Leadership and multiple ways of looking at the world

Human nature is not an easy term to define, but every day’s activities of an individual revolve around the human nature of that person. The nature of a person may dictate such things as, how to handle various situations, how does one relate with others etc. Therefore human nature is both a product of physical environment of an individual and the biological aspects that a person might have inherited from the ancestors. A good person There are varied viewpoints on how one should be a good person. This is affected by the moral obligation of a person on how they perceive a good person to be and how they can achieve that. The society has got some moral standards that have been set which happens to be static and rigid (Schein, 1992). But with the gestalt that guides a good person, they happen to be flexible and dynamic. A good person will first envision a certain behavior, perform it and compare its outcome with what is the standard of the good. The outcome of the comparison will make the person consider whether taking the behavior or not. The choice is then made according to what fits the goodness described. Therefore, the judgment of a good person depends on how the individual takes that judgment. Moral behavior is an important concept of identity of a good person. Apart from moral uprightness, good character also is part of a good person. Within good characters, will obviously lay good moral behavior. To increase some good personalities in the organization, it is good to give rewards to those considered to be of good quality character. Many of the things that might come in mind when a person is asked about qualities of a good person are those who are kind, helpful, caring, understanding and patient. In most cases a just person will really try as much as possible to do to others what he/she might also want it done to them. This implies that rewards and punishment should be given where it is due supposed to be. Therefore people in a group who will show kindness and understanding to others deserve reward. These are people who in most cases will also be helpful to others and show patience whenever they feel that something is not going as much as they like. With rewarding this, it will increase the development of good characters as the physical environment rather than only depending on the inherited traits can also influence human nature. According to Schein (1992), rewards acts as an incentives of making people to learn. Therefore, people who show kindness to others and obey law also deserve reward. In many organization people have been subjected to reprisal actions because of being whistleblowers.   In any organization, if the management does not follow the laid down procedures and ethical behaviors there are high chances of employees with good characters to disclose such wrong doings. Many managers have developed the art of bureaucracy and autocracy in the organization that they don’t give room for the employees to give their views. But many people do not want to talk about their organizational problems in public due to the fact that they feel that it is dirty politicizing their organization (Morgan, 2004). There can be cases such as embezzlement of funds, mistreating of employees and favoritism in the organization. Such behaviors, especially fund embezzlement requires employees with a strong character who believes in upright morality to disclose the information or else, it may remain a silent matter and thus at the end hurt the organization. High & Low context Culture in the organization. High context culture refers to a situation where by a group of people in the society have had a close relationship spanning for a long period of time. In this culture, there is high emphasis on interpersonal relationships. With this kind of culture in place people develop a high sense of trust among themselves, putting personal interest aside and concentrating on the general interest of the group or society. The events in this culture can only can ony be understood in context, (Schein, 1992). On the other hand low context culture represents a society of people with so many connections but only spanning for a short period of time. In this culture, logic, factors and directness are highly valued. Therefore problems in the organization have to be lined up and then solve one after the other. Decisions concerning problems have to be based on the factors rather than intuition. There are various differences between the high and low context culture. In the high context culture, the group members have a long-term relationship with strong boundaries. They consider the relationship to be more important than the tasks performed. Contrary in the low context culture, it is characterized by shorter relationships with no strong boundaries, putting the tasks ahead of the relationship. According to Schein, group leaders sets the boundaries while the group members are the one to test the effectiveness of the boundaries. Another different between the two is the barrier to enter. High context’s strong boundaries create a big problem for any outsider to enter the relationship as compared to the low relationship, which allows for outsiders to enter easily. This is because the low context culture has a unidirectional culture as compared to the mutual casualty of high context. My workplace is an example of a low context culture. This is because of the following, it is not difficult to enter the organization as long as one has the required qualification and there is a vacancy, then equal chances of employment are given to all; the individuals output is highly considered than his/her relationship with the organization; there are objectives that the organization has to achieve, one after the other starting from the immediate objectives to long term; any decision made or arrived at has to be based on facts of the business environment. Social construction Reality. When people come together and interact for a certain period, they form a culture that arises because of the mode they decide to behave or influences certain behavior. In such cases, the behavior might lead to certain conventional rules of behavior differentiating this group from the other groups in the society. According to Morgan (2004), â€Å"when we talk of culture, we are usually referring to the pattern of development reflected in a society’s system of knowledge, ideology, values, laws, and day-to-day ritual†, (pp 116). In constructing the social realities, there are factors about certain behaviors that have been put in place, these have consists of objective factors. The constructing of social realities depends on both the physical and social realities. In physical reality, it represents a certain organization, for instance a workplace, school, or churches, while the social reality will consist of the inhabitants of the physical reality. The rules that are formed and followed by human being in the physical reality ends up affecting the whole original physical reality. For instance, when an organization puts down certain values embedded in the organization’s motto, it is not that it is the physical organization that brought about the motto, but rather that the humans just came up with the belief and have made it a universal belief. All those who will be coming after the original thinkers and proponents of the motto will also have to follow same suit and behave in the same manner. This kind of values of the organization governs its members. In continued development of the values, it forms the basis of the organizational culture. There is no any correct culture, as many organizations happen to compete each other.   Therefore, the correct culture is only that which helps the organization to achieve its goals and objectives (Schein, 1992). When an organization finds certain means of doing its duties to achieve the objectives it becomes now a habit for all of that community to follow same suit. This implies that it will be a habitualization of the organization to be performing those activities in that manner in future. The problem with habitualization in the organization is that it narrows down the other means of doing the same job in a different way that may be beneficial to the organization. Reference: Morgan. G (2004): Images of the Organization, Sage Publication Inc, ISBN 1412939798 Schein E. H (1992): Organizational Culture and, Leadership, Jossey-Bass, ISBN 1555424872.

Brandwashed, Martin Lindstrom (Zoom in- Zoom out)

â€Å"By uniting us against a common enemy, fear also brings humans together. It has a preserve yet delicious binding quality. It's for this reason that we love to spread fearful rumors, sometimes blowing them out of all proportion just to heighten the sense of danger.† (33. Brandwashed)Zoom In:In this passage, Martin Lindstrom denotes a method used by big corporations and advertising companies that literally scares people into buying things. Lindstrom explains that â€Å"uniting us against a common enemy, fear also brings humans together†, which is a stark statement, but definitely not an inconceivable one. This is such interesting prose, because when we humans feel afraid, the last thing we are thinking about is how united we are. We are thinking about what we can do to eradicate the danger, and how we can feel safe. In 2009, sales of the well known hand sanitizer Purell rose by 50%, which also happens to be the year that the H191 pandemic (better known as â€Å"swin e flu†) erupted.This statistic is fascinating because we can see how us humans were scared of something, in this case, getting the swine flu, but we managed to unite and buy 50% more hand sanitizer. This was our way of eradicating the danger, and feeling safe. The most enthralling part of this is that hand sanitizer does nothing to prevent the H1N1 virus, because it is spread through the air in the form of a cough or sneeze from a infected individual! You may be asking yourself â€Å"How and why did people choose to buy Purell to feel protected from H191?†. Well, Purell posted a statement on their website saying that â€Å"According to the Centers for Disease Control, one of the ways you can help protect yourself from Swine Flu is by practicing good hand hygiene. specifically using an alcohol-based sanitizer.†What they are trying to insinuate is that their product is the key to good hygiene — and that without it you will not be as healthy, and will be at r isk of getting the Swine Flu. The CDC did say that hand sanitizer is good for hand hygiene, but the CDC never said that hand hygiene protects against Swine flu, because that would be a scientifically proven lie. Simply put by Lindstrom, the company totally blew the CDC's statement â€Å"out of all proportion just to heighten the sense of danger†. This example is really captivating, because it sheds light on a situation that most people would  never question. It really shows how big corporations are using fear to provoke emotions, which lead us to buying thing in order to once again feel safe.Zoom Out:Does fear really sell? Everyone is afraid of something but regardless of what that is, there is no doubt that fear sells. Since few products actually solve a person’s fears but rather placate fear temporarily, brands that effectively evoke feelings related to fear can establish long-term relationships with consumers who think they won’t be safe unless they keep bu ying the brand. Anyone who pays for any kind of insurance is proof that fear sells for a long, long time. You choose to buy life insurance; because you are afraid of your family’s well being once you are gone.There are so many ways to portray messages of fear, and that’s why it’s used in so many diverse industries to sell both products and services. For example, the sunscreen industry shifted its messaging from helping people get the darkest possible tans, to helping people avoid getting skin cancer. By using a message that elicits feelings of fear in consumers’ minds, sunscreen brands turned what could have been a brand disaster into a brand opportunity. â€Å"Cutting your sun exposure is easier than cutting out a skin cancer†. This message persuades us to buy more sunscreen, by making us fear the consequences of skin cancer.Personal:Almost every person that I know has been persuaded to buy something by fear, or has at least seen a form of adverti sement in which fear is used as a medium. I can recall an anti-smoking ad that I once saw on the morning news. It depicted footage of a real life open-heart surgery, gore and all, because the victim had smoked cigarettes his entire life. The commercial was so vivid, so vial, so real that I felt the need to reach for the remote, and change the channel.I have seen many commercials like that one since, all getting up close and personal with lifelong smokers who have debilitating deformities, all reaching out to try to get people to quit. These commercials have persuaded viewers to never go near a cigarette, and have definitely taught me that the consequences of smoking certainly outweigh the pleasure of popping open a pack and lighting one up. These commercials use  fear as a medium, but aren’t trying to sell anything, besides the truth.

