themselves that wasn’t considered a necessity but always made sure we had what we wanted. Dad wa... ...ut we can instill in our children an appreciation for hard work and doing a good job at whatever they do. A little less complaining and more willingness to give a little on both employees’ and employers’ parts would certainly go a long way. Treating each other with respect and appreciation helps to create a meaningful working relationship and fosters loyalty that is so often lacking in today’s workforce. As I look back on my life, I can picture Dad going out the door to work, just like it was yesterday. His flawless example and strong work ethic have influenced my life in so many areas. I have always admired him for putting his family first but am just beginning to realize how his attitudes toward work impacted my own life. His values and work ethic are now being passed on to my own children, and I wouldn’t want it any other way. A Strong Work Ethic Essay -- Personal Narrative Dad Father Essays A Strong Work Ethic He was just an average guy. Nothing special to most people, I guess. But to me, my dad exemplified the epitome of a hard-working, loyal employee. He hardly ever called in sick; and if he did, he was really sick. He never dreamed of arriving late, clocking out early, or shirking his duties. He was glad to have a job that provided for his family and spoke proudly of his job with General Motors. I can still recall him going off to work in his freshly-laundered, navy blue uniform. Mom would pack Dad a nutritious lunch and carefully slip it inside his gray, metal lunch box. Then he’d kiss her good-bye and strut proudly out the door. Dad worked all kinds of crazy schedules. Sometimes he worked the late shift, so we would eat together as a family when us kids arrived home from school. Then Dad would go off to work. This schedule was extremely difficult in the summer because Mom would have a tough time keeping us quiet so Dad could sleep. Even on those occasions when my brother and I would have one of our spats and wake Dad out of a sound sleep, he seemed to take it all in stride. It was amazing how quiet we got when we heard the bedroom door creak open. My mom would be frazzled and say, â€Å"Sorry, Honey, I know you need your rest.† Dad would shrug his shoulders and say, â€Å"Don’t worry about it.† Dad never really complained about much. He worked hard to make ends meet so Mom could stay home with me and my brother. Of course, that was pretty much how it was in most households back then. We didn’t have a lot of money, but Mom and Dad always put us kids first. They rarely bought anything for themselves that wasn’t considered a necessity but always made sure we had what we wanted. Dad wa... ...ut we can instill in our children an appreciation for hard work and doing a good job at whatever they do. A little less complaining and more willingness to give a little on both employees’ and employers’ parts would certainly go a long way. Treating each other with respect and appreciation helps to create a meaningful working relationship and fosters loyalty that is so often lacking in today’s workforce. As I look back on my life, I can picture Dad going out the door to work, just like it was yesterday. His flawless example and strong work ethic have influenced my life in so many areas. I have always admired him for putting his family first but am just beginning to realize how his attitudes toward work impacted my own life. His values and work ethic are now being passed on to my own children, and I wouldn’t want it any other way.

