Twelve Oclock High Case Study Fiedlers Contingency Theory Essays

Twelve Oclock High Case Study Fiedlers Contingency Theory Jonathon McNeil Organizational Psychology 4/27/2014 12 OCLOCK HIGH: A LEADERSHIP STUDY 1.By applying The Fiedlers Contingency Theory of Leadership, it appears Colonel Davenport showed high levels of LPC, while General Savage displayed low levels of LPC. According to the model strong leaders in wartime are ones that exhibit low levels of LPC. Colonel Davenport had weak skills as far as leading a military crew because of his relationships with his subordinates. He felt they were more than just numbers. His concern was more focused on the group than the task. General Savage changed the mission by restructuring the mission at hand. 2.At the beginning of the movie the mission was failing. The soldiers had weak morale and if something did change immediately the mission was destined to be a failure. Colonel Davenport was trying his best to direct the bomber crew but he was too concerned for his group emotionally that he lost sight of the task at hand. While there was structure it was unfocused and misguided by Davenport. Davenport displayed poor positional power and as a result he lost his rank. When General Savage was appointed he was not concerned with the emotions; he was more concerned with the task and task structure. He proved to take positional power and use it to guide the group. 3.Colonel Davenports ultimate failure was forgetting the serious task at hand. He was too busy worrying about the well-being of the group. There was a great need for task focus. Davenport failed his platoon because he was too relationship oriented. As morale was lacking and subordinates wanted to quit, he was willing to allow them to take leave. Because he had high level of LPC, he was not an effective leader. The best recommendation for Davenport would be to not focus on relationships and to pay special attention to the task at hand. He was well liked by his subordinates and had group unity, therefore; he needed to focus on getting the task completed. Because of his misguided focus he was unable to redirect his group to succeed in the mission due to lack of morale and too heavily focused on his relationship with his subordinates. 4.General Savage turned around the group. He completely restructured the way in which task needed to be performed. His stern leadership does not at first make him well liked. He did not want to hear excuses and refused to have his subordinates to transfer. He made the group do practice mission bombings to gain precision. He demoted people when he felt it was necessary. His tight formation improved group performance. Because of his low level of LPC, he turned out to be a more effective leader than Davenport in this situation.