Assess the View That Traditional Class Identities Are No Longer Important

These have the view that class no longer really matters in modern Britain and that now people no longer identify themselves according to their class background. Clarke and Saunders (1991) would agree with the view of postmodernists. They suggest that classes have become fragmented into many different groups and now they have been replaced with other influences such as gender and lifestyles. Although they is some evidence which suggests these ideas are exaggerated. Marshall’s survey into how people view themselves showed people still see social class as a source of identity. The traditional working class was a group of people that was developed after the industrialisation when they were need for large amounts of manual workers. This group formed a strong sense on culture and identity. These were strong moral values, having men as the breadwinner and women as housewives and believing getting a job is more important than having an education. The traditional working class also saw the labour party as the party for the working class as it represented their interests, as pointed out in item B. Although now many people in the working class vote for different parties as they don’t all agree on what is important now in society, supporting the idea that traditional class identities are no longer important. Now also the manufacturing business as changed a lot, this means now they aren’t the same jobs available as they would have been before as they have been replaced with things such as machines that can do a faster and cheaper job. Therefore the working class has had to change the sort of jobs they do over time which may be a reason for the change in characteristics, and therefore making the traditional class identities now no longer important. Diamond and Giddens agree with this as they argue that the working class is no longer important because of the change in the economy that as lead to the decline of manual labour jobs, and that the working class isn’t now the only class which experiences economic and social eprivation. The new working class is now seen to have little loyalty to others within the same class, more emphasis on customer goods, high levels of home ownership, and women likely to be employed. There is also now a larger section of the working class, this may be down to some working class jobs now becoming more skilful therefore getting higher pay, which others become less skilful and get lower pay, meaning people in the same class may identify themselves every differently. However there are sociologists that believe traditional class identities are still very important, for example Marxists. They believe social class is still hugely influential in shaping our identities. They also believe social class is identified by your income, and that leisure wouldn’t define your identity as you would need the disposable income to afford it. The British Attitudes Survey supported this idea, because in 2007 it found still 94% of people still identified themselves with a social class, whereas only 6% didn’t. Overall the importance of traditional class identities are seen every differently by different people. Views which agree and disagree to the importance of traditional class identities still being important have both positives and negatives so it’s hard to just believe one view point is the truth and the other doesn’t matter. Therefore I believe both viewpoints have sufficient evidence and that traditional class identities are still important to an extent, however now there is also other factors that can make up our identity other than just our social class.

Spreading the Truth or Lies in Disguise Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Spreading the Truth or Lies in Disguise - Essay Example This definition of public diplomacy is concise because it contains three elements that mark its specific role in the over-all practice of international relations and that would serve as a limiting aspect of the study contained in this paper. Government-Sponsored It is â€Å"government-sponsored.† This term limits the scope of the practice of public diplomacy to that which is carried out by the government. While private corporations and institutions also carry out activities that achieve the same objective of informing or influencing public opinion, it could be said that the more important activity of public diplomacy, especially in recent years, is that which nations and states carry out. In the United States, for example, public diplomacy is carried out by the Department of State through its U.S. Information Agency, with the help of many other public and private institutions, such as universities, cultural associations, aid agencies, and its military, among others. In the Uni ted Kingdom, the Foreign and Commonwealth Office carry it out with the help of the British Council, the BBC World Service and private think tanks such as the Foreign Policy Centre, again among many other institutions equipped for the task. Every government carries out a substantial amount of public diplomacy which is different from the common understanding of diplomacy because the normal channels of top-level government relations are not enough for any state to handle the scope and amount of work needed to pursue its strategic interests. Traditionally, international relations to pursue a nation’s strategic interests involved only the political, economic and military aspects. Lately, however,... The report covers the growing importance of public diplomacy highlights the importance of consistency and a unity between the starting and end points of the exercise to communicate a message. The starting point, the government in the case of public diplomacy, originates and packages the message and chooses the medium or media through which the message is transmitted. The end point, the foreign audience or external public, is the intended recipient of the message. However, while the internal public is not included in this equation, they also play an important role, since the factors that contributed to the growing popularity of public diplomacy are also the same factors that affect its utility or not. This paper makes a concluison that this is the reason why there must be consistency between the reality and the message and media used. The message need not be an idealization of reality, but realistic enough so that it could be perceived as objective and sincere. The support of the internal or local public is crucial in this regard, because any messages of inconsistency from this public can do great harm to the message crafted by those who carry out the work of public diplomacy. There is likewise a need to respect the foreign audience’s response. When they do not absorb the message nor change public opinion or, perhaps even worsen it, public diplomacy becomes more crucial and important. Its goal should not be to get everyone to think alike, but rather to help others develop a balanced view of how a country sees its goals as mutually beneficial. Public diplomacy can effect a change in strategic goals if needed.

The fame of michael jackson in middle east Essay

The fame of michael jackson in middle east - Essay Example Michael Jackson achieved his popularity in the Middle East from several of his strengths and preferences despite him being a very troubled man. It is paramount that the success story was not achieved easily but was one that was realized through resilience and hard work. The pop star overcame the racial discrimination age and was able to secure white audience along with his black supporters. Michael Jackson’s iconicity evolved around a combination of multiculturalism, religious orientation, and commitment to philanthropy, American individualism, and consumer capitalism as well as his regular world tours. Philanthropic ambitions by Michael Jackson at the height of his widespread music career saw him undertake a new interest in other cultures and religions, particularly the Muslim culture and the Arabian culture. At one time, Michael admitted to a preference for the Islam religion as he felt that the Islam religion resonated more with his values and believed. He even donated money to build a mosque in the Bahraini capital where he used to own a house. He also had several friends in Bahrain including the son of the former dictator Muammar Gaddafi. It was evident that most of the Bahraini people loved Michael because when he passed away, most people commented that they had lost a fellow Bahraini. The â€Å"Bad† world tour lasted over 16 months and involved con certs performed by Michael in 15 countries. In the concerts, Michael campaigned against racialism, social injustices, poverty, and environmental degradation. He achieved the sensitization against all these vices through his lyrics and imagery in his music such as ‘we are the world’ and ‘they don’t’ care about us’. Michael Jackson’s fans in the Middle East began to see Michael as a global symbol and not merely as an American. His music became the first popular music to be allowed in most Middle and Far East countries such as China in the 1980s when these countries were opening up. Most

Respect Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Respect - Essay Example However, this is counterproductive since when they work in fear, employees will spend more time worrying about their job security and produce mediocre results. Americans feel pressured by their employers and hardly have time to spend with their families and friends, long working hours as well as stressful conditions are hazardous to their health (Waldman). Ironically, it has been scientifically proven that workers who take time off and whose bosses treat them in a friendly and respectful manner are likely to be highly motivated therefore more productive than insecure employees who expend too much time trying to keeping avoiding trouble. A vacation is the ideal time for employees develop innovative ideas by temporarily escaping monotony of the office routine and in the long-term, an employer can reap substantial benefits form letting their staff relaxes every now and then. Waldman explains the situation further by examining the issue of drug testing; he claims that employers who teste d their staff for drugs were often less productive than those who did not (Waldman). While drug tests may sometimes be necessary, they are often seen as a violation of one’s privacy and even when one has not used drugs being tested evidenced that their employer does not trust them. Consequently, the more poorly treated workers are, the less productive they become, primarily because they lose their intrinsic motivation and only work as a means of avoiding trouble or getting fired (Martins). Conversely, employees who are treated with respect are intrinsically motivated and they are driven by results since they do not feel threatened or insecure so they can give the job their full attention, in addition since they get enough time to relax they will be more innovative and productive. Personally, I agree that the respect showed to employees by their employers is directly proportional to their productivity and vice versa. After high school, I worked for a while as a cashier in a fa st food restaurant in my town, it did not take me long to realize that the floor supervisor was a brutal inconsiderate individual to whom the employees were only as good as the last satisfied customer. On my second day, I observed him yell at a busboy who had dropped a glass and he told him if he broke another one, he should not bother to clean it up because he would be fired, this was in full sight and view of the lunchtime crowd. For the rest of the day, the young man was jumpy and irritable and he missed several orders and I heard him speak rudely to a customer, fortunately, the supervisor did not hear about it since he would have probably fired him on the spot. I had assumed it was an isolated case but I later came to realize that harassing employees was the norm at the restaurant; the turnover rate was very high as someone quite almost every week. As the cashier, I soon discovered that one of the reasons productivity was low was that we were training a new employee every other week and as such, we had an inexperienced waiter on the floor that would naturally be slow on their feet. However, as soon as they had become skilled enough to take multiple orders and speed things up, someone would quit and once again, we would have a deficiency and another slot to fill. If the workers had

Kinesiological analysis assessment Coursework Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Kinesiological analysis assessment - Coursework Example In most of the occasions, the athletes perform a counter movement jump. They start from an upright position, make a downward movement by flexing at the knees and hips then extend the knees and hips again to drop vertically on the ground as shown in figure 1a. Such actions make the muscles be pre-stretched before shortening in the desired direction. A male group two member performed squat jumps and countermovement jumps. He played without arm movement on a force platform. The vertical position of the subjects center of mass can now be obtained using free flight equation. From the observation made during the vertical countermovement jumps, the subject had a maximum take-off range at which the knees get flexed to around ninety degrees. For the squat jump, there was no clear optimum take-off as shown in figure 1. The figure illustrates the kind of motions that occur in countermovement jump and squat jump. In a countermovement, the jumper commences from an upright standing posture, makes downward movement just by flexing at the hips and knees and vigorously extends the knees and hips to jump vertically off the ground. It is like other movements like running, other types of jumps and throwing where the required motion starts by movement in the opposite direction thus making the muscles be pre-stretched before turning in the required direction. Pre-stretching further enhances the work output and the force production of the muscles in the movement flow (Hanson, 2005). In a squat jump, the movement begins from a stationary semi hunched posture then vigorously extends the hips and knees to climb vertically from the ground as shown in figure (1b). In this case, no preliminary downward phase is employed, therefore, no pre-stretching of the muscles. This kind of jump was observed to be highly artificial kind of movement that is rare during practice. Most people prefer countermovement form of climbing because it appears natural and a real number can drop

The use of the internet among the youth fosters social cohesiveness Essay

The use of the internet among the youth fosters social cohesiveness - Essay Example While most of the adult population continues to admonish the youths for their addiction to the internet, the platform creates an effective platform for interaction among the group thus fostering social cohesiveness. The internet among many other telecommunication developments have succeeded in making the world a global village thus overcoming the geographical barriers that had impaired human interactions. The use of the internet in the contemporary society coupled with the use of the social network sites such create a virtual society in which the youths interact and widen their networks thus sharing social values most of which they transfer to the actual society thus creating a cohesive society as the essay below portrays. The concern shared among most parents about the internet is that the platform has nor effective regulation and therefore exposes the users to unedited content most of which derail morality in the society. Such parents fear that their children would therefore acquir e undesirable behavior pattern from the internet and lose morality. The internet is indeed creates a cosmopolitan society by pooling people from diverse backgrounds together. Additionally, the internet is an unorthodox media that operates on the pull technology. Unlike the traditional media, internet places the power of choice and censure on the hands of the user. The user thus determines the contents to access and those to censure. Such features present challenges particularly with the adolescent a group of hyperactive individuals always willing to experiment especially with their sexuality (Agosto and June 55). Given the nature of the internet and the resources it pools together, the platform may prove detrimental especially to the young population. The internet creates a virtual reality in which the user determines his or her social grouping without the restriction or limitation of space. Young users therefore become exposed to corruptible and unedited content. Additionally, the internet presents the user with millions of users from all over the world. The social media have succeeded in creating a virtual society on the internet. At such, the internet presents the users with myriad of characters who enjoy the beneficial features of the internet such as anonymity and may therefore post whichever content they deem fit without any form of censure. As such, the internet thus becomes the greatest deterrent feature to the creation of cohesive and ethical societies. Despite the valid concerns raised by most parents and opponents of the idea to expose the youth to the internet, the internet still poses the features capable of developing responsive behavior among the youths thus contributing to the creation of cohesive societies. Just as explained earlier, the internet creates virtual societies by drawing participants from all over the world. Additionally, the intensive interaction on the internet has succeeded in turning the world into a global village in which any one anywhere is accessible and communication is therefore real-time. Among the key factors that people exchange over the internet is culture, culture refers to way of life including sets of human behavior, their attire, dietary and religion among others. The internet is the most effective platform on which the users interact and share views on different social views on a global platform. In the different chat rooms, users inform each other of the latest developments in different parts of the world thus increasing the user’s understanding of the world and their societies (Lupa 30). Peace and unity are social and cultural concepts referring to the cohesive societies in different par

