Saturday, November 30, 2019

Methamphetamine Abuse and Foster Placement

Abuse of methamphetamine by pregnant women is a significant cause of concern among health practitioners due to the effects of prenatal and postnatal exposure of children to the drug. Scientific research on the impact of prenatal methamphetamine exposure illustrates the adverse effects of the drug on the gestational age and birth weight.Advertising We will write a custom critical writing sample on Methamphetamine Abuse and Foster Placement specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More Children of methamphetamine addicts exhibit the characteristic of early gestational age in comparison to unexposed children. Similarly, the average birth weight of infants exposed to methamphetamine is significantly lower than that of their unexposed counterparts (Buckner et al., 2013). Another effect of methamphetamine exposure is the increased likelihood of premature delivery, which increases the vulnerability of infants to premature-birth risk factors, as evide nced by the case of baby Kim. Other effects of prenatal methamphetamine exposure include fetal distress, increased instances of cardiac defects, the formation of cleft lips, and incidences of biliary atresia. As a stimulant of the central nervous system, methamphetamine alters the balance of essential body chemicals such as dopamine and serotonin. The chemical nature of methamphetamine allows the compound to cross the placenta with great ease so that it alters the fetal environment and enters the developing fetus bloodstream. Scientific research shows that methamphetamine induces vasoconstriction, which alters the flow of uteroplacental blood and pressure around the fetal environment. Vasoconstriction effects and altered blood flow and stress increase the chances of the occurrence of prenatal stroke or damages of vital organs such as the heart, which may relate to intracranial bleeding evident in baby Kim (Melo et al., 2006). Methamphetamine exposure alters the mental, emotional, an d behavioral development of children because of alterations in the standard cognitive, language, and motor functions. In this regard, children may expose signs of sleep disturbances and behavioral problems due to the mimicking of neurotransmitters, which may aggravate to impaired perceptual processing and uncoordinated movements (Pometlova et al., 2009). Practitioners need to consider certain factors in their assessments of foster care placement because the arrangement poses significant threats in terms of emotional and psychological damage to children when separated with their families.Advertising Looking for critical writing on psychology? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More Considerations regarding the safety and health of a child are crucial because brain growth is most active in children and existing cases of physical and mental health may aggravate with foster placement (Suchman et al., 2006). In this regard, practitioners m ust ensure that placing children under foster care do not pose an adverse effect on their experience and healing process. Placing a child under foster care arouses the need for analyses of the implications of the occurrence of abuse and neglect in a foster home, which might hamper early brain development. Another important consideration is that although the purpose of foster care is to protect children from any form of abuse or neglect, creating and maintain a child’s attachment to caregivers is essential. Promoting the attachment between a child and caregivers supports an aspect of belonging and cushions the child from the challenges of coping with an alien environment. In this regard, the necessity to remove a child from home should be such that placing the child in a new environment offers protection from imminent risk of harm while safeguarding feelings of safety and care. Another consideration pertains to the ability of a child in foster care to deal with psychological s tress due to the brain’s tendency to shift to an acute stress response mode. Placing an infant in foster care is likely to cause poor feeding and aggravate the failure to thrive, which may lead to weak recovery for children with physical and mental health problems. The psychological health of a child largely depends on the existence of a relationship with an adult who can nurture, protect, and help the child to develop trust and a sense of security. The concept of developing an understanding of attachment in a child is crucial to the development and sustenance of bonds with other people during socialization (Ashford et al., 2010). Children with significant levels of attachment to their caregivers develop secure and productive relationships because they have developed excellent emotional security and conscience. A child perceives caregivers as a parent due to the existence of a respectful and long-lasting relationship, which ensures the psychological health of the child and th e development of positive attributes in terms of self-esteem.Advertising We will write a custom critical writing sample on Methamphetamine Abuse and Foster Placement specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More The development of brain structures that control aspects such as a child’s personality traits and ability to learn and adjust to stress and emotional situations largely depends on the influence of factors in a child’s environment on nerve connections and neurotransmitters in the brain. In this regard, placing a child in an environment that disrupts emotional and cognitive development poses threats of impaired brain development to the child. The situation in which a child grows should enhance a sense of belonging and permanence by encouraging a continuous interaction and building of a relationship between the child and attachment figures. In this regard, long periods associated with the attainment of permanent placement i n foster care programs may interfere with a significant phase during which a child develops a sense of the relationship between physical, emotional, social and environmental factors. Furthermore, an environment that lacks appropriate mechanisms for stimulating cognitive, language, motor, and behavioral skills cannot support proper child growth and development. Practitioners should consider the risks associated with a lack of permanence in foster care, which creates a feeling of neglect among children and minimizes their chances of forming productive attachments. Subjecting a child to interrupted periods of stay at home and in foster care eliminates the experience of day-to-day attention that caregivers give children in the physical, emotional, and social sense. The lack of long-term interaction between a child and an adult who provides attention, comfort and nourishment denies the child an experience of acceptability and being of value while promoting adverse effects of neglect (And erson, 1998). Negligence curtails the development of language and vocabulary skills, which limits proper communication in children. Placing children in foster care poses threats to their growth and development because of the interruptions on various aspects of the continuity of caregivers. Unlike adults who deal with matters of impermanence by developing a mechanism for self-reliance and projecting constancy in the long term, children have a limited scope for establishing their sense of self and focus on contextualizing time in the present.Advertising Looking for critical writing on psychology? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More In this regard, children have a limited ability to cope with impermanence and moving them between homes adversely affects their well-being. Practitioners need to evaluate the risk of children before deciding on foster placement by analyzing various aspects of family functioning relating to the support of healthy child development to highlight instances of insufficient care and neglect. In this regard, pediatric practitioners can implement programs that minimize the improper care of children without necessitating the adoption of foster placement. References Anderson, V. (1998), Assessing Executive Functions In Children: Biological, Psychological, And Developmental Considerations, Neuropsychological  Rehabilitation, 8(3), 319-349. Ashford, J. B., LeCroy, C. W., Lortie, K. L. (2010), Human behavior in the social  environment: a multidimensional perspective (4th ed.), Belmont, CA: Brooks/Cole/Thomson Learning. Buckner, J., Heimberg, R., Ecker, A., Vinci, C. (2013), A biopsychosoci al model of social anxiety and substance use, Depress Anxiety, 30(3), 276-84. Melo, P., Rodrigues, L. G., Silva, M. C., Tavares, M. A. (2006), Effects Of Prenatal Exposure To Methamphetamine On The Development Of The Rat Retina, Annals  of the New York Academy of Sciences, 1074(1), 590-603. Pometlova, M., Hruba, L., Slamberova, R., Rokyta, R. (2009), Cross-fostering Effect On Postnatal Development Of Rat Pups Exposed To Methamphetamine During Gestation And Preweaning Periods, International Journal of Developmental  Neuroscience, 27(2), 149-155. Suchman, N. E., McMahon, T. J., Zhang, H., Mayes, L. C., Luthar, S. (2006), Substance-abusing Mothers And Disruptions In Child Custody: An Attachment Perspective. Journal of Substance Abuse Treatment, 30(3), 197-204. This critical writing on Methamphetamine Abuse and Foster Placement was written and submitted by user J0anna to help you with your own studies. You are free to use it for research and reference purposes in order to write your own paper; however, you must cite it accordingly. You can donate your paper here.

