Midsummer Nights Dreams Essays - A Midsummer Nights Dream, Hermia

Midsummer Nights Dreams A Midsummer Night's Dream was written in 16th century England. In 1595, life was as you can imagine very different. During this period Queen Elizabeth I was at the throne. England was a Christian country and people greatly honoured the queen. Shakespeare was Elizabeth I's poet laureate, so his work was highly valued across England. Women were treated as second-class citizens. In lower class families, girls were not usually educated. They were expected to do domestic jobs and look after children. In the upper class homes things were different. Girls were educated but they did not have free opinion. Women did not have any rights; they had no choice in what they did with their lives or whom they married. The father of the girl would choose a suitor for her (usually being the wealthiest man available) and she was expected to marry him. In theatre, men would play the part of women. The Elizabethans strongly believed in the supernatural. Few aspects of sixteenth century life were not affected by the belief of witchcraft. Fairies and sorcerers as being real. Magic was not as we see it today; things that young children believe, but as compelling and real. Their beliefs in god were very much related to those of witches and demons. If you had sinned, people believed you had the devil in you. In a Midsummer Night's Dream, different plots are linked to form a comical play based around magic and love. The play is set in an enchanting forest amongst the cowslips; hidden deep in the wood is the fairy kingdom. I personally think that Shakespeare was very clever in how he devised ?A Midsummer Night's Dream,' as he has three very good elements of entertainment; love, magic and comedy represented with different stories and characters. The Lovers represent the effects and powers of love. Hermia is prepared to give her life up for the man she loves. In a way, Shakespeare has adopted a modern view of things, as Hermia's character is not one of a ?typical' Elizabethan woman. She is a fiery young lady, determined to be with the man she loves. Lysander and Hermia have a good, strong relationship. Helena dotes upon Demetrius, but her ?love' is not real love, like Hermia's, it is more of an infatuated love. This contrast of being in real love and being blinded by love, very much makes you think and if you were in a relationship you would think twice about your feelings after watching the play. The Workmen are all very simple characters, named according to their personality. They have been implanted in the play to add humour and some lighthearted entertainment from the more serious issues within the play. Bottom, in particular, is used to cause fun and drama. The fairies make the play magical and exciting; Puck is a mischievous, cunning young fairy that likes to play tricks on mortals. Some of his speeches contain repetition for example: 396 Puck: ?Up and down, up and down, I will lead them up and down. I am fear'd in field and town; Goblin, lead them up and down...' Repetition has made this speech into a song/chant; this makes the speech ?magical' and ?fun'. The use of repletion and rhyme by Puck at the end of this scene is used to create a poetic country atmosphere. In which the natural world is described well. The fairy scenes are very entertaining. The language is in the way, Titania's ironical words to bottom. 144 Titania: ?Thou art as wise as thou art beautiful.' It is ironic that Titania is saying this, because Bottom is clearly nothing close to beautiful. There is sense of suspense present in Act 3, Scene 1. Titania is asleep on the stage, the person she first sets her eyes upon when she awakens will be the one she falls in love with. On the stage are the workmen. This suspense makes the play exciting. The lovers are very much more involved in the dramatic side of the production, with their arguments, Shakespeare uses alliteration to create a dreamy, romantic, magical atmosphere. For instance: 435 Hermia: ?And sleep, that sometimes shuts up sorrow's eye, Steal me awhile from mine own company' The use of alliteration emphasises what Hermia is talking about, making her words more memorable. The plot is very clever, although it relies on coincidence. The fairies' costumes would have been spectacular and dazzling. The workmen would be dressed in rags and the lovers and court in very smart, rich garments. The

