Expository Essay Essay

#3 focusing on the importance of the past and how ‘The Kite Runner’ shows no matter how deeply it might be buried, it finds a way to re-surfacing Have you ever tried to run away from your past? And did it work for you? Well in the book we learn that a lot of characters try to run away from their past, for instance Baba hiding the fact that Hassan is also his son or when Amir witnessed Hassan being raped. They all tried to run away from their past but it all caught up with them in the end, like Amir said â€Å"My past was like that always turning up†. There is no way to hide from your past, whether you try to run away from it or bury it as deep as you can because the past always claws it way out. An example could be Amir trying to forget that he was a bystander to Hassan’s rape. He tried to forget everything, delete everything that happened about that night. ‘But even though life goes on memories remain forever’. He lied about Hassan stealing his watch and money thought chasing Ali and Hassan away might help him forget or ease his pain . When he received that phone call from Rahim Khan saying there is a way to be good again, he knew that it was time for him to face his fear. Going back to Kabul frightened him, he was about to face his deepest fear, everything in Kabul changed it was not the same. He wanted to make his father proud and be the brave man his father expected and longed for, just like Hassan. Sometimes it’s not always our guilt that forbids us to forget but the judgement of people in our community. When she ran away with her older boyfriend and moved in with him, she was seen as a disgraceful girl with no respect in the Afghan community. Soraya status is later restored when she gets married to Amir who’s a much respected man in the afghan community. Sometimes keeping a secret could be the cause of our death. In Baba case we learn that the cause o his death could be keeping the secret that Hassan was his son. When his diagnosed with cancer he refuses the treatment, possibly because he has accepted that was his punishment for his ‘sin’. On the end Baba dies as a tortured soul. Furthermore we learn that we the past cannot be forgotten or ignored but we can make peace with it. The kite runner illustrates that we learn from our mistakes which helps to be better people and more accepting of others. Like Amir said,’for the first time since the winter of 1975 I felt at peace†¦ Healed at last ‘.

Consider the importance of Curley’s Wife Essay

   She seems to believe that the man sent her a letter, and that her mother ripped it up, so she left home and, out of spite, married Curley. Even thought she never received the letter, she still clings on to the tiny bit of hope that one day she will be in the movies. Unfortunately, she dies before she has the chance to fulfill her dream, just as Lennie does. This represents and shows the reader how lives never go to plan. Their dreams are wishes for untarnished happiness and the freedom to fulfill their dreams is non-existant. As well as being important in the story, she also has some distinct unimportance. In the novel, she is never given her own name; she has the title of Curleys Wife and is looked upon as his property. It is as if she has no human rights. Whilst everyone else on the ranch has a name, including Crooks the stable buck, she is just defined as the wife of a man she hates. She tells Lennie that, â€Å"he ain’t a nice fella. † She doesn’t like being locked up in the house, and ends up having to sneak around so Curley doesn’t catch her. She also seems insignificant in comparison to the other characters, as she has no specific job on the ranch. She seems to have a lot of time on her hands, because she is heavily made up, and her hair seems to be perfect each time she appears. She fills her time in this way. She also wanders the ranch constantly claiming that she’s â€Å"looking for Curley. † This is because otherwise she is always in the house or hiding from Curley. For example, in Chapter One, when Lennie and George have first arrived, she is stood at the doorway asking for Curley, and after she has left, Curley arrives and asks if anyone has seen his wife. This proves that she is always hiding from Curley, and he is always keeping a watchful eye on her. When she dies, and is lying in the hay, Curleys intentions seem to be just to get revenge, nobody mourns her death. Only Slim has the decency to â€Å"touch her cheek,† and check her pulse under her â€Å"slightly twisted neck. † Curley jumps up and immediately says, â€Å"I know who done it. † His only thought is to kill Lennie. Ever since Lennie crushed Curleys hand he’s been planning revenge, and now he has the perfect reason. Nobody stops to mourn a young, unfortunate, nai ve girl’s death. Even though she has been at the ranch for only two weeks, she seems to already have gathered a reputation of a tart. George generally seems to regard all women as â€Å"jailbait† but knows that there’s â€Å"gonna be a mess ’bout her. † Of course, he is right. The other men on the ranch also think she’s a tart, and Whit thinks that Curleys wife has â€Å"got the eye goin’ all the time,† and Candy also says that â€Å"She got the eye. † Neither of these comments are factual, but they give you a bad impression of Curleys wife. When Curleys Wife first appears, her â€Å"hair is in curls†, she has â€Å"rouged lips†, and is wearing â€Å"red fluffy mules. † She is wearing a lot of red and this usually represents prostitution. When she has left after flaunting her body, George remarks, â€Å"Jesus! What a tramp! † Whit also says â€Å"she ain’t concealing nothing. † She could be more modest but she just wants male attention and the only way she can do this is by showing off her body. Although the main impression of Curleys Wife is that of a tart, there are many qualities that make you feel pity for her. She isn’t bright, and has an isolated life in her house, trying to hide from Curley. She says, â€Å"I don’ like Curley,† and clearly regrets marrying him. When describing her dream, she uses â€Å"I coulda,† and not â€Å"I will. † The girl has no hope and believes her life will be living on the ranch, doing nothing but hiding from Curley. She is also very nai ve, in the last Chapter, when Lennie kills her, she is led in the hay and is described as â€Å"pretty†, â€Å"sweet†, and â€Å"young†. All of these characteristics are those of an innocent girl, the young woman Curleys Wife really was. Curley only wants revenge for her death, Slim is the only person who checks her pulse, and even tells Curley to stay behind, but revenge is all Curley wants. Even Candy curses over her dead body, he says, â€Å"you god-damn tramp† and claims that she ruined his dream of owning the ranch with George and Lennie. Candy blames Curleys Wife, who was really just a lonely girl, and needed someone to talk too. Show preview only The above preview is unformatted text This student written piece of work is one of many that can be found in our GCSE John Steinbeck section.

Assess the contribution of Social Action Theory to sociology Essay

Social Action Theorists, or Interactionists are also known as micro sociologists, this is because instead of looking at the bigger picture in society, and how the large structures and institutions such as the education and judiciary systems affect individuals, which is what Marxists and Functionalists (macro sociologists) look at, Social Action Theorists look at the opposite, how us, individuals, act by our own accord, and how we make up society. This is known as a ‘bottom up’ view of society. They see people as having a much more active role in society, as opposed to the passive puppets that Structuralists make us out to be. They reject the view that our behaviour is the product of these organisations and structure. Although Social Action Theorists do look very much as individual behaviour, they also take into account the fact that we are aware of the people around us, they argue that our behaviour is influenced by how other individuals react to us and behave, so society is made up because people come together and interact. We are able to react to each other’s behaviour in this way because we have learnt how to expect what people should and shouldn’t do, and how to interpret behaviour. We have meanings for various symbols during interactions, for example, someone frowning may show confusion or anger, and someone swearing with a hand gesture may be insulting, because of these codes and symbols, we are able to anticipate behaviour, and judge how people are feeling. This also gives us a knowledge about what behaviour is and isn’t appropriate in certain situations. These different situations can also affect how we behave and what behaviour is acceptable, for example shouting and swearing may be seen as acceptable at a football match, but this would be highly inappropriate in the middle of a supermarket or library. These behaviours and expected ways of carrying ourselves, or norms and values, (especially the basic ones, such as how to act around others) are learnt from the family at a young age. However education teaches us how to act in a larger range of social situations. The acquiring of this knowledge is what leads to us gaining our identity. Social action theorists suggest that there are three main parts to our identity. The first of these parts is the things that make us individual, such as name, signature and photograph. The second aspect is social identity, which is made up of the personality characteristics that are associated with our role in society. For example, I am seen as an older brother, which society may make me out to be annoying and protective of my younger sibling, but I am also seen as a student, who is perceived to be hard-working and well-behaved. The final part of our identity is the concept of ‘self’, or what we think of ourselves, and how we think we play our respective roles. This concept of ‘self’ has been developed further by social action theorists, who believe that this can be further broken down into two components, the ‘I’ and the ‘me’. The ‘I’ is the private inner self, what we truly think of ourselves, whereas ‘me’ is the social self, and is the one that carries out the roles of brother and student. Goffman referred to society as a play, and that we are all as individuals, actors in this play, or in the drama of everyday life. The expected ways of behaving, or social norms are the script, for example, greeting someone with ‘Good morning’ is expected. He suggests that the roles we carry out are simply a performance designed to create a particular impression. For example in front of grandparents, I put on this performance of being exceptionally well mannered (believe it or not). Another part of social action theory is the concept of labelling. This is when someone is put into a group, or stereotyped, because of the way they look or act. For example a young person may be labelled as a ‘goth’ because they have pale skin, black hair, and listen to a certain type of music. Becker came up with the idea of a Master Status. This means that an individual can have a status (normally negative) which overrides all other labels. For example, someone may be a very good brother and son, but then may be arrested for robbery, and then the label of ‘criminal’ will become his master status, and people won’t see the brother or the son they saw before, they will simply see him as a criminal. It is believed that these labels lead to a self-fulfilling prophecy. This means that someone will react to the label they have been given, and this label will become true. For example, if a teacher (very wrongly) labels a student as ‘dumb’ they may think they genuinely are dumb, and will not do well at school. However it has been argued that the opposite can occur, and people may go out of their way to disprove their label, to carry on with the example before, the ‘dumb’ student may try exceptionally hard at home and at school, to prove the teacher wrong, the label may act as motivation. There are many criticisms of Social Action Theory, one being that they tend to be very vague when describing who is responsible for creating these norms and values, and interpretations that mean we know how to act around people and in certain situations. They fail to explain power, and factors which may affect these norms such as class or gender.

