Myself as a Psychological Practitioner Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Myself as a Psychological Practitioner - Essay Example I also look forward to the opportunity to work while I am waiting to be certified. That is a benefit both economically and professionally. A psychologist, whether certified or a practoners is a person that helps other individuals and I see myself making a career out such a profession. The opportunity to use my education and apply it in a health care profession that helps others has always been my goal. There is always the opportunity available for me to remain as a psychological practoners if that fits my needs the best. There is also always the opportunity for me to go on and become a certified psychologist. I personally feel by being a psychological practoners I will be able to decide which the best fit is for me and what I am best suited to do. Becoming a practitioner in the psychological field requires paper work and meetings of particular standards. These standards are set forth by the American Psychological Association and adhered to by all psychological practitioners and certified psychologists alike practitioner I see myself as a professional and I look forward to being able to work in a profession that has standards and an association that sets them.

Police Brutality Among Nigerian Males In Philadelphia Essay Example for Free

Police Brutality Among Nigerian Males In Philadelphia Essay Cultural prejudice is like a virus that is transmitted from human to human and like a parasite eats up a society and its reasoning. These prejudices are reflected in our day to day life. How often we see a white women shying away from young African American male on the street reflecting the basic stereotyped assumptions that we make about others every day. These inevitable behaviors of which most of us are victims remain unresolved because of the unconscious state it has entered. Likewise, people who have been victims of racism in the past develop an extreme judgmental attitude, often labeling a simple act as a racist, failing them to ever see well in others. Marilyn French, a feminist fiction writer, in her work on â€Å"Beyond Power: On Women, Men and Morals (1986),† interprets such bigot behavior as an outcome of a patriarchal world that is lured by power and control over women, children, property, and other men; and subsequently enticed with the idea of superiority using skin color, wealth, religion and ethnicity as its variable. She suggests that the masculine principle is governed by aggressiveness which prevails over the cultural values ascribed to the feminine principle. Quoting from her work, â€Å"World wide patriarchal values and perspectives are so pervasive; many people believe them to be inevitable. Such thinkers believe feminine principle oriented cultures became instinct because of the superiority of Western patriarchy†. She further emphasizes that since western people are oriented in a masculine thought; its end result is anything but cultural prejudice. Further, delving on this theory she suggests that we all are members of the â€Å"in- groups† that offers us a feeling of belongingness and comfort. And all others become members of the â€Å"out-groups†. It is taken as a fact that members of one group will always be antagonist to the members of the other group. Marilyn calls it a â€Å"self justifying dialogue that keeps us from self analysis mixing beliefs with attitudes and values, and morality with ethics† (French, 1985, p. 19). We obediently keep practicing what we have been taught in our lifetime, i. . â€Å"what to think† of those who are members of the opposite group instead of â€Å"how to think† and in turn delaying our judgment about others. Our faculty has stopped responding to a logical reasoning and it has simply turned into a mechanical thought process. Leading all of us to becoming racist, ageist, and ethnocentric in this patriarchal culture. An authoritarian personality clings on to the conventional values of their culture, and refuses at any time the need of self – introspection (Breslin, 1974, p. 51). While delving on this type, Mumia Abu-Jamal stands as a case in point. Mumia Abu – Jamal, a famous radio journalist in Philadelphia was also known as â€Å"the voice of the voiceless†. He used to report on issues concerning police brutality, misconduct and racism on the minority communities and especially, the African American community. In 1981, he became a victim himself of things he always fought against. On December night, 1981, while driving a cab to supplement his income earned through journalism, Abu Jamal drove pass his brother who was being beaten up by the police officer, Daniel Faulkner for traffic violation. Shortly, a gun fire broke out leaving both the police officer and Abu- Jamal injured. Unfortunately, the officer succumbed to his injuries while Abu –Jamal recovered through a surgery. He was trialed for the Officer Daniel Faulkner’s murder case and given a death sentence. However, at the insistence of Philadelphia District Attorney Lynn Abraham, Abu – Jamal is currently not facing the death penalty. This is a typical case of a social conflict between individuals and collectivities. Interpreting Abu – Jamal’s case through Lane Cormick’s work, this situation can be termed as a crisis. The media and many literary discussions have depicted this case as that of prejudice and racial discrimination. Race