Single Parent Childhood Essay Example Essay Example

Single Parent Childhood Essay Example Paper Single Parent Childhood Essay Introduction The proportion of children living in single-parent families has increased noticeably around the world since 1960, and this increase has been particularly noteworthy in the United States. The United States has a higher proportion of single-parent households than that of any other developed country. The proportion of children in the United States living with merely one parent amplified from nine percent in 1960 to thirty percent in 1997. Although there are differences in the occurrence of single-parent families across ethnic groups, with nearly forty-seven percent of African American children living in single-parent families, this increase had an effect on all groups of Americans (U. S. Bureau of the Census, 2000). Given present divorce and remarriage trends, demographers envisage that more than half of all America’s children will spend some part of their formative years in a single-parent family.A broad range of research from sociologists and psychologists has revealed that chi ldren of single-parent families are more probable to have difficulties with emotional as well as psychological adjustment and with school performance and educational attainment, and they are as well more probable to have behavioral adjustment problems, later marriage, and earlier childbearing compared with children of two-parent families. Since single-parent children come into view more vulnerable to a wide variety of societal problems, these children have been regularly referred to as at risk for developmental difficulties. Though, new studies that have appeared within the past decade are raising questions regarding these families and whether or not children growing up in single-parent families are necessarily at risk, mainly in the child’s early years.To say that a child is at risk is a statistical statement, representing that, probabilistically speaking, children in single-parent families are usually more probable to have developmental difficulties than other children are. One of the causes children from single-parent families may be at risk is that single-parent families are as well disproportionately poor compared with other families. According to the research, no other major demographic group is so poor and no other group stays poor for so long. International studies demonstrate that poverty rates are higher among children in single-parent families than those in all other family types in every country studied.Data from the 2000 census point out that thirty-four percent of single-parent homes headed by a woman and sixteen percent of single-parent families headed by a man live in poverty. As a result of poverty alone, many children of single parents grow up in deteriorated and dangerous neighborhoods, frequently with inferior housing and educational systems. How much of the single-parent risk status is related to poverty and how much of the single-parent risk status is because of other factors too associated with single-parent families are questions with significant psychological and social policy implications.More and more, signs have emerged that perceptions and acceptance of single-parent families are changing. Increasingly single-parent families are emerging very obviously on the national scene, and the public has turn out to be more accustomed to seeing them. When Ingrid Bergman conceived a child out of wedlock in 1950, writers of the movie star columns were aghast, and Ingrid Bergman was efficiently blackballed for almost a decade from the American screen. In the 1990s, derision and concern greeted the television character Murphy Brown’s birth of her out-of-wedlock child. Though, in the year 2000, Madonna, a real-life rock star, birthed a baby son Rocco, and the event was greeted with as much joy and interest as the birth of any baby to a prominent rock star. Soon after Rocco’s birth, Madonna married the child’s father; there may have been more interest in Madonna’s following marriage than in the birth of her child. Could this be pinpointing of a changing view of nonmarital births? Could public perceptions of social clocks and developmental sequences of â€Å"first marriage, then baby carriage† be changing at the start of the twenty-first century? Could changes in public views of births to single parents as well be related to changes in our understanding of the risks related to growing up in a single-parent home?To untie the multiple factors that may be related to our understanding of whether or not children of single-parent families are at risk, it is essential to recognize the many similar and different characteristics of single-parent families. One of the most significant characteristics of single-parent families and their children is their heterogeneity. Though about half of all children growing up in single-parent families live in poverty, several do not. In the same way, contrary to stereotypical views and journalistic ravings, not all single-mother families are on welfare. While many single mothers draw funds from public assistance, more than half do not.The phenomenological experience of growing up in a single-parent family varies depending on the nature of the family, the experiences of the parent, plus the family context. Single parents may be divorced, widowed, or unmarried; they may be teenaged or older; they may have been previously married or not. Even though most single parents are women, the number of male single parents is increasing. While legally single, some parents classified by Census statisticians and researchers as single may be living in a committed, partnered relationship not lawfully acknowledged. These statistically single parents are frequently rearing their children in the context of a committed, partnered relationship. For some single parents, becoming a single parent could have been a planned and conscious decision; for others it was not.Some single parents may have chosen to have and to rear their children wi th another adult parent; they became single parents when this partnership did not work out, ensuing in divorce, separation, or widowhood. Further single parents may have decided to become parents knowing that they would be without partners. The unity across these varied types of single parents is that the parent does not have a legally married partner in the home. How these individuals came to be parents, the choices they made, as well as the experiences that were thrust on them, all have differential implications for their family’s life circumstances.Differences in how the parents came to be single parents have an effect on individuals’ employment, their financial circumstances, their relationships with other adults, their involvement with their child, and their competence as parents. The etiology of the parent’s single parenthood as well may have implications for the child’s perceptions and experiences growing up. For instance, imagine that ten children from different types of single-parent families are brought together to talk about their experiences. They would explain many common experiences, such as not having enough money, missing their mothers or fathers, plus problems getting along with their single parent. These concerns, though, do not differ from those of children living in all families. Those issues that are sole to single-parent families are issues for which there are large individual differences across single-parent families. Depending on their age, children from lately divorced single-parent families might talk of anger at their parents’ separation, of fights between mom and dad over custody and child support, and regarding what happens on dad’s day for visitation.Some children of divorce may wonder why dad and mom are not living together anymore; others may be relieved to be free lastly from the marital discord. Children of widowed single parents may be mourning their parent’s loss, while childr en of adolescent single mothers may have difficulty with mom’s inexperienced as well as immature ways and wonder when mom will ever finish going to school. Children of never-married mothers might wonder about their father, who he is, and what he is like. Some children may be confused regarding who their fathers are, and why they are not around, while other children, although a minority, may be learning to live without a mother. Some children may feel isolated and alone, while others are living in cramped households, with not too much in the way of material goods however plenty of people to be with and love. Researchers need to unravel these various psychological experiences to recognize what it is about the single-parent family that might contribute to the at-risk status of these children.Children are often less cared for and more overburdened by accountabilities following divorce. Needy, distressed, lonely, or angry parents possibly will force children into the role of serva nt, caretaker, adviser, confidant, helper, defender, or arbitrator. Some accountability and nurturing of others may improve development and show the way to more responsible, competent, empathic behavior in adulthood, particularly in daughters. Excessively high demands may show the way to competence and responsibility accompanied by feelings of self-doubt, sadness, low self-esteem, a lurking sense of failure, and apprehension regarding performance and personal adequacy in young adult daughters. In analyses of adjustment, divorced girls were more probable than nondivorced girls to fall into a cluster labeled â€Å"Competent at a cost,† typified by low antisocial behavior, high social and cognitive agency, and high social accountability however as well by elevated depression and low self-worth. Girls with highly emotionally parentifying mothers were overrepresented in this cluster.Boys are less probable to be leaned on for emotional support by parents, and moderate levels of bot h instrumental and emotional parentification can augment accountability in adult sons. Though, boys are more sensitive than girls to emotional parentification by fathers and are more probable to resist, rebel, and withdraw from the family when extreme paternal emotional parentification or instrumental parentification occurs, while they also are often anxious and depressed. Although divorced parents may lean on children, children cannot resolve their parents’ problems or save a lonely, unhappy, angry, or distressed parent. The costs to children may be great in the loss of normal childhood experiences and pleasures and opportunities for individuation and liberty from an entangled relationship. (Gringlas, M., and Weinraub, M, 1995) Single Parent Childhood Essay Thank you for reading this Sample!

