English Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words - 11

English - Essay Example Undoubtedly, the internet is increasingly one of the irreplaceable means of communication, for instance, it enables individuals to keep in touch and bring different people together, allows arrangement of meetings over the net among others. Truly, the internet has transformed various aspects of our lives over the past few years, and it has also transformed the whole world into a global village. In the contemporary world, life without the internet is impossible and unimaginable because almost every individual in the world depends on it either directly or indirectly. Despite the diversity that the internet creates, the internet does not create a freer and equal world. This paper discusses this claim with reference to culture, politics and the society at large. The internet has positively influenced culture and the spread cultural values, for instance, it play a leading role in promoting a better understanding between cultures and cultural identities to emerge and communicate with each other. It promotes uniformity and homogeneity more than diversity (Porter 2013, p.62). The internet forms a common background for cultural exchange and individuals from diverse cultures are able to interact via the internet and share idea, values as well as their cultural practices. Societal members are able to easily access any information from the internet and learn about anything they desire. In addition, the internet allows cultural exploration, that is, different cultures can easily explore other cultures and understand other cultural perspectives using the internet. Actually, a person can learn about any culture by using search engine to have an access to available information about the desired culture. Before the invention of the internet, individuals used to travel to a particular society in order to learn about their culture or look for a book that has information about that

Evolution of Life in Prisons Paper Research Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Evolution of Life in Prisons - Research Paper Example However, the male and female prisoners were kept in the same area, although housed in different dorms. The women were normally kept in attics and were subject to sexual abuse. Historical studies done by Johnson, Dobrzanska, Palla (2005), show that due to shortcomings of the Congregate System in terms of rehabilitating the prisoners, the format was discontinued in order to try out the Reformatory era of prisons. During this era, men were taught skills and educated in classes which would help them become better citizens upon leaving prison. Military drills were part of their daily training in an effort to create gentlemen out of the convicts. While women were educated in decorum and housework in preparation of what was then deemed to be the proper role of women in society. (p. 6) The 20th century saw the advent of the so called â€Å"Big-House†, a place where the punishment or work assigned to the prisoners did nothing to help redeem their soul or place in society. Instead, it w as a place where men were made to do empty jobs just to show that their spirits had been broken and that they were now submissive to those running the prison. This was the era when â€Å"Chain Gangs† became known as the term for prisoners and they were used mostly in the government construction field. This type of prison became the norm in the 1930's. Any prisoner who found himself out of line was given Corporal Punishment. Although much stricter than a penitentiary, the Big House was seen as more lenient and effective in reforming the prisoners since they had a wider sense of freedom in the Big House set up. (p.9) In the modern times, prisons came to be known as Correctional Institutions and function far differently from their early counterparts. According to Pearson (2009) , modern prisons are actually mini communities that function by their own set of rules and regulations independent of the prison laws. Male and female prisoners now exhibit a distinct lifestyle and values system which helps them adapt to life outside of the world they once knew. (p.2) It was only 30 years ago when the penal system of America came to the realization that the old way of treating prisoners was not effective in any way due to the disconnect between the prisoners, the prison administration, and the outside world. Mark Saunders, the warden of the Southeast Correctional Institution in Ohio wrote (2006), that the modern prison system works with the prisoners in order to help them become educated, trained, and motivated to change their ways. No longer are prisons expected to simply be the holding place for societies problem members. These days, prisons are expected to impact the lives of the male and female prisoners positively. Prisoners need to adjust psychologically to their prison lives. according to psychologist Robert Morgan, PhD (2003), requires the help of prison psychologists to overcome. He explains that â€Å""There's a great need for these folks to receive psych ological services ...†. According to Pearson (2006), they now need to â€Å"learn convict values, roles, attitude, and language in order to survive the prison subculture† (p.4) Prisoners quickly learn that in order to to evolve and survive in their new atomosphere they must abide by the 5 Elements of the Prison Code namely: 1. Don't interfere with the interests of other inmates - don't rat on others 2. Play it cool - do your own time 3. Don't whine - be a man / woman 4. Don't exploit inmates - don't break your word 5.