and ethnicity are hence, seen as the controlling dynamics in this case. Dave Lindorff, an investigative reporter in his book on â€Å" Killing Time: An Investigation Into the Death Row Case of Mumia Abu – Jamal†, stated that at the time of Abu – Jamal’s arrest, the Philadelphia Police Department was indeed the most corrupt enforcement operations in the nation. Hence, the decision made by the United States’ judicial system , awarding death sentence to Abu- Jamal, based on the evidences put forth by the Philadelphia police has been widely criticized and challenged. This decision has been labeled as an outcome of cultural prejudice in a society that stands as an epitome of liberty. The United States’ judicial system has been attributed for its racism and discrimination against defendants of color. Noam Chomsky while reflecting on this case called the U. S. prison system a class and a race war. He further emphasized that Abu – Jamal is just one illustration of what’s called â€Å"social cleansing† in US. Philadelphia police is known for its notoriety. The racist attitude that it thrives on is also not hidden from the public. The killing of a young black man, Bryan Jones on the morning of January 1, 2007 is just one in a million cases reflecting brutality dipped with prejudice and racism practiced by the Philadelphia police. According to the Welcoming Center for new Pennsylvanians, seven percent of Philadelphia’s immigrants come from Africa mainly comprising of Nigerians who form the largest African group in this region. Every now and then, there are cases heard against the Police Department of Philadelphia for ill – treating the Africans. Scholars suggest that off all prejudice, the most critical is the Attitudinal Prejudice reflected (in this case) in the Philadelphia police also explaining the reasons of brutality that’s practiced on these minority races. W. T. Jones in his work on â€Å"Perspectives on ethnicity. New direction for student services†, explains that â€Å"attitudinal prejudice refers to a negative attitude toward a person or group based upon a social comparison process in which the individual’s own group is taken as the positive point of reference. † (Jones, 1972, p. 6). Further, to combat the ‘isms’ requires new value assumptions and new social learning.

Interest theory of rights, a summary and evaluation

Interest theory of rights, a summary and evaluation Theoretical Foundation of Human Rights: What is the interest theory of rights? Does this theory fail to answer any important questions? â€Å"If the concept of human rights is universal, that is, possesses a validity which is good for all places and for all times, then it is apparent that there is a significant disparity in the way in which these rights are concretised from place to place and from time to time. While the idea of human rights may have a discernible homogeneity, perhaps derived from some kind of natural law theory or social theory, it is nonetheless clear that the implementation of these rights by states lacks a corresponding identity.† (Davidson, 1993:89) Both international relations and moral theories feature prominent debate on the concept and the purpose of human rights yet there appears little by way of consensus with regards to what these rights mean, where the judicial boundaries of action and inaction meet or how to implement the utilitarian principles first adopted by the United Nations in response to the humanitarian horrors witnessed during World War Two. The crux of this theoretical problem resides in the evolution of the concept of human rights – an evolution that has worked in tandem with the evolution of liberal democracy in the West since 1945 when â€Å"Western tradition required, as a response to totalitarianism, a reassertion of individual liberty, and for that liberty to be protected by an international law rather than diplomacy.† (Robertson, 2006:29) By this we mean to say that whereas historical notions of human rights were underpinned by the spectre of the state and the state’s ability to def end persecuted minorities, contemporary notions of human rights have moved beyond the confines of the state and the public sector to incorporate the private citizen and the defence of his or her individual human rights (as opposed to the collective human rights of a people or a state). This is a reflection of the shifting paradigms that have affected liberal democracy at the dawn of the twenty first century where the merging of the public and the private sectors has created a moral, judicial and ideological black hole into which uncertainty and indecision have stepped. The following essay seeks to look at the ways in which this political sense of uncertainty has pervaded the ideological sphere of human rights where according to Saladin Meckled-Garcia and Basak Cali (2005:10-30) the human rights ideal has become ‘lost in translation.’ We propose to look in particular at the ‘interest’ theory of rights, analysing the ways in which it has helped to shed new light on the topic of human rights in general while at the same time highlighting its theoretical flaws. A conclusion will be sought that attempts to underscore the link between rights, indecision and inaction particularly when we view the issue from an international perspective. Before we can begin, though, we need to offer a definition of the interest theory of rights. The interest theory of rights was first proposed by Bentham (1987) who argued that a person has a distinctive human right when others have duties which protect one of that person’s interests. Thus, viewed from the perspective of the interest theory of rights, â€Å"human rights takes their role to be to protect a person’s basic interests.