The Soul, God, Religion, & Evil Essays - Religion, Philosophy

The Soul, God, Religion, & Evil Essays - Religion, Philosophy The Soul, God, Religion, & Evil The Soul, God, Religion, & Evil Being raised in a Catholic family, I have always been told that my body contains a soul. I have often wondered where my soul is and how it functions. Being asked by my friends questions about the soul, I could not answer because I never really knew myself, so I looked to the writings of the church. According the Catechism of the Catholic Church, written by Pope John Paul II, the soul is not just part of the body, it is the body. In Sacred Scripture the term soul often refers to the life or the entire person. But soul also refers to the innermost aspect of man, that which is of greatest value in him, that by which he is most especially in God's image: soul signifies the spiritual principle in man. The unity of soul and body is so profound that one has to consider the soul to be the form of the body: i.e., it is because of its spiritual soul that the body made of matter becomes a living, human body; spirit and matter, in man, are not two natures united, but rather their union forms a s ingle nature. The Church teaches that every spiritual soul is created immediately by God - it is not produced by the parents - and also that it is immortal: it does not perish when it separates from the body at death, and it will be united with the body at the final Resurrection. That is the belief of my church. Other religion hold different views, are they right? If what I believe is right, then the soul is there, not for Catholics, but for everyone, so that we all have a spiritual awareness and can become closer to God. But what if I am wrong? What if we really do not have soul? How then am I to live my life? What if there really is no God, and religion is just a security blanket for people so that they seem to have some meaning in their lives? How can one justify the existence of God if there is so much evil in the world? What about reincarnation? If we have a soul, then it is supposed to be reunited with the body on the final Resurrection, but then how do certain people have spe cial talents where as others do not? These questions are ones that my personal experiences and beliefs will try to answer. I do not believe that the Catholic Christian religion is the only true religion in this world. If I were to believe this, then I would not be the ideal, loving, open minded person that I am called to be by my beliefs, and by God. I believe that each religion is right for each person involved, depending on where they are located. God calls each person in different ways because all people are not the same, and live in different surroundings. Each culture has certain beliefs based on their cultural pasts, and physical environments. For example, Europe and the Americas are considered to be part of the Western World. The Western World is modern, destructive, fast paced, and highly independent. That is the way our society has developed, and the religions that we believe correspond to these factors. African religions are different then the European religions, just as Asian and Middle Eastern religions are different then African religions, because they do not have the same pasts. The way tha t people had lived, their ancestors, helped to develop their religious ideas. Each culture had to have believed in some higher power, and someone (Buddha, Jesus, Confucius, etc.) helped to lead their people into a system that corresponded with their lives, and contributed to bringing some sort of meaning to the society, fulfilling some void that was present. So in a sense, the religions that were created, were created by a certain type of people to fill something missing in their lives, caused by the type of society they were residing in. It was not that the religions created the people, it was that the people created the religions. In line with that idea, religions have also been