Organizational Managment Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Organizational Managment - Essay Example At the top of the authority structure is the Board of directors whose role is to hire the staff that have specific skills in recreational facilities and also authorize money release for other projects. They also act as tiebreakers of issues that cannot be agreed upon by the executive leadership. Next in authority is the executive leadership that consists of personalities qualified in management of health care organization. They are the brains behind the success of all the programs in the health care since they are the decision makers and suggest the way forward for the organization to improve its face (Liebler and McConnell, 2011). After the two comes the quality improvement committee. This is composed of staff members and other outside individuals with specific skills about quality improvement. Their role just as the name suggests is to act on the suggestions on how to improve the services of the organization including the recreational services to give the organization a competitive edge over other health care organizations and attract even more clients. The medical staffs are next on the authority structure and they include doctors, therapists and nurses. These individuals carry out the actual work of ensuring these terminally ill patients receive their medication on time and they stay alive longer than they would in an ordinary hospital. They also participate in suggesting the way forward for the health care organization since they are in constant touch with the patients who make the suggestions. After them comes the middle management whose role is to pick suggestions from the people in the lower leadership authority and pass them on to the higher authorities and also pass down decisions from the top to the bottom of the leadership ladder. They are the ones who carry out actual field work collecting suggestions and even ensuring suggestions are made and any complaints is dealt with. They are also in charge of the department staffs who are the

MBA MARKETING PAPER Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2250 words

MBA MARKETING PAPER - Essay Example cess of interaction between the organizations and consumers is undergoing a significant change and hence the process of marketing communication has also changed significantly over the past few years. The big question is that how this changed communication would influence the overall marketing concepts. Today internet is utilized as a great medium of marketing. Organizations have been almost forced to use internet as a medium of marketing mainly because of changing consumer behavior with respect to the change in communication process. With the increase in number users of World Wide Web and internet there would be more use of these two as a medium of marketing communication. There are several operational and commercial advantages that internet provide to the marketers. In reply marketers should properly use the platform of internet as there are opportunities of delivering the contents in varieties of ways. The applicability of internet in the marketing communication process has shown t hat there is huge difference in information and the vehicle that is used to deliver information. According to the discussion in the article, internet is such an agency that enables marketers to integrate different aspects of marketing communication. Marketers can integrate different off line and online tactics with the objective of meeting the overall long term strategic goal of the organization. In internet dominated market place consumers are considered as active participants rather than passive recipients in the communication process. This actually has challenged the functionalist view of communication because today after the arrival of World Wide Web and internet, traditional and hegemonic media has been integrated and converted into a hyper electronic market place where the process of communication between the consumer and the marketer are more dialogic and flexible. Previously marketers are found to be more dependent on some traditional mechanistic communication models and this

Handling the Dilemma over Community vs Institutional Corrections Essay Example for Free

Handling the Dilemma over Community vs Institutional Corrections Essay It is the first day of break and Jimmy wants to have a good time with his friends. Long story short, Jimmy decided to drive home drunk and crashed into another car. The driver of the other car passed away.What kind of punishment should Jimmy receive? It seems fair for him to spend time in prison. Should he see probation after the jail time? How much? This scenario helps introduce the dilemma we have today as a society about institutional vs. community corrections. Punishment for crime has always been an issue for debate. With the growth of the American colonies, the colonists needed a system of punishment for lawbreakers. Many methods developed in Europe meant to bring shame to those offenders were adopted. Around this time, the world saw a change in punishment ideology; some began to stress that humans are not perfect and make mistakes. Thus, there should be more reform as well as punish. In 1682, William Penn made a push for change. He limited the death penalty to cases of murder only and called for fines and imprisonment for most offenses. This is widely considered the beginnings of the prison system in the U.S. He also helped start the creation of jails, like the High Street Jail. The first federal prisons were established in 1891. Before this date, prisons were organized by states and territories. The establishment of parole and probation, or community corrections, began in the 1870s. There has always been and most likely always will be a huge social dilemma on what types and to what extent punishment should be laid out. Both institutional and community corrections have their pros and cons. One thing is for certain, however, that we do need a mixture of both. The current prison system has a number of advantages. Incarceration keeps criminals away from the public theoretically making the public safer. Imprisonment also punishes the convicted criminal by taking away, in a sense, their life at least for a short period. This type of punishment should have the effect of deterring the offender from repeat crimes as well as others from committing crimes. Current prison systems are meant to be rehabilitative. Structure and discipline is provided by the prisons so as to educate and provide therapy for inmates. With the good also comes the bad. Housing a large population of criminals together can lead to networking and an anti-social encouragement to continue crime. Probably the biggest knock on imprisonment is that there is a huge cost associated with housing an inmate. The public and law-abiding citizens essentially pay for the living accommodations of a criminal. The financial toll hits those families directly associated with the criminal. It is harder for a family to get by if an income is removed. If a family ends up needing government aid, the public is again paying for that. It can also be said that prisons lack the necessary resources to properly rehabilitate and to address the issues of how they got to prison. One last disadvantage is that every prisoner is treated the same. A murderer would be treated the same as a thief. This may not necessarily be fair. Community-based corrections, on the other hand, also have a number of advantages. It is usually said that community corrections are practical and less expensive alternatives to imprisonment. Keeping an offender convicted of a minor crime in the community and out of a jail filled with hardened criminals would theoretically do a better job at rehabilitating the person and keep them functioning socially. Community corrections mainly offer the solution to the tendency of inmates to learn anti-social behaviors. Families will largely stay intact. Supervision and restrictions can help the person learn to be a more highly functioning member of society. Training programs and job placement work along these same lines. Community corrections may also have negative outcomes. For one, criminals will still be walking the streets. If an offender is set to live in a halfway house, the community around the house could become undesirable. Nearby residents may feel threatened. Community corrections are not totally free either. Systems like halfway houses do cost money, although the overall cost of community corrections is appealing in comparison to institutional corrections. Many believe that prisonization is tantamount to socialization into a criminal culture. Therefore, being in a prison is thought equivalent to being in a school for crime (Tittle, 263). Research has shown that inmates will often grow loyalty each other and can develop a hostility towards prison officials. The society in a prison is largely based on putting value in things not as valuable otherwise. The overall effect is not one conducive to rehabilitation into society. Some do say, however, that attitudes and behaviors such as this become less salient as the time nears for return to the outside (Tittle, 264) This insight can show how many might simply adapt to prison culture and can readjust once freed. Still, the risk of anti-socialization is there. The argument can be made that prisons are not the greatest device for rehabilitation but that community corrections are not currently adequate. A push for improvements is being made. Prohibitive costs of constructing and operating jails make it impossible to get out of this corrections crisis even if the public wants toughness on crime (Rosenthal, 1). Policymakers are making a push towards more effective transition and community supervision. One large problem with this changing corrections climate, is that rehabilitation is being overshadowed by protection of the public and promotion of justice (Rosenthal, 1). One last important point to make about a need for more effective community corrections is that there is an increase in the number of drug and alcohol abusers and prisons are not the best place for these offenders. Innovations have been made in community corrections such as intensive supervision probation/parole (ISP), home confinement with or without electronic monitoring, and residential options in community corrections. It is encouraging to see developments but the system in general is ineffective.Unlike some countries, we have no national probation service to provide service uniformly across all parts of the country (Burrell, xv). There are federal, state, county, and even municipal level providers. It is hard to be efficient and effective with such a non-standardized system. A Canadian study showed that well-designed and well-implemented correctional treatment programs can produce significant reduction in recidivism (Burrell, xvii). The overarching factor in the correctional dilemma is that we should attempt to do what is best for society. Justice does need to be served and prisons are a necessary evil, but not always best at rehabilitation. Without proper rehabilitation, we will see repeat offenders. Community corrections offer better opportunities at re-entry but, of course, this is not always feasible or fair. An often overlooked portion of this dilemma is the families. Not only will the criminal be a lost cause if rehabilitation is a failure but often the families may fall into a state of failure as well. A study shows that two thirds of family members of incarcerated persons see substantial financial decline, general health decline, and damage to relationships with children and other family members (Arditti, 199-200). This certainly is not beneficial for society. In my opinion, there is a trend to be seen in this correctional dilemma. This trend appears to be that the main issue is a lack of effectiveness in rehabilitation. It is also very clear that institutional corrections is not usually conducive to widespread rehabilitation. This lends the idea that community corrections and the community in general provide the real hope. We also now know that the community system is fragmented and decentralized and needs improvement. This is not to say that we need to completely stray away from prisons. Surely, that is out of the question. It is a necessary evil. To better society as a whole, community corrections need to be improved. I believe that we should move towards a system where only the most severe of offenders see true hard jail time. Further, a focus and monetary support should be put towards a unified community corrections system that is more apt at rehabilitating offenders. This is no small task. My opinions can be expounded upon as such: For all violent offenders and those committing crimes with wide-ranging effects should see times behind bars without question. Data shows that there are large numbers of non violent offenders behind bars. Being that it is extremely costly to house a prisoner it would be beneficial to attempt to cut down on non violent offenders behind bars. The push would then be to turn to more social and community based ways of punishment. It would seem that this would be more conducive of rehabilitation. This group of offenders having committed non violent crimes may have more hope of becoming productive members of society once again. There is a certain level of toleration to be had. We must understand that there will always be criminals and some will never be fixed. Further, any system will never work perfectly. In my opinion, though, it seems there needs to a slight shift in momentum towards community corrections for economic, societal, and rehabilitative reasons. Works Cited Arditti, Joyce A., Jennifer Lambert-Shute, and Karen Joest. Saturday Morning at the Jail: Implications of Incarceration for Families and Children. Family Relations 52.3 (2003): 195-204. JSTOR. Web. 26 Nov. 2012. This scholarly article was originally published in the journal, Family Relations. This article is meant to explore the implications of criminal sanction policies on the families of felony offenders. More specifically, the article focused on the social, health, and economic characteristics of parents and children to these offenders under incarceration. I found the article to be interesting and thorough overall, but much of it was more than what I needed for the purposes of this paper. Still, I found the article to be helpful in my research and proved to be useful for anecdotes. As such, this source was used mainly for supplemental information. Burrell, William D. Community Corrections Management. Civic Research Institute (n.d.): n. pag. JSTOR. Web. 26 Nov. 2012. This article is part of the Civic Research Institute. The article is intent on discussing the Community-Based Corrections System in general. The author takes the point of view that it is a decentralized and fragmented system. The article further discusses probation and parole along with developments in these areas. Finally, it explores the future of the system. I found the article to be helpful to my understanding of the community corrections system and to see where it might be heading. I used this article mainly for informational purposes and general understanding. Inciardi, James A. Criminal Justice. 8th ed. Orlando: Academic, 1984. Print. This source is the textbook for our Introduction to Criminal Justice course. It is meant to provide an overview of the structure, processes, and problems of the criminal justice system in the United States. The book provides lots of basic and some in depth information and accompanying support, data, and analysis. I find the book to be helpful and capable ox offering explanations easy to comprehend. I have used this book mainly as a guide and a source for general information on the topic and not for more in depth purposes. Rosenthal, C. S. Opportunities in Community Corrections. National Criminal Justice Reference Service. National Council on Crime and Delinquency, 1989. Web. 25 Nov. 2012. . This article published in the National Criminal Justice Reference Service is focused on why there would be community based corrections, what they are, how effective they have been, and what is the future looking like. Similar to another article I have cited, this scholarly journal article does a good job of painting the big picture of community corrections. I particularly liked how this article was thorough in starting off with the basics and going into developments and then finally into some analysi s. This proved to be a helpful article in the formation of my opinion. Tittle, Charles R. Institutional Living and Rehabilitation. Journal of Health Social Behavior 13 (1972): 263-73. Web. 26 Nov. 2012. This source is an article published in the Journal of Health and Social Behavior on the topic of Institutional Corrections. The author of this article seeks to provide information and research on the extent to which incarceration is or can be rehabilitative. He finds and explains three characteristics thought to have anti-rehabilitative consequences. I found this journal article to be helpful at providing a detailed analysis of institutional corrections, both the presumed advantages and disadvantages. I used this mainly for more in depth conclusion drawing.