Behavior and personality development Essay Example for Free

Behavior and personality development Essay A person’s behavior and attitude at any point of time is the resultant effect of all factors acting on the individual. The factors, each contribute in its own way and at varying levels, having a positive effect, a negative effect, a soothening effect or even a precipitating effect. The individual then reacts as a consequence of all combined effects. There are several parameters involved in the development of behavioral patterns including cognitive-social, biological, emotions, gender, person-situation, culture, ethnicity etc. These factors effect differently, for each individual since the level of perception and understanding is varied. It should be noted here that there may be several other factors too that influence behavior patterns, that have not yet been recognized. The cognition-social perception of an individual plays an important role in the building up of the individual’s personality. Although there is a debate of whether cognition gives rise to emotions or emotions give rise to cognition, the resultant reaction has wide social perceptions. The term ‘cognition’ in emotion elicitation includes all simple sensory information processing to very complex processing. The emotion cognition interaction is the study on the integrative aspects of research in emotion, cognition and the interaction between the two. The complex association between emotion and cognition is analyzed using knowledge and methods from the separate fields of research. Emotions are not always associated with facial expressions. Face recognition and object recognition are performed through different functions by different areas within the brain. Several disorders like alexia, prosopagnosia and visual agnosia develop when recognition process is impaired. Social cognition attempts to relate personal-social development with intellectual development. The process of cognitive development occurs through four universal stages of infancy; toddler and early childhood; elementary and early adolescence; and, adolescence and adulthood. The development in each stage is associated with an increased level of thinking. Cognition is an important aspect of behavior development. An individual perceives a situation based on his cognitive inputs and responds appropriately. Thus feelings of sadness, happiness, anger, guilt etc. , are produced as a result of cognition. As for me, I don’t tolerate anyone talking to me in a high pitch or commanding tone. In such cases, I deliberately don’t cooperate, even if the speaker wants to help or oblige me. Gender too plays an important role in social developments. Women have been traditionally expected to perform their domestic family roles as obedient wives and daughters. They were mainly more perceived to be sexual objects in a male dominated society, with primary interests in homemaking and caring, till the end of the century. This indifference in sociology can be mainly attributed to men’s identity as the dominant social player associated with force of character while women are associated with their weaknesses and passive role. The relationship between crime and gender has been immense throughout the long period of offence observation. Men and women have differing offence rates and offence patterns, both as offenders and as victims. The opportunities and capabilities of men and women for crime are different, which is reflected in their crime pattern. The sex of offenders has always been recorded throughout the history of criminal record keeping. Lady police officers and corrections officers are also needed to tune in, to fit into the gendered criminal justice system, although their lives are very different from that of women offenders or victims. Women were allowed to take up positions of police patrol officers and corrections officers only in the 1970s. This too was achieved through several legislative changes and civil rights movements. While positions have been opened for women in the male dominated fields like policing and corrections, women are faced with challenges as to what are appropriate or not appropriate women activities, given their traditional attitude on such activities. The social role of women had been had been largely restricted, although the situation has changed considerably. However gender based perception, attitude and reaction to situations persist. I am particularly careful in my dealings with women, because I find it difficult to convince them compared to men, although they don’t argue or threaten like men. It has been established by biocriminology