Case Study#1 Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

#1 - Case Study Example In the state of Florida, it can be found out that most of the wildlife has been safeguarded by one or the other law. Such laws of Florida have been enacted by the governments at the various level including local, regional, state or federal (Schaefer, Tucker & McGurie, â€Å"Laws that Protect Florida’s Wildlife†). The other law regarding that of two weeks counselling prior to marriage, for the interracial couples, has been enacted for the best interest of the couple. As, the involved individuals in such marriages are often from a very different cultural and economic background, so it can be identified that such counselling would help the future husband and wife to know each other better. Though it seems that the both the law statutes have been enacted for the greater good of the society, one to reduce the pollution content and save the ecological balance by protecting the extinct species of blood and the other contributing towards post marriage harmony but one might not like the statutes. The person travelling from outside the state of Minnesota might feel that he has to incur extra cost in lieu of pollution resistant device in his vehicle. The interracial couple can also have reservations as they are adult and the state can not impose them the counselling sessions. In such cases, the affected parties might appeal to the higher court of law i.e. the court of appeal. If the legislation permits, they can also appeal to the apex court i.e. the Supreme Court. As discussed earlier, the law of the land should not impose certain statutes upon the mature adults. If any of the individual decided to choose upon his life partner, who happens to be from a different race, the legalities of the nation should not compel him to have mandatory counselling session for two weeks. As matured individual adults, they have the right to get married to the person they want to. Also, it is very hurting

Explain search engine marketing Article Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Explain search engine marketing - Article Example On the other hand, Pay per Click increases the visibility of the paid components only. Today, there are various vendors of Search Engine Marketing. The use of SEM rapidly increased in 1992 following the increase in the number of websites in the internet (Andreas, 2008). Today, the largest SEM vendors include Yahoo! Search Marketing, Google and Microsoft adCenter. Search Engine Optimization involves the identification of keywords, saturation and popularity of the site. The saturation of a website is analyzed using the number of pages that can be indexed in the search engines. On the other hand, popularity of the site is the number of backlinks associated with the site. This means that the advertising website should contain the keywords that people are search for in the internet and that these words rank high on the search engine. Pay per Click, also known as paid inclusion, entails a search engine company charging a fee for inclusion of a website in their pages (Richard, 2010). The use of search engine as a form of advertising is an imperative modality of internet marketing. This is attributed to the fact that more than 80% of people rely on search engine in locating products on the internet. In addition, it is cost effective compared to the traditional form of advertising using print and broadcasting media. Search engine marketing facilitates the increase of sales as it is accessible to many users at the same time. It also overcomes the challenge of geographical boundaries as the internet is accessible globally. Although it is cost effective, it is an intricate method that necessitates the use of consultancy services from professional. This adds to the cost of advertising online. There has been a rise in the use of search engines for shopping. After a shopper has undergone the research cycle, search queries change into terms which reflect the buying mindset. Terms such as â€Å"free

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

TBA - Research Paper Example This automotive racing world forwarded through the use of new technology and development. It is true that global environment is getting affected due to high consumption of fossil fuel and growing emission level of Carbon. The huge popularity of World Motorsport and negative impact on the environment forced the automotive industry, Energy department of United States of America and Environmental protection agency of the United States of America started to take the initiative to manufacture and design green racing vehicles. It is true that high sped and heavy racing vehicles need huge energy to perform effectively in a race. But, the automotive industry decided that the time has come to harness the creativity, innovation and efficiency to improve the effectiveness of the vehicles both on the track and off the track. Motorsport is considered as one of the popular sporting events that significantly contributed to the socio-cultural and economical development of a country. In addition to this, these specific events help to attract global visitors to experience the events. Looking into these aspects, several regulatory bodies, government of country and motorsport agency try to maintain sustainability of world motorsport events. It is clear from the introduction that the governmental bodies and motorsport agency is trying to introduce green motorsport racing in order to maintain environmental sustainability. Following discussion will help the readers to understand about its historical implication, economic and social issues and cultural perspective of this green motorsport racing event. Massive use of fossil fuel affects the environmental balance. High carbon emission level is the major consequence of the consumption of fossil fuel. It is known to all that motorsport vehicles consume high every fossil fuel as energy resources. In addition to this, consumption level of fuels is