Usefulness of participant observation to sociologists Essay Example for Free

Usefulness of participant observation to sociologists Essay Using information from the items and elsewhere, assess the usefulness of participant observation to sociologists. Participant Observation is a method of data collection that takes advantage of the human ability to empathise. It is often most useful to interpretist sociologists, as the data gathered is usually qualitative, and the research is invariably low in reliability. It is also high in validity, as the information is shared in a trusting environment. However, it is important to remember subjects may exaggerate for sympathy or to boast. There is a lot of depth and interaction involved in participant observation, therefore the data cannot be turned into measurable statistics. This is good for a sociologist using a micro, or bottom up approach, as they require feeling and opinions rather than numbers, as with positivists. Having said this, Emile Durkheim regarded suicide as a social fact, and used suicide statistics as hard evidence to explain a persons behaviour. Participant observation is adopted by sociologists aiming to discover the nature of reality, and get involved with other peoples interpretation and understanding of particular social environments. Thus it is sometimes referred to as a naturalistic method. Researchers want to put themselves in the shoes of another way of life, to get to the heart and live it as it is. Participant observers face many difficulties in getting accepted by the group they wish to study, especially if they use a covert approach, as trust has to be gained and the researcher must ensure they blend in, and not arouse suspision. Getting discovered would not only cause trouble, and even gage violent reactions, but would also waste a lot of time and money spent on the observation. For example, BBC reporter Donal Macintyre put himself at risk when he studied football hooliganism, or more specifically, the Chelsea headhunters. In order for him to get accepted by the group, he had to do a lot of background research using secondary sources. Not only this, but he had to to ensure his appearance and the way he acted was the same as the other hooligans. This conforming included getting a Chelsea tattoo, and even learning how to swear and smoke properly. Although this process is time consuming, and even drastic, the results he gained led to the arrest of several of the men, and exposed this behaviour. However, he put himself at great danger, as he could of been found out at any time, and was fully exposed after the programme was shown on TV. Therefore it is important to weigh up the pros and cons of participant observation before a sociologist decides on their method. The sociologist gains very in depth data by getting their information first hand, yet it is impossible to make generalisations from this data as it is usually a very select group of people, who may not represent the wider picture. Participant observation is usuful for those who have a particular interest in a subject, as they would get to see the world through the eyes of those people. Also, an interest is important otherwise the research may be half hearted and the researcher would likely know what to look for. Participant observation is a very useful, and possibly the only way of gaining access to a group involved in criminal or other socially unacceptable acts. For example, James Patrick (1973) covertly studied a Glasgow gang. No other form of research would have gained such in-depth results. Even an overt approach would not have been suitable, as the knowledge of a reaseacher in their gang would probably have changed their whole behaviour, and it would have been very difficult for James to get access into their gang, and impossible to gain their trust. The gang would never admit to these acts in questionnaires or other forms of research, as they never had to answer anything to James, he just went along with what they did. A similar situation is William Whytes study of a street corner gang in Boston. He became a member of their gang, and learnt that asking questions often resulted in the subjects closing up to him. Instead he listened, and found out more that way than if they had answered his questions. This shows how useful participant observation is to sociologists, as information can be discovered that would never have occurred to them in another form of research, and correlations can be made within their social group. For example, Donal Macintyre discovered a link between fascism and football hooliganism, which he may not even have considered before his observation. In important factor to keep in mind is the ethical issues involved in covert participant observation. It should only be fair that people give concent to their being observed, yet this knowledge may affect the results. Sociologists should bare in mind how their research could affect the lives of the subject and their families. Laud Humphreys studied homosexuals by acting as a gay voyeur or a watch-queen in toilets. He then got some of the mens addresses and a year later interviewed them as part of a heath survey. This may be seen as highly unethical, as he is getting involved in the families of his subjects. Polsky researched pool hustlers overtly in 1971. Polsky was against covert research: You damned well better not pretend to be one of them, because they will test this claim out and one of two things will happen: either you will get sucked into participant observation of the sort you would rather not undertake, or you will be exposed, with still grater negative consequences. You must let the criminals know who you are and if it is done properly it does not sabotage the research. With participant observation comes the problem of how to record findings accurately, in a way which is unbiased and accurate. Donal Macintyre used a covert camera to record his findings, which could then be transcripted and studied. This meant Donal was not relying on his memory, and personal interpretation did not get in the way of his results. Field diaries are often used by sociologists. Erving Goffman used a field diary in his study of asylums. He wrote down his findings at the end of the day. It is clear to see the obvious problems of accuracy here, as he may forget vital things, and his personal ideas will affect the way he interprets things.