that heredity and body organ dysfunctions can induce an inclination in social interaction. Modern researches indicate that chromosomal abnormalities, hormonal and brain chemical imbalances, diet, drugs and alcohol are factors that contribute to aggressive and criminal behavior. The hormone ‘testosterone’ in men has been identified as the main cause of aggression and crime committed by most men. Several case studies indicate that certain foods or food constituents induce neuropsychological disorders in the form of allergic or pharmacologic reactions which may even lead to chemical imbalances in the brain, resulting in behavioral disorders. Adoption and twin studies too indicate that genetic influences play a major role in development of criminal behavior. Molecular genetic investigations and epidemiological studies suggest that criminal activity may be genetically linked to mental abnormality. Prenatal disturbances or altered normal fetal development due to maternal smoking in pregnancy period is linked to violent offsprings. Reading deficits are sometimes developed in impulsive aggressive people, which could be attributed to their early school experiences. Here, impulsive and aggressive acts are caused due to inability in discriminating visual information during social situations. Biology is an important determinant of behavior and social response. Although I don’t perceive any behavior type as due to any specific food pattern, I do believe that group behavior or specific instincts of groups has to do with their biological response. Cultural differences and its influence on behavior have been extensively studied by behavioral scientists mainly during the 1940s and the 1960s. Cross-cultural psychology is very important in understanding the psychological framework of inter personal behavior. Interpersonal behavior is a vital aspect of human daily activity and is greatly influenced by culture. In recent times, this relationship between culture and individual behavior is more explored through empirical studies rather than historical or philosophical enquiries. Findings of such studies indicate that culture moulds and defines individual attitude as much as it determines our values, our ways of thinking and our social relationships. Culture is in fact a major criteria in the determination of human behavior. Culture together with the physical environment represent one of the two important external factors that mould human behavior. These factors in combination with internal influential factors of biological and psychological aspects constitute the main determinants of human behavior. Culture is inhibited by both internal and external representations. External representation of culture is seen in institutions of education, politics, religion and economy while it is internally represented through values, worldviews, beliefs etc. All these forces act simultaneously on an individual at any given point of time. Perhaps most of the conflict and confrontation in today’s world may be attributed to cultural differences. Clash of cultures and adherence to rigid cultural beliefs, keeps up tension between communities. A mutual respect and understanding of each others culture and values is essential for the upliftment of any society. I find it difficult to live a normal life where cultural tolerance is not practiced. I personally feel that culture intolerance is a sign of undeveloped cultures. The individual at any point of time is also subject to a given situation. It is this simultaneous interaction of the person and the situation, which ultimately derives the behavior. Therefore, behavior can be described as a person-situation interaction, which is under continuous adjustment. Normal or abnormal behavior is a continuous response to the person-situation forces. The attitude and behavior of mankind is influenced by several factors, which cannot be predicted or explained using any particular theory. These include cognition, biological, behaviorist, cognitive-social, existential-humanistic, person-situation, and gender, cultural and ethnicity. It must also be understood that similar factors cannot influence everyone to the same level. A combination of several such factors may perhaps explain a particular behavior pattern. Although the role of the parameters in the development of the behavior pattern is known, we cannot conclude that all factors contributing to the same have been identified, nor the level of contribution of each factor. Newer research needs to be done on the subject, to determine further influences, given the fact that technology and lifestyle are constantly evolving.