Tuesday, November 26, 2019

Free Essays on The Development Of The Sappho-Corinne Myth In Victorian Women’s Poetry

Sappho, â€Å"the tenth muse† of antiquity, gives western culture one of its first lyric voices. The greatness of her work has significantly influenced women’s literature: particularly with the rediscovery of her songs during the 19th century, a time when western female literary voices were struggling to be recognized. Although modern scholars have only fragments of her works, Victorian women idealized and mythologized Sappho’s corpus as a vessel to develop their own unique literary voices. Victorian women’s poetry brims with Sapphic imagery which most often includes the lyre and a watery grave as images of Sappho’s life as a lyric poetess and death by suicide in the Aegean Sea. The work that has had the most influence in propagating the Sapphic myth is Germaine de Staà «l’s Corinne, or Italy. Corinne struggles to balance a yearning desire for literary fame with her desire for a husband’s love, which would require her to live life as a traditional housewife. Madame de Staà «l leaves Corinne’s dilemma unresolved and her protagonist, like Sappho, dies unsatisfied in both her love and her career. Published in 1807, Madame de Staà «l's work was widely read, serving â€Å"as both inspiration and warning† to â€Å"girls of more than ordinary intelligence or talent, and rising ambition to fame beyond the domestic circle.† Corrine, however, did little to dissuade this generation of women writers who were struggling to emerge as professionals. Indeed, â€Å"it was only with [this work] that the [Sapphic] myth floated free – the myth of the famous woman talking, writing, [and] performing, to the applause of the world .† If not for de Staà «l’s Corinne, the Sapphic myth would never have found such prominent status in Victorian Poetry. The propagation and popularization of the Sapphic myth occurred as literary annuals became fashionable in the early 19th century. The works allowed women authors a forum to publish for ... Free Essays on The Development Of The Sappho-Corinne Myth In Victorian Women’s Poetry Free Essays on The Development Of The Sappho-Corinne Myth In Victorian Women’s Poetry Sappho, â€Å"the tenth muse† of antiquity, gives western culture one of its first lyric voices. The greatness of her work has significantly influenced women’s literature: particularly with the rediscovery of her songs during the 19th century, a time when western female literary voices were struggling to be recognized. Although modern scholars have only fragments of her works, Victorian women idealized and mythologized Sappho’s corpus as a vessel to develop their own unique literary voices. Victorian women’s poetry brims with Sapphic imagery which most often includes the lyre and a watery grave as images of Sappho’s life as a lyric poetess and death by suicide in the Aegean Sea. The work that has had the most influence in propagating the Sapphic myth is Germaine de Staà «l’s Corinne, or Italy. Corinne struggles to balance a yearning desire for literary fame with her desire for a husband’s love, which would require her to live life as a traditional housewife. Madame de Staà «l leaves Corinne’s dilemma unresolved and her protagonist, like Sappho, dies unsatisfied in both her love and her career. Published in 1807, Madame de Staà «l's work was widely read, serving â€Å"as both inspiration and warning† to â€Å"girls of more than ordinary intelligence or talent, and rising ambition to fame beyond the domestic circle.† Corrine, however, did little to dissuade this generation of women writers who were struggling to emerge as professionals. Indeed, â€Å"it was only with [this work] that the [Sapphic] myth floated free – the myth of the famous woman talking, writing, [and] performing, to the applause of the world .† If not for de Staà «l’s Corinne, the Sapphic myth would never have found such prominent status in Victorian Poetry. The propagation and popularization of the Sapphic myth occurred as literary annuals became fashionable in the early 19th century. The works allowed women authors a forum to publish for ...