† (Pogge, 2007:186) This constitutes the most fundamental interpretation of human rights within the liberal democratic ideological framework alluded to in the introduction, falling within the theoretical parameters of what Meckled-Garcia and Cali (2005:10) refer to as the ‘normative rights model’ (NRM) which â€Å"identifies features or aspects of our humanity which contribute to our well being and which are vulnerable to the actions of others.† The interest theory of rights therefore seeks to safeguard these features or aspects of our humanity by protecting a citizen’s rights against wrongdoing from another citizen within the same social, political and judicial framework. That it is to say that if, for instance, it is in one’s interests to not to be physically assaulted then, as far as the interest theory is concerned, it is the responsibility of both the individual and the state to ensure that this does not happen lest the basic interests of another individual be impinged upon. Moreover, there is, as Meckled-Garcia and Cali (2005:11) declare, â€Å"no principled difference is made between individual and collective.† This is in direct contrast to international human rights law (IHRL) where only the state can impinge upon the basic human rights of individuals or groups of individuals living within that sovereign state. As a consequence, we can see that the first and most prominent drawback to the interest theory of rights is that there exists such a wide divergence between theory and practice; between the interpretation of the rights and responsibilities of the individual citizen versus the interpretation of the rights and responsibilities of the sovereign state. This is to say that while the interest theory of rights brings to the fore important concepts relating to the synthesis of the values pertaining to liberty, community and mutuality – concepts which Francesca Klug (2000) refers to as values for a ‘godless age’ – it falls of short establishing important criteria with regards to who these rights apply to (the rights holder), who these rights impose duties upon (the duty bearer) and what exactly these duties entail. Therefore, we can see that, rather than seeking to impose values for a godless age, interest theories relating to rights merely help to perpetuate the mi sunderstanding and the misconception of the ideal of human rights so that the definition, interpretation and subsequent implantation of rights remains an ideological and theoretical quagmire (Cali and Meckled-Garcia, 2005:1‑9). As a result, we can deduce that the first and most prominent failure of the interest theory is that it does not address the concept of establishing a universal concept for human rights and that it fails to address the question of what human rights are and how they are best protected. Addressing the moral aspect of human rights at the expense of the broader legal and judicial imperative only ensures additional questions will be raised as to the purpose of rights as a social, cultural and political ideal. We can also declare that the interest theory of rights is, in its bid to politicise every sphere of human relationships and human interaction, wholly incompatible with international human rights law because â€Å"international law, by its nature, contains traits which alter the nature of human rights provisions† (Meckled-Garcia and Cali, 2005:23). That is to say that, as a branch of international law, international human rights law is distinct from domestic law of sovereign states that act as the defining means of arbitrating power between individuals on a state by state basis. Yet, as is the case with all law, human rights law clearly and identifiably differs when the concept is transferred from territory to territory; state to state. Human rights in the United Kingdom are, for instance, an inherently different moral concept from human rights in the United States where the boundaries between the legal and the illegal are set by democratically elected domestic governments. Lik ewise, there are distinct judicial differences between domestic human rights law and international human rights law, certainly in the application and exaction of these laws on a worldwide basis. â€Å"Unlike domestic legal systems, there is no such legislature (making laws for the entire international community) nor is there an executive which enforces the decisions made by the legislature. There are also no comparable judicial institutions which would try violations of law and award a judgement against the offender.