Nissan Automotive Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Nissan Automotive - Research Paper Example For example, Renault acquired one-third shares of Nissan, but it was not contemplating on building Renault’s plant in Japan or shifting its model production in Japanese factories. Alternatively, Renault appointed a star manager, Carlos Ghosn, at CEO’s position in Nissan. Ghosn restructured the company, hence restoring Nissan to profitability (Crooks, 2010). This analysis suggests a simple model for FDI where Nissan as a heterogeneous investor bid to secure the control rights on proposed or existing overseas assets; the formulation is capable of explicitly considering more than two countries or market. The model avails a strategy utilized in bilateral FDI for analyzing bilateral trade in goods; its specification entails an inward effect showing characteristics pertaining to the destination country, an outward efficacy indicating the features of origin country, and a vector consisting pair-specific variables that reflect monitoring costs (Forum, 2010). The model is applied or estimated using five countries. In the second stage, the estimated outward and inward fixed effects related to variables that are predicted by the model. Then the formulation of the model is aggregated into yielding simple table used for each country’s share of the world Automobile FDI (Obashi, 2010). Many firms engage in FDI without exploiting the external markets directly via the exportation. They focus on location, internalization, and ownership advantages with internalization of intangible assets. Ownership advantage depends on the managerial and technological superiority of home country’s firm in relation to the hosting country firms. This superiority should be sufficient to deal with the extra costs incurred as a result from differences in business customs, informal and formal norms, and languages. As a result, the ownership is directly linked with control; hence control turns weaker when ownership

Operation Management Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Operation Management - Research Paper Example Firstly, for sustainability, efficiency and to improve infrastructural access throughout all the branches and the teller machines, the NBAD has deployed sophisticated technological system meant to monitor all the data centers. This system has been integrated in a way such that, it helps in power planning, management and distribution by giving warnings about power availability while ensuring consistent customers service for maximum returns output. Moreover, this organization having been ranked amongst the safest banks in the world has opened up numerous branches within the United Arab Emirates as a strategy of gaining competitive advantage. Additionally, the bank has implemented the use of automatic teller machines (ATM) to aid accessibility of transactions with 24 house online customer support. Through telephone calls and online banking categorically termed as Nbadonline or Nbaddirect customers are assured the safest money transactions which, eliminates the threat of physical transac tions of money and chances of robbery (Suwaidi, 1994). National Bank of Abu Dhabi has implemented into its operation, finacle management systems with treasury as well as capital market business. This system helps in minimizing risks associated with trading in securities while offering financial assistance in relevance to office operations. NBAD has had sustainable operations by focusing on service delivery to the customers through the deployment of finacle system which, helps in the reduction of cost through effective and non faulted operations as one way of achieving the objectives and visions of the organization (Suwaidi, 1994). National Bank of Abu Dhabi believes in a centralized of financial process in where adequate funds can be dispatched in support of other operations within the organization while prioritizing for higher returns with very minimal anticipating of risks. Besides this idea, NBAD has invested in financial management systems that enables the customers to have accu rate execution of the transactions focusing on cash optimization efficiency through a round the clock automation systems. Moreover, the organization is equipped with an enterprise resource programs where the treasury, management board and the other industries are involved in to the in integration of automated systems that sees transactions from one organization to the other. National Bank of Abu Dhabi has succeeded in the integration of optimized transaction system with the development and Tourism Company to enable cash management efficiency and other likeminded organizations with the treasury (Peng, 2012). NBAD is also practices divergent transparency when it to the relationship with the investors, this has been made through availing of timely financial information and reports which, are basically aided by financial fact sheet and other reports which can be acceded easily through the decision support systems linked to the investors portals. Through such systems, stakeholders are ab le to make timely decision about the appropriate time to sell or make purchases of investment securities (Peng, 2012). . Operation management and qualities of Emirates Airlines Company Despite the fact that emirates Airline Company is wholly owned by the government of Dubai, it has revolutionized into a global

Research Skills for Marketing Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Research Skills for Marketing - Essay Example The cost applied here also is very much important. The data sources applied here are primary data. The information are collected only through the primary data i.e., collecting direct information from the respondents. The research approaches include Observational Research: which is just observing the buying behaviour of the customer Survey research: This is done by conducting survey directly to the customers. Behavioral Data: by finding out the traces of the purchasing behavior in the store, scanning data The Research instruments include Questionnaire and by Qualitative measures The expectations can be identified by setting up the questionnaires and conducting analysis and by customer opinion. Sampling Plan is the sampling unit ie., who is to be surveyed, here men,women and children. The sampling size should be large so that the good analysis is done hence a sample of nearly 500 respondents are to be taken. The sampling procedure is the probability sample. The contact is done through mail Questionnaire, online interview and direct interview 3. COLLECTING INFORMATION: The information is collected through feed backs like questionnaires, interviews and surveys. 4. ANALYZING THE INFORMATION: The information is analyzed here through various techniques like tabulation, frequency distribution, averages, measures of dispersion and SPSS methods. The more the analysis the more the accuracy of results. 5. PRESENTING THE FINDINGS: The findings here were on the Arrangement of the products in the store. The cost of the products. The method of payments Products available. Methods of promotion. The service availed. 6. MAKING THE DECISION: Hence by conducting research in all these areas it is suggested to have a moderate price for the...Why the customers behave as this and what is the wrong found in the shop. The information is analyzed here through various techniques like tabulation, frequency distribution, averages, measures of dispersion and SPSS methods. The more the analysis the more the accuracy of results. 9. Esty, Katharine, Richard Griffin, and Marcie Schorr-Hirsh (1995). Workplace diversity. A managers guide to solving problems and turning diversity into a competitive advantage. Avon, MA: Adams Media Corporation.

Law Enforcement and E-Government Transnational Issues Research Paper - 1

Law Enforcement and E-Government Transnational Issues - Research Paper Example Moreover, the paper will discuss the methods of government intervention while dealing with cyber threats, especially with regard to the laws that the government has set up. In addition, the paper will discuss the impacts of government regulation on national security. #1 The private industry is vital in the provision of national security, in the United States. This is because the private sector is involved in the development of advanced security systems. Companies in the private sector are engaged in the research and development of security mechanisms, as well as gadgets that help in improving the country’s security. The National Security Agencies rely on information from the private sector to develop the security mechanisms in the country. The knowledge acquired from the research conducted is used as the basis for enhancing the country’s security. In this regard, the government has an obligation to tell the private sector what they can set up and improve their cybersecu rity (Theohary, 2010). There are several ways, which the government can use in order to tell the private sector how to improve their cybersecurity. One of the ways in which the government can justify such an action is through introducing trusted internet connections, which will benefit all stakeholders in the private sector. ... Through the use of this approach, cyber threats are reduced since the government will monitor the flow of information, as well as the messages exchanged via the internet (Theohary, 2010). The government can also justify involvement in issues that relate to cybersecurity is through regulation of the information market. Market regulation plays a crucial role since it reduces the vulnerabilities, and the threats caused by market failure. The government should guide the private sector on how they should set up their cybersecurity since when the private sector is left alone to implement such provisions; competition in the market may result to poor quality services. The government should regulate how the private sector sets up cybersecurity in order to ensure that there is adherence to the set standards. Government intervention is always crucial since the private sector cannot follow standards if they are left alone to implement cybersecurity (Powner, 2010). There tends to be certain socio -political reasons and motivations, which precipitate the government to take part in cybersecurity. The most fundamental reason why the government takes part is because of the threat posed by terrorism. Since the September 11 attacks, the United States government has strived to ensure that all sectors are protected against terrorism. Terrorism is an issue of concern in the United States. The department of homeland security strives to ensure that all threats posed by terrorism are prevented. On this regard, therefore, the government intervenes in ensuring that the private sector does not become vulnerable to threats of terrorism. The other socio-political reason for the intervention of the government

Personal Knowledge Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Personal Knowledge - Essay Example This then directs me to the investigation of epistemology itself, how do people react and pay attention to music, how do listeners perceive sound out of it It seems that, they need to cling to certain metaphors, to 'mentality'; they will feel stuck if they can't perceive a green garden, and a blued-sky or something relevant to that. Using implicit consideration that a year ago I attended an opera which featured a well known singer, say understanding how to play music persuasively so far not being proficient to amply illustrate my 'knowledge' of it, I came to react like 'our musical bands are poor and irrational'. They played music over their pa systems whose frequencies are mostly consistent with their power fields, and are in fact upsetting for persons that are not accustomed to it. Various frequencies create various emotions. I know sometimes music genres - rock and pop - in fact make me ill if I am rendering to them for considerable period of time. I had left that opera. It so gives me the impression that something is off-center with this particular situation - either widely heard music is beyond phase with, or completely hearing-impaired to, listener's anticipation or the listeners had plunged into a sort of easy listening habit. Exemptions allowable on both of these choices, I think 'clued-up music' is in general easy-to-get-to the population, given this public is equipped maintaining an ultimate preliminary shock, since there certainly exists an interval between the overall styles, methods and artistic grounds of the melody we are caused to experience in our routine life and those of this era's. Music skills can only be unintelligibly known, that is to say, they can come what may understood perfectly and even if our faith may comprehend the relation of their elements we have convolution in telling these relations through our aptitude to communicate, i.e. 'clear-cut language' (Michael Polanyi 1998). It is irrefutable that these day's erudite music isn't that much easy to discern and comprehend, comprising the extensive demands for music, not to point out that of the more genres, and the relatively scanty interest of the music listeners. Moreover, it is usually worded as excessively difficult and tightly-packed without rationalisation. Is this a symptom of our times Without a doubt, our times are those of a 'speedy being', spilling over with every day concerns, that does not nurse anything that adds more trouble to its maze-like pace. According to Iannis Xenakis (1922-2001), "music is not simply a language. Every piece is resembling a hard rock, with myriad ruts and sliced with depictions on the surface and underneath, which people make sense of and understand in a thousand diverse ways, none of them being the most excellent nor the truest". And, he continued, "The actual disaster will be if, as new composers rummage around for diverse and probably more 'classical' forms of look and production, the confused voices of an previous originality are covered up" (Arnold Whittall). This made me absolutely lay down my arms on that widely-established idea that music is a worldwide language, understood at once and perceivable by every person. Furthermore, I'd say that it is incorrect to consider that music is for all and sundry or, in other words, that a 'music composition' is always made up with consensus in mentality, every person gathering a similar accepting from hearing it. I take from this that the 'positive reception' of a