Friday, November 22, 2019

7 In-Demand Skills You Can Learn Quickly That Will Boost Your Job Prospects

7 In-Demand Skills You Can Learn Quickly That Will Boost Your Job Prospects Skill acquisition is super important to advancing your career. But you’re busy- or you live in a remote location- or you just feel daunted by how long it takes to gain proficiency, let alone mastery, of any given skill. Never fear! There are a ton of in-demand and highly marketable skills you can learn quickly. Here are some of the best.1. Web Design/DevelopmentEver notice just how many job postings ask for some variant on this? Or call it a bonus or a plus? There are tons of online sites and programs that can help you learn how to do all of this and more, in your spare time. And this skill will help make you look really good to a wide range of companies needing help launching, updating, or redesigning their sites.2. Data Analysis/StatsEven if you were terrible at math in school, it’s time to give it another try. Big data is the next frontier. Try sites like Khan Academy to get free instruction in how to harness, organize, and analyze mega data sets and put that skill s mack on your resume. Learn something like Mini-tab, Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) or E-view to really set yourself apart.3. Cloud ComputingIt’s okay if you don’t even know what that is now. You can learn! Heard these buzz words? Virtualization, software as a service (SaaS), platform as a service (PaaS)? You too could become an expert in them. Try ALISON.com for a free introductory course to cloud computing. Then you can put Customer Management Software (CRM) expertise on your resume and be that much more marketable.4. Excel and PowerPointThese more complicated programs of the Office suite- and usually the ones you ignore? Never underestimate the power of expertise in either of these programs. Take an online class in either- or both- and revel in how far you can get being a super genius at these programs.5. Public SpeakingThe skills you build while beefing up your public speaking expertise are multipurpose and can bring about a huge confidence boost. Wh en in doubt, improve your communication skills- both written and oral. But public speaking can make you that much more effective when speaking, interviewing, asking for a raise†¦ There are platforms like Udemy and Skillshare available through Toastmasters International or Dale Carnegie Training. You can even sign up for Skillshare through Monster.com and get your first month free.6. CodingAugment your new web development/design skills with some coding knowledge. These technical skills are all the rage right now, can help whether you’re going into marketing or management, and can really set you apart in the hiring pool. Start with HTML and CSS and then see if you can pick up some skill with JavaScript. Try the Web Development Bootcamp for a nine-week course.7. BloggingNot just for teenage girls! Every company needs a blog these days, and having the talent to generate interesting, well-written content, plus the knowledge of SEO and some of the more technical aspects can re ally set you apart from the crowd. When in doubt, be a blogging maven!

Wednesday, November 20, 2019

What is the role of mass media in liberal democracies Do you think the Essay

What is the role of mass media in liberal democracies Do you think the media fulfil these functions (Base your answer on liberal theory and the political econ - Essay Example But, evidence from electronic and print media today reveals that the media houses have largely failed to live up to their defined roles. This essay will expound on this thesis by way of citing relevant examples from scholarly sources. One of the talking points amongst the intelligentsia is the dangers posed by lack of diversity and representation in the mainstream media’s coverage. The phenomena of media concentration, which has seen greater consolidation in the last decade, gives rise to production of news content that serves the interests of select media elite. This concentration of power in the hands of large media conglomerates makes it easy for them to set the political agenda on the national scale as exemplified by Rupert Murdoch’s near monopoly ownership of media space in Britain. It is no surprise then that the issues that they cover are infested with their personal biases, prejudices and interests. The general public, made helpless by this system, are presented a narrow political agenda that holds no real significance for them (Eldridge, Kitzinger & Williams, 1997, p. 27). In other words, while the media has the power to elicit a policy response from the government, the outcomes tend to ben efit the media elite and ruling classes rather than people. Only a few news stories get picked for publication/broadcast among numerous other pieces competing for the same space/time. The journalists in charge of deciding the news content are subject to personal biases, external coercions (both implicit and explicit) and other constraints that influence their decision making. For these reasons, there are only a minority of journalists who adhere to standards of objectivity and professional integrity, while the rest succumb to various pressures consciously or otherwise. This decline in journalistic ethos is seen across geo-political entities and cultures,

Tuesday, November 19, 2019

What Is The Relationship Between International Organization And Essay

What Is The Relationship Between International Organization And Industrial Change From A Neo-Gramscian Perspective - Essay Example In his 1981 exposition, Cox asks for an informed, open-minded critique of International Relations (IR) that had so far depended solely on "problem-solving" theories that obsequiously deviated in no manner from mainstream diagnoses and prognoses, but embraced states as being immutable and the scheme of things-including individual and institutional relationships within and between states, parastatal organisations and the so-called private players-as Kantian Dinge an sich (literally, "things as they are"). Cox's effort in 1983 was to expand on his earlier thesis: to prove how neo-Gramscianism can take apart and syncretise into new understandings and, thus, modalities of action to subvert the power superstructure of the Global Political Economy, a complex trelliswork of governmental, individual and institutional actors. ... defined as "dominance, especially by one state or social group over others" (Oxford English Dictionary), but is furthermore "understood as an expression of broadly-based consent, manifested in the acceptance of ideas and supported by material resources and institutions" (Bieler and Morton 2003). The term "world order" was of a different class altogether from Immanuel Wallerstein's "world systems theory", a profoundly disturbing assault on development and modernisation theory, in which he said that he aimed to achieve "a clear conceptual break with theories of 'modernisation' and thus provide a new theoretical paradigm to guide our investigations of the emergence and development of capitalism, industrialism, and national states" (Skocpol 1977). Wallerstein (1987) declaimed that the world systems theory was "a protest against the way in which social scientific inquiry is structured for all of us at its inception in the middle of the nineteenth century". Criticising the then prevalent bimodal Dependency Theory, which argues in favour of a bipolar metropolis-satellite structure, he held that it was too simplistic to have a functional worldview organised around it: the meaning that can be read into it is that it would have to be, in a sense, future-proof against times that would only get more-and less-interconnected. In a sense, too, Wallerstein's trimodal world systems theory has been bypassed by current events: mergers between transnational corporations from disparate political dispensations have led to the creation of megacorporations that have turnovers that put the GDP of many developing world economies in the shade. Parastatal organisations, usually non-governmental organisations (NGO), that owe their loyalty either to themselves and their agendas or to