I Have No Idea What Im Doing at Work

I Have No Idea What Im Doing at Work You’ve been in your job for a little (or a long while) while, and it started out pretty well. You were accomplishing things left and right, learning the ropes. All was well. Then, maybe, there was a new process introduced, or you were given more, somewhat ambiguous responsibilities. Because you were doing so well before, you didn’t even think twice about it†¦ until it became too late to ask someone, â€Å"What am I supposed to be doing, again?† Or until things started to go wrong. By then, the panic sets in. What am I supposed to do now? I have no idea what I’m doing. Feeling like you have no idea what you’re doing, or that you’re irrevocably screwing up, is not an uncommon one. Everyone has had a moment- or a period of time- where they feel like they’re in over their heads. Anyone who claims they haven’t had that is either fibbing, or long overdue for a wakeup call. But just because everyone feels overwhelmed by tasks some times doesn’t mean you have to endure it or let things spiral out of control.Am I An Impostor?â€Å"Impostor syndrome† is the nagging feeling that although you have made it to a certain point, you’re not competent or smart enough to have made it to that point- that you stumbled into your job and your achievements accidentally. This kind of self-doubt is fairly common, especially at work. When things start to feel overwhelming, it can be natural to look for someone to blame- and who’s more accessible than yourself? That self doubt can lead to anxiety about being â€Å"found out† by others, who are every bit as competent and smooth as they appear to be.For more on impostor syndrome:  So how do you cope when these feelings set in? Let’s look at some strategies for what you can do if it’s happening to you at work.1. Understand that you’re not alone.If you’ve messed up on a project or feel like you have no idea what youâ₠¬â„¢re doing, it can feel like the spotlight is trained right on you and your comedy of errors. This will not be helped by the coworker who happens to be killing it right now- getting everything right, pulling down praise, and making it all look so easy. What you need to remember is that at one point, you were that coworker getting things right. And you will be again, too. Plus, Mr. Overachiever will have his bad days as well.Nobody has every part of their job nailed down all the time- if you do, then that might actually be a bad sign, professionally. Everyone’s too busy worrying about their own stuff to judge you. And think about it this way: as hard as you work to keep your uncertainty and feelings of failure from others, you can assume they’re doing the same.2. Don’t panic.The realization that you don’t know what you’re supposed to be doing, or how to fix that, is a scary one. Don’t let it panic you, because panic leads to chronic second- guessing yourself, which distracts you from what actually needs to be done. It can also scare you away from finding logical solutions to your situation and make things even worse.When you feel the downward confidence spiral start, it’s important to recognize that you feel helpless. Once you acknowledge that, you can try to take a step away and work out how to resolve the problem. If you let it go unchecked, you could keep piling mistakes upon mistakes (possibly endangering your job), or get so frustrated that you quit before you know whether you could have fixed things. Neither of these is a combination that leads to professional success or satisfaction. So acknowledging that overwhelming feeling is the most important step, because it can help stop the negative spiral.3. See it as a challenge, not a dealbreaker.While you’re stuck in â€Å"I have no idea what I’m doing† misery, it can be easy to forget that this is an obstacle, not the end of your career. An obstacle is something you can get around. And unless you’re a brain surgeon who finds herself in the operating room after having skipped all of the relevant classes on how to operate, no one will die because you are unsure of what you’re supposed to be doing.4. Fake it ‘til you make it.Mind you, this is not a long-term solution- if you don’t understand what’s going on and don’t do anything to resolve that, eventually someone else will catch on, fulfilling your impostor syndrome doomsday scenario. But if you’re feeling unsure of what you need to do or how to do it, or you know you’ll need more time to figure things out, it’s okay to stall a little. Negotiate a deadline. Use a vague, â€Å"I’m on it†-type confirmation. You don’t need to announce to everyone that you don’t have the first clue what you should do next; you can buy yourself some time to work out your next steps.5. Admit it:  "I don’t know.†If everyone could do everything without guidance, no one would have a manager. Part of your boss’s job is to make sure that you have everything you need to do your own job. While you may be afraid to acknowledge that you don’t know what you’re doing, thinking that your boss will lose confidence in you or worse, it’s important to see your boss as a resource.True, saying, â€Å"I have no idea what I’m doing† will not breed confidence, but you can frame it differently. Try, â€Å"I’m working on X, but I just need some clarification about the best approach. Can we talk through this?† More likely than not, your boss will appreciate your openness and your desire to work through a situation that’s challenging to you. He or she will also appreciate that you’re taking proactive steps to do things better. This isn’t a â€Å"gotcha† game; your boss is invested in you doing a good job .6. Find an ally.If you don’t feel comfortable taking your concerns to your boss or feel like it’s too late to play the â€Å"I just don’t know† card, try finding someone else who can help. Is your colleague a whiz at Excel who  can teach you some tricks to get the info you need? Ask her. Is the person working next to you familiar with how to process orders? Pick his brain. Not only is your buddy’s information likely to help you fill in any gaps, but just talking it out can be useful. You may very well know more than you think you do, and a conversation on the topic might help you make connections that you didn’t realize were there. Plus, it helps with the â€Å"hey, maybe I’m not in this alone† factor.There are some caveats here, though. You don’t want your chosen buddy to feel like they’re doing your job for you. Make sure they’re not busy with their own tasks when you want to talk. Also, don’t p ing them constantly with questions, emails, or sit-down conversations. If you are really lost, try to limit your queries to one or two big ones per day, and try to do whatever you can to follow up and track down additional information on your own.7. Ask specific questions.Try to avoid a panicky, â€Å"What do I do?† Make sure your questions are specific enough to help you get to an answer. (â€Å"Why me?† is never going to be helpful either, trust me. I’ve tried it.) You want your asks to be constructive. Make sure you’ve identified the task or the goal, and what you think are the steps to get there- or at least the next steps. It’s okay to be wrong†¦ that’s why you’re asking questions! But it’s important to have a base of what you think should be happening, if only so that you can correct those assumptions and replace them with correct information as you find it.Here are some examples of specific questions:Is this urgent? What is the timeline? What do I need to achieve as an end result?What step do I think I need to take next?These questions can help you figure out how much space you have to figure things out on your own- or if it’s urgent, whether you need to swallow your pride and get someone for emergency help. You’re likely to get better responses from people if you say, â€Å"Here’s what I believe needs to happen here- can you confirm?† as opposed to, â€Å"Tell me everything I need to do.†8. Check in with others.If you’ve gotten to the point where you feel like you have no clue what’s going on or what you’re supposed to do next, there was a miscommunication somewhere along the line. Either things weren’t communicated fully to you, or you didn’t make it clear that you didn’t understand everything that needed to happen. Either way, there’s no point in dwelling on mistakes or bad communication. All you can do is ma ke sure that moving forward, everyone’s on the same page.This might mean having brief meetings with everyone else involved in a project to make sure that you know what they’re doing, they know what you’re doing, and everyone understands The Plan. It might also just be a regular 10-minute chat with your boss (say, daily or weekly, depending on the timeline and urgency) to say, â€Å"Hey, here’s what I’ve done, here’s how I plan to handle it moving forward, am I heading in the right direction?† This regular, outside feedback can prevent you from feeling totally lost and adrift on your own.These strategies can help you get through that panic moment, breathe again, and figure out how to fill in your knowledge gaps. And once you’ve stopped feeling like an impostor and worked out your battle plan for understanding what you need to do and then accomplishing it, you’ve overcome a challenge that can become a source of pride in yo ur next job interview.However, if you find that you’re often in the position of not knowing what to do or how to do your job, it may be time to consider that you’re not in the right job. This is not to say that you definitely can’t do the job, but rather that the skills and demands are a little too far outside your comfort zone and interest level. You want your job to be challenging, sure, but if it’s all challenges and stress, is this really something you want to be doing for the next year? Five years? Ten years? Constantly feeling confused and overwhelmed might be a big sign that you should find something that fits your skills better.Your career should be about overcoming challenges, and not letting setbacks blow your confidence in your abilities. Even when things seem bleak, you’ve got the tools to work it out. You’re not an impostor, and you’ve got this!

Critical Self-Reflection Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words - 1

Critical Self-Reflection - Essay Example It entails adopting a rational, reasonable and ethical perspective of viewing different problems and situations. Regular critical thinking is critical because the natural human thinking process exhibits numerous flaws. Therefore, critical thinking serves as a check for eliminating such laws from the thinking process. Critical thinking must rely on powerful intellectual tools, especially the consideration of concepts and principles. Critical thinking has the potential to develop intellectual traits such as intellectual humility, integrity, sense of justice as well as confidence in reason. Notably, there is always a need for an individual to adopt a higher form of thinking because of the human susceptibility to mistakes and bias. This paper will present a self-reflection on different aspects of critical thinking. Evidently, there are numerous benefits of engaging in critical thinking. Some of the roles of critical thinking bring forth invaluable benefits to an individual. Through critical thinking, it is possible for an individual to identify bias and eliminate it successfully. Moreover, critical thinkers have the potential to recognize logical connections that define ideas and concepts. Moreover, critical thinking is significant when identifying inconsistencies in reasoning. Since critical thinking involves an active process of analyzing a problem, considering the potential solutions, and determine the best solutions, it enables the individual to analyze problems systematically (Riddell, 2007). In a world whereby individuals have an evident need to acquire knowledge, critical thinking can help in the identification of relevance and importance of ideas. I have realized that all human beings have certain stringent belief systems, which serve as barriers of critical thinking. I have the convic tion that critical thinking can play a significant role in assessing the believe systems. Without doubt, critical thinking an important aspect in an individual’s life.