John Locke on Tacit and Unintended Consent Essay Example for Free

John Locke on Tacit and Unintended Consent Essay In his Second Treatise on Law and Government, John Locke outlines clear and coherent standards for what constitutes a legitimate government and what persons one such government would have authority over. Both are determined by citizens acts of consenting to relinquish to the government part of their natural authority over their own conduct. Unfortunately, the situation becomes much less clear once we consider how his standards would apply to the political situation existing in the real world today. If we continue to subscribe to Lockes account without altering its standards, we would see a precipitous drop in the number of people whose interests existing governments are responsible for serving. In this paper I will show that with certain changes and clarifications to Lockes standards, the responsibilities of existing governments need not be allowed to shrink so drastically. This creates a tradeoff, however. Changing the standards to apply more closely to actual functioning governments has the consequence of making it more difficult to determine the legitimacy of those governments. Some of the clarity of Lockes theoretical model is lost in translating it to apply to actual instances of government. A cornerstone of Lockes political philosophy is the idea that a government holds power legitimately only through the consent of the governed. A civil society consents to grant a particular government rule over it, and each person chooses on an individual basis to become a member of a particular civil society (II, 117). As giving such consent has far-reaching consequences over a persons life, Locke provides further explanation of what consent entails in this context. Only one way exists to become a member of a civil society: express consent. From Lockes account this would have to be a fairly formal business, which the individual enters by positive Engagement, and express Promise and Compact (II, 122). Lockes original wording is important because it seems to imply that unless a person actually makes a public agreement to submit to government law in return for protection of person, liberty, and property, she has not expressly consented. He makes it clear that there are no alternatives to this official process if one is to become part of a civil society, (II, 122). Even if one is not considered part of a particular civil society, she must submit to its authority to the extent of her involvement in that society. Someone who owns land within the territory occupied by a civil society is obligated to obey the law of whatever body has ruling authority in that territory as it applies to ownership and use of property. Someone merely travelling on a public road through a country will have less contact with the civil society of that area and so fewer laws of that society will have application to her behavior. Still, those laws that do cover what activities she carries out have binding force on her (II, 120-121). These people incur the obligation to submit to local authority because that authority is protecting them, perhaps by preventing the citizens of the area from acting in ways that would harm other people including the outsider. For the outsider to be free of those restraints and take advantage of the areas citizens would be unjust; therefore she is obligated to comply with the legal restraints observed by citizens the area. In neither of these cases would the person in question be considered a member of the civil society whose laws she is obeying unless she expressly consented to join that society in addition to her tacit consent to follow its laws. An immediate criticism of Lockes account thus far is that in practice, hardly anyone expressly gives consent to join any civil society. Even in most real-world cases where a person does announce submission to a particular government, the declaration would not meet Lockes conditions of consent that would give legitimacy to the rule of government over that person. Oaths such as the U. S. Pledge of Allegiance are usually only indications that the speaker is prepared to obey directives from the government of a particular state. Consent in the strict sense would have to make explicit what the person is consenting to. Someone joining a civil society under Lockes conception would need to spell out that she is giving up the right to make and enforce her own judgments to the government of that society, in return for that governments protection of her interests. Even promises of blind obedience are far from universally practiced, and in most countries are the practice of reciting such pledges is confined to schools and youth groups as a form of education rather than contractual agreement. (The idea that most civil societies do not consider young people mature enough to consent to become members is discussed later in this paper). Explicit contractual consent is far rarer than these questionably binding declarations. If most people fail to give explicit consent to trade away some of their natural rights, under Lockes terms they have not joined any civil society, and so should not be counted as the citizens of any state or the subjects of any government. This has profound significance because of the relation between civil society and government. The agreement of a civil society is the force and justification behind its governments authority (II, 149); in return for the mandate that grants it power, the government exists to protect the interests of that particular group of people. Anyone not the member of a particular civil society has no legitimate voice in the form or operation of the government that society creates, and she has no right to expect that government to protect her interests. This does not mean that the government will not take any actions that are to her benefit; the laws of that nation which prevent its citizens from killing and robbing may also prevent them from killing or robbing her. When the government enacts laws, however, it need only do so with the interests of its constituency in mind, and has no obligation to create laws conducive to the interests of an outsider. Any benefits the outsider enjoys as a result of the laws of a particular country are purely coincidental to those laws intent. Someone who is not a member of any civil society at all will accordingly have no power over any government, and her interests will deserve the consideration of no government. Since the vast majority of people have not given express consent to join a particular society, the majority of humanity has no right to expect its interests to be served or protected by any of the governments existing on earth. Everyone, however, is required to submit to the control of one government or another depending of where they live, since basically every part of the earth inhabited by humans is under the dominion of one state or another. Rule is solely in the hands of those few people who have actually signed some kind of formal social contract, and needs only to consider their interests. Any government with which no living person has made a formal consent agreement rules illegitimately. The fact that Lockes model leads to an implication that most of humanity is neither the legitimate authors nor the deserving beneficiaries of government does not prove the model is logically flawed. However, the very great majority of people consider themselves members of a civil society, and are considered as such by other people and, most importantly, by governments. However real governments define their constituency, few if any set express consent as the standard. Enslavement of the tacitly consenting masses by the expressly contracted few thus fails to provide an accurate theoretical model of governmental institutions in the real world. Locke himself describes of the formation of government as an action taken by and for the community (II, 149); this wording suggests that he would have disagreed with the idea that citizenship by express consent leading to dictatorship by a de facto minority is, in practice, the most typical form of legitimate government. It is possible that those without citizenship (the majority of people under our present definition) actually benefit by not being contractually bound to any particular civil society. As long as someone who is not an official citizen resides within the territory of an existing government which fulfills the duties expected of government (II, 131), its laws discourage both citizens of the civil society and other outsiders from threatening her life, liberty, and property. Thus someone could enjoy much of the security that membership in a civil