Saturday, November 16, 2019

Interpersonal Relationship Essay Example for Free

Interpersonal Relationship Essay Chapter 9 – Interpersonal Relationships I. Advantages and disadvantages of interpersonal relationships A. Advantages 1. Lesson loneliness 2. Provide stimulation 3. Enhance self worth and self esteem 4. Maximize pleasure and minimize pain B. Disadvantages 1. Pressure to be vulnerable 2. Encroach on privacy 3. Increase obligations 4. Limit other relationships 5. Emotionally difficult to dissolve 6. Break your heart II. Relationship stages A. Created and constructed by the individuals B. People see their relationships differently C. Interdependence is primary quality of an interpersonal relationship D. Six stage model (applies to all types of relationships) 1. Contact a. perceptual contact – physical appearance b. interactional contact (superficial and impersonal) *Flirting – verbal and nonverbal signals of romantic interest *Dark side of flirting – becomes harassment or stalking 2. Involvement – mutuality, connection, try to learn more about the other a. tests – find out how your partner feels about the relationship (start here but go throughout relationship) b. intensifying tokens of affection; increase contact; sexual intimacy; jealousy 3. Intimacy – further commitment; share social networks; quantity and quality of exchanges increase, talk more about the relationship Two phases of intimacy: a. interpersonal commitment – private commitments to each other b. social bonding – public commitment; you become an identifiable pair 4. Deterioration – weakening of bonds a. intRApersonal dissatisfaction b. IntERpersonal deterioration – withdraw, distance, conflict 5. Repair – change behaviors or expectations; not always pursued A. IntRAapersonal – analyze and try to solve yourself; consider changing your behaviors B. IntERpersonal repair – negotiate changes w/other *Recognize the problem *Engage in productive communication and conflict resolution *Pose possible solutions *Affirm each other – disclose, talk positively, compliments, nonverbals that say I care cherishing behaviors – small gestures you enjoy receiving from your partner (a wink, a smile, a kiss) *Integrate solutions into normal behavior vs. followed for a very short time and going back to previous behavior. *Risk – risk giving without certainty of receiving, risk rejection by making the first move, be willing to change, adapt.

Thursday, November 14, 2019

Gender Barriers in Athletics Essay -- Sports Feminism Equality Essays

Gender Barriers in Athletics 2. What are the social and cultural costs and benefits of an individual (male or female) entering a non-traditional sport for their gender/sex (eg women who enter body building, power lifting, boxing; men who enter synchronized swimming or field hockey)? Throughout history it is clear that not only women, but both genders have faced seemingly insurmountable barriers when attempting to break into a sport that is not "proper" or stereotypical for their gender to participate in. Though as a society we are making strides towards equality in sport, such as the advent of Title IX, it is clear that we still have a long way to go. Though breakthrough policies such as this are moving in the right direction, other evidence points towards the fact that as a society, we are still more comfortable with women in traditionally female sports such as field hockey as opposed to boxing, and men in traditionally male sports such as body building as opposed to synchronized swimming, since these activities fit with our preconceived notions of what is "normal" for a specific gender. Supporting this idea is the fact that though we seem to be moving towards equality in sport with many coeducational universities and colleges having sport opportunities for bot h sexes, funding is still extremely unequal, as states by the Women's Sports Foundation in 2001: But women and girl athletes have yet to reach parity with men. Women are still only about one-third of interscholastic and intercollegiate athletes. In addition, women college athletes receive less than 26% of college sports' operating budgets, and less than 28% of college recruiting money. Though as a society we are making progress towards equality, there is no way... ...n of both sexes, as described below by Sandi Bittler, Director of women's sports marketing for Nike: It's not like when the boys used to play sports and the girls play with dolls. Now there is crossover in appeal. The first time I noticed it was in 1995 when I traveled with the women's national basketball team tour to 30 universities. For the first time I started seeing these female athletes touching younger kids and it didn't matter if it was a young boy or a young girl (http://www.reporternews.com/1999/features/sport0822.html). In this manner, it is clear that these athletes are taking strides towards equality by affecting the future of our society, youth. Though as a society we face many remaining obstacles in striving toward gender equality in sport, it is important to look at what has been accomplished, and also look to the future for what can still be done.