Individual observation program Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Individual observation program - Essay Example My main aim was to stimulate his interest, his ability to experience the world around him, and to motivate him to initiate movements outside his comfort zone. Through the assignment, I developed my knowledge and understanding on the movement displayed by the pupil in relation to his sensory impairments. I also gained a greater insight into the relationship between his physical experience and his cognitive abilities. In the course of my study and observations, I was able to uncover the reason why the pupil lacked the motivation to learn. All in all, I feel I am more able to incorporate the immediate environment as well as the activities which can overcome difficulties for pupils in accessing stimuli more effectively. Pupil Z individual observation programme – week 1 I completed a one-week individual observation programme on Pupil Z. In this programme, I decided to take a close look at Pupil Z’s movements. I wanted to find out about his natural movements and the ways in w hich any intentional actions were made. I wanted to gather information on the range of proper actions which can be made in order to ensure that I was making informed judgments about what I was seeing. I also wanted to use such informed judgments before I could develop a plan and implement a more meaningful movement experience for him. I decided I should use my observations and the standardised assessment format. This led me to explore a range of texts relating to the cognitive versus physical development of children, including studies on how pupils with multiple disabilities often suffer developmental delays. This led me to the use of Lillie Neilsen’s â€Å"Function Skills Assessment,† which is a formalised assessment tool highlighting significant milestones in the physical development of young children (Neilsen, 2000). I initially made some observations of Pupil Z while there were no stimuli or objects around him, first, while he was in a supported sitting position, a nd second, while he was on a supine position on the floor. Then I observed him when he explored different objects around him in these positions. I felt that this experience would enable me to compare his natural movements to his other movements when presented with objects and when given support by an adult. I was unable to observe his movement behaviours in the prone position as he did not tolerate being in this position too long and he communicated his discomfort by becoming increasingly distressed and by crying. Observation of Pupil Z’s movements without stimuli Due to his dystonic athetoid cerebral palsy, Pupil Z displayed abnormal involuntary movements that varied in intensity from mild to severe, and which often placed him in abnormal positions. For instance, his fists would often abruptly clench, his arms / hands would twist, and then his legs would stiffen and straighten. In his chair, his feet would straighten and extend for a few seconds and then relax, causing him t o fall back onto his chair. His facial expressions were often quite tense. These events usually appeared in cycles of action and rest, action and rest. These overactive muscle responses often have a negative impact on his energy level, causing exhaustion and decreased energy soon after. Oftentimes, he would sleep after said incidents. When in a supine position (lying on his back), and on the floor where his limbs are free, he also displayed lots of leg movements (e.g. kicking) with his arms straightening out to his sides or moving about from

Presidential Power and Domestic Intelligence Essay

Presidential Power and Domestic Intelligence - Essay Example of 1978 was implemented to guide the people on how to request for a judicial authorization before an electronic surveillance or physical search on a person can be done (FAS, 2012). Based on the original F.I.S.A. guidelines, the local government should first request for a judicial authorization before conducting an electronic surveillance or a physical search on a suspected person. During the Bush administration, there was a conflicting legal issue with regards to the latest intelligence collection practices and the F.I.S.A. guidelines. To correct the gap between the legal issue on electronic surveillance and the actual practice of warrantless domestic wiretapping of phones, tracking of messages from the Internet, the president went out of his way to persuade the Congress to support the need to amend the origninal guidelnes on F.I.S.A. (PBS, 2007). Based on the conversation between Bill Moyers with Fritz Schwarz and Charles Fried, it is clear that Bush was actually manipulating the Congress so that the president can do whatever he decided to do. Even though something is not legal, Bush was using his authoritative power to control the people around the Congress without the knowledge of the local citizens. Regardless of whether or not Bush’s strategy to control terrorism has been effective in serving its purpose, I think that the Bush administration went too far in reforming the domestic intelligence