Write a report assessing the feasibility of different techniques for Essay - 5

Write a report assessing the feasibility of different techniques for providing fresh water to arid regions of the world - Essay Example The essence of any system is to maximize on the output and reduce the amount resources gathered to enhance the system. The easy will focus on details of different sources of water collections and recommend on an effective plan to utilize in the Nubian Desert. The focus will be on Nubian Desert. Covering an Area of more than 400,000 Square kilometres, the region remains venerable to water shortage. The arid region is bordered by the large Sahara desert. It has a minimal rainfall of 125mm per year. The desert is located in Sudan North-East part of Africa (world atlas, n.d ). In this model, underground water reserves are exploited and utilized in various ways. The common method of harvesting underground water is through boreholes. Different sites are set and underground water utilized for both domestic and agricultural purposes. The technique requires technical knowhow at the initial stages. This means locating sites to be drilled. After a site is located, the drilling process begins. During this process, both mechanical and human power is required. Limits spaces are need as the size of a borehole is smaller compared to other forms of water harvesting. The availability of this resource will determine the life of the borehole (Thangarajan et al, 2002). Some arid areas experience limited amounts of rainfall per year. With the right mechanism, the water could be collected and used for both agricultural and domestic purposes. In analyzing this aspect, hill slope dams are required. Rainwater is collected down rock hill slopes. Gravity is what is needed to collect water and be pumped into storage tanks. The technique requires a large surface area as water from the hill tops need to be collected over a wider area compared to borehole drilling where a small excavation of the earth is done. The hill slopes dam could only be effective in regions with limited amount of rainfall. In most arid areas, they hardly

Social Media as a Business Strategy Term Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Social Media as a Business Strategy - Term Paper Example Social media also lets retailers create an awareness of their great products and followers might share their business with friends and family growing exposure to the business. Through social media, retailers can advertise specials to increase the reach for their special promotions. Social media also lets retailers get involved with the customers. Retailers may get feedback through comments by the customers and be able to meet the clients needs. Also with social media, retailers can target specific demographics to get their name to the group of people they want to see their products (Brown, 2012, pp 1) In the video, the instructor starts by letting people know that the facebook is where individuals go to spend time with friends. The video assures retailers that using facebook will help them reach a greater market. Facebook is where people build relationships with others that may eventually become customers. Find people with a similar mindset and connect them. You should send them a short message informing them why you want to connect. Add as many you could since some may or may not accept your friendship request. It encourages the client to use facebook since there is no investment required. It also guides retailers on how they can create a link to their website on their facebook profile. Retailers can also put a small note about who they are. The video starts by explaining the meaning of social media and how it has exploded to have great numbers of users. It assures the retailer that there is a huge audience on social media that they can take advantage to promote and even sell their products and services. The video explains that the social media platforms are different in how you connect with people. He points out that facebook is the leader for online marketing and plays a vital role in the success of retailers businesses. It informs the retailer that creating facebook page is a work in progress, which does not have to

Organizational Behavior Essay Example for Free

Organizational Behavior Essay Organizational behavior is the topic and title for many MBA classes and students may not realize the contributing disciplines to OB. An organization can range from the micro to macro level; from youth sports teams, to corporations, and up to state actors(government). Behavior in an organization may be viewed as an individual’s response to his or her environment (internal locus of control), which such disciplines as psychology and anthropology might examine. As well, the type of group culture may be studied by sociologists and the feedback loop of person and group by social psychologists. Out into the external locus of control completely in terms of OB is political science, which may deal with the economy and/or government structure of different institutions and bureaucracies. Emotional Intelligence (EI) is studied extensively in organizations as a compliment to what could be considered â€Å"academic intelligence†. Psychology takes the lead on the subject of EI and understanding EI in the workplace could help to enhance employee performance and decipher the best fit for an individual within an organization. Emotional intelligence (EI) is still a relatively young developmental topic, is gaining in popularity and being marketed to human resource professionals, counseling clinicians, and organizational behavior and development consultants† (Gale Group, August 2003, p. 28). Intelligence, whether it be emotional or â€Å"actual† is as important to understand as the socio-cultural roots of employees within organizations. With such a diverse global workplace, anthropologists need to understand the cultures represented in corporations and ways to best understand the dynamics with other cultures for the benefit of each employee and work group. We are currently experiencing a resurgence of racial antipathy in the U. S. This is clear in various forms of racial oppression and overt acts of racial hostility in communities, in schools and universities, and in the workplace. We can expect these hateful episodes to escalate further if the economy continues to worsen (Eitzen, April 1992, p. 587). This article, anthropological in scope, points to the fact that with problems with the economy, will come problems with power and conflict. Problems with loyalty and trust can, also, ensue in situations were conflict is abundant. Social Psychology deals with, such things as appraisal of self in organizations as well as â€Å"moral development, the group serving bias, and the effect of inducing feelings of hypocrisy on subsequent behavior change† (Seijts Latham, August 2003, p. 233). Social Psychologists, also have a unique way of blending with what is deemed industrial/organizational psychology. Putting all these subfields of psychology and internal process testing at that locus of control is all beneficial to organizational behavior. Trust is a key element of the work of Sociologist Georg Simmel, and his symbolic interactionism approach to relationships. Trust is argued in the article cited below as a sociological, but not psychological phenomenon. Without trust there would be no loyalty to organizations and is most important to understand in organizational behavior. Students of sociological trust’s main motivation is to present trust as a sociological, rather than psychological phenomenon†¦Trust is a functional alternative to rational prediction for the reduction of complexity. Indeed, trust succeeds where rational prediction alone would fail, because to trust is to live as if certain rationally possible futures would not occur. Thus, trust reduces complexity far more quickly, economically, and thoroughly than does prediction (Mollering, 2001, p. 410). Although conflict theory and structural functionalist schools do deal with competition and bureaucracy in organizational behavior, this symbolic interactionist school view is of great importance. Of what greater importance is trust? Finally, political science deals with the most external factors in an organization and with organizational behavior. Although sociological conflict theory overlaps with political science. Economics and political stability are an actor outside of the organization and should be treated as such. Competitive advantage is a part of the political landscape and can be viewed on an individual level with competition with co-workers, as well. Competitive advantage was vested in the mass production process, with factories able to produce large numbers of goods at the lowest price using human labour to undertake repetitive operations that could not be done mechanically† (Business and Management Practices, January 2004, p. 85). All disciplines have something to contribute to organizational behavior studies. The previously mentioned, as well as biology, economics, theology, philosophy, and more. It is one of the rare areas of study that can boast this possibility and should be further explored to continue into a successful 21st global century.