Monday, November 11, 2019

Reproductive Technologies

Reproductive Technologies Introduction Twenty years ago, the only reproductive technologies available to infertile couples were artificial insemination and in vitro fertilization. Since that time, there has been an increase of reproductive technologies, and a multitude of options are now available to those couples who are infertile. Infertility affects ten percent of men and women. One in six Canadian couples is infertile. To overcome infertility many couples have chosen the path of reproducing artificially using reproductive technologies.Reproductive technologies are a term referring to methods used to achieve pregnancy by artificial or partially artificial means. They help improve a couple’s chance of conceiving and carrying a child to term. The Canadian government had recognized the importance of reproductive technology and created the Bill C-13 which was introduced into the House of Commons on October 9th, 2002. This act is respecting assisted reproduction and related rese arch. Attempts at the first non-human embryo transfer date back to the 1980’s.Improvements and discoveries over the following decades lead to the first successful IVF births in 1959 in rabbits by a Chinese scientist. The first human in vitro pregnancy was achieved in Australia in 1973, but it resulted in an early miscarriage. Louise Brown was the first baby conceived through in vitro fertilization. She was born on July 25, 1978, in Oldham, England. Dr. Robert Edwards and Patrick Steptoe had been researching fertility methods since 1968 that included artificial insemination and in vitro fertilization.In vitro fertilization is the most common type reproductive technology. This process involves s man’s sperm and the women’s eggs being collected and combined in a laboratory dish. The embryo is then transferred to the women’s uterus. One cycle of IVF costs on average $12, 400. It has a success rate of approximately twenty eight to thirty five percent. Artifici al insemination or intrauterine insemination is another reproductive technique. A sample of sperm is directly injected into a women’s uterus. This allows the sperm to be screened for genetic disorders.The success rate is approximately five to twenty five percent. A new development in IVF is in vitro maturation. Immature eggs are collected from the ovary and ripened outside the women’s body. They are then fertilized through IVF. This treatment is suitable for women who cannot produce mature eggs. IVM has a success rate up to thirty percent. Technology is not the only type of fertility treatment for infertile couples. Couples may also take fertility drugs. Women can take these drugs to act hormones for women who aren’t producing eggs properly.Fertility drugs can range from fifty dollars to five thousand, depending on the type of treatment. Though reproductive technology helps infertile couples conceive, it also has its setbacks. Risks with reproductive technologie s include bleeding or infection, birth defects, increased risk of cancer physical and financial stress and the chances of miscarriages at twenty percent. Key Questions How has reproductive technologies affected fertility? Reproductive technologies have increased fertility. Couples who are unable to have children can now do so due to assisted reproductive technologies.It has provided happiness and hope for couples who were first deemed as infertile. Reproductive technologies have also helped same sex couples of having children. Women can conceive through donated sperm through in vitro fertilization or through artificial insemination. Also men can have children through a surrogate who can conceive with the multitude of reproductive technologies. Couples who settle down later in life with lower fertility rates can still have children with assisted reproductive technologies. What issue has arisen from assisted reproductive technologies?Reproductive technologies have caused an ethical di lemma. Many individuals do not believe that using technology is proper to have children. The Catholic Church does not support reproductive technologies. The church regards these procedures as dehumanization and depersonalization of reproducing. Many believe that children should come into being as a direct result of sexual intercourse of the parents, where they are accepted as a ‘gift’ and blessing and not as a ‘product’ of doctors. Technology can be used to assist the fertility of a couple’s sexual act, but it should never replace it.Is reproductive technology negatively or positively affecting couples? Reproductive technologies are positively affecting couples. Couples can fulfill their wish of having children. There are many forms of reproductive technologies to help address every couple with conceiving a child. However, the couple’s family view on reproductive technology can negatively affect them. If a couple comes from a family who does n ot believe in having a child through technology that can put great stress on the couple. The couple would not like to go against their family’s belief but still would like a child.Their family could tell them to wait and have a child naturally which could result the couple to further decrease their chances of conceiving. Will there be more types of reproductive technologies in the future? With technology constantly changing and new items being brought out every few years, it could be likely for different types of reproductive technologies to be discovered. As technology keeps growing, we are constantly coming up with new ways to do things. With advanced technology we are likely to find new ways to help couples to conceive a child. Will fertile couples use reproductive technologies to have children?Fertile couples may use reproductive technologies to have children. With men and women fully establishing their careers before settling and having children they may not have the tim e to raise children in the earlier stages of their relationship. When they are ready to they could use reproductive technologies to speed the process of having children. ASP Connections Anthropologists would look at the point of view of cultures toward reproductive technology. They would see the beliefs and opinions of a culture and how the society develops based on reproductive technology.The school of thought theory that relates to this is cultural materialism. Cultural Materialism is based on the idea that the true explanation of a culture can be derived by examining members decisions regarding human reproduction and economic production This connects to reproductive technologies because it is based on the idea that the true explanation of a culture can only be taken by examining member’s decision regarding human reproduction. It also believes in that the type of technology that is adopted by a culture determines what type of society they develop in.A culture could be fine regarding couple using technology to help them conceive or they could be against it because the child is not conceived naturally. Anthropologists could ask; how reproductive technology is viewed in cultures and groups and does other cultures belief influences another’s? Sociologist would explain reproductive technology as something that is helping society grow. Reproductive technology is helping infertile couples have children, therefore growing their society and economy. These children will grow up and help our economy by buying items and replacing workers who are retiring.The school of thought theory that relates to reproductive technologies is Neo-Marxism. Neo-Marxism relates to reproductive technology because it looks specifically to economic power to see the various ways in which it influences society. All aspects of reproductive technology are very expensive. If a wealthy couple is infertile they can easily go to reproductive technology and undergo the treatments. For a couple who are lower or middle class it will be harder for them to afford the treatments. The wealthy have more power to easily access anything they need.Sociologist could ask whether reproductive technologies are positively or negatively affecting society and if only the wealthy make up the most users of reproductive technology? Psychologists would focus on the behaviour of the individuals who know reproductive technology. They would find out personal opinions on how reproductive technologies are changing society. They would also look at individual reactions of couples who are undergoing reproductive technology. They would see how their emotions are to failure rates of reproductive technologies and success rates.The school of thought theory that relates to reproductive technologies is behaviourism. Behaviourism focuses on childhood experiences and the practises parents use to raise their children. If a child grows up in a family that follows religious beliefs and one of those beli efs is having children the natural way then that will affect their emotions and behaviour towards reproductive technology. An individual may be hesitant in accepting reproductive technology as a method of conceiving and fear what their family may think of them.Questions that a psychologist could ask is if family values affect an individual’s behaviour toward reproductive technology and are individual thoughts toward reproductive technology positive or negative? Case Study Obstetrics and Gynaecologists at the University Hospital in Ghent, Belgium completed a case-control study of all pregnancies obtained with assisted reproduction technology in the Dutch-speaking part of Belgium from 1992 until 1997 to investigate differences in peripartum obstetric events and the prenatal outcome.They studied three thousand fifty-seven singleton and 1241 twin pregnancies were studied. About 90% of pregnancies resulted from in vitro fertilization; the remainder resulted from intracytoplasmic s perm injection. Control subjects were selected from a regional register and were matched for maternal age, parity, fetal sex, plurality, and date of delivery. The main outcome measures were duration of gestation, birth weight, prenatal death, prenatal morbidity, incidence of congenital malformations, and incidence of caesarean delivery.The results were odd ratios and 95% confidence intervals were 2. 6 (1. 4-4. 8) for prenatal mortality, 3. 5 (2. 2-5. 7) for birth before 33 weeks of gestation, and 1. 7 (1. 5-1. 9) for caesarean delivery in singleton pregnancies that resulted after in vitro fertilization. Twin pregnancies obtained with in vitro fertilization, were similar for all outcome measures, except for the incidence of caesarean delivery (odds ratio, 1. 4; 95% confidence interval, 1. 2-1. ) compared with spontaneously conceived twin pregnancies. The prenatal outcome of singleton pregnancies obtained with in vitro fertilization is significantly worse than that of spontaneously co nceived pregnancies, mainly because of the increased rate of preterm birth. The outcome of twin pregnancies obtained with in vitro fertilization is comparable with that of normally conceived twins. For both singleton and twin pregnancies obtained with in vitro fertilization, the incidence of caesarean delivery is increased.This is important to reproductive technologies because it shows that using reproductive technologies could cause defects in children and having more children than intended. Bibliography (No author) At Issue: Human Reproductive Technology. (n. d. ). SIRS Issues Researcher. Retrieved October 12, 2012, from sks. sirs. com/cgi-bin/hst-article-display? id=S200008707-0-6416&artno=0000307357&type=ART&shfilter=U&key=&title=At%20Issue%3A%20Human%20Reproductive%20Technology&res=Y&ren=N&gov=Y&lnk=N&ic=N (No author) Louise Brown. (2012). Biography. com. Retrieved 07:50, Oct 28,