Social Media and Young Adolescents

Social Media and Young Adolescents As technological innovations continue to expand, access to devices that connect one to social media have become more readily available to the public. A study conducted by Radesky et al. (2016) about the use of mobile technology among children found that mobile device usage by young children, even among those from disadvantaged backgrounds, continues to increase rapidly (p.504). The increasing usage of social media networks is strongly affecting the social development of young adolescents. The effects social media is having on young adolescents is can be positive or negative depending on how the child is being exposed to it. For instance, social media positively affects adolescents by enabling them to build stronger social connections with their peers as they are able to easily stay connected to them. In contrast, these connections can also have a negative effect on the social development of young adolescents if they are victims of bullying or other damaging relationships because thei r abuser can easily remain connected to them. In addition, the use of social media among young adolescents will also have an impact on their mental health as they can be exposed to unrealistic ideals of body image which can affect their self-esteem and have long term effect on their social development. It is highly important for the effects of social media usage on the social development of young adolescents to be studied because there can be many long-term effects if this milestone is not met. It is the job of professionals in the early childhood field alongside parents to assure they are educated in the matter and give the children the tools to surpass each developmental stage. One of the many benefits of the advances technology has made is the way in which people can remain connected and easily reached throughout the day. This indicates that young adults are able to remain connected to their friends outside of school hours, which aids their social development. According to Minna Ruckenstein (2013), mobile phones, game consoles, and computers are an essential part of the sociality between children in increasingly diverse ways (p.476). By having access to devices in which social interactions can occur outside of a school setting, children and young adolescents are practicing social skills on a regular basis. In addition, a study conducted by Sarah Wilson (2016) indicated that social media usage was helping children and adolescents stay connected to people in many ways. For instance, not only were they able to maintain relationships with peers but they were also able to remain in contact with long-distance friendships and find long-lost friends and family thr ough social media sources. Furthermore, social media is being used as a topic of communication among children. More specifically, meanings from home (and many other places) are carried to the playground, and in the social context of playing with media texts, children participate in social processes of meaning-making and identification (Willett, 2015, p.411). This indicates that media is being used as a form of socialization among children, therefore, if fostered away from the use of social media, some children could potentially risk the inability to build strong relationships with their peers. It is clear that when it comes to the social development of young adolescents, social media networks are an essential part of communicating and building relationships with one another. In contrast, although the use of social media networks has positive effects on the social development of young adolescents, there are also dangers that arise from using it. For example, if children are being victims of bullying, having access to social media can cause the aggressors to have another source at which to attack. Research on bullying and social media usage among children has found that online bullying, though sometimes anonymous, is typically done by peers whom know the victim personally. (Canty, Stubbe, Steers, Collings, 2016, p.52). This would mean that these victims would not be able to escape the bullying, it would follow them to their homes. In addition, the study found that children and young people recognise a greater likelihood of doing or saying something they would not if it were face-to-face (Canty et al., 2016, p.53). To further explain, children may feel more inclined to act a certain way if they are behind a screen because it is not as intimidating as in pe rson, which can result in a higher risk for online bullying and thus be detrimental to the social development of the victim. Another danger with young adolescents using social media is that their use may be uncensored and parents cannot always control what their children are doing or whom they are interacting with. For instance, children could be exposed to communicating with complete strangers they have never met, which could end up being predators. A study conducted by Elizabeth Daniels and Eileen Zurbriggen (2016), explored the dangers with teen sexuality and social media use. They found that young adolescents are using social media as ways in which they can post provocative images to capture the attention of their peers and attain social acceptance (p.938). The problem with this is that social media is being used as a way to attract attention but in doing that, everyone on the internet is having access to these inappropriate photographs of young adolescents, whom are underage and with a possible lack of understanding of the dangers that may come with it. This may result in a negative form of social dev elopment because they are growing up and engage in provocative content that may be above their developmental age. Apart from the positive and negative effects on the social development of young adolescents when using social media, there are also factors that may affect their mental health in connection to their social development. For instance, social media can become addictive and impede children from face to face interactions or in other cases more serious factors can occur such as self esteem problems and depression. Studies have shown that social media addictions are very real and can cause a lot of problems for youth in and outside of school because there is a lack of attention span and face to face communication with peers (Bà ¡nyai et al., 2017, p. 2). An addiction is a mental health problem that could potentially cause a