† (Rehman, 2002:15) This ongoing discrepancy between the ideal of the interest theory of rights and the practical application of this theory across trans-national borders where there is a discernible lack of international consensus with regards to enforcing decisions renders the interest theory an ideologically weak hypothesis. More importantly, we can see further evidence of how the interest theory fails to answer the question of how best to bridge the theoretical divide between domestic human rights law and international human rights law. We can also find fault in the interest theory of rights when we pause to consider the flip-side of the argument by looking at those rights that are not in the interest rights holder. If, for instance, we consider the legal rights involved in the exchange of property inheritance we can understand the extent to which unwanted goods can be effectively tithed to a person simply because the interest-based law states that it is in the citizen’s best interest to have the property passed down to them. Likewise when we turn our attention to public officials, we can again see the in-built limitations inherent within the interest based right theory. If, for instance, the handing down of custodial sentences was left to solely the best interests of the judge (as opposed to the best interests of the public community whom the judge is supposed to be representing) then the core structures of the criminal justice system would come crashing down with a sense of arbitrary judgement replacing lib eral, democratic rule. It is for this reason that Meckled-Garcia and Cali (2005:24) note that: â€Å"The transformation of a moral right into a legal right, as desirable as it may be, comes at a price. A compromise must be struck with other principles in law.† In this way we can see how the interest theory of human rights represents a paradox whereby in trying to establish a moral imperative to underpin the concept of human rights, the theory has instead given birth to new conceptual confusions with regards to the blurring of the boundaries of the public and the private and the intermeshing of the paradigms of the individual and the state. With this in mind we must now turn our attention towards establishing a conclusion. Conclusion The concept of human rights by nature implies a deep-seated association with the concept of interest with the best interests of the individual being intrinsically linked to the ongoing strive for the â€Å"state of equality and freedom† between individuals that defines the most basic and fundamental theories of human rights (Freeman, 2002:20). Likewise international law by nature implies a deep-seated association with the concept of interest with the best interests of the sovereign state being the primary determining factor behind the most basic and fundamental theories relating to international relations (Brown and Ailey, 2005:63-77). However, in the final analysis, there is an equally deep-seated chasm between the interest theory of rights and the practice of translating western moral imperatives (which have grown exclusively in tandem with the evolution of western liberal democracy) on both a domestic and, especially, on an international scale. There must, ultimately, be a limit to the freedom of the individual and a point at which the best interests of the individual have to be subjugated in favour of the best interests of the state. For as long as this theoretical and practical divide exists, we should presume that the interest based theory of rights will remain rooted in the realms of utopia as opposed to flourishing in the realms of realism. References Bentham, J. (1987) Anarchical Fallacies, in, Waldon, J. (Ed.) Nonsense upon Stilts New York: Methuen Brown, C. and Ailey, K. (2002) Understanding International Relations: Third Edition London: Palgrave Macmillan Cali, B. and Meckled-Garcia, S. (2005) Introduction: Human Rights Legalized: Defining, Interpreting and Implementing an Ideal, in, Meckled-Garcia, S and Cali, B. (Eds.) The Legalization of Human Rights: Multidisciplinary Perspectives London and New York: Routledge Davidson, S. (1993) Human Rights: First Edition Buckingham: The Open University Press Freeman, M. (2002) Human Rights: An Interdisciplinary Approach Cambridge: Polity Press Klug, F. (2000) Values for a Godless Age London: Penguin Meckled-Garcia, S. and Cali, B. (2005) Lost in Translation: International Law and the Human Rights Ideal, in, Meckled-Garcia, S and Cali, B. (Eds.) The Legalization of Human Rights: Multidisciplinary Perspectives London and New York: Routledge Pogge, T.W.M. (2007) Freedom from Poverty as a Human Right Oxford: Oxford University Press Rehman, J. (2002) International Human Rights Law: A Practical Approach London: Longman Robertson, G. (2006) Crimes Against Humanity: The Struggle for Global Justice: New Edition London: Penguin

Discuss the creation and purpose of a strong sense of setting and :: English Literature:

Discuss the creation and purpose of a strong sense of setting and atmosphere Poets use a strong sense of setting and atmosphere in their poems to get across the emotions and content of their writing. â€Å"To Autumn† and â€Å"Ode on Melancholy† create a strong sense of setting and atmosphere. These two poems are both Odes. Odes are very thoughtful poems and are usually dedicated to someone or something. Also Odes are very disciplined in the way they are written, in terms of structure. Both poems are written by an author named John Keats. John Keats had a very hard life, in that he watched his mother and brother die from what is now know as leukaemia. He also knew that he would die from the same disease. Therefore John Keats may have observed things differently and was more appreciative of things. He seemed to be able to pick out the positive things when times were bad, especially â€Å"Ode on Melancholy†. These poems were also written in what is called the Romantic Era. â€Å"To Autumn† is about John Keats feelings and thoughts towards autumn. Straight away, in the first line Keats sets a strong sense of