Saturday, November 9, 2019

Uniforms eliminate judgment Essay

Whether or not uniforms should be in all schools is a constant debate. Did you know school uniforms have been around for hundreds of years? I believe that uniforms should be in all schools. Uniforms eliminate judgment, distractions and violence. Uniforms eliminate the peer pressure of high school. Wearing uniforms helps to raise self-esteem and gives teens a feeling of belonging. Everyone is seen as equal regardless of their family’s economic status. Uniforms reduce the pressure of being popular and eliminate cliques which revolve around what you wear. It allows teens to experience a feeling of acceptance regardless of their social and economic background. School uniforms create a safer learning environment for students and faculty. They enable school authorities to easily recognize trespassers that do not belong in the school. Violence and bullying is decreased due to all students appearing equal. A fewer number of thefts occur as everyone owns the same apparel. They eliminate gang mentality as they cannot represent themselves. Violence is decreased as everyone appears as one. Studies have proved many positive results of uniforms in schools. Students are less focused on what their wearing, creating less distractions and making it easier for them to learn. Uniforms create a stricter environment which leads to school rules more likely being followed. Teachers do not have to worry about being ‘clothes police’ and can concentrate on their teaching. Not having to pick out an outfit saves time that students can use to sleep and study. This will improve student attendance and punctuality. Uniforms create unity and boosts school spirit and involvement. Uniforms give students a more positive outlook on school and create unity within the school. Clearly, uniforms bring about a positive school atmosphere and enables student’s to focus on their studies. Uniforms help students to reach their full academic potential without the outside distractions of everyday teenage pressures. By learning these skills in high school, teens will become more productive members of society. These skills will advance your self-esteem and further your potential in life. Uniforms can teach teens to be more accepting of others and not quick to judge. Therefore, wearing uniforms in high school is a small price to pay for a life full of acceptance and achievements. Remember, high school is a learning process not a fashion show.