lot of long term problems if it goes unresolved. These children could end up isolated from their peers and eventually struggle graduating from school or finding a job. Furthermore, the constant use of social media could affect at-risk children in many ways when it comes to self esteem. This is because of the pressures of being socially accepted by peers, as well as the pressure to look a certain way that is perceived by the media. Some of these negative aspects to the mental health of young adolescents include increased risk-taking behaviours, cyberbullying, depression, exclusion of minority groups and negative influences on health and wellbeing, namely reduced self-image and self-esteem (Richards, Caldwell, Go Caldwell, 2015, p.1154). This can affect the social development of children and young adolescents because not only are they dealing with the changes of transitioning from a child to a teenager but they now have to struggle with a mental health problem, which can result in loss of friendships and interest in activities they previously enjoyed. As an early childhood professional, it is highly important to be informed about the issues surrounding social media and young adolescents. With the up rise in technology and social media usage within schools, one needs to understand all aspects of the effect it has on the social development of children and young adolescents because if ignored there can be detrimental effects. As an educator, one needs to make choices on how to deal with the media students are using and in which ways to help them meet their full potential within social development, therefore it is very important to know the positives and negatives of social media usage. It is important to note that steps can be taken by parents, professionals and creators of media sites in order to prevent some of these issues. For instance, some of the social media risks for children can be minimised by adding in safety features (Richards, Caldwell, Go Caldwell, 2015, p.1154). If features are added to make sites safe, children will still be able to use them and interact with peers but in a way which inhibits access to inappropriate content or interactions with people they have never met before. In addition, there is a tool called the Bergen Social Media Addiction Scale, which is used to assess whether a child has an addiction to social media or not. This could be used to test children whom one thinks could be having a problem with a social media addiction and thus develop a treatment to help the child early on (Bà ¡nyai et al., 2017, p. 10). Lastly, it is advised for educators to teach children and youth about social media in school so that they are prepared for the things they may encounter while connected to the online world. Daniels and Zurbriggem (2016) posited that media literacy curricula that address social media specifically are important given the almost whole scale adoption of social media by young people and the electronic footprint using it entails (p.960).Teaching children about social media could highly aid in fostering a safe social development and prevent some of the negative outcomes. In conclusion, social media usage can affect the social development of young adolescents in many ways. There are positive outcomes to using social media such as better connectivity to peers and social acceptance as one is able to interact with peers outside of the school setting. To contrast, there are also negative outcomes such as increased forms of bullying that carry on from the school to the home, and risks of meeting strangers or being exposed to content that is not age appropriate. Lastly, there can be many detrimental factors to social development when it comes to mental health. Addiction to social media has been reported among youth as well as issues such as self esteem, which can result in young adolescents forming negative relationships with peers and having long term problems in and outside of the online world. Early childhood professionals, parents, and community members should realized the importance of this growing issue and aid young adolescents with social media usage. Social media sites should be made safe with restrictions for people under a certain age, tests should be conducted to help children battle social media addictions, and education on social media should be taught in school. These methods could aid in helping children have a safe social development and grow to be healthy adults. Overall, social media should be used among young adolescents with a great deal of supervision and a high level of education about the dangers of social media usage should be given, especially in a time where social media is easily accessed. References Bà ¡nyai, F., Zsila, à ., Kirà ¡ly, O., Maraz, A., Elekes, Z., Griffiths, M. D., Demetrovics, Z. (2017). Problematic Social Media Use: Results from a Large-Scale Nationally Representative Adolescent Sample. Plos ONE, 12(1), 1-13. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0169839 Canty, J., Stubbe, M., Steers, D., Collings, S. (2016). The Trouble with Bullying Deconstructing the Conventional Definition of Bullying for a Child-centred Investigation into Childrens Use of Social Media. Children Society, 30(1), 48-58. doi:10.1111/chso.12103 Daniels, E., Zurbriggen, E. (2016). Its Not the Right Way to Do Stuff on Facebook: An Investigation of Adolescent Girls and Young Womens attitudes Toward Sexualized Photos on Social Media. Sexuality Culture, 20(4), 936-964. doi:10.1007/s12119-016- 9367-9 Radesky, J. S., Eisenberg, S., Kistin, C. J., Gross, J., Block, G., Zuckerman, B., Silverstein, M. (2016). Overstimulated Consumers or Next-Generation Learners? Parent Tensions About Child Mobile Technology Use. Annals of Family Medicine, 14(6), 503-508. Richards, D., Caldwell, P. H., Go, H., Caldwell, P. Y. (2015). Impact of social media on the health of children and young people. Journal Of Paediatrics Child Health, 51(12), 1152-1157. doi:10.1111/jpc.13023 Ruckenstein, M. (2013). Spatial extensions of childhood: from toy worlds to online communities. Childrens Geographies, 11(4), 476-489. doi:10.1080/14733285.2013.812309 Willett, R. (2015). Childrens Media-referenced Games: The Lived Culture of Consumer on a School Playground. Children Society, 29(5), 410-420. doi:10.1111/chso.12067 Wilson, S. (2016). Digital technologies, children and young peoples relationships and self- care. Childrens Geographies, 14(3), 282-294. doi:10.1080/14733285.2015.1040726