Installing Openmrs Essay Example for Free

Installing Openmrs Essay There are two ways to install OpenMRS: Standalone, and Enterprise. You must have Java 6 or higher installed on your system to run OpenMRS. OpenMRS Standalone provides a simplified installation option with an embedded database and web server. It is a great way to evaluate and explore OpenMRS, letting you get a local version up and running within minutes, and includes download options with sample data. OpenMRS Standalone should run fine for smaller installations (fewer than 10,000 patient records), but if you are setting up a larger installation, we recommend using the Enterprise installation. If you are not sure which makes sense, you can start with a standalone installation and migrate your data to the enterprise version later. OpenMRS Enterprise is appropriate for larger installations. If you already have a Java servlet container and a database installed, and you want to set up OpenMRS to use these resources, you should also use OpenMRS Enterprise. OpenMRS Standalone To install the standalone version, download the ZIP file and decompress it, then double-click the openmrs-standalone. jar file to run it. The first time you run this file, it will install OpenMRS and open your browser to the new OpenMRS instance. Do not delete or rename any files or folders after decompressing the ZIP file. These files and folders are required by the standalone installer. Alternatively, from the command line, you can navigate to the decompressed folder and run the following command: java -jar standalone-1. 1. jar On Linux, you can also double-click on the file named run-on-linux. sh. If you are prompted for how to run it, just select run. Alternatively, you can use a command line shell to navigate to the decompressed folder and run the following command: ./run-on-linux. sh Upgrading Standalone To upgrade a copy of OpenMRS Standalone, do the following: Stop the previous version of OpenMRS Standalone and exit the application. Download and extract the most recent version of OpenMRS Standalone. Copy your database directory from the previous version to this new OpenMRS directory. Copy your openmrs-standalone-runtime. properties from the previous version to this new OpenMRS directory. Install OpenMRS Standalone as described above. The new version of OpenMRS will run with your old data. Logging in By default, the initial username and password are as follows: Username: admin Password: Admin123 You must immediately change the admin password after installation for security purposes. To change your password, click My Profile in the upper right of OpenMRS, and choose the Change Login Info tab. Update your password, then click Save Options. You can also change your username, and provide your real name, on this screen. Stopping and Restarting As long as OpenMRS is running, you can return to the application by opening the following URL in your browser. http://localhost:8081/openmrs-standalone/ Before you change certain preferences, such as the port on which MySQL or Tomcat runs, you must stop the application. To stop the application, use the Stop button in the user interface, or choose File gt; Quit. Alternatively, run the JAR file on the command line with a -stop parameter. You can restart the GUI by clicking Start, or double-clicking on the JAR file again. Alternatively, you can run the JAR file with a -start parameter. By default, OpenMRS runs the MySQL database on port 3316, and the Tomcat server on port 8081. To use a different port, stop the application, then change the port number in the openmrs-standalone-runtime. properties file or in the GUI, and restart. To override the port from the command line, run the JAR file with a -tomcatport or -mysqlport parameter. Changing the port number will change the URL used to access the application. To access the application, you can choose File gt; Launch Browser, or run the JAR file with a -browser parameter. OpenMRS Enterprise You must have Apache Tomcat and MySQL installed on your system before installing the enterprise version of OpenMRS. Download the Enterprise WAR package from http://openmrs. org/download/ Navigate to the Tomcat Web Application Manager and enter your Tomcat administrator credentials. http://localhost:8080/manager/html Browse to the location of the openmrs. war package, and deploy it. The initial setup which follows may take some time. At the end of the process, the Web Application Manager will refresh, and /openmrs should be displayed in the list of applications. Tomcat should also start the application (Running = True). Open the OpenMRS web application to complete the initial setup process. http://localhost:8080/openmrs Getting Started with OpenMRS Enterprise The first time you run OpenMRS, the setup wizard will help you configure your installation. Follow the instructions in this wizard to set up your database, and populate it with test data if necessary.