Thursday, November 7, 2019

The Beast Within Professor Ramos Blog

The Beast Within Throughout human history, there have been a many of stories and tales that has told of fearsome monsters. Some of these monsters fictional in nature, some of them lurking in the darkest corners of the world, where only the brave travel. The monster Im speaking of in this case is neither of previous mentioned. Its something that for many of us, is very close to home and and even closer to the hearts of the American people along with its history. The monster Ill be reviewing here is one that human kind is coined for inventing. The gun is one of our modern monster that our society has, in more recent years, has red flagged. This wasnt always the case though. Most people typically credit the Chinese with the first invention of the gun in the 10th century. They were made out of bamboo or steel tubes that shot flames and shrapnel at its targets. After the invention of what they called a fire lance, the technology spread across hemispheres. It eventually reached the west, where we took the baton and ran far; and I mean really far. What has changed since the invention of guns? Besides the obvious notion that the landscape of gun technology has vastly evolved, the world around guns has also vastly changed. The culture of nations of all have worked to adapt to the changing environment. This goes along with why people themselves continue to live in their daily lives. On the outside looking in, the world can seem like a lot less stressful of a place to live. Stress is not a new thing for humans but it does come in varying ways. Every individual is different and has a certain way to do things. The world has transformed into a mecca for production and industrialization, and with that comes a tremendous amount of labor. When its a struggle to live in a world thats moving so quick, it can difficult to acquire some of the basic necessities. For example, according to an article posted by enterprise community.com, â€Å"This â€Å"housing wage† of $22.10 is nearly $15.00 higher than the federal minimum wage of $7 .25 per hour. According to the annual report, a renter earning the federal minimum wage would need to work 99 hours per week to afford a one-bedroom rental home priced at the national average Fair Market Rent (FMR) and 122 hours per week – that is, three full-time jobs – to afford a two-bedroom.† By no means are these statistic trying to completely justify the rate of gun violence in America, or anywhere for that matter! This is to only to give a slight glimpse into the eyes of a someone who has snapped under the pressures of life. Stress in this case could be viewed as the precipitating cause. In this way we can also correlate this to the monster being a cultural body. The monster being guns of course. The perception of guns has changed drastically in the last century or solely due to media and current events that people tend to directly to guns. Changing views on guns has arisen due to peoples moral codes changing with the times at hand. Reacting to the the emotional uproars of the media and politicians who love to use media to push personal agendas. This has inadvertently turned a once hero to the now demonized and taboo ownership of guns. Who is to blame, guns or the person holding the gun. The gun is only as powerful as the intentions laid onto it by its wielder. As weve gone over numerous times in class, there are tons of scary humans that have spent time here with us on earth, particularly serial killers. Some of the most dangerous individuals to live on earth did not even use guns to kill or harm their victims. Ted Bundy, one of Americas most famous and dangerous serial killers never once used on gun on his victims. Many other serial killers will show you the same truth; if someone wants to cause harm to someone else, they definitely dont need a gun to do the dirty work. As the Joker from the movie The Dark Knight once said, â€Å"Do you want to know why I use a knife? Guns are too quick. You cant savor all the little emotions. In you see, in their last moments, people show you who they really are.† Though our history, guns have always been used for protection, a means for hunting and even as a means to show off technological dominance. Nowadays for many people, its is a symbol of destruction, death and disorder. Most of these preconceptions of guns comes for their use by street gangs or mass shootings here in America. In this paper I aught to provide information and reasoning on why people currently see guns as on of our modern monsters. If death is ultimately what people are afraid of dont look at the gun in hand or you might miss whos pulling the trigger. If you take away guns to try solving the violence in America, or again anywhere else for that matter, the real monster will always escape. That is to say, the beast within. Annotated Bibliography â€Å"Gun Timeline.† PBS, Public Broadcasting Service, pbs.org/opb/historydetectives/technique/gun-timeline/. Harder, Jeff. â€Å"Who Invented the First Gun?† HowStuffWorks Science, HowStuffWorks, 28 June 2018, science.howstuffworks.com/innovation/inventions/who-invented-the-first-gun.htm. Hoffman, Gene. â€Å"Guns Defend Good People From Bad People.† U.S. News World Report, U.S. News World Report, 2012, www.usnews.com/debate-club/does-the-colorado-shooting-prove-the-need-for-more-gun-control-laws/guns-defend-good-people-from-bad-people. â€Å"NLIHC Report Documents the Gap between Wages and the Cost of Rental Housing† Enterprise Community Partners, 2018,https://www.enterprisecommunity.org/blog/2018/06/nlihc-report-documents-the-gap-between-wages-and-the-cost-of-rental-housing Devon Thorsby. â€Å"What to Expect From the Housing Market in 2019† U.S. News. 2019 https://realestate.usnews.com/real-estate/articles/what-to-expect-from-the-housing-market Professor Ramos. â€Å"102 Monster Culture (Seven Theses)Notes. . 2018. https://professorramos.blog/2018/03/20/102-monster-culture-seven-theses-notes/ James F. Zangrilli â€Å"If Only† Chicago Tribune. 1989 https://www.chicagotribune.com/news/ct-xpm-1989-02-18-8903060454-story.html