Performance of Equipment Maintenance Services in Healthcare

Performance of Equipment Maintenance Services in Healthcare Performance Monitoring in Equipment Maintenance Services checklist Title Abstract Method: Introduction Choosing And Using Key Performance Indicators Benchmarking In Clinical Engineering Audit Summary Discussion And Conclusion Abstract The objective of this literature review is to deliver results to the key performance indicators in monitoring the performance of equipment maintenance services. Method: Medical equipment management, health source and Medline were used and the search was conducted using different keywords such as key performance indicators, equipment maintenance services and performance monitoring equipment maintenance services. Introduction The medical equipment management approach defines the strategies for oversight and interaction of the medical equipment’s used in treatment, diagnosis and treatment of patients. All the related procedures and policies govern event from selection to acquisition, incoming inspection and the medical equipment management. The mission is ensuring that the medical equipment used in patient care is affordable, safe, accurate and available. The scope of this plan is clinical laboratories and different health systems. (McDermott 2009) Performance indicators should be chosen with care, if not individuals tend to respond by optimizing what is being estimated and hence lose focus of the quality. There are two important questions that should be asked concerning any performance indicator. First, can the performance indicator in question lead to perverse incentives and does it have the required potential to induce the desirable changes. Key performance indicators help a company measure progress towards their set objectives. (Kyan et al. 2004) Additionally, key performance indicators help an organization present of service delivery to come up with the course of action. Different key performance indicators differ depending with the exact nature of service delivery and the company’s approach. Choosing And Using Key Performance Indicators The right indicators vary depending on the reason why the management is choosing them. All key performance indicators contain numerous hidden assumptions. For instance, the company can quote is a known guaranteed downtime percentage with the inclusion of the time when the equipment will not be required. However, at times statistical measures can be very hard to interpret, while clinical users do not consider the actual time of action. (Willson et al.2008) On the other hand process indicators appear to change more often than those that have been made to support specific improvement, and monitor the key factors affecting to quality of output. Result measures are more bound to estimate the effectiveness of initiatives to boost the service. Reasons for the poor performance should be thoroughly investigated, for instance, a reduction of 15% in monthly number of the exact routine maintenance logged in by the workers could be caused by alternative external demands or slipping internal stand ards. The steps that need to be taken to improve the services include modifying procedures and services, modifying demand or delivering more services. If an indicator has been modified to make it more strong, then it will be very important to maintain comparison with the old for long enough, to find out whether the changes have had any positive impact. Process targets can be interpreted and set in regard to local circumstances, because the detailed practice commonly varies, on the other hand, outcome indicators are directly comparable between the services when similar definitions are used (McDermott et al. 2009) Cost measures are quite sensitive to what the service chosen omits and includes. Across a typical hospital, the annual maintenance cost per item included varies widely. Detailed research will give the right guidelines on where the reduction of cost will be more effective. At this point, a lifetime strategy to costing can greatly help avoid the situation where technicians spend endless hours repairing the same equipment because the clinical staff lucks the funds required replacing it. A great sense of perspective is required, for instance, so that the total amount of time required to find the right technician can be reduced, this will help theatres to avoid great loses associated with the breakdown of equipment. The clinical engineer will be responsible for balancing urgency and cost and justifying his/her actions to the clinical staff (Gruber et al. 2012) Key performance indicators are reported and monitored to the relevant safety committees in the hospital throughput the year to provide feedback to the efficiency of the medical equipment management plan, the following performance indicators can be quite helpful if well used in a clinic set up. Critical life support performance maintenance completion rate, with a 100% goal and a requirement rationale. Second, the overall performance maintenance completion rate, the goal is 90% and the best practice to report and monitor rationale. Third is the service requests caused by user errors or mishandling, with a 10% or less gal of all the service requests that had not been planned, in this regard, the exact number of chances may be synonymous without consideration of the overall volume of all the service requests received. Mishandling mistakes with the exact requirement will have to be evaluated to find out if the trends exist, with the overall ratio that has been tracked over time providing relevant information for risk reduction. Another performance indicator is the equipment failure rendering harm to staff or the parties, the goal is zero occurrences and the best practice to report and monitor rationale (Swan et al. 2004) The next performance indicator chosen is the hazardous investigations, the main reason for choosing this key indicator was getting the right information, the rationale of choosing the hazardous investigation KPI Is all SMDA recalls, reportable events and medical equipment accident investigations will be instantly reported to the relevant safety committees. The next performance indictor chosen was the performance improvement standards. First, clinical engineering is responsible for identifying performance improvement indicators, based on the priorities that have been identified by users of the medical equipment in question, the relevant department and the environment or safety care committee. The environment or safety committee has the sole responsibility of approving the thresholds and monitors on yearly basis. All performance maintenance indicators are reported after every three months to the safety committee. The information provided is then submitted to the governing body involved via the regular reporting channels. All the elements of performance indicators can be changed upon request based on the administrative input, the institutional experience and regulatory change (Willson et al. 2004) Benchmarking In Clinical Engineering Over the years, there has been a lot of benchmarking activity with the clinical engineering sector. Clinical staff and hospitals are continually finding that there are many issues that are pushing them towards benchmarking. In this sector, we shall look at different methods in which benchmarking in the hospitals in used and the most common measures that are available. These different measures fall into different categories depending with the service they are used to measure. The outlined derivation of benchmarking measures differ between different organizations, and checking into the differences is often vibrant than opting to do a direct comparison. This results into a debate when estimate the cost against other relevant performance measures. In addition, they help guide in making evidence based decisions which integrate the quality with the worth of money. (Willson et al. 2004) In Canada, standards for evaluation and measurement of the best clinical engineering services were introduced back in 1998. To put everything in order, the Canadian biological and medical society created a review to boost the sharing of concepts. Another alternative option is making the use of external consultants to measure the service and advice on the utilization of performance indicators and quality systems to enhance it. Audit This is very important to getting and maintaining the highest quality standards. In its simplest terms, the audit compares the current and the intended practice and immediately reports on the difference. For instance, many follow a person through the maintenance process whilst looking out for any deviation from the right procedures, checking out the records and terms to ensure they have been completed successfully. This strategy is relevant to the internal audits and has the capacity of identifying whether the procedure is working as expected, unfortunately, it does not capture the power of exactly what the audit can achieve. (Willson et al. 2004) As a result, an auditor requires some level of incidence without carrying the responsibility of the area being audited single handedly, this is something that is very hard to achieve in small organizations. If this is done successfully, external audits may bring sufficient benefits mainly if the auditing was conducted by an experienced audi tor from another company. In simpler terms, a simple audit process visits are made up of: Preparation and planning: The auditor agrees to the extent of the audit in advance. Opening meeting where the auditor meets with the management representative to discuss the importance of the audit. Audit: Includes visits to several areas, interviews with the organizations staff and examination of the databases. Closing meeting: The audit meets the management to explain and share their audit findings and confirm the queries, indicating how the issues will be resolved. Audit report: The audit writes a conclusive report clearing outline recommendations for improvement. Once both parties agree to the report, it is signed and passed to the relevant bodies. Follow up: The auditor follows up checks out the corrective actions to see whether they have been completed. Organization auditing can be used to measure how technical and scientific procedures are being followed and whether they will give the right results. This perfect type of audit may be conducted by experienced professional bodies under registered national schemes. For instance, thorough checks between radiotherapy determinants for quality assurance schemes and dose delivery. Basically, it looks at the product, so that they can test a complete system that is where it differs to outline quality control. (Willson et al. 2004) Summary In this report, we have identified many reasons why a company should monitor its performance; we have also discussed the importance of integrating monitoring in a top-notch management system. We have vividly described the design of key performance indicators and looked at how they can be implemented in medical equipment management. (We have also outlined the pitfalls associated with developing and interpreting performance indicators and considered their utilization in practice. We have also reviewed how benchmarking can assist organizations enhance their performance. Finally, we have considered how audits should be strategized, what happens during the audit and how different groups of organizations can combine efforts and assist each other with benchmarking and mutual audit activities. (Grubel et al.2008) Discussion And Conclusion One important thing to understand is the fact that key performance indicators are not performance targets. They are put in place as monitoring facilities with the idea of moving towards the direction of the successful implementation of the procedures, policies and process. Performance indicators are categorized into two distinct groups, namely, quantitate and qualitative. (McDermott et al. 2009)There are two things that must be identified in order to use KPIs effectively; these include the points in procedures or process through which the data is gathered to support the equipment monitoring. Secondly, the locations in service where the data gathered should be presented as important information for quality management. KPI’s are important because they enable facilities to have systems in place for better management of medical equipment and devices. A few of the reasons why key performance indicators are used include more complicated, enhanced technical preventative maintenance, regularly needs consistent quality assurance and specialized user training. (McDermott et al. 2009) References McDermott, R. (2009) Key Performance Indicators Medical Devices/ Equipment Management.’ A Case Studies Of Equipment Management. London: Routledge Willson, K., Tabakov, S., Ison, K., et al 2013, â€Å"Medical Equipment Management.† [Online] 1, (1) 274-280. Available from http://www.openbooke.com/ebook/medical-equipment-management.html> [accesed on 30th April 2015] Gruber, S (2012) Exploring Analytical Solutions For Healthcare Improvement [Online]. Healthcare Analytics, New York. Available at: http://healthcareanalytics.info/2012/02/is-it-a-metric-or-a-key-performance-indicator-kpi/#.VUJEvlFMK_I [Accessed on 30th April 2015]