Tuesday, September 17, 2019

Is a soliloquy a good way for us to know what is going on in a characters head? Essay

This essay will discuss soliloquies and how they are used. I want to show that a soliloquy is a good way to show us what is going on in the characters head, it gives us an insight into the characters mind and thoughts, and helps us identify the type of mind and character we are looking at. In this essay I will be referring to various Shakespearian plays, the main play I will be referring to is Macbeth. Macbeth is about a Scottish king who is corrupted by three witches. It is about dreams, beliefs, actions and consequences. I will be looking at what a soliloquy is and the way Shakespeare has used the soliloquies in Macbeth. I also want to look at the use of Shakespearean language and Imagery in Macbeth. Soliloquies are often used in Shakespeare’s plays. A soliloquy is when a character voices their thoughts when alone on stage. I have studied three different soliloquies from the play Macbeth. The first is taken from Act 1, scene V. The second soliloquy is taken from Act 1, scene VII. And the last soliloquy is taken from Act 2, scene I. These examples of the soliloquies we have used allow us to see what state of mind the character is in at certain parts of the play, also I think it allows us to see what type of person the character really is and understand them better. The first soliloquy is used as Duncan arrives at Macbeth’s castle, Lady Macbeth has already decided by this point that the only way Macbeth can become king of Scotland is if they kill Duncan. The soliloquy is her preparing herself for what she is about to do and also asking the spirits to give her the strength to do it. â€Å"The raven himself is hoarse That croaks the fatal entrance of Duncan Under my battlements. Come, you spirits Tha tends on mortal thoughts, unsex me here, And fil me from the crown to the toe top-full Of direst cruelty! Make thick my blood, Stop up th’ access and passage to remorse†¦Ã¢â‚¬  Act 1, Scene V In the opening lines of the soliloquy you can already see that Lady Macbeth is a strong-minded woman but believes that men are stronger than women and in order to complete her task she must be as strong as a man. Evidence for this is the lines ‘Come, you spirits Tha tends on mortal thoughts, unsex me here,’ Lady Macbeth is calling on the spirits to turn her into a man and make her strong. However I believe that Lady Macbeth was stronger and more determined than Macbeth. There is evidence in the other two soliloquies that Macbeth is in two minds about murdering Duncan. â€Å"†¦This even-handed justice Commends th’ingrediants of our poison’d chalice To our own lips. He’s here in double trust First as I am his kinsman and his subject, Strong both against the deed; and then as his host, Who should against his murderer shut the door, Not bear the knife myself†¦that his virtues Will plead like angels, trumpet tongu’d , against The deep damnation of his taking off†¦Ã¢â‚¬  Act 1, scene VII † †¦I go, and it is done: the bell invites me. Hear it not, Duncan, for it is knell That summons thee to Heaven, or to Hell† Act 2, scene I These examples show just how unstable the mind of Macbeth is. In Act 1, scene VII Macbeth is talking about how Duncan trusts him and how he should protect Duncan from harm, not be the one who kills him! This is shown in the lines ‘He’s here in double trust’ and ‘Who should against his murderer shut the door, Not bear the knife myself ‘. However in Act 2, scene I Macbeth is prepared to go through with the deed, no matter what the consequences are. From the soliloquies you can also see what the character is like. It is in my opinion that Macbeth is compassionate to his friend and does not want to hurt him, however he is also over come with greed. He wants the wealth and power that comes with being king and will, perhaps, do anything to get it if prompted. These two views make his mind unstable and weak so that it can be manipulated by Lady Macbeth. I believe that lady Macbeth is an evil woman who will do anything to get what she wants. An example of this is part of a conversation that Lady Macbeth had with Macbeth when she thinks that he will not kill Duncan â€Å"I have given suck, and know How tender ‘t is to love the babe that milks me: I would, while it was smiling in my face, Have plucked the nipple from his boneless gums, And dash’d the brains out, had I so sworn as you Have done to this.† Act 1, Scene VII What she is saying in this quote is that she would take a baby that was feeding from her and kill it in the most horrific way if Macbeth wanted her to. I think only a truly evil woman can say this and mean it, only an evil woman would kill her baby. Shakespeare used various images through out this play. Both in Lady Macbeth’s soliloquy and Macbeth’s soliloquies there are strong witchcraft, nature and baby images. I think the strongest images in the soliloquies are the baby images. I believe that these worked the best because people generally have strong feelings no babies, especially if the baby is being harmed in some way. A baby can also be used as a symbol of innocence; a child looks at the world with innocence in their eyes. It is in my opinion that Shakespeare used the images of a baby for several reasons. The first reason is to get the audience emotionally involved in the play, if they see an image of a baby being hurt then they are going to dislike that particular character, however if the image is a good image of a baby then the audience are less likely to dislike that character. And the second way is to show the differences and similarities between Macbeth and Lady Macbeth. When Macbeth uses an image of a baby it is filled with compassion and love, however when Lady Macbeth uses the image of babies it is filled with greed and cruelty. I believe this because of certain lines used through out the soliloquies. In Act 1, Scene VII Macbeth quotes ‘And Pity, like a newborn babe,’ Macbeth uses a baby as a symbol of innocence to gain pity from the audience. In Act 1, Scene VII Lady Macbeth tells Macbeth ‘I have given suck, and know how tender’t is to love the babe that milks me: I would, while it was smiling in my face, Have plucked my nipple from his boneless gums, And dash’d the brains out,’ This is filled with hatred which she is using to pressurise Macbeth into killing Duncan. It also shows that they think in similar ways even though they have different views. As Shakespeare was writing for an English audience Macbeth is very pro English, anti Scottish. It is a Scottish thane, who is easily corrupted by promises of power and fortune who becomes King and it is an English army, which over throws the evil Scottish king and restores peace throughout the land. I believe that soliloquies are a good way to know what is going on in a characters head. It allows us to know what they are thinking and feeling through out the play. With out soliloquies we would have to rely on facial expressions to know what the character is thinking. If we did this then I believe that plays and theatre would not be as popular as they are and the works of Shakespeare such as Twelfth night, Romeo and Juliet, Midsummer’s night dream and Hamlet would never have become the classics that they are.