Film Analysis: Metropolis Women

Film Analysis: Metropolis Women Film History The first ever science fiction film, â€Å"Metropolis†, is a German Expressionism film released in 1927 that portrays women through femininity, technology, and sexuality. Science Fiction cinema, see it as a landmark film and a futuristic technological fantasy that mirrors both our fears and our fascination with technology. Even more remarkable is that the film connects the relationship among female sexuality, male-oriented vision, and technology. In this paper, I would like to examine the relationship between women, sexuality, and technology. Post World War I, German Expressionism had a strong influence on cinema. By the end of the eighteenth century filmmakers used cinema as a way to address issues relevant to culture and society by combining the arts and technology, which is seen in the architecture and techniques of film at this time (Deren). The idea of German Expressionism was that cinema was to heighten emotional and psychological states, filmmakers used exaggeration, violence, and distortion such as sharp angles, painted shadows, and twisted landscape to give films disturbing visual characteristics. Metropolis depicts a futuristic city in the year 2026 from the view of the 1920s. The wealthy ruling class lives in luxury in their skyscrapers while the working class is forced to sweat and slave in subhuman conditions under the city. The working class is a slave to the ruling class, and man is a slave to the machine. The film starts with images of massive machinery spewing smoke with their pistons churning in a continuous rhythm. The workers dressed in all black are marching in a very robotic form to the elevators that will take them down to the oppressive machines that run the city. There are then images of a shift siren sounding and very large clocks that only count to ten, which alert the workers of the beginning and the end of work shifts (Ruppert). Here is where the workers are reduced to robots in which their movements are dominated by the mechanical rhythm of the machine. Workers in this system, must adapt themselves to a functional, technological rationality; they must func tion like machines, in lockstep and geometric formation, their individual identities lost. Thus, the hands of Metropolis become, mechanical and replaceable (Rutsky). However, our first impression of the city where the elite live is that of a very modern and impressive urban landscape with the large architecture, planes, cars, and eden like gardens where the power of technology benefits human purpose (Ruppert). The story of Metropolis provides a unique view of the future. Freder is the son of the ruler or head of Metropolis, Jon Frederson who is considered of almost superhuman rationality and efficiency (Rutsky). One day, outside in the eden like gardens, Freder comes across a woman from the working class who has brought the children up to see how their brothers live. He immediately falls in love, and follows her to the depths of the city where he learns of the hard lifestyle the workers lead. It is here where Freder witnesses a violent explosion and he suddenly imagines one of the machines as a demonic beast â€Å"Moloch† to which the workers are sacrificed. Hoping to persuade his father into providing a better life and more promising future to the underground workers, Freder travels to see his father. When his father refuses, he goes and takes over the job of an overworked laborer. Upon completing the shift he learns that Maria is almost like a spiritual leader to the workers as he hears her teaching the workers about the Tower of Babel. At this point, Freder decides he wants to help Maria and he joins the underground community. Freders father finds out and was concerned about the influence Maria may have over the workers so he enlists in the help of an old rival Rotwang, to help keep the working class under control. From Jon Fredersons point of view, Maria has already cuased Freder to alienate from him and question his authority. This represents no only a potential rival to his power, but poses a threat to male domination, should the feminine values of the â€Å"heart† such as nurture, compassion, and feeling (emotions generally considered feminine) ever become dominant (Ruppert). Rotwang, an evil scientist, wants to undermine Marias leadership and create a plan to destroy the machines. He kidnaps Maria and creates a robot which he clones into her and uses it to confuse the workers. The plan works and the robot Maria leads workers to destroy machines, which causes their city to flood that almost drownes the workers children. It is up to Maria and Freder to rescue the children. Eventually the children are saved, which causes the workers to rebel against Maria who they believed caused all these problems. The workers end up burning the robot Maria at the stake. Through this, the workers and his Jon Frederson realize Freder is the connection from the brain to the hands, that Maria had always hoped for. Freder is the heart of the machine. It is evident, by the main context in the film that the images portraying femininity are threatening the male world of technology, domination, and control. â€Å"Control of the real Maria, represents a threat to the world of high technology, and its system of sexual repression; domination of the Robot Maria by Rotwang who orders her to perform certain tasks; control of the workers by the Frederson Master of Metropolis who plans to replace the underground workers with robots; and finally, control of the workers actions through Fredersons sneaky use of the machine, the robot Maria (Huyssen).† Marias threat to male dominance in Metropolis is made apparent in the sequence in which Rotwang and Fredersen observe her speaking to the workers. The two watch as she communicates her version of the legend of the Tower of Babel to the workers, emphasizing the division and destruction between the ruling classes and the workers, a situation that obviously corresponds to the conditions in Metropolis (Ruppert). She predicts eventual reconciliation and social harmony: between the brain that plans and the hands that build, she says, there must be a mediator. It is the heart, that must bring about an understanding between them. With the creation of robot Maria, came the ability for the viewer to clearly see how sexuality can be used to gain power and control. In this particular scene Rotwang presents her at an all male gathering in the upper city. Robot Maria emerges from steam and light to do a sequence of seductive belly dances stripping off more clothes at each glance. She became quite the spectacle and the object of male desire and vision, leaving all the men in â€Å"awe†. Femininity in this sequence, suggests, it is constructed by male vision and that female sexuality comes to life through male desire (Ruppert). By connecting technology and female sexuality, the film incites the viewer with polarities and opposition. â€Å"Viewing the film we are able to see doubled and mirroring patterns. These patterns link oppositions at the same time that they estrange or defamiliarize them. This is apparent in the opposition between the upper and lower worlds, linked and estranged by technology (Telotte). † However, according to Huyssen, the creation of Maria the robot, links technology and women directly. Huyssen argues that the robot Maria in Metropolis is the â€Å"embodiment of early twentieth century male fear of women and machines, both of which were perceived at threats to patriarchal control (Huyssen). In addition, technology was not always linked to sexuality in this way; the two were associated in the early nineteenth century, at the time when machines were beginning to be perceived as threatening. Huyssen also points out, that â€Å"women and machines are linked, equating male fears of powerful technologies with fears of female sexuality (Huyssen).† With the creation of robot Maria as a substitute for the human Maria, comes the division of what the film has implies to viewers to be the principles of femininity compassion, nurture, and empathy (Ruppert). And, while the robot Maria acts on her own, she also encourages aggression and destruction that eventually becomes a behavior which is self-destructing to the workers. However, there was something about robot Maria, that was able to rekindle spirit, repressed hopes, and encourage the workers to destroy the boundaries that limited their potential. Until this part in the film, women are hardly ever seen. It is in this scene, we are seeing women in numbers as they become a crowd of female hostility. In Donna Haraways reading, â€Å"The cyborg (robot Maria) should be celebrated as potentially liberating, even utopian idea- a metaphor for flexible identities, transgressed boundaries, gender obsolescence (Haraway).† In Haraways view, robots represent industrial machinery that excludes the human. However, with the creation of robot Maria comes incorporation of the human and elimination of the character distinctions, which were previously assumed to separate technology from humanity. Neither entirely human nor imitation, it is these boundaries that distinguish robot Maria. It is also Haraways view that â€Å"when the boundary between human and artificial subside, and when gender differences, for example, are no longer a question, women can then be unrestricted from their positions of inequality and equality can become possible (Haraway).† Some critics such as Telotte and Kracauer argue that the film send an anti-technology message. According to Telotte, for example, views the film as a â€Å"destruction of technology, something that makes us forget our social responsibilities (Telotte)†. And Kracauer criticizes the scene that displays the creation of the robot Maria as â€Å"unproductive to the flow of the narrative and dismisses the staging of her erotic dance as spectatorial excess (Kracauer)†. Kracauer goes on to say that the creation of the robot â€Å"is detailed with a technical exactitude that is not at all required to further the action† and he attributes the erotic dance as â€Å"Langs penchant for pompous ornamentation† and discounts the non-narrative value of Metropolis, its reflexivity and status as spectacle (Kracauer)†. On the other hand, Huyssen, sees it as pro- technology. He argues that the films threatening aspects can be eliminated and that the battle between the workers and the city dwellers could be solved by â€Å"technological progress† (Huyssen). As viewers see contradictions, viewers are also in awe of the spectacular developments in technology and see the human costs associated with that development. The severe conditions of the workers makes it more difficult for the viewer to embrace technology while resisting technology is nearly impossible because they are already shown being a part of everyones life. The fact that the film is viewed by critics both as pro-technology, and anti-technology suggests, that technology is not the final determining factor of social life in Metropolis. It is capitalism that turns the workers into machines and women into objects. Metropolis provides us with a view of Weimar culture by showing the viewer social conflicts and differences between labor and capital, feminist liberation, and the risk and the possibilities of technology. In addition, the relationship between technology and the human is made apparent in this film by Maria showing us liberating power of technology that can dissolve boundaries and the male fears of technology and the destruction of social boundaries. â€Å"If patriarchy depends on the kind of values we attribute to sexual difference, then technology, the film suggests, depends on what we do with machines, the cultural uses we make of them (Ruppert).† Works Cited Haraway, DonnaA Cyborg Manifesto: Science, Technology, and Socialist- Feminism in the Late Twentieth Centurey, in Sinians, Cyborgs and Women: The reinvention of Nature. New York: Routledge (1991): 149-181 Rutsky, R.L.the Mediation of Technology and Gender: Metropolis, Nazism, Modernism. New German Critique, No. 60, Special Issue on German Film History. (Autumn, 1993), pp. 3-32 Deren, SecilCinema and film Industry in Weimar Republic, 1918-1933 Telotte, J.P.The Seductive Text of â€Å"Metropolis† Telotte, J.P. Replications: A Robotic History of the Science Fiction Film Huyssen, Andreasâ€Å"The Vamp and the Machine: Technology and Sexuality in Fritz Langs Metropolis, â€Å"New German critique 24-25 (1981-1982): 221-237 Kracauer, Siegried. From Caligari to Hitler: A schological History of the German Film. Princeton, NJ: Princeton UP, 1947 Ruppert, PeterTechnology and the Construction of Gender in Fritz Langs â€Å"Metropolis† Reflection: Application of Leadership Skills in Nursing Reflection: Application of Leadership Skills in Nursing 1. Introduction 1.1 This report looks at my existing leadership skills and how they have developed when implementing a postnatal group within my practice. Through developing this group, I will look at how the team responds to my leadership and how I approach situations. As part of my continuing professional development, I will identify changes needed in my approach to future practice in order to provide a quality working environment and improved development of service provision. This community health care project was chosen because Hall et al (2009) states that governments are increasingly interested in community healthcare programmes because, in partnership with other agencies, they can reduce social exclusion and the inequalities within and between local communities. Support groups can relieve feelings of isolation and loneliness in a study of women with post-natal depression, the support from others meant that mothers gained in self-esteem and felt empowered (Eastwood et al, 1995). 1.2 The Specialist Community Public Health Nurse (SCPHN) must follow performance standards in association with health enhancing activities (Nursing and Midwifery Council, 2004, p12). Part of these standards state that I am responsible for applying leadership skills and managing projects to improve health and well being. Promoting partnership working and leading public health interventions through innovative and visionary approaches is key to my role as a SCPHN. Historically much of health service provision has been service led rather than needs led, designed and developed at the convenience of the providers rather than the patients (Wilkinson Murray 1998). Healthy lives, brighter futures (DOH, 2009a) and Saving Lives: Our Healthier Nation (DoH, 1999) highlight the importance of there being partnership between services, children and parents which must be driven by strong leadership by SCPHNs. These improvements need to be achieved through an agreement between health practitioners and services and parents, children and young people. 2 . Aims 2.1 The aims of this report are to identify different leadership approaches and my own approach and evaluate positives and negatives of these approaches to improve my leadership skills. To explore the SCPHN role as a leader and the opportunities and obstacles that may impinge on effective leadership requirements in public health nursing through leading the development of a postnatal group. All SCPHNs interventions should operate on a partnership and empowerment model of delivery, which ensures acceptability of the service by both professionals and clients. Further aims will be to understand the principles of change management and conflict management, to enable effective resolution and promote a cohesive team environment. 3. Leadership in Practice 3.1 Through my experience as a SCPHN I believe that I hold transformational leadership traits, which include communication, motivation, decision making and conflict resolution. I believe my current skills lie in communication and motivation but areas where development is required are conflict within teams and on an individual basis. Two types of leaders have been identified transactional leaders set goals, give directions and use rewards to reinforce employee behaviours associated with meeting or exceeding established goals. Transformational leaders have the ability to motivate performance beyond expectations through their ability to influence attitudes (Mcguire Kennerly 2006, p.180). I endeavoured to follow Johnsons (2005) research, which suggested that highly effective leaders need both vision as well as a specific plan in order to carry out their plan if goals are to be achieved. I have demonstrated vision by creating this idea for a postnatal group. As a transformational leader I will try to share my vision with my followers, enthusing them with a high level of commitment (ChangingMinds, 2002-2006). In previous professional roles I was a follower and therefore I need to develop leadership skills. It is important as a practitioner to be aware and incorporate the qualities of both leadership styles in practice. 