Singer’s Practical Ethics Essay -- Papers Poverty Theory

Singer’s Practical Ethics St. Augustine once stated, â€Å"The superfluities of the rich are the necessities of the poor. When you possess in excess, you possess what belongs to the poor† (Church 3). This quotation expresses that the less fortunate in our world deserve to own a part of all the excess luxuries that are owned by the more wealthy people. Therefore, anything beyond the necessities of life can be considered something that the poor should retain. This idea is very similar to that of Peter Singer, who contends that the injustice of people who live in abundance while others starve is morally inexcusable. He argues that anyone who is able to aid the poor ought to donate in order to help the crisis of world poverty and similar endeavors. Singer explains that if one is already living comfortably, the act of acquiring luxuries to increase pleasure does not entail the same moral importance as saving someone’s life. Since he is a utilitarian, he judges whether acts are right or wrong based on the consequences the action brings. Therefore, if the consequence of the wealthy people’s failure to donate money is that another poor person dies, then that is just as bad as killing them, since they are consciously letting them die. In his work, Practical Ethics, Singer offers his thoughts about one’s obligations to world poverty and suggests what must be done to fix this dilemma. He questions whether it is ethical for people to live a life of luxury while they allow others to barely survive, or even die. In the world today, there are two extremes of world poverty: absolute affluence and absolute poverty. The basic definition ... ...h is distributed in the world. There is no reason why some people should lead such luxurious lives, while worrying about nonessential lavishness, as opposed to one’s survival like those in absolute poverty do. As people who live in a country of absolute affluence, we are all in the situation where we can choose between sacrificing our luxuries to save a child versus living in excess and allowing the poor to die. What if everything that we take for granted was removed from our lives? We would then live day to day as a means to survive, and only then would we truly understand the lives of those in absolute poverty. BIBLIOGRAPHY Denny, Father Jack. â€Å"The Church in Action.† Received in Theology class on April 1, 2004. Singer, Peter. Practical Ethics. 2nd Edition. Cambridge University Press, 1993.

Biography of Martha Rogers

Born on May 12, 1914, Martha Elizabeth Rogers shares the same birthday with Florence Nightingale. Her passion for nursing persisted in 1933 and she received the degree in 1936. Although this was not her first line of choice in pursuit of a career, still she managed to enter a nursing school at Knoxville General Hospital. Her continuing desire in the nursing field had given her several achievements in different schools. For one, she attained a Bachelor of Science Degree in Public Health Nursing at George Peabody College in Nashville, subsequently becoming a Public Health Nurse at the University of Michigan in 1937. She continued her professional studies of Master’s Degree in Teacher’s College Columbia University New York. Soon after, she became a public health nurse in Hartford, CT afterwards, an acting Director of Education. After having a good position in her job as the Executive Director of the first Visiting Nurse Service in Phoenix, AZ, she further fortified her knowledge at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, MD in 1951. In 1954, Martha Rogers took the place of Head of the Division of Nursing at New York University and edited a journal called Nursing Science in 1963. There were certain affirmations that during this time Rogers were already formulating ideas for her third book An Introduction to the Theoretical Basis of Nursing (cited in Rogers, 1970). For 21 years, Rogers served as the Professor and Head of the Division of Nursing. Although she retired from service, she continued to serve her role in the development of nursing and of the ideology concerning the Science of Unitary Human Beings until her passing on March 13, 1994 (Martha E. Rogers: A Short Biography, 2008). Science of Unitary Human Beings Dramatically, the progress of Science of Unitary Humans Beings occurred in Europe. Some of the aspects of that improved are the nursing process, quality assurance, primary nursing, and nursing models included in the theory. However, the prevalent progress does not exhibit its full nature rather remains obscure. Primarily, the principle of Martha Roger’s theory is based on non-predominant aspect of nursing practice, research, and education. According to Smith (1989), Rogers’ perspective on nursing practice is â€Å"guided out of a concrete, static, closed system world view.† In other terms, it is seen as reductionistic, analytic, and mechanistic (Biley, 1990). These ideologies did not prevail as traditional means to deliver care but challenged nursing preexisting ideas. Moreover, the ideology of Roger’s has been at a perspective contradicting the overall aspect of care. Mainly, the Science of Unitary Human Beings covers a vast array of subjects from anthropology, mathematics, astronomy, Einsteinian, and philosophy. Hence, many believe that Rogers concept demand a wider range of knowledge incomparable to what Nursing has. They call it an â€Å"outrageous nursing theory† (cited in Thompson, 1990) because its complexity derives those to difficult comprehensive ideology. Nonetheless, Martha Rogers is vied as a genius, as she is referred to as â€Å"a brilliant nurse theorist† and â€Å"one of the most original thinkers of nursing.† (Daily et al., 1989). Significantly, the foundation of Rogers concept, seen in her 1970 book, lays five basic assumptions on man and his life processes. First is Openness, wherein a human being perceived as a whole is a sum more than different of the other parts. Second is Unidirectionality, describing life processes occurring in an irreversible space-time continuum. Third is Pattern and Organization that characterizes individuals through progressive reflection of their entirety. Finally, is Sentience and Thought, which speaks of life, particularly human beings, capable of abstraction and imagery, language and thought, and sensation and emotion (Rogers, 1970). Notably, the theory expanded into the four critical elements, namely energy fields, open systems, patterns, and pandimensionality (cited in Rogers, 1986). Initially, energy fields were described as â€Å"fundamental unit of the living and the non-living† comprised of the human and environment energy field. Consequently, the human field is irreducible, indivisible, and has a pandimensional energy identified by pattern but is specific to whole (cited in Rogers, 1991). On the other hand, the environmental field is expressed as integral with the human field. In effect, environmental field specifies itself with the human field. Subsequently, there is Rogers’ Open systems critical element. In this area, it is described that the open nature of fields is where the interchange of energy and matter exists. In other terms, there is a continuous process inside regardless of energy and matter. The third element is Pattern, which gives insight to the characteristic of the energy field uniquely perceived as a single wave. For instance, is human behavior, a factor of human being that constantly changes; hence, identifying an individual. Another is a pattern constantly changing in the body that may signify a disease, pain or illness. Finally is the critical element called pandimensionality, which is according to Rogers (1991), â€Å"a nonlinear domain without spatial or temporal attributes.† Focusing on this theory, many have remained inconclusive, undetermined, and still incomplete. Although it seems genuinely brilliant, the theory exists as impossible, yet, structuralizes the nursing concept in a depth. Moreover, factors remaining in sight of Science of Unitary of Human Beings somehow do not coincide with the nursing process, even in educational or health care service. Hence, the theory still serves alienation from the nursing profession. Even if it is significant, many find it difficult to understand and implement. References Biley, F. (1990). Theory: An overview of the Science of Unitary Human Beings. Retrieved on February 27, 2008 from UnitaryHealthCare.com. Hektor LM (1989). Martha E Rogers: A Life History. Nursing Science Quarterly 2; 2, 63-73. Rogers ME (1970). An introduction to the theoretical basis of nursing. F A Davis, Philadelphia. Martha E. Rogers: A Short Biography. (2008). Retrieved on February 27, 2008   