society would provide simply by living in a well-governed area without joining in civil society. In PHI 309 lecture, Prof. Sreenivasan pointed out a possible advantage that such a living arrangement could provide for the unaffiliated: in cases where it was in ones best interests to abandon a country beset by war, pestilence, or economic or other disaster, noncitizens could jump ship without that act being considered an injustice. Those who had by express consent tied themselves to the civil society might well be obligated to remain with the community, and would not have the option of fleeing the war or hardship. Yet in most of the world, nomadic living is considered the exception, not the rule. Citizens of the worlds various nations must be considering factors not included in Lockes account. One of the most significant of these is a convention that has introduced a new kind of consent enabling people to become citizens of particular states. Most civil societies have found it desirable to designate officially who is a member of that society, i. e. a member of that state. As a governments power depends on its constituency, government function is expedited by the governments having accurate knowledge of the extent of its power base, that is to say the extent of its citizenry. At the same time, concern for its own integrity and distrust of outsiders drives a civil society to delineate who is and is not a member. These and perhaps other factors have led to the creation of conventions (usually expressed as laws passed by governments) by which a person is declared to be a member of a particular civil society (i. e. citizen of a country) regardless of whether or not that person has actually expressed consent to what such membership entails. The most typical example is a law declaring that anyone born in the territory of a particular nation is a citizen of that nation. When still a juvenile, that person of course has not actively consented to anything, and so is usually considered not complete member of civil society; although part of a community, the juvenile generally lacks certain rights and powers given to full members of the society. Upon reaching the age when she can make her own decisions, laws indicate what society the person is considered a member of in the absence of active consent by that person. The person continues to hold that default membership until she makes an active decision to join another civil society. The conventional reflection of this active decision is generally a naturalization process by which someone can become a citizen of a country she did not belong to by default. By going through the naturalization process, a person is understood to consent to the tradeoff which would make her a member of that civil society. It could be objected that being considered the member of a civil society by default is another matter entirely from consenting to join that society and willingly relinquish ones rights. Where is the consent in this instance? This question is less troubling before the person has come of age, because most would agree that a juvenile generally lacks the judgment to be signing any kind of binding social contract. But can a government legitimately assert that a person has consented to cede her rights to it simply because she has not actively protested? This question could be answered affirmatively. A person can choose not to consent to membership in her default civil society, or give up her membership in a civil society she already belongs to, by joining another civil society through a more active process such as naturalization. This means that if she does not take such an action, she is accepting the convention that interprets her inaction as an expression of consent to join the civil society she was assigned to by default. By systematizing and codifying standards for consent, then, states in actual practice ensure that the great majority of people are not lone agents. One might still question how conscious most people are that they are held to be making this sort of contract, even in the most open societies. A case can be made that essentially, they are aware. No one is unaware of what society she belongs to. Each person is effectively the member of whatever civil society exerts control over her, usually through its government. As soon as that person is conscious of the control being exerted over her, she is made unmistakably aware of what her citizenship is. With the realization of what government she is under comes the option to change her membership. The final and most damaging criticism of the consent model is the question of what happens when a person does not have the option to move to a new territory and join a new civil society. This may occur because of a persons own lack of means to carry out or simple ignorance of the options ostensibly available to her. It may also be the result of oppression by the government, preventing citizens of the country from leaving. Any of these conditions can force a person to remain an official member of a particular civil society. However, the standard of conventionalized explicit consent introduced above is only able to maintain that most people consent to join a civil society because it assumes those people have options besides their initial citizenship. If people are not being given other options, the model is still not logically flawed. Rather, it suggests a situation similar to that originally introduced as the consequence of applying Lockes model to the real world: the people in such situations are not really part of the civil society that created the government to whose control they are forced to submit. As such, they retain undiminished the right to join another civil society through a new social contract. If they do so, they may create a new government to follow instead of the one they currently submit to by tacit consent. Of course, there is no guarantee that the government ruling them in the status quo will allow them to replace its control. If it retains control over them by force, Lockes model would still hold them to be tacitly consenting to its authority by enjoyment of its dominion. This counterintuitive conclusion is avoided by the model requiring choice for real consent. If we follow that paradigm, we come to the conclusion that the government is ruling without any consent from the governed in those cases. According to Locke, such government is mere enslavement and so is illegitimate. To say that a government is wholly illegitimate if it hold power over even one person without her consent is clearly excessive; probably no government could ever achieve legitimacy under that criterion. However, we can say that a government is legitimate to the extent that its citizens are aware of other options and consider membership in their current civil society with its ruling government preferable to those options. The problem with such a standard is that it depends on what is thought by the citizens of a country, and to ascertain a persons mentality is difficult. The most reliable test is to provide citizens with realistic options and observe whether they remain with the status quo or seek a change in their situation. That change may involve leaving their current civil society, or it may mean seeking to change the structure or behavior of that societys government. The countrys citizens can be said to consent to the government ruling them to the extent that they posses the power to change their situation, but still maintain the status quo. Thus, the legitimacy of a government can be measured by the effective options available to its citizens. If we had held to Lockes standards for consent to membership in a civil society and submission to government rule, we would have concluded that most people in the world are tacitly consenting to the rule of governments created by very small groups of explicit signers of social contracts. This would lead to a bizarre picture of the political landscape very much at odds with intuition and with modern reality. By changing standards for consent to mean compliance with official requirements for citizenship when other options are available, we are able to account for those who consider themselves and are considered members of a civil society without having given explicit consent, while at the same time freeing those not given a choice from the appearance of having given consent. A government is then legitimate to the extent that its citizens have given consent according to these standards. It is one of those rare examples where laws have made the situation clearer. Sources: Locke, John. Second Treatise. From Two Treatises of Government, Laslett, Peter, ed. New York: Cambridge University Press, 1988.