Reflection On Leadership And Management Skills

Reflection On Leadership And Management Skills This essay will be used as a tool to critique and improve my leadership and management skills as this is essential to the changes that are needed in the NHS improvement plan. In this process I have identified my leadership strengths as well as my development needs. I have used self assessment and feedback from colleagues in the form of my managers, peers and direct reports. I have also reflected upon my vision and style of management and further identified areas that can be enhanced into making me a more versatile leader as this is important to the NHS modernisation programme (DH 2000). With this information I have formulated an action plan that is SMART (Specific, Measureable, Action Oriented, Realistic and Time bound) (NHS Leadership Qualities Framework 2002). Leadership is essential and central to the current NHS modernisation programme. In fact the department of health quotes anyone working in the NHS regardless of their position, grade, qualification or place of work, may be a leader or agent of change and improvement (DH 2001). In simple terms the department of health is looking towards its own staff to develop and deliver their NHS improvement plan and are looking for visionary staff at all levels of experience (DH 1999). The changes that I have had to lead and am currently leading have been driven by reducing waiting times for new case patients as well as implementing the 18 week Pathway from referral to treatment (DH 2006). Other drivers for change and improvement have been the implementation of the Choose and Book system, whereby patients are invited to choose where they are referred and given the option of booking their appointments. The reason for these changes on a whole has been to provide a faster, more user friendly and convenient access to care for patients requiring treatment (DH 2005). My professional title is Head of Orthoptic Services which is an allied health profession. I have to provide clinical leadership whilst ensuring a comprehensive and equitable service is provided that is responsive to changing needs, that is flexible to change and has to directly follow department of health guidelines and changes. My leadership role is to manage and develop the Orthoptic Services within the framework of national guidelines and ensure that effective communication across 3 hospital based departments, out-reach clinics, special schools and screening clinics is adhered to, to enable effect change. Within this role I am met with challenges that are set from management levels above me that I have to react to within my sphere of influence. These may include financial management, staffing levels, waiting targets and service developments in line with the NHS improvement plan (DH 2004). In providing these changes the challenges that I face are mainly down to financial constraint s and staffing levels. Staffing levels are always an issue since our department lost a member of staff due to recruitment and retention, and as a method of cost savings the post was dissolved. Conflict is often an issue as change is at this time frequent and often initially met with resistance and negativity; I myself can initially have these reactions and project them. My personal vision of leadership is to be a transformational leader. This type of leader has the skills to share their vision, motivate their team and gain commitment, which will as a result inspire performance (Bennis, 2003, p 31-46). I am keen to motivate my staff by giving them objectives that I feel are appropriate and within their capabilities; this gives them a varied, inspiring work life and will broaden and increase their interests. This has been highlighted in my LQF feedback which I will discuss in greater detail later. I feel this is also how the department of health envisions how leadership will carry forward their NHS improvement plan (DH 2001). However, this is sometimes not always possible and in more challenging times I can become more of a transactional leader. I feel sometimes when I have to pass on objectives that people are resistant to, then reward and punishment which is characteristic of transactional leadership comes into force. One example of this was when a member of staffs competencies was called into question due to consistently producing clinically inadequate test results. My leadership philosophy is to be a leader who has inspirational qualities and to be credible. This should involve being approachable, hard working, trustworthy, competent and supportive. If I am able to fulfil these criteria then I feel I will have credibility as a leader and or manager. This is what followers expect of a leader (Kouzes and Posner, 1997, p 19-31). The reason for this is because a confident and competent leader will have the ability and capabilities which will be obvious to their followers. They will be able to share their vision which will inspire the staff to follow in their footsteps. To be a successful leader it is important to self assess and understand about self-knowledge. If one is able to identify their strengths and any areas for development, this will result in being able to set realistic parameters and be able to capitalise on their strengths, interests and capabilities (Bennis, 2003, p47-64). I have therefore completed an assessment of myself by using the NHS Leadership Qualities Framework 360 Feedback assessment tool (LQF). I have also completed a shortened Myers Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) to identify my personality type. The LQF is based upon research with over 3,328 participants and is evidence based grounded research with 150 NHS Chief Executives and Directors of all disciplines. This makes it a robust form of assessment (NHS Leadership Qualities Framework 2002). . My criticism of the LQF would be that you have to carefully select who you feel is able to fill it out in a critical but positive way. I feel that if this is not done it has the ability to skew the percentage scales especially if there has only been small numbers of participants in each group. This creates statistically insignificant results. Finally some of my direct reports felt that the language and questions were quite technical and needed some form of political astuteness and management knowledge, therefore making it difficult to fill out completely accurately. I have been able to identify key qualities from the LQF which not only fit in with my leadership philosophy but in my role as a leader. Some of these qualities I had no idea I possessed. I appear confident and am approachable, supportive, motivated, focused, determined and a good communicator. I also have the will to see service developments; this is key to the Department of Healths modernisation and improvement plans (DH 2000). These qualities have been identified by my managers, peers and direct reports. Some of these qualities fit in with being a transformational leader which is clearly what is important to the department of healths improvement plan. Interestingly some of my needs for development have been identified as not being self-confident, not dealing with disciplinary needs and identifying slipping standards, these development needs all point to a more transactional form of leadership or the more management orientated tasks. This process (LQF) has forced me to be far more critical and reflective of myself. It has been uncomfortable at times as some of the feedback has been quite damning of my leadership style, however it is apparent that this is an anomaly in the process and not the general feeling from the rest of the participants. It has highlighted to me key strengths that I have aspired to possess, and it has clearly highlighted areas needed for development, some of which I feel I may have been subconsciously aware of. An example of my strengths directly ties in with the department of healths NHS modernisation programme quote: Anyone working in the NHS regardless of their position, grade, qualification or place of work, may be a leader or agent of change and improvement (DH 2001). A number of direct reports state I delegate duties well which allows people to expand their own role in the department. This creates new challenges for people which maintains motivation (LQF page 44). Other comments relating to this go on to state this makes people feel valued, able to branch into other areas of expertise and helps to retain staff. In this process I have been able to clearly identify key qualities and strengths; however, in order to become a more effective leader some development needs have been identified. In order to achieve this I have created action plans for three areas I would like to work on. Firstly to improve my time management skills, my next plan will be to develop the ability to confront colleagues in a self managed way and finally to increase my self confidence. (Appendix 1) To enable myself to improve these development needs I have formulated action plans for each. I am going to attempt to use ideas and recommendations from professional consensus but also from the likes of Bennis, Kouzes and Posner, Tracy and Covey all advocators of personal development and leading experts in leadership. My first action plans objective is to improve my time management skills. The rationale behind this is because poor organisation and time management creates a negative outlook for all groups of people I work with, my peers, direct reports and my managers. It has been stated in the LQF that it sets undesirable standards to others. Also objectives can be left too close to the deadline which then creates a rushed and poorly planned outcome which can directly affect the quality of the project. Ultimately the deadline can be missed if other tasks make me have to digress from the original task. Furthermore people have identified that I need to improve my long term planning and see the bigger picture, however, this is difficult if I am constantly dealing with the day to day urgent tasks or Fire-fighting as quoted by a peer. Having reflected upon my style of leadership and identifying a quality I possess, approachability, I also feel this can hinder effectiveness. I currently operate an open door policy and try to be approachable. This causes frequent interruptions and digressions which puts pressure on myself and creates difficulty reaching deadlines. The strategies I am going to explore are based around Stephen Covey and Brian Tracys methods of improving personal effectiveness. Before I set about this I feel I will have to reduce the potential unnecessary interruptions and digressions. Firstly I still want to remain an approachable leader with an open door policy, this, my staff felt was a strength, however, I feel that if I restrict access I will have more uninterrupted time which will make me able to work for longer periods of time and thus reach goals and objectives far more effectively. My first step is to simply close my door between certain hours and ensure that people are aware that if the door is closed I am not available, but I will make staff know that I am available between the hours of 08.00 09.00 (dependent on start time), 12.00 13.30 and 16.00-17.00. The next step will be to improve clarity; this is the most important concept in personal effectiveness, if I have absolutely clear goals and objectives, this should improve my productivity and prevent me procrastinating (Tracy, 2004, p7). Ideally I will start to document what it is I want to achieve since this will enable me to visualise what it is I am aiming for. During this process I will set a realistic deadline to achieving my goals, this will give the objective urgency. I will plan ahead, again documenting what needs to be achieved. Finally, something I rarely do will be to take action on the plan immediately (Tracy, 2004, p7). The next step will involve building upon my clarity and identified goals and objectives and will involve planning ahead by working from a list. A short time making a plan of the day ahead will in the long run save time. Therefore I am going to list the tasks or objectives that need to be achieved monthly, weekly and daily, and as I have achieved an objec tive I will cross it off. Tracy (2004, p14) explains that monthly and weekly lists increases effectiveness and efficiency, and ultimately improves motivation and drive since you are able to visualise your achievements. It is this sense of accomplishment that generates forward motion. This strategy will be a very useful evaluation tool as it will enable me to assess my progress and achievements. This plan of action also fits in with the Quadrant II theory where I need to balance my working life between urgent and important issues (Covey, 2004, p150). There are four quadrants (I) important and urgent (II) Important and not urgent (III) not important but urgent and (IV) not important and not urgent. Currently if I reflect upon my practice and what has been highlighted in my LQF I am working in quadrant I. Jerry spends most of his time fire-fighting at work i.e. he is constantly dealing with the immediate problem rather than getting on top of things and looking ahead and planning bette r (LQF, p47). This affects my drive for improvement which is key to the NHS Modernisation and Improvement plan (DH 2000). Covey (2004, p152) states that this leads to stress, burnout, crisis management and fire-fighting and therefore lead me to be far less effective and efficient. The idea is to work more in quadrant II where I am dealing with important but not urgent tasks, if I can achieve this then this will impact on having to deal with the urgent and important tasks that prevent me from planning ahead and driving for improvement. Furthermore if I can get into quadrant II, less and less tasks will be urgent and important. An example of a problem that exists at the moment as a result of poor time management and dealing with urgent and important issues all the time is patient discharge letters. I am unable to sit for any length of time and write them, they are therefore mounting up and compounding my inefficiency. If I were to list them on my weekly schedule, then I will be able t o visualise the task needs doing. Therefore if I can eliminate the pile that exists, it will be easier to stay on top of the task, one letter at a time is easier and more effective than having to sit down and write ten. Therefore my evaluation tool will be to constantly review my task lists and assess my achievements and work on the objectives that are left outstanding. The second action plans objective is to look at developing my ability to confront members of staff at all levels in a self managed way. The rationale behind this is because confrontation at work occurs at all levels, meaning that I have to manage confrontation with my peers and direct reports. Confrontation and conflict appeared frequently in my LQF assessment, with comments suggesting I shy away from it, bury my head in the sand, let standards slip rather than deal with confrontation and do not deal with disciplinary issues to avoid confrontation. These comments were particularly used by my peers and direct reports. All this fits in with the difficulty I have dealing with conflict management. Conflict is likely when the work place has staff of varying backgrounds (Outhwaite, 2003, p347-375), for example professionals versus semi professionals, which can then lead to perceived status differences making joint working far more difficult. One of my peer comments was to do with the perce ption that my staff controls me and that I have little control over them. Though I disagree with the majority of this statement, there does appear to be some obvious perceptions within my peers that this is in fact the case. The strategy to improve on my ability to confront colleagues in a self managed way will concentrate on conflict resolution. My role as a leader is to identify, explore and resolve issues that may be causing conflict, this may be uncomfortable but can only be achieved with perseverance and some degree of risk (Outhwaite, 2003, p347-375). Confronting my direct reports would be the logical first step, the reason for this is the feedback I received from my peers, suggesting they (direct reports) control me. My own direct reports suggested that I dislike confronting them when standards are slipping or when disciplinary issues need resolving (LQF, p 44-45). Return to work interviews after sickness are left or not done, these by no means are a disciplinary action, however if they are not done it gives the opinion that I do not care. In line with improving my time management skills, my intention is to immediately list the interview down on my schedule, so that I can visualise the need to do it. If clinical case note standards slip, then I should deal with them immediately also. There was a case when a colleague had written highly inappropriate comments in clinical records that were brought to my attention. I procrastinated far too long in dealing with this, so that when I did eventually confront the member of staff I was me t with hostility Why did you not speak to me months ago. My staff members were aware of the issue and were uncomfortable that nothing had been done. If feel if I had exercised better assertiveness and had identified, explored and resolved the issue earlier then the outcome would have been more positive for me and my direct reports. I feel the longer issues are left, the more I worry and become less in control. When it comes to the confrontation, I am tense, uncomfortable and out of control. The quicker I can explore and resolve the issue the easier it will be to deal with and I will be moving towards a more self managed way of dealing with confrontation. Furthermore the quicker I act on these types of issues the more it will be a self managed style of leadership, as it will prevent me from being pushed into dealing with confrontation by my direct reports and peers. Managing confrontation with my peers will employ a more open and honest form of communication (Covey 2004, p 202). Through my LQF and reflection I have identified that with my immediate peers there is differing professional backgrounds and probable peer resentment. It is clear that with both parties small issues and annoyances have been left to fester. This then leads to an escalation of bad feeling and antagonism between us all. With the differing professional backgrounds there has always been a differing level of expectation across the workforce. Covey (2004, p 201-202) examines dealing with the issues head on by arranging a series of meetings to mediate and resolve the existing issues and promote a more open and positive working relationship. By taking these steps myself to deal with the current situation, I will be self managing confrontation and will not be forced into having to deal with issues by outside pressures and necessity. Evaluation of this action plan will again be in the form of scheduling and crossing off achievements, but also reflecting upon the experience. Rule: Continuous learning is the minimum requirement for success in any field (Tracy 2004, p52). If I can maintain a diary reflecting upon conflicts that have been resolved and concentrate on the problems and not the personalities then I will be moving towards a self managed way of dealing with confrontation. I will be forcing myself to learn from my experiences and be able to identify successful and less successful outcomes and identify why these exist or what it was that was different between each confrontation. I will reflect upon the use of some of my strengths identified in my LQF. Confidence but not arrogance, highly developed communication style and being able to listen, these are all important in dealing with conflict management (Outhwaite, 2003, p 374-375). My final action plans objective will be to increase my self confidence. The rationale behind this is very personal. Already through my LQF assessment I have learnt that people mostly perceive me as confident and having motivational and inspiring qualities, however, my own personal confidence levels are very poor. Fear of change, conflict and failure is a barrier to my confidence. The LQF assessment showed a very low score for taking calculated risks, this does not surprise me since my direct reports and peers are very unforgiving when it comes to poor judgement and change, even if it was justified. One particular peer is very judgemental regarding failure and slipping standards. My time management skills are in need of further development and a sense of not achieving the balance between non urgent and important tasks (Quadrant II) and constantly dealing with immediate issues constantly chips away at ones confidence levels. Not being able to achieve positive outcomes in conflicts and confrontations needs to be addressed. The more I can succeed and develop the win/win habit the better my confidence will become. It is not about winning confrontations and moving forward my way, but more that agreements and solutions end with a mutually beneficial or satisfying outcome (Covey, 2004, p207). My strategy to improving my self confidence will start by formulating organisational plans and task sheets. When I achieve an objective or project I will cross these of the list and highlight it as an achieved small win (Kouzes and Posner, 1997, p 242-265). This creates momentum and the sense of achievement as previously discussed. I will rate key results on a scale of one to ten and identify strengths and weaknesses, the weaknesses can be used to further develop. If I learn from these weakness and train further this will eliminate the feelings of inadequacy and the lack of confidence I have (Tracy 2004, p 51). Key results or completed projects can be discussed with colleagues and appraised by my manager (Tracy, 2004, p 35-40). All these achievements that I have previously never reflected upon will start to give me a sense of confidence and accomplishment I have never previously thought about. On reflection I have assessed my achievements more on a win/lose scenario, but the more I c an work towards the win/win habit (Covey, 2004, p 205-234) and pass this on to my direct reports the more I am likely to succeed and become self confident. My direct reports tend to assess accomplishments using the win/lose way, and therefore anything that is achieved must have the outcome of us having won the battle, it is not surprising that this promotes the lack of confidence and a feeling of inadequacy I have. Evaluation of this action plan will be to more frequently assess my achievements and accomplishments (Kouzes and Posner, 1997, p 242-265). This will involve assessing my task sheets and my organisational plan which will be done on a daily, weekly and monthly basis. This will help me visualise the tasks that have been completed. The rating of tasks and further training can be assessed by looking at the ratings and assessing if they are improving. This will enable me to build my self confidence. Conflicts and confrontations can be reflected upon and I will be able to better understand the concepts behind win/win. If I can self manage the confrontations and aim for win/win, not only will I be achieving mutually satisfactory benefits and outcomes, but this will be working towards building my self confidence as more and more tasks will be achievable. It will also improve the interdepartmental conflicts and possible peer resentment that has been evident since my LQF. To conclude, it is obvious that all my action plans link into each other. As I become a more effective and efficient leader, then my peers will have less reason to resent my management style and pressure me into acting upon issues that are troubling them. This will then have the effect of lessening conflicts and confrontations. Furthermore, as I improve my time management skills and lessen the confrontations that occur, this will start impacting on my own self confidence. My own self confidence is directly affected by poorly self managed confrontations and an increasing number of tasks that are left undone or incomplete. It is obvious from my strengths that I have the ability to carry out these action plans and that my staff members are more than willing to take on tasks that are suitable for them as they state this makes people feel valued, able to branch into other areas of expertise and helps to retain staff. The Department of Health is looking for visionary staff members that are able to implement and carry out their modernisation plan. As my leadership skills improve I will be more effective in leading change and envisioning improvements becoming the embodiment of the Department of Healths modernisation and improvement plan.