Monday, September 16, 2019

With a Focus on Gender or Race

CAROL COLLINS STUDENT – 11423048 1 With a focus on gender or race, discuss whether the criminal justice system is biased. Society expects the criminal justice system to provide justice for everyone by protecting the innocent, to punish and convict the guilty, and to rehabilitate them in an attempt to stop them reoffending. It is supposed to give fair justice for everyone, regardless of gender, but much is written that suggests that the criminal justice system is gender-biased. Gender bias was not formed by the justice system, but it does reflect the fundamental conditions and attitudes of society.The cost of gender bias to society, the criminal justice system, and to the people within it is enormous. To discuss if the criminal justice system is gender-biased, an understanding should be reached regarding what is meant by the term `gender`. The word gender can be difficult to define, and also how it differs from the term `sex`. Whilst the term `sex` refers to the psychological a nd biological physiognomies that describe men and women, the term `gender` (The Free online Dictionary) refers to the roles that society considers to be appropriate for men and women, such as activities and behaviours.Categories of gender are `masculine` and `feminine’ while sex categories are `male` and `female`. Some authors believe that the increase of females offending has increased due to the `masculinization` of women’s behaviour during the Women’s Liberation Movement in the 1970s, and is responsible for the increasing numbers of women committing crimes. (Heidensohn, 1989; Adler, 1975). Aspects of sex do not vary between human societies, but aspects of gender may be very different (Bryant and Trueman, 2000).Sex-stereotypes are said to be central to gender, which can be defined as the behaviours, attitudes, roles and beliefs that are passed from generation to generation (Weinrich, CAROL COLLINS STUDENT – 11423048 2 1980). Bias is defined as an inclin ation or preference that inhibits unbiased judgement. There are two views concerning whether men and women are treated differently by the courts and the police. The first is the chivalry hypothesis, which is that women are treated with more respect, sympathy and courtesy.It is stated in the chivalry theory that more leniency is given to women than to men by the police, courts and the criminal justice system in general. It is said that male chivalry means that a woman is less likely to be charged by the police, and that the courts give lesser sentences to women than men, even if they have committed the same crime as male counterparts. Women who are sent to prison often receive shorter sentences than men which does imply that women are treated more leniently (Heidensohn, 2002).Some authors state that the chivalry hypothesis becomes not so relevant if the crimes committed are the same, and sentencing varies very little between the sexes. It can be argued that the chivalry hypothesis on ly works if the offender fits what is considered to be the female stereotypical, gendered role. The second view of different gender-treatment is when a woman does not fit the stereotype of what are female norms, this `double jeopardy’ theory becomes relevant, which results in much harsher sentencing (Carlen, 1985).It can be argued that in some cases that women are treated more severely by the criminal justice system because women are guilty of been doubly deviant; by committing a crime they have not behaved in a way that is regarded to be a socially normal way for their gender to behave. It is also written that females who commit aggressive crimes are often treated more severely than men, who are aggressive because their behaviour is different from what is regarded as normal female behaviour (Paul and Baenninger, 1991; Gelsthorpe, 2003).CAROL COLLINS STUDENT-11423048 3 Campbell (1993) states that violent women must rival men or be mentally ill, because it is not how nice girl s should behave according to Batchelor (2001). It could be seen that in some areas the gender bias within the criminal justice system that gender rivalry with the men has been the predominant force. Police officers and judges were interviewed by Hedderman and Gelsthorpe (1997) and were asked about the ways in which they made decisions.It is clear that women were given more leniencies if they have children, as their offences are treated as â€Å"need more than greed†, for example if they had stolen goods from a shop it was because they needed the goods for their family. However if a man had stolen from a shop it would have been seen that his motivation was one of greed. There is evidence that the possible gender bias in the criminal justice system begins as soon as a