This is Your Brain on God :: Biology Essays Research Papers

"With all your science can you tell how it is, and whence it is that light comes into the soul?" ~ Henry David Thoreau Belief in God has long been held to be a superstition by the scientific community as the existence of such a higher power cannot be demonstrated through objective observation. While science is unable to prove whether or not God is real, the field of neurotheology has instead posed a new question that we can find answers to: is there activity in the brain specific to religious experience? Can science in fact shed light on Thoreau's question? Through the use of brain imaging technology, Dr. Andrew Newberg has conducted research in an attempt to find answers to these questions. The participants in his study were Buddhists well-versed in meditation. Newberg used a SPECT (single photon emission computed tomography) camera to make an image of the brain of an individual at the moment he reaches the climax of meditation. Such a picture would enable us to look at the brain as it "experiences God." The "peak" of meditation is clearly a subjective state, with each individual attaining it in different manners and having different time requirements. However, the sensation and meaning behind this moment is consistent among all who reach it. At the peak, the subjects indicate that they lose their sense of individual existence and feel inextricably bound with the universe. "There [are] no discrete objects or beings, no sense of space or the passage of time, no line between the self and the rest of the universe" (Newberg 119). As the river flowing east and west Merge in the sea and become one with it, Forgetting that they were ever separate rivers, So do all creatures lose their separateness When they merge at last . . . (Newberg 6-7) Newberg first took baseline images of the brains of the meditators to use as a standard for comparison (Newberg 5). It was important that these scans of the brain be taken while the subjects were at rest so that brain activity while one is simply relaxed could be differentiated from brain activity while one is having a spiritual experience. The baseline scans showed an "even distribution of activity throughout the brain," characterized by a large amount of activity in the posterior, superior parietal lobe and a moderate amount in the prefrontal cortex (Newberg 4).1 The subjects then meditated. When they reached the peak, they pulled on a string attached at one end to their finger and at the other to Dr.