Identity and Independence in The Yellow Wallpaper by Charlotte Perkins Gilman :: Yellow Wallpaper essays

Although "The Yellow Wall-Paper" is fiction, it can be considered almost like Gilman's autobiography since Gilman's life seemed to parallel her main character's life.   What Gilman was trying to express in this work is women's fight for identity and independence (professional work) which are stripped from them by marriage and motherhood. (p799)   In the story, a woman who just gave birth had some complications which resulted in her so called "hysteria" or nervous condition.   She's not allowed to do anything but stare at some yellow wall-paper until she ultimately   loses her mind. The narrator, who will be referred to as Gilman for simplicity's sake, is a   writer who is unable to write due to her motherhood.   "I did write for a while in spite of them; but it does   exhaust me a good deal-" (p801)   It was this motherhood that brought her illness so she couldn't write.   This shows how just being a woman is difficult to have a career.   Her husband, John, always tried to keep her in her room without anything to do but recover from her illness.   Without anything to do, especially her writing, Gilman saw this as being held back from becoming her true self. "John is a physician, and perhaps ...perhaps that is one reason I do not get well faster." (p801) She had to be sneaky about writing or else John would find out.   "-having to be so sly about it, or else meet with heavy opposition." (p801)   Because of this "prison" that she was in,   Gilman started to see images in the yellow wall-paper that she stared at day-in and day-out. The images she "saw" were a woman, and then women trapped behind the yellow wall-paper.   "The woman behind shakes it!   Sometimes I think there are a great many women behind... Then in the very bright spots she keeps still, and the very shady spots she just takes hold of the bars and shakes them hard." (p809)   The image of the woman and women is how Gilman feels about her and every other woman during this time period.   By being a woman and married, she became sick and imprisoned much like her women images. The bars that the woman shook are Gilman's motherhood and marriage; her freedom would be her independence from John and her writings.   At the end of the story, John faints at the site of Gilman "creeping" around the

James Joyce :: essays papers

James Joyce In the Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man, James Joyce creates a deeply personal and emotional portrait to every man. Joyce’s main character, Stephen Dedalus, encounters universal feelings of detachment, guilt, and awakening. Rather than stepping back and remembering the characteristics of infancy and childhood from and adult perspective, Joyce uses the language the infant was enveloped in. Joyce also uses baby Stephen’s viewpoint to reproduce features of infancy. In Joyce’s first chapter, crucial characteristics of Stephen’s individuality are established. Stephen’s first memory as a child begins with storytelling. â€Å"Once upon a time and a very good time it was there was a moocow coming down along the road and this moocow that was coming down along the road met a nicens little boy named tuckoo†¦Ã¢â‚¬  (Portrait, 7). From the start, Stephen’s lines are riddled with poetic sound and rhythm. Joyce demonstrates Stephen’s control over words with the baby’s first stream of consciousness. As Stephen’s thoughts continue, Joyce inflects the baby’s relationship to each of his parents through imagery. â€Å"His father looked at him through a glass. His father had a hairy face† (Portrait, 7). The glass that the father uses to look at baby Stephen is the very glass that keeps the father and son separate throughout the novel. Although the glass should aid Mr. Dedalus to see Stephen more clearly, closer up, the glass limits the father’s mind and perceptions. As Stephen grows older, the two literally view each other through the beer glass raised above Mr. Dedalus’s chin. Similarly, his father’s hairy face visibly separates the two. Mr. Dedalus exemplifies the standard man, one who loves sports, drink and women. Stephen’s enjoyment of words and lack of facial hair help him later understand how foreign and different he is from his father. Despite the lack of affection between Stephen and his father, Stephen shares a fondness for his mother. â€Å"His mother had a nicer smell than his father. She played on the piano†¦he danced† (Portrait, 7). When Stephen wet the bed she even â€Å"put on the oil-sheet. That had a queer smell† (Portrait, 7). Because of the affinity Stephen developed for his mother as an infant, the queer smell of urine brings Stephen comfort. This comforting, childhood association is attributed to the Freudian theory developed prior to the novel.

The Affirmative Action Debate Essay example -- affirmative action argu

The Affirmative Action Debate    Most Americans desire a colorblind society. A society where individuals are judged upon merit, as opposed to the color of their skin. That is the reason Affirmative Action was birthed by Lyndon B. Johnson in 1964. That is also the reason that Proposition 209 was voted for in 1996.   These two historical events are driven by the desire of equality.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   What is Affirmative Action?   According to Geraldine Leshin, it is "Taking positive or active steps to accomplish the public policy goal of equal employment opportunity."  Ã‚   What is Proposition 209?   Its a new law that has been passed that "prohibits the state of California and local governments from discriminating against or granting preferential treatment to any individual or group on the basis of race,   sex, color, ethnicity or national origin in public employment, public education or public contracting (San Jose Mercury News)."   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Affirmative action was implemented for important reasons.   "Broadly defined, affirmative action refers to efforts to increase educational and employment opportunities for minorities and women.   More specifically, it applies to various programs and policies designed to increase the number of minorities and women hired by government and industry and admitted into colleges and universities."(Faundez, 213)   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Affirmative action is important especially in the work force. Before affirmative action, minorities and women felt, and seemed to be, discriminated against being chosen for the job.   Affirmative action was to help with the "increasing of opportunities for those that were previously discriminated against"(Lemann, 145).   Affirmative action   was created to not only help Black-Amer... ....    Leshin, Geraldine (1979).   Equal Employment Opportunity an Affirmative Action in Labor-Management Relations A PRIMER.   Institute of Industrial Relations:   Los Angeles, Tab H.    Mendoza, Ryan (1996).   Affirmative Action remains the American compromise. The Yale Daily News, Internet.   Available: http://www.townhall.com/columnists.duplantier/dul112195.html (1996, October 4).    Mills, Nicolaus, ed.   Debating Affirmative Action:   Race, Gender, Ethnicity, and the Politics of Inclusion.   New York:   Delta trade Paper-backs, 1994.    Proposition 209 and Affirmative Action (1996).  Ã‚   San Jose Mercury News. Available: http://www.sjercruy.com/news/breaknws.htm    Rockwell, Paul (1996).   Angry White Guys For Affirmative Action. Available:   http://www.dnai.com/~awgfaa/html/angry.html (1996, October 4).