woman is taken to the police station. Fawcett (2006) comments that women feel that police stations are hostile places, artly because of the behaviour and sexist language within the police service. Women are in gen eral less inclined to use their right to have legal representation, but this may be not only because they are often charged with less serious crimes, or it could be because they feel overwhelmed and intimidated in the male-dominated police station. Only 20% of police officers are women, and only 18% of forensic officers are women. It is unclear whether police officers are trained to deal with women who have been victims of abuse, particularly when that is pertinent to the charges that have been brought against them.The Home Office states that women who are given prison sentences are given shorter sentences than their male counterparts. This implies that women are treated more leniently by the criminal justice system. The individual's history of offending and the nature of the offence are taken into account, and according to the Home Office, both the higher rate of CAROL COLLINS STUDENT-11423048 4 cautions issued to women, and the lower rate of custodial sentences, reflect that women are less likely to commit serious offences and that past criminal records are also taken into account.Offences that are committed by females tend to be less serious than those committed by men, and fewer women have previous criminal records. This indicates that, according to Trueman and Bryant (2003), there is not any sympathetic bias towards women. 27% of the women who are in prison are first-time offenders, which is more than twice the figure for men. This suggests that men offending for the first time are treated more leniently than women. 63% of women are serving custodial prison sentences for non-violent crimes, in contrast to 45% of men in prison. This suggests that women are sent to prison for far less serious crimes than men.According to the 2001 census, women represented 51. 3% of the population of England and Wales, but only 6. 1% of the prison population were women. It states that more women are likely to be given community sentences, or to be discharged, and that they a re much less likely to be given a custodial sentence than men (Home Office, 2003). Only 8% of the total amount of people sentenced to a custodial prison sentence in 2001 was women. In the last ten years there has been an increase in the female prison population by 60% compared to an increase of 28% for men.The rise is explained by an increase in the severity of the sentences given. It is possible that the introduction in 1997 of The Mandatory and Minimum Sentencing Act put restrictions on judges from using their own discretion when passing sentences. It is believed that the prison system in the United Kingdom was designed for men by men (Corston, 2007). Gender issues not only cause problems for women but also for the trans-sexual prisoners. New prison guidelines in 2006 were introduced to reform aspects of the prison system in order to reduce gender bias towards trans-sexual individuals.Sir David CAROL COLLINS STUDENT-11423048 5 Ramsbotham, prison inspector in 2000, stated that tran s-sexual prisoners were at risk of serious health problems due to the bias against them that they had been denied treatment, and he stated that they should be given the same treatment as everyone else. As fewer women go to prison than men, there is a male-dominated prison system. Due to this, there is discrimination against women in the prison system. There are fourteen women’s prisons in England, are there are none in Wales (Prison Reform Trust, 2010).This suggests that for women to be sent to a women’s prison it is probable that they may be incarcerated a long distance away from their families, causing isolation and emotional stress (Women in Prison, 2006). A woman is imprisoned on average 57 miles away from their committal address, and in 2007 over 800 women was held more than 100 miles away. This also suggests that women are often imprisoned in a higher grade prison than they need to be in. Due to the fact that there are fewer women’s prisons than menâ€℠¢s prisons, there are far fewer opportunities such as training or education (Hayes, 2007).Over the past ten years the media has focused on many controversial problems within women prisons with television documentaries such as `Girls behind bars`, 2011. The newspapers have used headlines such as `Women burn, strangle and stab themselves in jail hell` (Bright, 2004). In the documentaries, any of the issues raised were indirectly a result of gender bias and the effect that it can have on the women inmates within the criminal justice system. Much of the emphasis of the programmes was about the mental illness