atmosphere for the poem. â€Å"Seasons of mists and mellow fruitfulness,† The word mists implies beauty and mellow suggests calm and relaxed. The way John Keats has used alliteration, makes the reader focus on the two words â€Å"mists and mellow†. Not only does it start the poem of with a soft and gentle tone, it makes the reader bring to mind autumn in just these few words. Like many other poets Keats uses poetic devices to make an image or to explain things in further detail. Keats goes on to using personification in the next two lines. â€Å"Close bosom-friend of the maturing sun; Conspiring with him how to load and bless† In these lines Keats personifies the sun and also autumn. The reason for him doing this is it makes an image, that autumn and the sun are more than what we think they are, they’re friends and they work together to grow crops. Repetition of the idea of being friends, â€Å"Close bosom-friend†. The repetition emphasises the relationship between the sun and autumn, which makes the reader more clear and aware of the imagery created. â€Å"For Summer has o’er-brimme’d their clammy cells.† This line at the end of the first verse is another image created of the process of autumn. The setting is changing from summer to autumn. This line suggests, summer has come to an end because all the goodness of summer is full and is beginning to over flow into autumn.

Research: Retailing and Online Shopping Essay

1.1 Introduction: According to Forouzan (2003), the Internet can be defined as a collaboration of more than hundreds of thousands of interconnected networks. More specifically, the Internet is a collection of local, regional and national computer networks that are linked together to exchange data and distribute processing tasks through common language and protocols. Interent shopping refers to any form of shopping that takes place via the Internet where electronic means are used to make purchases at virtual stores. 1.2 Background of study The Internet in current from is primarily a source of communication, information and entertainment but increasingly the Internet is also a vehicle for commercial transaction. With the development of technology, the characteristics of consumers are changing gradually. This new type of shopping mode has been called online shopping. Therefore, online shopping is one of the most important online activities in the current. The advent of online shopping gave retailers one more way to classify consumer with similarities and provide apparent differences from earlier shoppers. Internet and World Wide Web have made it easier, simpler, cheaper and more accessible for businesses and consumers to interact and conduct commercial transaction electronically. This is practically the case when online shopping is compared to the traditional approach of visiting retail stores. Traditional retailers and existing and potential direct marketers acknowledge that the Internet is increasingly used to facilitate online business transactions. The Internet has altered the nature of customer shopping behavior, personal-customer shopping relationships, has many advantages over traditional shopping relationships, has many advantages over traditional shopping delivery channels, and is a major threat to traditional retail store outlets. 1.3 Statement of the Problem The statement of problem could be researched in this thesis as followed: 1. What is the demographic profile of the respondents in terms of: a) Name b) Sex c) National 2. What are the factors that the influence customers online shopping. a) More impulsive in purchases b) Convenience oriented c) Less price 1.4 Significance of Study Online shopping has been a growing phenomenon around the world, especially in countries where well-developed infrastructure exists for marketing activities over the Interent. The Internet has been developing for three decades eventually during the mid-nineties, the commercial use of the internet triggered high expectations in both executives and investors. Online shopping is broadly defined as an activity that includes finding online retailers and products, searching for product information, selecting payment options and communicating with other consumers and retailer as well as purchasing products or services. Consumers today have many categories of shopping choice, they can choose one of category for themselves which is they like and suit for them. The significance of the research is to explore ways in which people converse about and make meaning of online shopping and how this entices them to shop online in a China and Indonesia. I aim to investigate people’s motives for pr eferring to shopping online, as well as their reasons for doing so. 1.5 Scope and Limitation of the Study Because the Internet is a fast-changing environment, and consumers’ attitudes and behavior will likewise change, it is with caution that factors influencing the preference to shopping online are identified among online shoppers. This research primarily examines consumer satisfaction, behavior and industry status. The outcome of this study is limited only to the data gathered from books and journals and from the primary data fathered from the result of the questionnaire survey conducted by the researcher. As the research was completed in a relatively short period of time other factors and variable are not considered. This might have an impact on the results of the study.

How safe is your school?