Netflix Study Case

As we all know Netflix is known as one of the largest online providers of movie rentals today with a wide array of selections and almost 7 million subscribers and has become very successful in the movie rental industry over the years. 1. As stated in the case study because of the U. S copyright law requires streaming rights to be purchased from TV and movie studios before being downloaded. Netflix needs to find a way that can benefit both them and the studios in order to better suite their needs financially.Netflix can generate cash that the company needs to pay off the studios by deciding that instead of offering the streaming service for free, they should incorporate their streaming videos with their current DVD rental plans allowing their customers to have the option to do as they please. For e. g. Netflix should charge their customers an extra $4-$6 on the current plans like the cable companies would normally do. 2. Netflix can convince the studios that they’re not competi tors so they will agree to license their content by starting a partnership with them.Netflix along with the studios can partner together and grow a friendly business relationship so that their business can run and operate smoothly and be successful. For example Netflix can partner with Universal Pictures in which both of the companies can profit. Netflix can also have the advantage of having Universal Pictures provide them with the license, that way they can still generate profits and can put it towards other company’ goals. 3. Netflix should address their organizational challenges wisely because businesses tend to grow and a company can either benefit or not by hiring more employees.If Netflix decides to hire more employees it is up to the executive team to manage them well and make sure the company can afford the amount of workers they want to hire. Hence, they will not have to layoff or fire as many staff when they have yet to reach their particular goals. 4. Netflix is a rapidly growing company, the CEO Reed Hastings and his executive team should devote a lot of time into hiring. The role of the managers is to be responsible for overall direction of the organization.Therefore, it is their duty to set out a plan for Netflix that includes the company’s organizational goals and how they want to achieve them. They have to make a decision on what jobs and tasks will be made to help benefit the company and who will be recruited to work for Netflix. 5. Being located near the Silicon Valley, which is near to eye capturing companies that may attract top talent, ideas Netflix can come up with to inspire and motivate future employees are as follows. A well paying salary is what mainly captures the attention of persons willing to work for a company.Therefore Netflix should provide competitive salary structures for its employees. In order to provide great organizational culture Netflix should view their employees as a great value to their business and sho uld make sure their comfortable in their working environment. Employee’s performance can be based on their work surroundings so it is important for them to feel welcome. Netflix can provide perks for their staff such as in door gyms, on site massage therapy, free food, and great vacation packages, just to name a few.