3.2 In my role as a leader I need to use interpersonal skills to influence others to accomplish a specific goal exerting influence by using a flexible approach of personal behaviours which is important in forging links, creating connections amongst organisations in order to promote high levels of performance and quality care (Sullivan Decker, 2009). I have approached a fellow SCPHN within the team and by recognising her individual expertise and praising her knowledge have encouraged her to contribute to the group by leading a session on womens health. As a leader I recognise Raffertys (1993) work by caring for the people I lead and I can see that by encouraging and praising my team I am able to promote high levels of performance, which therefore results in the delivery of high quality care. 3.3 In my leadership experience I have recognised the need to focus on the relationship between the people and the organisation this is described as Action Centred Leadership by Adair (1979) (Appendix 1). Adair highlighted the importance of a leader having the ability to meet three functions these where; to achieve the required task; to maintain the team and to meet the needs of individual team members. I have recognised the complexity of achieving successful leadership which requires the overlapping of these three functions in variable proportions to achieve the desired outcome. I have identified that both my team members and I have individual strengths and weaknesses and therefore task completion requires a multidisciplinary team approach, considering the organisational skill mix and resources available. Team members need to have an understanding of what is expected of them, and an understanding of how their individual contributions relate to the whole project. When developing the idea for the postnatal group we had a team meeting to share ideas and to ensure that everyone was aware of the aims of the project. Consideration of the needs of the team involved my considering training needs, communication systems and team development in order for my multi-professional team to function. Prior to commencement of the postnatal group a multidisciplinary team introduction meeting was held to ensure that every team member was familiar with their colleagues expertise and skills. As a leader it is important to recognise team members have individual skills, needs and problems, and to give praise and status to everyone. Again training and development is essential in order to maintain quality of care delivery as outlined in the benchmarks within the Essence of Care (DoH, 2006). When delegating work to others as a registered practitioner I have a legal responsibility to determine the knowledge and skill level required to perform delegated tasks. Like other public bodies, health service providers are accountable to both the criminal and civil courts to ensure that their activities conform to legal requirements. As a registered practitioner I am also accountable to regulatory and professional bodies in terms of standards of practice and patient care (RCN, 2006). If a focussed and effective group is to develop huge importance should be given to valuing all the skills and contributions of team members. As the team leader on this project I made myself available for one to one support for staff and held regular update sessions to see how their role was developing within the project and give them opportunity to raise concerns or highlight areas of improvement. 3.4 As a leader in Health Care it is my role to promote and develop partnerships between clients and other agencies, to empower and motivate individuals in order to develop services and service provision in communities. In 2006, the Essence of Care (DoH, 2006) outlined the importance of partnership working health promotion is undertaken in partnership with others using a variety of expertise and experiences. In many areas of the health service funding is limited but if individuals within my community can be motivated to take the lead on this project, they may be able to apply for extra funding (such as lottery grants) in order to be able to achieve future aims and targets. 3.5 An important aspect of leadership is having a good understanding of your team and an awareness of team relationships which includes how you view yourself as a leader and how your team view you. Having the ability to reflect on your own leadership style is essential in order to promote flexibility and the ability to change methods to suit different teams and individuals. I look to my manager to provide active displays of recognition, commitment and vision to ensure that my skills and those of other health professionals are utilised to improve the health and well being of communities, families and individuals (McMurray Cheater, 2004). I realise that vision is a key characteristic of effective leadership; it reflects the ability to create and articulate a realistic, credible, attractive picture of the future for individuals and organisations that grows out of and improves upon the present (Robbins, 2000). I agree with Barr Dowding (2010) who stated that you do not need to be a man ager to be a leader but you do need to be a good leader to be an effective manager. 4. Leadership styles applied to the complexity of delivery of care. 4.1I have encountered many different leadership styles in my work in the Health Care sector. Many theorists have discussed leadership styles; Lewin et al (1939) identified three main leadership styles. Laissez-faire can present as disorganised, team members not aware of what is required from them with feelings of panic and lack of time. I have worked with a Laissez-faire leader which led to stressful situations where the leader would shout and not warn team members of future roles and responsibilities. This led to a very disjointed team and high levels of absence with stress related conditions. Directive/Autocratic this mode of working generally focuses on task specific allocation which great emphasis on precision delivered in a military style. I see my own leadership style as being non confrontational and therefore an autocratic leadership technique is not my preferred choice. I aim to develop my leadership style to become a participatory leader with a quiet contributory presence, encourage a happy team spirit where each member of the group supports and values each other, and there is a sense of belonging. I aim to deliver quality patient care with effective monitoring of standards, by allocating task driven duties, which give my team feelings of achievement. To progress and develop the skills required to achieve this form of leadership style I need to be aware that different teams require flexible approaches and this style may not suit all. I will need to seek continuing professional development and take advantage of available training throughout my career to develop my leadership skills. I can continue to grow as a leader by maintaining evidenced based practice and keeping abreast of key research into healthcare leadership. I recognise that there are disadvantages to this participative style of leadership it can be time consuming when decisions need to be made quickly which can prove costly in terms of resources. 4.2 As a SCPHN I must be an effective leader, which means possessing the ability to communicate with others in such a way that they are influenced and motivated to perform actions that achieve desired outcomes (Daft, 2005). As a leader we must focus on our own strengths and use a reflective approach to access the willingness of each individual to take on board change (Barr Dowding, 2010). It is my aim to stimulate awareness of health needs and lead on such initiatives by delegating aspects of practice to other agencies and facilitating the work of relevant team members (NMC, 2004). This collaboration presents significant challenges to the success of the proposed intervention and requires me to make important professional considerations about the proper implementation of a change strategy. Effective leadership is required to ensure that various practitioners communicate with one another and provide a holistic, coordinated service tailored to local needs (DoH, 2009c). Communicating an understanding and awareness of workload, resource and time pressures for staff is important as a leader in order to delegate work appropriately to team members and to avoid further stress and aid motivational leadership. 4.3 More flexibility in service delivery has been highlighted in the NHS Plan (DoH, 2000) confirming the drive to blur professional boundaries. The resulting flexibility of approach in relation to who does what, at what time and in what setting, has changed the skill mix of teams. As a result of new flexible service delivery plans, every individual needs good leadership to be fully aware of their roles and responsibilities to avoid confusion or potential conflict. To implement the postnatal group I need to introduce a careful change management program to ensure complete engagement of the whole team. I can use the structure of a framework to shape the change process. Lewin (1951) model of planned change breaks the change process down into three stages. These stages are: Unfreezing the existing organisational equilibrium, Moving to a new position, Refreezing a new equilibrium position. The unfreezing stage is commonly greeted with guilt and anxiety and it is important that as a lead er I provide psychological safety that helps these anxious individuals to convert their anxiety into motivation to change. This did cause friction and resistance with some team members who were unwilling to adapt to their new roles therefore a detailed rationale for changes was clearly explained through discussion groups. Demonstrating my leadership skills through effective communication was of paramount importance in order to try to avoid hostility towards any perceived threat (although not actual). The moving stage needs a new role model (within the partner organisations) to champion the proposed change and help others to follow and establish the new service. This may involve convincing senior management for the need for change and responding to any suggestions for modifications. Time may need to be negotiated in order to share information and update staff on the necessity for communication between professionals perhaps through workshops or focus groups. The refreezing stage invol ves integrating the new initiative into the organisation and consolidating significant relationships. The successful implementation of this change process is crucial to the success of the initiative; this can be aided by audit of results. Evaluation of my role is vital to validate the implementation and also to help diminish the risks against conflict as professionals can feel they own a project and have the ability to make changes and modifications. 4.5 By implementing a skill mix I have ensured staff ownership from the outset, utilising a bottom up approach. Barr Dowding (2010) state that the bottom up approach is encouraged within the humanistic technique, whereby the subordinates (followers) are encouraged to share ideas with their leaders and will be involved with the decision making process. As the leader I used a full and clearly defined evidence of staff members and their relevant skill mix in order to utilise them effectively. It is vital to utilise research and evidence of best practice in relation to postnatal groups in other areas of the UK. The current economic climate challenges our leadership skills and means that all practitioners need to scrutinize their practice to organise their work and be as innovative and productive as possible within the constraints of health service budgets (DoH, CPHVA, Unite, NHS, 2009b). 5. Leadership benefits to the quality of client care. 5.1 My role as a leader is to promote and implement concepts such as joint working and partnership with the community, addressing equity and inequality issues, collective action and an empowering agenda with a new way of thinking and methods to use in order to work dynamically (Cowley, 2008). These key concepts highlight the importance of this postnatal group being effectively led and supported by multi-agency organisations and community partnerships. As a registered practitioner and leader it is my responsibility to ensure that there is a supervision system in place within an organisation to protect the patient/client and maintain the highest possible standards of care. On-going supervision is used to assess team members abilities to perform delegated tasks and capability to take on additional roles and responsibilities. Supervision will be offered indirectly or directly at set points in time and team members will be given weekly opportunities to discuss any issues, concerns or worr ies they may have. 5.3 As the leader of this project it is important to be aware of the five areas of clinical governance identified by Crinson, 1999 clinical audit, clinical effectiveness, clinical risk management, quality assurance and staff development. It is important that within the leadership role I improve services based on complaints, evaluation and feedback by both professionals and clients, while accepting criticisms of my leadership skills. Any service must involve professional groups in multi professional audit. Proactively identifying clinical risks to patients/staff should make for a sound provision and aid myself as a health professional to be an effective leader. I aim to monitor my ability to measure the capacity and capability to deliver services by ensuring that there is effective clinical leadership as stated by the National Audit Office, 2007. 5.4 As a leader I believe setting high standards of quality care for clients is a key responsibility. This can be done by identifying key benchmarks set by the NMC (2004) where it is stated that the public have the right to expect that health care professionals will practice at a high standard. The use of benchmarks can assist in identifying the need for change. Within the Norfolk PCT I believe the value of the Nursery Nurse is recognised by SCPHNs with particular relevance to their skills being utilised. Using this as a benchmark it may therefore be suggested that integrating a Nursery Nurse into the postnatal group would compliment my role as a SCPHN in addressing the needs of the client in the most effective manner. Effective delivery of information at the postnatal group is dependent on the capacity of the workforce to implement it and having the appropriate resources to support the work force. This capacity relates to having sufficient staff in place, who have the requisite know ledge, skills and confidence to undertake assessments (DoH, DFEE Home Office, 2000c). The team that I am responsible and accountable for leading is multi-skilled and able to share relevant information in order to offer help and support to each other. 5.5 To be an effective leader I believe it is an essential requirement to undertake evaluation and analysis of any intervention on a regular basis to give the opportunity to implement change, which is supported by Summerbell et al (2005). They highlight that stakeholders (families, school environments, and others) be included in the decision making and I believe this allows for a broad range of ideas to be shared to provide quality care and services that are effective and appropriate for the target client group. Evaluation is key to quality assurance and an essential part of the leadership role is to ensure that followers are actively involved in the quality control process (Marquis Huston, 2009). 5.6 As a leader by utilising this service I am able to effectively share other agency resources and the skills of professionals with similar aims and objectives. The Department of Health (2000) promotes the collaboration of services and the ability to pool budgets and resources in order for services to be maintained and obtain sustainability. I believe that shared ownership of a strategy encourages partner agencies to incorporate targets into their individual plans and to work together to provide appropriate support for children and families this is supported by Hanson, 2010. The key to successful collaborative working and partnerships is to reach a common understanding of the priorities of the community and how to best tackle them (Mitcheson, 2008). Concepts such as joint working and partnership with the community, addressing equity and inequality issues, collective action and an empowering agenda all provide me as a SCPHN with new ways of thinking and methods to use in order to wo rk dynamically (Cowley, 2008). Once the group is more established, their own personal development aims will enable some of the clients to take a more prominent role in the leadership and development of the group as peer supporters. 5.7 Within the team I believe that the consequences of poor leadership to client care could be that staff members becoming unsettled and unhappy in their position and they may transfer these feeling towards the clients resulting in a lack of motivation on both sides. I feel that if staff are not behind their leader then this will reflect into the group through misinterpretation of the service Coe et al (2007) and Smith and Roberts (2009) found that barriers to attending groups include misinformation about the organisation. This evidence highlights the importance of my supportive leadership of health professionals to be clear, consistent and supportive in the information they are giving. 6. Dynamic and flexible approaches to leadership issues. 6.1 I have found through experience that awareness of conflict management is a key area of responsibility for an effective leader. To date I have found that in health there are a huge variety of professionals all with different knowledge and backgrounds and interacting with each other giving considerable potential for conflict. Conflict can arise through the competition of different groups vying scarce resources. An individuals personal objectives may also be a cause for potential conflict. As a leader it is vital that I do not ignore any potential conflict situations and if conflicts do arise, I will plan solutions before patient care is compromised. I intend as a leader to promote a positive working environment through my leadership skills, the Royal College of Nursing (RCN, 2005) state that many professionals experience both positive and negative working environments and recommend a useful tool to explore relationships on an individual and team basis. I aim for my team members to view me as a leader who is able to collaborate and involve relevant parties to solve a situation rather than one who avoids conflict. Conflict can result in poor productivity (Barr Dowding, 2010) by being a dynamic and flexible leader who is able to resolve conflict effectively I can ensure a continuing high quality of patient care. 6.2 If I had conflict within a team I am leading, I would use a tool created by Tuckman (1965) on stages of group development. The four stages of group development Forming, Storming, Norming and Performing can be used to break down a difficult situation into manageable elements. During the forming stage of team development and development of the group it was my aim to ensure that I explained all tasks and objectives in a clear manner and to emphasise and reassure team members that I was happy to listen to ideas but decisions would be made so that everyone had a good understanding of what they were required to do. To team then moved into the storming stage of development where the group were happy to discuss ideas but showed respect if there was disagreement and communication skills to come to amicable decisions. The next stage is the Norming stage were the group began to support each other in their roles. This stage can sometimes develop slowly currently the team has not reached t he consistent performing stage as partners and team members continue to develop and learn how to work effectively together. By maintaining and developing the group further I hope to achieve consistently high standards of performance within the group. This will require effective communication, shared labour, greater cooperation, lower absenteeism and increased resistance to frustrations. If I continue to perform as a leader to a high standard I believe I can achieve the delivery of high quality care and a motivated team. 6.3 In order to maintain professional development and practice based on evidenced-based research I believe health professionals need to access relevant training, and share knowledge and skills within the team environment. Reflection is essential in order to look back at achievements. Consideration of what has been successful and what would be done differently in future practice to make a service as beneficial and effective as possible for children and families is essential. I aim to promote partnership working as I feel it is key to the implementation of this intervention in order to sustain it and continue future development within the area. 6.4 At the end of the project I aim to collect data in order to evaluate and analyse the cost-effectiveness of the intervention and identify opportunities for cost savings, which is part of my professional responsibility identified by NICE, 2007. I aim to involve service users and engage them in a simple customer feedback questionnaire to establish how well the initiative meets their needs. 