Odysseus Is a Strong Leader

Odysseus is a strong leader. Odysseus is a strong leader shown by many characteristics. To prove he is a strong leader I will be using determined, intelligent and loyal characteristics. In the myth Scylla and Charybdis it proves Odysseus is determined. It shows he is determined because all though it was difficult to get through he still had faith that they could make it passed Scylla and Charybdis and get home. â€Å"Odysseus knew that they would all be dragged down if they got too close to Charybdis.So he sipped around her, always keeping her in view† gives evidence how determined he was to get passed them while knowing he could be risking not only his life but his men life. Determination makes him a strong leader because if he would’ve given up he would be a weak leader, and to be a strong leader you have to have faith and keep trying. The Sirens shows how Odysseus is an intelligent. This myth proves he is intelligent because he thinks of a plan for himself and his me n to get passed The Sirens without dying. Odysseus told his men about them and that the only way to pass them safely was for each man to stop his ears with wax† shows the plan Odysseus thought about before passing through. Intelligent makes him a strong leader because if he didn’t have plans he wouldn’t be able to come up with the plan to survive or to get home. In the myth Aiolos and the Bag of Wind proves how Odysseus is loyal to his men. It shows how though his men didn’t trust him he still stood with them and wanted to get home.The myth says â€Å"Aiolos helps by putting all the stormy winds into a bag so they will not harm Odysseus and his men or blow them off course. During the voyage, suspicious and curious sailors open the bag thinking it is treasure† clarifies the men did not trust Odysseus. Loyalty makes him a strong leader because people follow him and leaders don’t give up on their men when they know they don’t trust him. T hese three myths prove how Odysseus is a Strong leader throughout his adventures with his men. .

Buddism: Political, Social and Economic Essay

Ancient China was a time of for religious influences. Belief systems dominated China from 500 B. C. E to 1000 B. C. E. The impact these beliefs left on the country were. A particular belief system, Buddhism impacted China profusely. This belief system impacted china in a number of various factors. The belief in Buddhism impacted China china’s culture through many political, social and economic stances. After defeating 100,500 men in violent warfare, Asoka felt great remorse. Despite the victory he was consumed with grief. Asoka found comfort in the teaching of Siddhartha Gautama and converted to Buddhism. After his conversion, he began to govern his kingdom under the teachings of Buddha. The laws and principles of non-violence, virtue and love where strictly enforced in the kingdom. Buddhism strongly reigned over Asoka’s political empire. With the belief system he was able to bring the kingdom from a state of warfare to peace the India has not seen since his reign. Because of his conversion to Buddhism, Asoka remains one of the greatest leaders of antiquity. One of the greatest impact religion can have is it’s social appeal. While India was being controlled by the Caste system, so were religions. Your social class also determined your religion. Buddhism was highly popular with the lower cast. The practices and rituals were affordable for those who could not afford. Because of Buddhism, Monks had homes in the monosaries. Buddhism greatly accommodated the people of low social status but that didn’t mean those of higher class could not practice it too. Soon after Buddhism had become so wide spread that Mahayana Buddhism became the Buddhism â€Å"for the masses† According to Buddha, the root of all evil is suffering. This is not the average economic principle. Siddhartha Gautama made this theory however when he abandoned his lavish life to find enlightenment. He witnessed much suffering and made a very impactful theory. After this great revelation, Buddha strived to base his economics of selflessness. His teaching thought that material wealth was not important. He insisted that obsessing over one’s self was the cause of suffering and the only way to be ended is through giving up your love and attachment for material possessions. After sometime the popularity of Buddhism died out. However, the impact it left on China from 500 B. C. E to 1000 B. C. E did not. The spread of Buddhism shaped China as a whole for many centuries to come. From 500 B. C. to 100 B. C. E, Buddhism impacted society’s structure in many aspects of history.

Floowing in the Footsteps essays

Floowing in the Footsteps essays With everything the United Sates does, in society, politics, and more, many wonder weather we are just following what Ancient Rome had. They had Senators, monuments, public displays of entertainment. As does the US, but with everything she shares with Rome there are a thousand things different. The US might have been following in the footsteps of Rome but now she is making her own path. The Roman Empire lasted from 27bc to 476ad. During this time most of the most memorable things happened to it, that most people remember. The United States has always been a democracy with more than one person in charge of everything. The Roman Empire was marvelous, top of its times with everything, but the United States becomes the top by herself. Not by conquering other countries. She even gives away countries she does get, like the Filippines. The US uses her own self and her own people to get ahead, which she most diffidently didnt get from Rome. For the most part, the US has been cutting her own path, but some things are obviously similar. There are only so many ways to divide a country so she does have some things in common with Rome. Just because if these similarities, that does not mean that she is copying Rome. For all thats similar and all thats different, the United States has worked hard as a country, fighting wars abroad and within her own boundaries. Through it all, the US stayed strong as a country and is still here today. As for Rome, it was torn apart by invaders and internal conflict. Who knows what will happen to the United Sates. One must follow her in her path to find out. ...