Can schools really be 100% safe for students? I have heard a lot about violent activities that have been happening in schools not only colleges, but elementary schools as well. People are shooting and killing innocent people. â€Å"The National Safety Center believes that schools have the choice to create and maintain safe schools or return to their institutions to safe, secure and effective places of learning†. So, why are we letting this happen? We need to make some changes to make our schools a safer place for students.There is no reason students should be endangered while in school. I honestly believe that you cannot make every school 100% safe for its students because, schools don't have enough security and precautions, people are not aware, and students don't have enough support, or people to talk to one on one. Schools cannot be 100% safe for their students without enough security and precautions. Almost all schools have security such as, locked doors, cameras, and alar ms, but that didn't stop all of the violence that has happened.For example, â€Å"A shooting rampage in this small Connecticut town left 28 people dead, including 20 children killed inside their elementary school, authorities said† known as Sandy Hook. Now obviously, schools were not taking precautions at all. This person went in an Elementary School and killed all those innocent children. I think that if there was security that would of never happened. Maybe if they try new safety tricks, things like this would not happen. What if you had to swipe a student card to get in the premises?Another thought, metal detector would come in handy so that people could not get away with bringing weapons through the doors. There should be no reason why people are being able to get away with killing innocent people in schools without any warning. Yeah, it may cost a little more money to put more security in schools, but its well worth our safety. These people are getting away with killing those innocent students and I think it's sad to think this person was in that school and no one even noticed him. Another reason why schools cannot be 100% safe is because people aren't aware as they should be.Half the time people don't pay that much attention to all the people they see. They wouldn't know if they go to the school or not. At a lot of schools, the doors are always open. The schools are pretty much welcoming anyone to come in. Especially in colleges, students are allowed to come and go as they please so, how would anyone know who's coming in or who's gone all the time. Schools need to have a check and go system or something of the sort. You should always be aware of your surroundings. Also, people talk a lot and we never know if there being serious or not.When someone were to talk about shooting up the school or bombing, most people would probably laugh and think it's a Joke because, most teenagers especially are caught up more in themselves then other people. People fail to realize the seriousness of violence. We think it would never happen to our school, but we wonder why it is happening to so many. This trend seems to be continuous. I believe schools are targeted a lot because, there is a large amount of people in one place. It is easy for the person committing the crime to take out a bunch of people at once when all in the same area.I think the criminals commit these violent acts in schools because, of personal interest. I believe that they are driven to act out on innocent people by violent video games or following violent acts such as, Hitler. Some people don't know how to separate what is real and aka in the world. So when playing violent video games all the time could trigger violence in their head, making them want to act out. As for the Hitler act, some people look up to him as an idol and want to follow his footsteps. They feel by harming others, they are honoring him.Or, maybe some people do these violent acts to make an impact. What if they want to be remembered for something and hurting people is the only thing they know in their head what to do that will make them noticed. It's a cry out for attention. (CNN) â€Å"Twenty-three year old Sung-Huh Choc killed 32 people on he Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University campus in Blackburn, Virginia, before taking his own life†. It makes me wonder why not only did this boy kill all those people, but he killed himself after.What was he thinking? This brings me to another point in which schools need more people available to talk to one on one with students? Now, I know every school has counselors for students to talk to but, some of the counselors don't have experience that these students need. It's easier to talk with someone when you can relate to that person. I feel that if students could feel unforgettable talking with a counselor, they could most definitely let out a lot of thoughts in their head, and get more things off their shoulders.I feel t hat most people don't feel comfortable talking to a counselor, so maybe if they tried to understand and relate, these students would be more open. Most people act out because, they have know where for these emotions to go, so they Just let them all out in the wrong way related to violence. People think that letting aggression out on others will solve their problems but, it doesn't. Counselors could really be helping dents with all this to make it a safer place for everyone. I personally think that schools cannot be 100% safe when students are crying out for help and don't know what direction to go.Everyone needs some type of support in their lives. When you have no one to talk to, you bottle everything up and eventually it's all going to come out. I really believe that being able to set your mind free of worry or negative thoughts, can and will make a better and safer person. All of these things are ways we can make schools a safer place for students, but it will never be a 100% saf e place until these things start to happen. Until we get all this new security and take more precautions were Just opening the doors for more unwelcome visitors.