7. Conclusion 7.1 I feel that further and continuing research is required on what clients require within a service. It is my responsibility as a SCPHN and a leader of a team to maintain evidenced based practice and respond to the needs of professionals and clients. I aim to continue developing the key skills of reflecting upon experiences and improving practice at the beginning, during and after action, to ensure improvement of services. From the experiences and reflection I have undertaken I have identified my leadership style and conclude that I will try to respond to individuals within the context of their understanding and community. Consideration of ideas generated by members of the team and client group are key to effective leadership. 7.2 I endeavour to share and input values such as honesty, respect, integrity and emotional strength as I believe they are essential for working with team members and clients. Promotion of my values and constructive criticism need to be demonstrated within any team. Adaptability and flexibility of leadership styles must also be developed and used. I aim to continue and develop my participatory leadership approach with both colleagues and clients. This will enable me to evaluate, question and confirm all of my actions within my role as a SCPHN. 8. Recommendations 8.1 As a SCPHN I should lead change and encourage change in a flexible and appropriate manner to aid the development of healthcare services. 8.2 I acknowledge that I need to develop my skills in applying quality care frameworks in practice to improve my quality assurance. 8.3 I recognise that my conflict management skills should be developed through experience and used effectively to promote good leadership. 9. Appendix Appendix 1 Adair, 1997 interaction of needs within the group 11. References Adair, J (1979) Action Centred Leadership. Aldershot: Gower Press. Barr, J Dowding, L (2010) Leadership in Health Care. London: Sage. Changing Minds (2002-2006) Transformational Leadership. (Online) Available at: http://www.changingminds.org/disciplines/leadershipstyles.htm (Accessed 24th June, 2010). Coe, C. Gibson, A. Spencer, N. Struttaford, M (2007) Sure Start: voices of the hard-to-reach. Child, care, health and development. 34, 4, 447-453. Cowley, S (2008) Community Public Health in Policy and Practice. 2nd Edition. London: Balliere Tindall. Crinson, I (1999) Clinical governance: the new NHS, new responsibilities. British Journal of Nursing. 8 (7): 449-453. Daft, R (2005) The Leadership experience. 3rd Edition. Canada: Thomson South-Western. Department for Education and Employment, department of Health Home Office (2000c) Framework for the Assessment of Children in Need and their Families. London: HMSO. Department of Health (2000) The NHS Plan. London: HMSO. Department of Health, CPHVA, Unite NHS (2009b) Getting it right for children and families. Maximising the contribution of the health visiting team. Ambition, Action, Achievement. London: The Stationery Office. Department of Health (2009c) Healthy Child Programme Pregnancy and the first five years of life. London: The Stationery Office. Department of Health (2009a) Healthy lives, brighter futures The strategy for children and young peoples health. (Online) Available at: http://www.dh.gov.uk/publications (Accessed 5th June, 2010). Department of Health (2006) Our Health, Our Care, Our Say. London: HMSO. Department of Health (1999) Saving Lives: Our Healthier Nation. London: HM Stationery Office. Eastwood, P. Horrocks, E Jones, K (1995) Promoting peer group support with post-natally depressed women. Health Visitor, 68 (4): 148-150. Hall, D, Williams, J, Elliman, D (2009) The Child Surveillance Handbook. 3rd Edition. Oxford: Radcliffe Publishing. Hanson, S (2010) Empowering change. Community Practitioner. 83, 36-37. Johnson, S (2005) Characteristics of effective health care managers. Health Care manager 24(2), 124-128). Lewin K (1951) Field Theory in Social Science. New York: Harper and Row. Lewin, K, Lippitt, R White R (1939) Patterns of aggressive behaviour in experimentally created social climates. Journal of Social Psychology 10: 271-299. Marquis, B Huston, C (2009) Leadership Roles and Management Functions in Nursing Theory and Application. 6th Edition. London: Lippincott, Williams Wilkins. McGuire, E Kennerly, A (2006) Nurse managers as transformational and transactional leaders. Nursing Economics 24(4), 179-186. Mitcheson, J (2008) Expanding Nursing Health Care Practice Public Health Approaches to Practice. Cheltenham: Nelson Thornes. National Audit Office (2007) Improving Quality and Safety Progress in Implementing Clinical Governance: Lessons for the Primary Care Trusts. London: NAO. National Institute for Clinical Excellence (NICE) (2007) Behaviour Change. London: Department of Health. Nursing and Midwifery Council (2004) Standards of proficiency for Specialist Community Public Health Nurses. Norwich: The Stationery Office. Rafferty, A (1993) Leading questions: a discussion paper on the issues of nurse leadership. Kings Fund Centre. Robbins, s (2000) Organisational Behaviour. 9th Edition. New York: Prentice Hall. Royal College of Nursing (RCN) (2005) Working with Care: Improving Working Relationships in Healthcare. London: RCN. Royal College of Nursing (RCN) (2006) Supervision, accountability and delegation of activities to support workers A guide for registered practitioners and support workers. London: RCN. Smith, D Roberts, R (2009) Young parents perception of barriers to antenatal and postnatal care. British Journal of Midwifery, 17, 10. Sullivan, E Decker, P (2009) Effective Leadership and Management in Nursing. 7th Edition. London: Pearson Education. Summerbell, C, Waters, E, Edmunds, L (2005) Interventions for preventing obesity in children. The Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews. Tuckman, B (1965) Development sequence in small groups. Psychological Bulletin 63: 384-99. Wilkinson, J and Murray, S (1998) Assessment in Primary Care: Practical Issues and Possible Approaches. British Medical Journal 316, 1524-8.< Community Development Plan: Hung Hom Community Development Plan: Hung Hom A Project Intervention Plan Hung Hom Li Ka Tik The following paper is going to suggest an intervention plan on the Hung Hom community of Hong Kong’s Kowloon District. It briefly introduces the situation of Hung Hom and identifies the issues about inequality between rich and poor residents. Also, an intervention strategies and empowerment plans are propose based on the social action approach. The roles of CD worker in those plan and the foreseen challenges are mentioned in the last part. About Hung Hom Hung Hom is belonged to Kowloon City Districtand bordered by Hung Hom Bay in the east, No. 12 Hill, Hok Yuen and the valley Lo Lung Hang in the north, Kings Park in the west,Victoria Harbour in the south. It is a well-resourced community with over 17 social service agencies (Social Welfare Department), 28 educational facilities, 52 health clinics (www.lifein.hk), communal facilities, recreational facilities and business activities. The location of the community is near the cross harbor tunnel and is well connected by minibuses, buses and MTR, including the link from Shatin to Central which will be constructed soon. Identifying Key Social Problems in Hung Hom The problem of inequality between upper/middle class and grassroots is one of obvious social problem in Hung Hom. According to Rawls (1971), social and economic inequalities are to be arranged so that they are attached to offices and positions open to all under conditions of fair equality of opportunity. Moreover, for the second principle of justice, all social goods including opportunity, income, wealth and the bases of self-respect should be distributed equally unless an unequal distribution of any or all of thesegoods is to the advantages of the lease favored. Marshall (1963) indicated that equality not only mean the equality of income, but it also is a general enrichment of the concrete substance of civilized life, a general reduction of insecurity and risk as well as an equalization between the more and less fortunate at all levels so the equality of status is more important. Hung Hom includes both of public estates and wealthier neighborhoods, which imply there is a large poverty gap. The 2011 Population Census Statistics for Hung Hom indicated the level of income inequality or socioeconomic gap between the upper class and the middle and lower classes which was probably a potential source of inequality.Despite its wide range of resources in Hung Hom, the resources are unevenly distributed in various parts of estates. Therefore, there is a potential inequality between those without and with access to the enough resources and the most obvious examples arethe health clinics and the kindergartens which concentrated in the wealthier neighborhoods such as Whampoa estate. Moreover, the majority of them is privately operated and targets the middle and upper class residents. Eventually, lower income residents in KaWai and Hung Hom estate need to seek the affordable services in other nearby districts because those services charge very high fees which are beyond th e means of them. The equality of opportunity is also referring to ‘social mobility’. If there is an oppression of the education resources from the higher income residents, it is hard for the children from a grassroots family to elevate to a higher social status. Therefore, an intervention planshould be created for victims of inequality in Hung Hom, the residents with lower income, to fight for reasonable resources distribution. Rationales and objectives of using social action According to Rothman (1984), there are there models of community practice and social action is one of the intervention approaches. It is the practice of taking action and usually as part of an organized group or community. The objective is to shift the power relationships and resources, in order to create positive change and generally in the direction of greater equity of economic and social justice.Social action relies on forcing the government to change aiming at benefiting the poor, such as the lower income residents in Hung Hom, and disadvantaged the oppressed.Social action gets people moving and makes them feel strong that they less submit meekly those who oppressed them. It gives them responsibility for their own lives and actions as well as their leadership potential so it leads a long-term positive social change. Specific intervention strategies and empowerment plans In order to have an effective and impactful intervention, a confrontational organizing approach is used that a campaign is going to be organized for the social action(). The vision of the campaign is that everyone in Hung Hom can enjoy an equality community, and the goal is creating an appropriate distribution of resources, especially on the educational and medical resources. The objective is to empower the grassroots in Hung Hom to fight for resources for themselves; to make a dramatic statement that will focus public attention on the situation of them; to request the government taking action on the issue of inequality in Hung Hom. Moreover, a slogan of the campaign is â€Å"Growing in Hung Hom, studying in Hung Hom!! Living in Hung Hom, Medical consultation in Hung Hom†. Empowerment helps the populations that have traditionally been powerless or haven’t understood their potential to exercise their power. For example, grassroots residents in Hung Hom did not aware that they are oppressed to accept the limited medical and education resources and just thought that they are not rich enough to enjoy services so they should go to other nearby districts. In fact, they have the right to request the government to provide an enough public resources for them. Thus, the community education is very important, especially the Liberating education which is the most suitable method for social action, including a process of conscientization, a development of a critical thinking and an awareness of the hidden assumption of the policy. Moreover, empowerment motivates people to take other kinds of positive action, such as voicing out their collective opinions on other unequal resources allocation in their community. Therefore, at the beginning of the campaign, the focus is to gather grassroots residents in Hung Hom and promote the right which they originally have and aware them they have the choices. For instance, they and their children can enjoy affordable public medical and educational services in their own community. The second step is to encourage them to attend, as a group, a public meeting at which an issue of interest to their community is being discussed, in order to let them understand the policy related to their needs more, so that they can think more and propose the idea to the policy marker. A well communication channel and platform is very important to express the needs and requests. Thus, once they have built in the concept, communications, such as letters, phone calls, email, etc, with policy makers and others in authority (such as the Chief Executive, Secretary of Education) are organized. It is not enough to affect the policy marker if the voice is limited in the grassroots res idents in Hung Hom. Therefore, encouraging media reporting is the next step, which helps to find a support from the public for this social action, by persuading the media to cover events or to publish stories that highlight particular issues or embarrass politicians and others in power who refuse accept the reasonable suggestion advised by the grassroots residents in Hung Hom. In order to make a larger impact on public’s mind for the issues, a street theater will be held at the last part of the campaign, which is meant to ridicule the opposition and to convey profound message in a way that is easily understood and entertaining. Finally, if the social action gains an initial success, there will be aevaluation section including the effective of the empowerment, the assessment of the modified resources allocation and the situation of inequality in Hung Hom as well as the coming planning on the prospect of equality community in Hung Hom. Roles of CD worker in those intervention strategies As a CD worker, there are four roles including enhancing the social interactions and functions of individual and their groups and communities; educating public on economic and social injustice that may hinder community functioning; initiating an advocacy for policy changes in response to needs identified by the community and the society and help them to articulate their common concerns and needs to the public, the government; and formulating and implement social policies, services, and programs that support the development of human capacities. Foreseen challenges and difficulties The redistribution of resources in Hung Hom is obviously beneficial to the grassroots residents. On the contrary, the interest of residents with higher income is affected, so they will oppose the policy proposed by grassroot. Moreover, Hong Kong is a free-market society with a lower tax system that government is unwilling to spend too much money on education and medical services in Hung Hom avoiding the affecting of free-market system. In conclusion, there are lot of difficulties, created by upper class and government, on reaching an equality community. Therefore, based on confrontational organizing approach, the campaign with social action is the most suitable method and it help to empower the grassroots resident in Hung Hom and make an advocacy to ask for resources for them. References Census and Statistics Department Hong Kong. 2011 Population Census Fact Sheet for Kowloon City District Council Hung Hom (G14-G20). Accessed online from http://www.census2011.gov.hk/en/district-profiles/ca/kowloon-city/g19.html on 24 Feb 2014. Chui E., Ho L., Law C.K., Lee K.M., Lee V. Wong Y.C.. (2010) Report of The Study of The Future Directions of Providing Social Work Services within the New Urban Renewal Strategy to be Formulated Cox, F. M., Erlich, J. L., Rothman, J., Tropman, J. E. (Eds). (1987). Strategies of community organisation. (4th ed). ITASCA, IL: PEACOCK Publishing, Inc. Marshall, T. H. (1963) ‘Citizenship and social class’, in T. H. Marshall (ed.), Sociology at the Crossroads (London: Heinemann), pp. 67–127. Rawls, J. (1971). A Theory of Justice. Cambridge, MA: The Belknap Press of Harvard University Press. Websites http://www.swd.gov.hk/en/index/ www.lifein.hk