that is caused by the lack of suitable prisons and facilities.This in turn often leads to self-harm, drug abuse and suicide. There is evidence that suggests that gender bias also exists in the criminal justice system against women who are victims of rape. It is believed that in rape trials it is the female rape victim who is made to feel that she is on trial more than the male suspe ct (Walklate, 1989). CAROL COLLINS STUDENT-11423048 6 Baroness Stern was commissioned by the Government to do an independent report into the on-going concerns in the amount of rape cases that that went to court and resulted in a conviction.In the report Stern suggested that the (estimated) 14% of reported rapes that result in a conviction for rape or sexual assault was not low compared with other crimes. Of the rape cases that go to court, 58% result in a conviction. Stern reported that the figure would not improve under the present legal system (Williams, 2010). The Stern report (2011) suggested that improved care of the victim would improve the rates of conviction, as fewer victims and witnesses would withdraw from the process, which would improve the possibility of a conviction. In 2005, only 6. % of rapes that were reported to the police and taken to court resulted in a conviction, compared to 35% of other criminal cases. In the United States of America (USA) the criminal justic e system discriminates against men; one point that is argued is that if a man commits a murder in the USA it is more than twenty times more likely that he will be given the death penalty. Whereas, if a woman murders a man, she is unlikely to be sentenced to death, however if she murders a child or another woman, she runs a higher risk of receiving a death sentence.Markedly, murdering a man is not significant enough to merit the death penalty (Farrell, 1993). According to Farrell, men do not speak up enough, publicize, or organise appeals, so that that biases against women are removed, and the biases against men remain. Information gathered shows that there is gender bias within the workforce of the criminal justice system. In 2008, only 24% of the police officers in England and Wales were women. Only 12% of women police officers had reached the position of Chief Inspector, compared to 27% who held the position of Constable.In CAROL COLLINS STUDENT- 11423048 7 2008, there were only 2 9 females who were members of the Chief Police Officers Association, out of 209 total members. A 1993 survey showed that nearly all the police women who took part in the survey had received some form of sexual harassment from fellow male officers. There were also reports that 3 out of 10 had been subjected to unwanted touching and to offensive insults. 66. 5% of barristers are men, compared to 33. 5% who are women. A taggering 91% of Queen's Counsel are men, compared to 9% who are women. A view could be taken that with gender bias amongst the employment ranks of the justice system, it is not surprising that there is gender bias within the criminal justice process of criminal prosecution. There are conflicting arguments whether women suffer or benefit from bias during the sentencing for crimes. There is enough evidence to conclude that there is gender bias in the criminal justice system. There should be equal justice for all, yet the criminal justice system is failing women miserably .Women are at a disadvantage as offenders, suspects, defendants, and as employees. The system is failing female victims of violent crimes due to a lack of supportive services. Far too many women are being imprisoned for non-violent crimes. Women are under-represented as employees within the system, principally amongst the senior police levels, the judiciary, CPS, Queens Counsel and within law firms. The criminal justice system and the Government need to address the discrimination that exists against women, and they need to put the issue of gender as central to the criminal justice system.Everyone has a gender or sex, and should be given the right not to be discriminated against. It is a human right to liberty, security, justice, and to not be given punishment without law. It is a human right to a fair trial (Human Rights Act, 2000). As certain that night will follow day, people will commit crimes, and the reactions to the crimes and the way in which gender CAROL COLLINS STUDENT- 114 23048 8 differences are approached in the criminal justice system, for the foreseeable future, will stay the same, coloured by their gender.WORDS- 2312 REFERENCES Adler, F. , 1975. Sisters in Crime: The rise of the new female criminal. New York: McGraw-Hill. Batchelor, S. , 2001. The Myth of Girl Gangs, Criminal Justice Matters, Spring Issue, 43, pp. 26-27. 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