13 Expository Essay Topics on Drug Use and Its Consequences

13 Expository Essay Topics on Drug Use and Its Consequences If you are writing an essay on drug use and its consequences, you might be in need of facts. Below are some facts that can help you support your claims: Both psychology and sociology seek to explain drug abuse, and each has their distinct perspective on the subject. The phrase ‘drug abuse’ implies excessive use of a controlled substance, resulting in negative consequences. While sociology emphasizes the possible influence of environmental, cultural and social aspects on drug abuse, psychology seeks to establish factors that exist in a person’s sub-conscious mind as influencing drug abuse. In fact, psychological and sociological factors may account for the prevalence of drug abuse. Defining drug abuse must acknowledge social context. Negative behaviour is connoted by the term ‘drug abuse,’ according to an article from DrugLibrary.org. However, sociology views behaviour as being positive or negative based on the social context of such behaviour. The same behaviour could take on a negative or positive hue, depending on the social circumstances. There are various sociological factors – such as the socio-economic status of a person that could influence drug abuse. For instance, having to cope with adverse environmental or social conditions could drive a person to abuse drugs. A drug abuser might be encouraged by mass media or his/ her peer group, either of which might in some manner validate his behaviour. The psychological perspective explaining the causes of drug abuse focuses on a drug abuser’s inner motivations rather than his/ her social circumstances. Psychology does not allow for the possibility that a drug abuser might deliberately opt to abuse drugs, even to the extent that his/ her behaviour could result in ruining their personal relationships or financial stability. The drug abuser’s behaviour could also lead to their imprisonment, hardly a desirable option. Instead the psychological perspective stresses that the drug abuser behaves as they do because of a biological predisposition to an addiction that is beyond their control. According to the website of the California State University at Northridge, drug abuse is attributable to several environmental and cultural factors that, however, fail to account for all instances of drug abuse. Psychology discounts sociology’s ability to provide an adequate explanation as to why even under similar environmental, social, and cultural circumstances, some people abuse drugs while others don’t. Social interaction among humans is also affected by drug abuse and can have a radical effect on your child’s relations with friends, family members and others. The entire family of a drug-abusing youth is affected psychologically, financially and emotionally. Teenage drug users tend to distant themselves from members of their family as well as from activities involving such family members. Additionally, they set a poor example for younger siblings. Drug use impairs their decision-making ability and judgment, thereby inducing hostility towards their family members and even causing them to steal money from their family members to buy drugs. There is an observed decline in the academic performance of teen drug abusers, who also reveal a greater propensity to absenting themselves from school and related activities. A higher drop-out rate has also been found among drug abusers, according to relevant research. Cognitive and behavioural problems may also interfere with the academic performance of youth who use alcohol and drugs. The academic performance of youth engaging in drug and alcohol abuse is also impacted by behavioural and cognitive problems concomitant with such substance abuse. Teenage drug abusers tend to alienate themselves from peers, and the related stigma is accompanied by the youth’s disengagement from community events and school. Teens who eschew drug use are best advised to keep a healthy distance from those who use drugs. As endorsed by experts, such youth are more likely to become drug users themselves if they associate with drug abusing peers and are exposed to the latter’s delinquent behaviour. There is a perceived correlation between substance abuse and delinquency. Quite often, drug-abusing youth face consequences such as arrest and adjudication, in which case the juvenile justice system intervenes. While a clear causal relationship between substance abuse and delinquency cannot be established or for that matter, even a causal relationship between delinquency and alcohol and drug use there is no denying the fact that the two behaviours are linked. Such linkage between substance abuse and delinquency often leads to youths associating with negative peer groups, in addition to problems in the youth’s domestic and academic environments. Drugs can have a negative and harmful effect on a person’s perception, concentration and motor functions, making drugged driving a major cause for concern. Driving under the influence of drugs can cause potential harm to the driver as well as others, owing to the increased possibility of accidents. For instance, a driver’s mental faculties, under the influence of Marijuana, can stay impaired for as long as three hours after ingesting the drug, which can stay in the driver’s system for as long as 24 hours. Roughly 15% of teen drug users (or one in six such individuals) have confessed to driving under the influence. Behaviour patterns of teens influenced by drug abuse also make them vulnerable to sexually transmitted diseases such as HIV/AIDS. This may be due to injecting drugs and sharing used needles. Alternatively, it could result from lack of judgment or controlled impulse while under the influence of drugs with mood-altering properties. This in turn would increase the possibility of engaging in sexual behaviour involving greater exposure to risk. Psychosocial dysfunctions such as withdrawal, apathy, developmental lags, and depression are among the mental health problems most commonly associated with adolescent substance abuse. Youth who abuse substances are more likely than youth who desist from drug use to fall prey to mental problems. These include suicidal thoughts that can lead to suicide or attempted suicide, apart from other mental health problems such as personality disorders, conduct problems, and depression. For instance, interference with psychomotor skills, learning, and short-term memory are mental health problems commonly associated with Marijuana use. The possibility drug addiction is never considered by somebody who uses them for the first time. However, almost invariably addiction is a consequence of using drugs that have a habit-forming quality. Addiction leads in turn to loss of judgement and control; stopping use of the drug can cause severe physical and psychological symptoms. These could manifest as stress, unhappiness, irritability and anxiety, among other symptoms. Some drugs could also induce withdrawal symptoms such as bone pain, diarrhoea, flu, tremors and, in rare instances, seizures. The brain function of long-term users of drugs can change pervasively. For instance, long-term use of Ecstasy can result in sleep disorders, anxiety, depression, and memory deficits. It is quite a serious issue to write on. That’s why it’s necessary to use only truthful information. Apply these facts along with the suggested topics on drug use and its consequences to outline a high quality text. But to complete the writing you should make use of our guide on expository essays. Good luck! References: Anderson, M., Coleman, S., Ford, W., Gorsuch, R., Kaplan, H., Kleber, H., Woody, G. (1989). From Theory to Practice: The Planned Treatment of Drug Users.  