The Dramatic Narratives used in John Stienbecks Novels :: Free Essay Writer

The Dramatic Narratives used in John Stienbecks Novels In John Steinbeck’s novels, Cannery Row, Of Mice and Men, and The Red Pony, Steinbeck used dramatic narratives to express his views of the world. The characters behavior in these novels was used to keep the reader interested. Steinbeck seemed to use a beautiful valley that always had disaster hanging over it as his setting. In all three of these novels John Steinbeck used great dramatic narratives. These narratives were used to help explain all of the problems, situations and events surrounding Lennie in Of Mice and Men. They were also used in The Red Pony to describe Jodi’s first pony and all of its problems. Steinbeck was able to use short and direct statements that helped the reader understand what was happening in the book. In Cannery Row John Steinbeck used this narrative to describe the excitement over Doc’s surprise birthday party â€Å"Mr. Malloy on his hands and knees, peered out of the boiler door to see if anyone had gone to the party yet. In the Palace the boys set restlessly watching the black hands of the clock† Many critics didn’t approve of Steinbeck’s writing style. Some even attacked him for how he treated his characters. On the other hand, most of the critics commended Steinbeck on his writing style and his use of narratives. If it wasn’t for Steinbeck’s creative dramatic narrative in the last two chapter of Cannery Row, the other critics would be right about his treatment of his characters. The Life of John Steinbeck by Harry Thorton Moore, stated this about Steinbeck’s treatment of his characters. â€Å"Steinbeck has sometimes been condemned for treating Men as if they were no different from other animals; butExactly what he attempting to do in the last two chapters of Cannery Row is to distinguish men from the other animals – or at least to indicate that men have capabilities available to no other animals, if they are willing to avail themselves of them.† Character behavior was a factor in most of Steinbeck’s novels. In The Red Pony, Jodi’s desire for a pony and love for it kept the reader reading. In Cannery Row Mack and the boy’s inability to fit in was a factor of excitement in the story. If it weren’t for the outrageous behavior of George and Lennie in Steinbeck’s Of Mice and Men, the novel would have never become the exciting story that it is.

The Ghost of Christmas Present :: Essays Papers

The Ghost of Christmas Present Christmas has consumed itself. At its conception, it was a fine idea, and I imagine that at one point its execution worked very much as it was intended to. These days, however, its meaning has been perverted; its true purpose ignored and replaced with a purpose imagined by those who merely go through the motions, without actually knowing why they do so. Christmas was originally supposed to be a celebration of the birthday of Jesus Christ. Modern historians suggest that Christ was actually born sometime in April, but that is hardly the point; the point is that a day on which to celebrate his birth and life was needed, and so one was chosen. During the season surrounding this holiday -- especially since it coincided with that of other, similar holidays -- it was thought right to honor Jesus by acting as he did, i.e., in a kind, generous, and forgiving manner. Out of this sprung the custom of giving gifts to loved ones on this holiday. However, as may be expected from our modern society, the custom of giving gifts quickly turned into the practice of exchanging them. If one gives gifts to loved ones at Christmas, the reasoning goes, then those who do not receive gifts from a person are obviously not loved by him/her. So each individual now is required to give a gift to all of his/her friends, or risk communicating to them that s/he no longer loves them -- or perhaps never did! Also, there arises another problem when someone gets a gift from a person to whom they did not give one. The logic here is that the one who gave the gift obviously has a greater love for or places a greater value on the friendship than the one who did not. A decidedly awkward situation arises from this, one can imagine. Gift-giving nowadays is no longer an act of kindness, but rather a political measure, taken to ensure one’s status with one’s acquaintances. While the general feeling of "goodwill towards men" still pervades the season, albeit filtered through television and municipal decorating projects, there is a great tension that precedes the actual Christmas holiday itself. I remember Christmases of my youth as enjoyable times, to be sure, but also as times when it was best to stay clear of my mother, who was inevitably in