Tuesday, November 5, 2019

A Scholarship Boy’s Longing

A Scholarship Boy’s Longing In his essay â€Å"The Achievement of Desire,† Richard Rodriguez acts as both a writer and reader in response to a book written by Richard Hoggart entitled The Uses of Literacy. Rodriguez discovers a parallel between his own life and the life of what Hoggart coins as a â€Å"scholarship boy.† A scholarship boy is defined as a child from a working-class family who feels as if he â€Å"cannot afford to admire his parents†¦so he concentrates on the benefits that education will bestow on him.† (566). For Rodriguez, the discovery and reading of the definition prompts him to gain the courage to realize and admit that his academic success is due to his early, emotional separation from both his family and his culture. Discovering Hoggart’s book was an epic moment in Rodriguez’s life. His nostalgic experience is expressed when he writes, â€Å"For the first time I realized that there were other students like me, and so I was able to frame the meaning of my academic success, its consequent price- the loss.† (564). Rodriguez’s academic success began when the â€Å"deepest love† he had for his parents turned into â€Å"embarrassment for their lack of education.† (566). Like Hoggart’s scholarship boy, he started isolating himself from them and transitioning his respect to his teachers. He realized that his parents had no room for societal growth, and if he chose to follow in their footsteps, he would be doomed to the same working-class life that they were marginalized into. Rodriguez’s embarrassment of his parents served as a catalyst to further his education. By idolizing his teachers, he realized that he was opening the doors to success. The only problem with opening the doors to success is that another door closes behind it. The intimate, family life in which Rodriguez found so much pleasure was left in a self-deprecating manner. He began to associate pleasure with inferiority. For a scholarship boy, it is â€Å"clear that education is a long, unglamorous, even demeaning process†¦Ã¢â‚¬  (578). Rodriguez would go to the library and check out the maximum number of books. Many of these books were recommendations from the teachers he admired so much or librarians who had gained a new fondness for him. This mirrors the words of Hoggart when he writes, â€Å"†¦The scholarship boy rarely discovers an author for himself and on his own.† (845). Every time Rodriguez did discover a book on his own and found it pleasurable, he disregarded it. There was no room for pleasure in his life. During grade school, Hoggart’s scholarship boys endure the constant feeling of harsh loneliness. The scholarship boy would always be the first to answer a teacher’s question to the annoyance of the other students. In his home life, the scholarship boy feels as if he does not identify with his family, so conversation is always kept to a minimum. The books that Rodriguez brought home are the epitome of Rodriguez’s imaginative, scholarship boy. They are books that disassociate himself from his family. This loneliness also proves true in Rodriguez’s student life. There seemed to be a barrier between Rodriguez and a normal, social life. Instead of healthily interacting with other people, he hid behind his books. When Rodriguez was a graduate student, he traveled to London to write a dissertation on English Renaissance literature. He found himself in a lonely community of other scholarship children whose â€Å"eyes turned away the moment [their] glances acciden tally met.† (579). The realization of such a life had a profound effect on Rodriguez. Nostalgia started setting in, and he was eager to remember the warmth he experienced as a child. Rodriguez blatantly states that he was the quintessential scholarship boy, but I believe that he has since then shed the label. A scholarship boy is defined by Hoggart as a child who tries to separate himself from his family because of the embarrassment of association. He is the â€Å"odd man out.† (848). However the tone used by Rodriguez in â€Å"The Achievement of Desire† is more nostalgic and melancholy than embarrassed. Rodriguez openly writes about his past, even though it had taken him over â€Å"twenty years to admit.† (564). Hoggart claims that once a scholarship boy has made the transition into a scholar, he will never feel a sense of belonging in his personal, private life. This is where the separation between Hoggart’s scholarship boy and Rodriguez truly begins. In the ending paragraphs of his essay, Rodriguez begins to identify with his parents. He notes that he â€Å"laughed just like his mother† and â€Å"his father’s eyes wer e much like his own.† (580). Although Rodriguez is most likely still the odd man out in his family, he does feel a sense of belonging despite the strained relationship. There is an interesting relationship between Rodriguez and Hoggart’s texts. The structure of Rodriguez’s essay is formatted similar to a reading analysis worksheet. Rodriguez borrows four block quotes from Hoggart’s The Uses of Literacy and comments on them, finding various parallels to his own life. An example of this can be seen when Hoggart writes, â€Å"The scholarship boy discovers a technique of apparent learning, of acquiring of facts rather than of the handling and use of facts. He learns how to receive a purely literate education, one using only a small part of the personality and challenging only a limited area of his being.† (577). Like Hoggart’s scholarship boy, Rodriguez admits he was a bad student. He relied on imitation to get him through the grammar school system. Rodriguez â€Å"used his teachers’ diction, trusting their every direction.† (566). He adopted what he was told to adopt rather than making decisions on his o wn. Rodriguez’s way of paralleling his life to the life of Hoggart’s scholarship boy seems like a very systematic way of writing, which is interesting, because it reflects Rodriguez’s methodical, educational upbringing. However, how Rodriguez uses the text to his advantage is proof that he is no longer a carbon copy of Hoggart’s scholarship boy. The text is broken up into four sections. The first section intertwines the words of Hoggart and Rodriguez describing Rodriguez’s claim on the term â€Å"scholarship boy.† Rodriguez blurs the lines between Hoggart and himself, which allows him to fully align himself with Hoggart’s definition of a scholarship boy. The passage from The Uses of Literacy within this section seems to flow a little too perfectly. It is seamlessly sewn together as if Hoggart’s words and Rodriguez’s personality are one and the same. The second section could have easily been ripped out of Rodriguez’s journal, because of its heavy use of personal events from the essayist’s life. The second section’s polar opposite is the third section, which seems very factual and based on Hoggart’s The Uses of Literacy. Many of the sentences begin with â€Å"The scholarship boy†¦Ã¢â‚¬  The second and third sections display some kind of internal battle withi n Rodriguez, but it comes together in the fourth section. Instead of reading Hoggart’s text like a chore and adding it to a list of accomplishments like Rodriguez did with Plato’s The Republic, he comprehends and uses it to aid his voice. He controls the last section with great authority. Rodriguez makes Hoggart’s words work for him and becomes both a close reader and a creator of a literate, personal, and admirable essay. He uses Hoggart’s words, but he does not mimic them like he once mimicked his teachers and critics. Being able to find his own voice as both a reader and reader, as well as becoming aware and accepting of the fact that it is okay to desire the past were key to separating Rodriguez from Hoggart’s prescriptive scholarship boy. Rodriguez even goes as far to describe Hoggart’s scholarship boy as â€Å"more accurate than fair.† (577). Although it is a seemingly an accurate description, of what a young, working-class child may go through in life, it is not every man’s description. The scholarship boy described by Hoggart in The Uses of Literacy seemed to have an ill fate of seclusion and loneliness, but Rodriguez seems to have created a different ending for himself by being able to go back home. The last section of â€Å"The Achievement of Desire† proves that the essay is solely Rodriguez’s. He may have inserted Hoggart’s quotes into his work, yet the essay is still his, because the clarity of his emotions and thoughts is pristine. Rodriguez, Richard. The Achievement of Desire. Ways of Reading. Comp. David Bartholomae and Anthony Petrosky. Boston and New York: Bedford/St. Martins, 2005. 561-584.

Saturday, November 2, 2019

Income inequality, how the gap is getting bigger Term Paper

Income inequality, how the gap is getting bigger - Term Paper Example that the gap between the rich and the poor is the most important economic issue facing the world today and this poses a great danger to social stability as well as democracy. Income inequality is caused by different levels of education, the social status that an individual or group occupy as well as their race and gender. The inequality can lead to severe consequences such as increase in crime, low life expectancy and affects the social bonding. The widening income inequality impacts on social relation creating mistrust, anxiety and competition for status. In the United States, income inequality is measure by the standard method referred to as Gini coefficient. The gap has tremendously increased as seen in the recent past and is said to be highest since the 1920s, the income of the rich one percent rose with a twenty percent whereas that of the remaining ninety nine percent went up by just one percent( Ryscavage, 1999) . Research studies on national wealth showed that the top one percent of the wealth Americans controlled about forty percent of the nation’s wealth (Ryscavage, 1999). Their income increased by about two hundred and seventy five comparing that to just under forty percent increase for the sixty percent middle class earners (Ryscavage, 1999). Unlike in the past when the rich had their income from wealth accumulated from past generation today the rich Americans belong to the working class who are employees paid highly or are entrepreneurs. They have the central believe that you should work tirelessly to make your mon ey, their culture is capitalistic in nature for instance they acknowledge that you might be poor but work and get money. Americans have the widest gap between the rich and the poor than any other advanced economy in the world what is of much more concern is that it does not bother most people, the poor struggle to join the higher class rather than work towards achieving equality. The main goal is to achieve economic growth this is the