Substance Use Misuse,  24(2), 123-166. doi: 10.3109/10826088909047280 Barlow, J. (2010).  Substance misuse: The implications of research, policy and practice. London: Jessica Kingsley. DeSimone, J. (2002). Illegal Drug Use and Employment.  Journal of Labor Economics,  20(4), 952-977. doi: 10.1086/342893 Everett, T., Donaghy, M., Feaver, S. (2003).  Interventions for mental health: An evidence-based approach for physiotherapists and occupational therapists. New York: Butterworth-Heinemann. Ghodse, H., Guse, S. B., Helmchen, H. (1999).  Substance misuse. London: Lippincott Williams Wilkins. Millhorn, M., Monaghan, M., Montero, D., Reyes, M., Roman, T., Tollasken, R., Walls, B. (2009). North Americans Attitudes Toward Illegal Drugs.  Journal of Human Behavior in the Social Environment,  19(2), 125-141. doi: 10.1080/10911350802687075 Na;. (1988). Substance misuse.  Current Opinion in Psychiatry,  1(3), 381404. doi: 10.1097/00001504-198805000-00019 Pilgrim, D. (2005).  Key concepts in mental health. London: SAGE. Primack, B., Kraemer, K., Fine, M., Dalton, M. (2009). Media Exposure and Marijuana and Alcohol Use Among Adolescents.  Substance Use Misuse,  44(5), 722-739. doi: 10.1080/10826080802490097

Outsiders in their respective societies Essay Example

Outsiders in their respective societies Essay Example Outsiders in their respective societies Essay Outsiders in their respective societies Essay Essay Topic: The Outsiders Crooks plays a significant part in the novel, Of Mice and Men, Crooks is considered the lowest man on the totem pole on the ranch. He desperately needs companionship and equality. He has the intelligence of any of the workers, but they dont listen to him because he is black. Crooks is a very lonely and bitter man who has got a crooked back where a horse kicked him, (Hence his name) His eyes lay deep in his head, and because of their depth seemed to glitter with intensity. His face was very lean and lined with deep black wrinkles. His lips were lighter than his face. Crooks is the stable Buck on the ranch, he usually keeps to himself out in the barn. Being black makes life for Crooks extremely strenuous, He lived in California as a child and has felt the pains of racism his entire life. Although he did play with other white boys as a child, society soon cast him aside. His name is the first sign that Crooks will be portrayed as an outsider, as Crooks is not a real name. This shows us that the other farm workers have given him this name as a nickname to give him an inferior status, and to cast him out of their group.In the 30s when the book was written black, Afro-Americans were seen as outcasts and lesses humans that whites. Steinbeck, who, when he wrote the book, lived in a very unsympathetic society, used the book to bring about his doubts, concerning the views of his piers. The society in which Steinbeck lived was such that nigros were treated as animals and little more, he tries to portray this in the way that Crooks is treated in the novel, Stable Buck-ooh, Sta-able buck! and then: Where the hell is that god-damn nigger?This effectively shows how Steinbeck attempts to display how his society treats those that I see as being inferior to them as they would do animals. In the novel Crooks lives in the Stable next to where the horses are kept, this is a physical reminder of his position on the ranch, the way that his home is physically far from that of the others, and that it is such deterioration in standards. Crookss quarters are smelly and dirty, again reinforcing his inferiority to the others.In his stable he also has a collection of commodities that would not normally be associated with a ranch laborer, in the plot it is indicated that he intends to stay on the farm due to his crooked back, and not move to a new ranch when work there is completed a s George and Lennie do. This is a method used by Steinbeck to isolate Crooks from the other workers. As is the way in witch he is given a different job than George and Lennie, as a disabled worker he can only complete menial tasks such as looking after the horses, degrading his usefulness and thus pushing him away even further.Although Jane Eyre is as much an outsider in her society as Crooks is in his, they are in completely different circumstances, but as with of mice and Men Jane Eyre is treated as an inferior person, but for different reasons. Jane was orphaned as a young girl and as such was sent off to live with her aunt at Gateshead Hall, where in her own words, was at a discord at Gateshead hall: I was like nobody there; I had nothing in harmony with Mrs. Reed, or her children, or her chosen vassalage. This bad temperament as portrayed by Bronte is a device to isolate Jane from the rest of the family by using her opposing views and unwillingness to play or converse in a reas oned discussion with the Reed children. This is amplified when she is not allowed to play with the Reed childrens toys even when she wants to, just as Crooks is not allowed to sleep in the bunk house. Janes attitude right from the beginning of the novel when Bronte pictures her refusing to go on the walk and again disrupting the harmony of the family.Bronte uses Jane as Steinbeck used of Mice and Men, to give the public their view on how outsiders were treated, however rather than racism, Bronte, who herself had to publish under a false name to avoid the stigma of her society, tackles sexism and the class system. Jane who comes from a fairly habitual background, and being female has to suffer the same stigmata that her author did, this pushes her to the edge of her social order.The way that Jane has changed from a bleak Landscape to the relative comfort of an upper class mansion, focuss her isolation when she looks back on her past as she looks out to the desolate past that is the f rosty garden. Also the Language that Bronte gives Jane to use such as What does Bessie say I have done? and what do you want, Mr. Reed, I said with awkward defiance, Is very composite for a young girl.It is also very defiant to speak to those that have taken her in such a manner, constructing a feeling of seclusion around her yet again, reinforced by her preferring to read alone in the study behind the curtain as she looks out to her past, and future, bleakness. Both Bronte and Steinbeck use the stigmas of their time to great effect in the respective novel to create the desired isolation of their characters. What they have in common is their desire to break these stigmata, Steinbeck the cruelty of racism in the southern states and Bronte the constraints of sexism in the upper echelons of society.