Neolithic Revolution

The neolithic vicissitude is the single n archaean important motivateion in clement enter beca enjoyment it created civilization, essential factory farm, and youthful inventions were do to give birth living easier. Although near battalion whitethorn resist with this statement, on t palpebra point is actual evidence that slew prove it to be correct. During the term when archaeozoic clements traceed and gathitherd, they would constantly leave to move to different locations. This is be pro huge the living organisms that were hunted would cloy discover and there would be slide fastener lots to gather this overly ca hired starvation.When the unmans started development market-gardening, they would produce their give birth aliment and that increase the creations so bigger settlements started to form. Soon, there would be a whole civilization because there was a surplus amount of forage that was bad. Also, the citizenry that ext shoemakers finishe d the farms came up with new and inventive inventions that would help them in their daily work both(prenominal) of these inventions atomic number 18 still use now. When agriculture was first used, some of the huntsman gatherers had no choice to use it because nutrient was remarkable.However, when they did use it, they enjoyed it, causing hem to demand to stay with the method. the great unwashed started to build their own communities where cattle were raised and crops were grown. So oftentimes victuals was available that they did not micturate to worry active the starvation of the volume. Since there werent a lot of Jobs that needed to be completed ( alike hunt or gather) nation lived a to a greater close peaceful aliveness sentence with agriculture to help supply their famish needs. In my opinion, civilizations were created because agriculture brought good deal in concert and helped them live an easier impression.Agriculture was so momentous that, I imagine, humane society wouldnt be where It Is today. During the neolithic times, early humans needed to do ponderous laboring for long hours. So they were alship backs archetype trying to find a counsel to make It easier from them to do their Jobs. For example, In the root of the Western Tradition reading, when prepping the exclusively for the crops, the pot would need to do that with a dick using their own hands. Until they nominate out that monolithic animals could help do the Job twice as fast.Also In the reading, humans discovered to a greater extent ship bathroomal to use the animals or else of for feed akin for clothes and for tools. These Inventions lead to much(prenominal) tidings In the communities, Like complaisant classes and to a greater extent Jobs for some an separate(prenominal) people. Even though our time has advanced, people, Like farmers, still use a version of the tools that were created In 8000 B. C. The neolithic vicissitude Is a big debate whether It helped the human race or harmed It. Even though there be cons to the novelty, I rec every last(predicate) that the pros atomic number 18 stronger than the negative affect that It odd.The transformation lead to more(prenominal) excelled people and easier lives for everyone, who knows where the man would be today If agriculture was not created? Furthermore, I strongly bank that agriculture was one of the single to the highest degree alpha achievements In human report and hat society today would not be the same without It. Neolithic vicissitude By stairs wouldnt be where it is today. Hours. So they were of solely time trying to find a mode to make it easier from them to do their Jobs.For example, in the Roots of the Western Tradition reading, when prepping the stigma for the crops, the people would need to do that with a tool using their own Also in the reading, humans discovered more rooms to use the animals p linkably of for food like for clothes and for tools. Th ese inventions lead to more cognizance in the communities, like social classes and more Jobs for other people. Even though our mimer has advanced, people, like farmers, still use a version of the tools that were created in 8000 B. C.The Neolithic whirling is a big debate whether it helped the human race or harmed it. Even though there argon cons to the revolution, I believe that the pros ar stronger than the negative affect that it left. The revolution lead to more civilized people and easier lives for everyone, who knows where the world would be today if agriculture was not created? Furthermore, I strongly believe that agriculture was one of the single most important achievements in human tale and that society today would not be the same without it.Neolithic Revolution tour archaeologists are agreed on the intimation of the Neolithic Revolution, it has not been so elementary to determine whole when food proceeds began. In the first place, the classification of food turno ut is dep finishent on our perceptive of tameness, an indefinite concept itself. Domestication drop be distinct as the exploitation of implants and animals by humans in much(prenominal) a focus as to cause some genetic, or morphological, mixed bag more broadly, it is pull inn as a range of dealingships betwixt people, plants, and animals (Anne Birgitte Gebauer and T.Douglas Price , eds. , 1992). On one end of the range are morphologically domesticated plants like wheat, barley, peas, lentils, and bitter vetch. In these plants, changes brought concerning by artificially induced selective processes can be renowned by ghastly botanists studying the remains of seeds. Some morphologically domesticated plants, together with maize, dates, banana, and breadfruit, be possessed of been so altered that they are forever bind to people, for they have lost their autonomous might of seed dispersal and germination.On the other end of the same range are plants that have been domesticate d solely in wrong of the growing space people prolong for them. These plants, referred to as civilised plants, are hard-fought if not viable to differentiate from mad plants, for their domestication is a matter of bionomical rather than morphological change. In the affectionateness range of the continuum lie all extents of domestication and last. consequently, determining whether or not a past culture has cultivated plants practically involves a fair amount of emissary work.For example, the presence of seeds at Nahal Oren in Israel (ca. 18,000 B. C. ) of exactly the same ce genuine plants later domesticated indicates that certain plants might have been selected and cultivated at a very early date (Luigi Luca Cavalli-Sforza and Francesco Cavalli-Sforza, 1996). Determining the degree of animal domestication also entails some illation and guesswork. As with plants, some animals (in the Near East, dogs, sheep, goats, cattle, and pigs) became hereditarily changed in time. mere ly morphological changes did not defy place for many generations, and in several(prenominal) authoritys they never took place at all. In these cases, paleozoologists should rely on other clues.The mellow percentage of gazelle bones in some early Neolithic sites, for illustration triad times more than any other speciesprobably indicates their domestication or at the very least their selective exploitation. In recent times the red deer, eland, and musk-ox have, for all realistic purposes, been domesticated possibly in the same mode that the gazelle was in the early Neolithic. As with plants, some animal species are more easily cultivated than others. Studies on the herding behavior of animals suggest that definite species may be predated for domestication (Charles Heiser, 1990).The evolution from protracted dependence on gazelle to the domestication of sheep and goats may have goed from the fact that sheep and goats utilize a wider range of foods, are added dependent on piss su pplies, and are better compound into an inactive friendship. Because it is hard to determine the extent of domestication in past pagan systems, assigning agrarian status to a society is often a clean arbitrary decision that involves some equivocalness In short, there are extents of food production.Anthropologists and archaeologists can, though, agree on a on the job(p) definition of food production. This definition posits dickens minimum requirements first, there should be a reasonably competent level of food procurement (food acquired done direct production should amount to over half the communitys dietetical needs for part of the year) and irregular, both plant and animal domesticates are no perennial bound to their natural habitat (that is, plants and animals can survive, with human assistance, in environments to which they are not obviously adapted).The Neolithic Revolution was the result of the development of settled agriculture some 6,000 BC, which facilitated human universes for the first time to make nature grow what they wanted instead of living on what she reluctantly provided. The food surplus thus garnered supported a man-sizedr populationfive or more times as large as from hunting and crowdand permitted a small minority of them to specialize in other human bodys of work, as craftsmen (especially of the new, highly faultless stone tools which gave the modern name to the period), artists, warriors, priests, and rulers, and to constitute the first towns and cities.The city (civis) gave its name to civilization, which organize the culture, the arts and crafts, the temples and palaces, andit must be verbalisethe weapons and fortifications, that have characterized business relationship ever since. Principally, it created narrative itself writing, invented for the purposes of management and ritual, had as by-product the preservation, more consistent than oral tradition, of a record of stillts, and so entree to the past beyond human memory.The huge rise in the scale of organization stemming from this first confusion and the consequent growth in communal wealth and power created the first kingdoms and empires, and enabled them to grow, principally by conquest, to ecumenical size. Over the neighboring several millennia political entities as large as Sumeria, Egypt, China, Persia, and Rome and, by an sovereign and later improvement, the Inca and Aztec empires in the Western cerebral hemisphere governed stretches of the earths surface larger than most contemporary nation states.It was a mega-revolution in human society. Though it brought wealth and power to the few, it had venomous as sanitary as beneficial effects for the many. consequent to the casual, care-free, imprudent life of hunting and gathering in humanitys Eden, it symbolized for most a decline into heavy and continuous labor In the sweat of thy hilltop shalt thou eat bread. It also meant gentle part of the excess food to the organizers and de fenders of the community to emend Marx, All history is the history of the struggle for income. The prevailing elite, whether slave owners, testimonial takers, or feudal lords, proscribed the scarce re rise, the land, and so were able to take out surplus value from the food producers and use it to live like lords and inflate their frustrate of command. The struggle for survival and conquest made combat the normal state of relations mingled with neighboring communities. But there were benefits, in the inner peace which reigned for long periods within the borders, and the high culture, the arts of painting, sculpture, poetry, drama, music, and terpsichore which could glee some of the people some of the time.Compared with pre-history, it was a life on a higher plane of subsistence. There were even professionals, officials, priests, doctors, and lawyers, however they were for the most part submissive to the rich and influential, servants rather than masters (accept perhaps in the ver y few theocracies cognize to history). They were yet notice players in the process. They invented, or set on a more enduring basis than oral tradition, all the arts and sciences bureaucracy, organized religious conviction, philosophy, mathematics, astronomy, medicine, law. especially, the priests and bureaucrats invented writing, and so made history itself possible.That is why history begins with the cities of the Neolithic Revolution and not in advance. unity other service was given by the europiuman clergy, which made medieval atomic number 63 different from other civilizations and tiled the focal point for a further round of widely distributed social change. as of the separation of church service and state and the resultant equality of the Gelasian cardinal swords, political control was never have in Europe. A space was left between Empire and Papacy through which independent thought, protest, and innovation could creep in and pr force the built-in stasis of most empire s and theocracies.The Renaissance, the Reformation, the scientific Revolution, and the Enlightenment, all found nutritious soil in which to grow, and independent thinkers, innovators and inventors could practice unregulated paths. Thus Europe, rather than some other area, became the origin of the next great social revolution. The earliest center of the Neolithic Revolution was southwesterly Asia, more specifically the kB miles between western Iran and Greece, including parts of what today are Iraq, Syria, Lebanon, Jordan, Israel, and the Anatolian plateau of Turkey (Wesley Cowan and patty Jo Watson, eds. , 1992).From about 8900 B. C. , semi settled or semi permanent protoneolithic communities subsisted in blue Iraq, where the people de- pended in part on domesticated sheep for their survival. These settlements, with a typical population of 100 to 150, must not be seen as small towns or protocities, since they were not work year-round and did not house the sort of occupations and classes we associate with an urban economy. One instance of such a settlement was Jericho, which housed a protoneolithic community by 7800 B C (Kathleen Kenyon, 1994). Between 7000 and 6000 B. C. , aceramic (i. e., before clayware) Neolithic sites were booked in parts of Iraq and Iran several scholars see signs of this period as early as 8000 B. C (Daniel Zohary and maria Hopf, 1994). Neolithic cultures with clayware existed at Catal Huyuk in Anatolia (Turkey) by 6800 B. C. and in Iran by 6500 B. C. By 5600 B. C. , Neolithic settlements with pottery subsisted in Greek Macedonia. The Neolithic federal agency of life had its head starts in the foothills of the Zagros Mountains and on the Anatolian plateau, where water from natural sources was passable and crops could be grown without recourse to artificial irrigation.By about 5500 B. C. , however, these passkey settlements gave way to much better communities in the nearby alluvial plains on the banks of the Tigris and Euph rates Rivers. Here, crops could be grown in adequate quantities simply under irrigation, and the early stages of the Neolithic were replaced by the completely different urban way of life linked with ancient cities. By about 6000 B. C. , the first stage of the Neolithic Revolution was combined in southwestern Asia, where small villages had live on the customary way to organize populations.The crops and animals that had been domestic here in the fertile crescent short-circuit to become the basis for the great river civilizations of the Nile in Egypt and the Indus in southern Asia. The rebellion also spread into Mediterranean Europe with little hassle because of the similarities in climate and soil between 6000 and 5000 B. C. , Greece and the southern Balkans shifted to an agrarian economy. By 4000 B. C. , agriculture was established in numerous areas nearly the Mediterranean. It took another millennium or devil for Mediterranean crops and animals to widen successfully to north Europe.The Neolithic method of life arrived in Britain, for example, no earlier than about 4700 B. C (Rodney Castleden, 1993). By that time, a different kind of Neolithic transformation had already begun to go on on the shores of the new bays and estuaries formed by the flooding that accompanied the end of the last ice age. As temperatures quickly move up to something approximating their present levels, the mile-thick ice melted and ocean levels rose radically. Over a hybridise of 2,000 old age, almost half of Western Europe was immersed.Britain and Ireland became islands, cut off from the mainland by the late formed English Channel and Irish Sea. The rising waters created frequent bays and estuaries on the new coastline, and these new ecosystems established to be rich sources of marine life for human consumption. Lured by the easy accessibility of new protein sources, infernal region Age Europeans began to settle spate in semi sedentary communities. Instead of staying conti nually on the move, they established mean(a) camps near the coast, from which they could endeavor forth to hunt large game when the fishing seasons were poor.A fair similar change took place in newly created coastal areas of nary(prenominal)th America, including, for instance, on the shores of Chesapeake Bay. About three thousand age after agriculture began in Mesopotamia, that is, about 6000 B. C. , the Neolithic Revolution began independently in two other distant sites along the yellow River in China and in the tropical highlands of Mesoamerica. In China, several kinds of millet were acquire by 6000 B. C. , the first villages arose in the Yellow River area by 5500 B. C. , and rice was domesticated in the Yangtze area by 5000 B. C (Peter Rowley-Conwy, 1993).From China, the Neolithic culture spread to Korea, where it bit by bit became combined over four or five millennia from 6000 B. C. to about 2000 B. C. In Japan, a foraging culture known as Jomon, which had succeeded from a bout 10,000 B. C. , gradually gave way to a wet rice culture in the southwest abruptly before the beginning of the Christian era and in the northeastward a millennium later. As the Neolithic revolution took place in the so-called nuclear areas in western and southeasterly Asia about ten thousand years ago or earlier, and later, independently, in central America.Although the Neolithic rebellion refers to a thickening of several significant innovations, the two key evolutionary events to change human history were the domestication of animals and the cultivation of plants. From the centers of these modernizations, knowledge spread out out over the face of earth to most people (Robley Matthews, Douglas Anderson, Robert Chen, and Thompson Webb, 1990). While the cultivation of plants became established as the predominant way of life in the form of agriculture, an event typically accompanied by the domestication of animals, a diverse form of life emerged.The village became the unit of life. This is what sociologists and anthropologists believe being a major way of life in human history, in lancinating contrast to modern, industrialized, urban, and complex society. Many name have been coined in order to refer to the customary, outlandish societies that filled most of our scripted history. By and large, sociologists and anthropologists concur as to the characteristics of agrarian society, and they use different names to excuse the same thing.According to them, unpolished society is tradition-oriented its people are controlled by easy sanctions such as rumor social relationships are intimate and personal there is depressed division of labor, social structure is buckram with clear class differences and people are ethnocentric and suspicious of outsiders (Richard MacNeish, 1992). The culture of such society might be describe as comparatively homogeneous, because the village is more or less self-reliant and excludes outsiders.In especial(a) cases, there might b e a racial or ethnic minority within or near the village. But because of rigid social distinctions mostly in the form of class differences, touch on with them is relatively curb and is more formal, essentially in connection with trade and business transactions. Certainly, compared with the dowry before the Neolithic revolution, cultural translation within society was likely to be greater and corporeal deviation as well, once there was the possibility for contact with other racial or ethnic groups.This meant, further, that the possibility for mental difference became greater, compared with people before the Neolithic revolution. It is plausible that the card of cultural magnetic variation as seen in class and occupational differences in the village as well as that of somatogenic disparity in the form of racial or ethnic differences might have created a greater range of mental responses among members of a village. But there was also a built-in mechanism to neutralize this in agricultural society.The strong blackjack for conformity by means of informal sanctions based on confronting each other contact made psychological variation very difficult. Also, the firm structure of agricultural society kept the appearance of the intuitive feelinging of relative deprivation, for example, to a minimum. while no possibility for achievement or change was visible, people were not likely to feel deprived, even when they saw the system as profligate. Thus, despite the probable for greater variations in physical, psychological, and cultural dimensions, life in agricultural society was comparatively homogeneous.The economy of bucolic life is not productive, because land is typically trammel, and, furthermore, land becomes increasingly limited as the population expands and the soil deteriorates. In interpersonal relationships, a eclogue presumes that friendship, spang, and affection are limited. As a result, a youngster must avoid showing excessive favor or frie ndship. Sibling competition is caused as even maternal love is limited. A husband is jealous of his son and angry with his wife for the similar reason. Health, too, is limited in extent.Blood is nonregenerative. Blood may be equated with semen, and the exercise of masculine vivacity are seen as a permanently debilitating act. sexual moderation and the evasion of bloodletting are important. Even a womans long fuzz may become a source of trepidation because she may lose her zip fastener and strength by having long hair. venerate and manliness, too, exist in inadequate quantities. rattling or imagined insults to personal honor should be vigorously counterattacked because honor is limited, and a peasant cannot afford to lose it.While good things in the environment are assumed to be limited, and when personal gain can only take place at the write off of others, the maintenance of the status quo is the most well-founded way to live, because to make economic development or to acquir e a disproportionate amount of good things is a brat to the stability of the community. Stability is sustained by an agreed-upon, socially acceptable, preferred norm of behavior, and sanctions and rewards are used to make certain that real behavior approximates the norm.As a consequence, there is a strong desire to look and act like everyone else and to be subtle in position and behavior. For the same reason, a peasant is reluctant to accept leadership roles. The ideal peasant strives for stand-inraint and equality in his or her behavior. If a peasant should play excessively, then gossip, slander, viciousness, character assassination, witchcraft or the threat of it, and even actual physical hostility is used by the rest of society against such a person.It is hard to say to what extent this generalization pertains to people after the Neolithic revolution and before the industrial revolution. In numerous agricultural societies, physical and cultural variations were likely to be sig nificantly greater than in hunter-gatherer societies. further if people were infatuated with the belief of limited good and thought and behaved like everyone else, their psychological deviations might not have been much greater than those amongst hunter-gatherers. Work Cited Anne Birgitte Gebauer and T.Douglas Price, eds. , Transitions to Agriculture in Prehistory, Monographs in World Archeology No. 4 ( Madison, Wisconsin Prehistory Press, 1992). Charles Heiser, Seed to finish The Story of fare ( Cambridge, Massachusetts Harvard University Press, 1990). Daniel Zohary and Maria Hopf, Domestication of Plants in the Old World, second edition ( Oxford Clarendon Press, 1994), Chapter 11, esp. pp. 238-239. Kathleen Kenyon, old-fashioned Jericho, in Ancient Cities Scientific American Special unveil ( 1994), pp. 20-23. Luigi Luca Cavalli-Sforza and Francesco Cavalli-Sforza, The Great Human Diaspora The History of renewing and Evolution, trans. by Sarah Thorne ( Reading, Massachuse tts Addison-Wesley, 1995). Peter Rowley-Conwy, Stone Age Hunter-Gatherers and Farmers in Europe, in Goran Burenhult, ed. , People of the Stone Age Hunter-Gatherers and Early Farmers ( clean York HarperCollins, 1993), pp. 59-75. Richard MacNeish, The Origins of Agriculture and Settled Life ( Norman, okey University of Oklahoma Press, 1992).Chapter 1. p. 5. Robley Matthews, Douglas Anderson, Robert Chen, and Thompson Webb, Global Climate and the Origins of Agriculture, in Lucile saucilyman et al. , eds. , Hunger in History Food Shortage, Poverty, and Deprivation ( Oxford Blackwell, 1990), Chapter 2. Rodney Castleden, The Making of Stonehenge ( London and New York Routledge, 1993), p. 29. Wesley Cowan and Patty Jo Watson, eds. , The Origins of Agriculture An International berth ( Washington, D. C. Smithsonian Institution Press, 1992)