Self-Determination: Right or Privilege? :: essays research papers

In 1968, the Soviet Union along with several Warsaw Pact allies invaded Czechoslovakia with the intention of re-establishing a full communist government. The reason for the invasion was mainly due to â€Å"Prague Spring† – the period of great hope for the Czech people led by the reform movement against the hard-line policies of the Czech and Soviet governments. The main justification given by Soviet Premier Brezhnev regarding the attack was that the USSR, a communist nation itself, had an obligation to stop anything that poses a threat to established communism in any country. This came to be known as the â€Å"Brezhnev Doctrine†, and was seen as a clear warning to other eastern European countries. This example is one of many in history that has raised the issue of whether or not great nations are justified in exerting influence over the affairs of lesser states. The issue of whether or not great nations are justified in exerting influence over the affairs of lesser states is extremely complex. Some people believe that powerful nations are not only justified but obligated to play an important role in the affairs of states that do not measure up in status or power. The main reason being that these states do not have the capabilities to handle their domestic and foreign policies without external influence of some kind. Others believe that every nation has the sovereign right to formulate domestic and foreign policies without external influence. Both groups of people are right to an extent. I do not think that the power of a nation justifies their interference in the affairs of other countries unless they influence the country for the better. Basically, great nations should never attempt to influence the affairs of lesser states if they are only looking out for their own self-interests. In the 1968 invasion of Czechoslovakia, the Soviet Union was not truly threatened by the reform movement. The USSR was just not prepared to take risks with a country bordering on the West. Their main concerns were their sphere of influence as well as Czechoslovakia being one of their satellite states that provided them with a buffer zone against an attack from NATO. Therefore, Czechoslovakia played an important role for political, economic, and strategic military reasons. It was imperative that it remained under Soviet influence because if not, the balance of power would be in favour of the U.S.

Congenital Cataracts in Children :: Blindness Vision Sight Essays

Congenital Cataracts in Children Cataracts are the primary cause of blindness worldwide. Cataracts are the clouding of the lens. The lens is transparent and is important for the focusing of a sharp image on the retina. There are several different types of cataracts. Congenital cataracts are present at birth, and will be the focus of this paper. An eye disease causes secondary cataracts. Traumatic cataracts are caused by an injury. Finally, senile cataracts are caused by old age and are the most common form of cataracts. Cataracts can be unilateral, meaning in one eye or bilateral, in both eyes. Congenital cataracts may be partial affecting part of the lens, or complete affecting the whole lens. If they are partial and not dense enough to interfere with light transmission, congenital cataracts are quite common and often visually insignificant (Vaughan, 1989). Dense central congenital cataracts require surgery. They cause a significant loss visually and must be detected early. A parent usually can not detect these cataracts. The doctor usually detects the cataracts in the newborn nursery immediately after birth. Unilateral infantile cataracts that are central, dense, and larger than 2mm in diameter will cause permanent damage if not treated within the first 2 months of life (Vaughan, 1989). On the other hand, symmetric bilateral cataracts demand less urgent treatment (Vaughan, 1989). The main treatment is surgery, followed by lens replacement / correction, and usually completed with occlusion therapy. The surgery is called phacoemulsification. In this procedure, ultrasound vibrations of up to 40,000 cycles per second are made by a hollow tube-like instrument. It is inserted and the vibrations break up the lens into little pieces. The pieces are then sucked out through the tube (Golstein, 1999). The lens replacement/correction may be done one of two ways. An intraocular lens is a plastic lens inserted where the real lens used to be. Aphakic contact lens correction is using contact lens to improve the images to the retina. I found that an intraocular lens might be a better choice compared to glasses or contact lens because the latter two tend to enlarge the image. The brain can not combine the two images if one of them is enlarged and the other is of normal size (Goldstein, 1999). Finally, I found that most treatments end with occlusion therapy. This therapy is lik e using a patch to cover the bad eye(s). Usually, 6 to 8 hours per day were prescribed.

Elaine

Xiamen university is not onlyl one among the prestigious 21 1 and 985 project universities. but also specialized In accounting profession. Career Objective Seeking for a challenging position in an organization that will allow me to display my xperience and good problem solving skills to make a company grow by solving their problems.Looking forward to, use my skills for the betterment of the company and to increase my potential as well. Work Experience Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu Limited 10/2012-present Auditor Taiwan, Taipei My experience continues with cross-functional teams on statuary audits, half yearly reviews, financial advisory projects etc. with China Development Financial Holding. Deloitte honed me professionally by giving me extensive experience In undertaking he following responsibilities: C] Review and audit financial Information for stakeholders.Evaluate the effectiveness and competence of the internal control of clients. ? Communicate with clients to accomplish tasks effec tively and efficiently. ? Encourge my colleagues when they were under great pressure. Ernst & Young Global Limited 07/201 1 -08/201 1 Intern C] Helped colleagues to deal with the about 300 confirmations of the client – Cathay Life Insurance Co. , Ltd. In 2days. o corrected a number when the last time footing before the printing the financial tatement for clients. ASUSTeK Computer Inc.