Education Enquiry Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Education Enquiry - Assignment Example On the other hand, Burton, Smith and Woods article talks of a research carried out to determine how teachers working with student improved the student’s participation through pupil-led approach. The research also emphasizes on how educational psychiatrists and teachers are valuable in promoting young people and children understand and apply research skills while working alongside teachers in classroom. Kellett’s research involved young people with disability expressing their view while it mostly entailed disabilities exploring their experiences of youth democracy and meaningful participation in decision?making forums (Kellett 2010, p.31). The paper draws on theoretical frameworks of participation and voice; however, its primary focus is to celebrate and value research undertaken by these marginalized young people. Burton, Smith and Woods article on the other involves modeling young people and children to act as research in a way to improve their participation within whe re their work, live or receive services. These researchers established that educational psychiatrists and teachers played a big role in improving the children participation in the research they did. In both of these researches, the scale and scope of them were appropriate in the research they took. In both research articles, both authors try to explain what their research questions entailed and a summary of their main findings (Burton, smith, Woods 2010, p.92). From my point of view, Burton, Smith and Woods abstract was a well written one and was written in good language (Burton, smith, Woods 2010, p.92).. There is good use of English and there wording is appropriate in conveying the information they were supposed to convey in their research abstract. Kellett’s abstract shows not well written since the main aim of the research is not clearly understood by the readers (Kellett 2010, P.31). The adequacy of Burton, Smith and Woods abstract is good and can even motivate others to read their research. The expression of the main idea in Kellet’s abstract is obscure since what he was doing and what he found are not clearly illustrated. Though Kellet’s topic is appealing, but his wording is poor in expressing what he achieved. The two did not have keywords. From my point of view, Kellett’s article abstract should have had the key words learning disabilities, children, participation and voice since they carry the main theme of the research work. Basically, the research was aimed at finding the experiences of the young people in exploring their past experiences of youth democracy plus any meaningful participation in matters dealing with decision making (Kellett 2010, p.31). Burton, Smith and Woods abstract should have had the words, participation, EPs, teachers and children. These would be appropriate because the research also emphasized on how educational psychiatrists and teachers are valuable in promoting young people and children understa nding. In addition, the teacher’s participation in building the teacher’s motivation should also have been a key figure in writing the keywords as they would assist in searching other similar items in the library search engine or the internet (Burton, smith, Woods 2010, p.92). On using Kellett’s keywords that I generated and typed them on the search

Should school uniforms be mandatory Term Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Should school uniforms be mandatory - Term Paper Example studies and school experiences have proved that uniform dress code can play pivotal roles in controlling and rather minimizing the threats of violence. This article explains why school uniform is mandatory and how it benefits students and parents in achieving progressive academic performance and improved discipline. Relevant studies showed that one in four students reports that they were worrying of becoming a victim of crime and one in eight reports having been victimized at schools (King, 1998). Enforcing uniform dress code has shown moderate success in controlling the violence. How do clothes that students wear and rate of violence in schools relate? Fashion trend, especially at urban schools and gang-related clothing have been found to have significant roles in violence as gang-related children and gang-belonging groups frequently roam streets, enter schools and involve in violence. Their baggy pants and oversized shirts are often used to hide weapons and cause severe dangers on others. Strong enforcement of uniform code in schools will certainly reduce the violence and thus improve academic performance as well. California’s Long Beach School District, that comprises of more than 50 schools and 60,000 students, has implemented uniforms for all its students. Since it made uniforms mandatory for its students, district officials have found that discipline issues decreased dramatically, school crimes decreased by 36%, sex offenses by 74 %, weapon offenses by 50%, physical fights by 51%, vandalism by 18% and assault and battery by 34% (King, 1998) Some parents and students argue that enforcing uniforms in turn violates the rights of children to wear dresses according to their wish and denies freedom of expression (Craik, 2005, p. 70), despite the fact that an Arizona court held that a mandatory school uniform policy is constitutional and school’s policy and rules are merely ‘content-neutral’ (Alexander and Alexander, 2005, p. 377). When they argue for