Sports Performance Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Sports Performance - Essay Example 17-55, 1987). The agents include the players, the coaches, as well as the referees. Ball allocation and play calling are examples of the numerous tasks involved, whereas the contexts can be during play as well as timeout. These factors interact together in different ways, and create several unique combinations, each of which requires a unique decision. This results in a wide array of situations in sports where decisions are required. One important step to learning about decision-making from sports is thus to weed out the main features of sports performance which make it practical and easy to study. Locating these features provides us with an essential step in comprehending the importance of sports as an epitome of decision-making situations. Studying decision-making (Diederich, pp. 157-166, 2003) in laboratory has one making disadvantage: the results may be inaccurate due to the unnatural environment. In sports, however, the player the researchers observe is under real pressure, and is fully responsible for his or her decision, which ultimately leads to their decision resembling the decision-making found in the real world. This advantage of studying decision-making is one that has only recently come into being appreciated for its worth (Bacharach, pp. 17-55, 1987). ... This feature of sports points out the danger of simulating a natural environment, and the importance of a naturalistic observation setting. The dynamics of sports decisions (Gold & Shadlen, pp. 10-16, 2001) are the second reason why they are ideal to study for the sake of decision-making research. The affect of this dynamism is twofold, to be found in both internal and external dynamics. Internal dynamics hold significance as they show that each decision is made over a course of deliberation, rather than spontaneously. Instead of simply making the decisions as they come, the player/decision-maker accumulates relevant information over a course of time and evaluates it at the time of decision-making. External dynamics, on the other hand, show that the situation itself fluctuates from time to time. At one moment, if the information is available (goalie position), it may be out of reach a second later due to obstruction in the view. These and other variables such as available options rev eal the dynamic nature of sports. Research (Gold & Shadlen, pp. 10-16, 2001) finds that decisions are made either ‘online’, or on a reflective basis. This also links the nature of sports to the dynamism earlier mentioned. Online-made decisions are examples of when the decision is made during the task, or under similar shortage of time. A player will make online decisions during the game. This is as opposed to the coach making the game strategy beforehand, using reflective decision-making techniques, which make thorough use of all the relevant information available. Movement control and decision-making (Mayes, pp. 441-461, 2003) go hand in hand when studying sports performance and this can be aided by cognitive modeling. Cognitive

Police Training Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Police Training - Research Paper Example In addition, they are charged with the special tasks like surveillance, VIP protection, child protection, and counter terrorism. They are also offered training about how to perform investigation on major crimes such as rape, drug trafficking, murder, and fraud cases. However, police officers are anticipated to react very rapidly to a range of scenarios that may arise and intervene an incident of crime either when on or off duty. Rules and regulations states how a police officer should respond and perform within the society. In some nations, regulations and rules states that police officer is anticipated to appear in an incident of crime, even if they are on leave (Johnson, 2007). Additionally, at the crime scene, the police officer is assigned the duty to collect evidence concerning the crime investigations as well as identifying the witnesses to show evidence in the court of law. They also offer first aid to the injured person in accidents like car crashes and shoot outs. They must obtain a written document from the scene of an accident. Another important duty of the police officer is to escort the criminals to and from the court during their trials, remove the wreckage from the scene of an accident as well as controlling the traffic. ... Entry Qualifications and promotion of police Recruitment of police officers usually follows the common procedure, and candidates must have undertaken some formal education. There are personality characteristics that have been used to identify the desirability of police applicant such as honesty, neuroticism, extroversn, carefulness, and friendliness as suggested by (Pope, 1981). While, the undesirable characteristics of police are; hostility, obsession, lack of impulse control, fear or suspicion, and substance abuse. Before training of police starts, the aforementioned are considered to be the best qualifications as far as character is concerned. Before receiving promotions to the higher positions especially from constable to inspectors or sergeants, a scheme has been developed whereby people who hold university degrees are considered and must spend two to three years serving the position as constables. Recruitment of police is also conducted from those who have security services or military experience. For instance, Johnson illustrated that in the United States, state laws may relates to the qualification standards in regardless of education, age, training, and status of criminal record though in other nations qualification requirements are set by local police agencies (2007). However, for one to get promotion to the higher rank, he or she must attend and pass some kind of interview board, examination, or other procedures of selections. Even though promotion generally entails salary increase, it again includes with it an increase in responsibility and mainly, an improvement of administrative rules and regulations. Generally upon the completion of two years of service, specialist