Ethics in Action

Ethics in Action Ethics plays an important role in our decision-making process, be it individually or collectively in an organizational context. Ethics deals with knowing what is wrong and what is right. Thus, it involves analyzing ethical decisions, beliefs, and actors inline with different activities. Recognizing the risks of poor decision-making can prevent ethical issues that arise in our daily life or career.Advertising We will write a custom essay sample on Ethics in Action specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More In this light, this paper focuses on the attributes of poor decision making, how to resist unethical acts, and the essential components of ethical leadership. Decision-making entails reducing uncertainty about many alternatives, which allows the decision maker to make the best choice. However, several people are not good in decision-making as they believe, and the few who set goals do not achieve them. According to Mallor et al (2010), the thr ee common characteristics of poor decision-making are failing to remember objectives, overconfidence, and complexity of issues. It is easy for people to set goals and not achieve anything. The reason is that they set them, but do not do anything to make sure that their activities do not deviate from the set goals. After setting the goals, managers fail to remember them on daily basis and thus, they make no progress. Similarly, overconfidence causes people to overvalue their knowledge and underestimate the risks in decision-making. Many decision makers think that if they are able to accomplish their goals before without much effort, then they are too confident that they will achieve them without working hard or considering other alternatives. Complexity of issues is another cause of poor decision-making. As the issues become more complex, it is not easy to come up with meaningful and best solutions. There is a possibility of ignoring some important issues and considering the simple a nd less important ones.Advertising Looking for essay on business economics? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More Resisting suggestions to act unethically is helpful in avoiding the causes of poor decision-making. First, finding mentors and peer support group is essential in resisting unethical acts. Individuals in these groups will be able to share information that relates to their work, and discuss on many matters such as the code of ethics. Second, the team members can forward their concern to the authority about any unethical matters. Individuals should work with the firm to stop unethical behavior where they report such matters to the top management. Lastly, recognition of unethical requests and people is important in this sense. When team members are taught on how to deal with unethical issues in their daily activities, they will be able to tell between both ethical and unethical issues (Mallor et al., 2010). In thi s regard, there are many ways to act ethically as a leader in an organization. First, the leader should put the organizations interest first. This means that the leader should listen to the other team members and more so give them more power in decision making. In other words, he should leave his ego and his self-interest behind and do what is best for the firm. A good leader should implement ways in which those who are under him can question his authority just in case he acts unethically. Additionally, participative decision-making is the best rather than autocratic leadership because the other group members will be able to give more information and thus, it is easy to make decisions. The group members will have a feel of ownership in making decisions and more so in areas that affect them and thus, become more productive. Gaylord et al (2009) suggests that a leader must also strive to become interpersonally competent. He should learn to understand more on body language and facial e xpressions, which could have many meanings. Communication and good listening skills are also important because the leader can understand the team members better. However, before trying to understand others, he should first have self-understanding. In conclusion, ethical consideration takes an important part in decision-making. Understanding and avoiding the major characteristics of poor decision-making, including failing to remember goals, overconfidence, and complexity of issues provides an avenue for solving ethical problems.Advertising We will write a custom essay sample on Ethics in Action specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More As a leader, it is therefore important to find help from support groups, work with organization, and recognize suspicious activities in order to resist unethical acts. Finally, a good leader must first consider organization’s interest, apply participative decision-making, and practice interpersonal compet ency to lead ethically. References Gaylord, A., Jentsz, Miller, R. L., Rank B. C. (2009). Business Law: Text and Summarized Cases: Legal, Ethical, Global and E-Commerce Environment. Cengage Learning. New York. Mallor, J.P., Barnes, A.J., Bowers, T., Langvardt, A.W. (2010). Business Law: The Ethical, Global, And Ecommerce Environment (14th ed.). New York: Irwin/McGraw Hill.

Communication Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words - 18

Communication - Essay Example Success in collaboration is dependent on various elements such as shared goals, member interdependence, and input of all members and shared decision making (Stallworth, 1998 in Frey L., 2004). Good communication skills such as good listening skills, appreciating other team member contribution, polite interruption made collaboration in the editorial team possible and attractive cover page. To have an effective collaboration in group dynamics, various learning styles emerge such as; auditory learning, kinesthetic and visual learning and intelligence (emotional intelligence). The different learning styles and intelligence constitute an important tool in improving individual learning and collaboration. This helps group members develop social, cognitive and reasoning skills such as critical thinking and communicating ideas. Group collaboration creates a sense belonging for all stakeholders. Benchmarks are within timelines to keep every collaborative effort on track. An effective communication network must exist for collaborative

Feminist Movement in England Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Feminist Movement in England - Essay Example According to the essay "Feminist Movement in England" findings, in England, the movement of feminists has been quite successful to an extent. O'NEILL declares in his study that the major change for women in the history of England is about their employment. Even in the times when England is facing the problem of unemployment, it is surprising that the employment rate of women is seen to increase. This shows that the working class of women is rising to a level that would match up to the men’s level. Hence the employment prospects for women have increased significantly in the past years. Women who are mostly in their mid ages get hired by different firms (O'NEILL, 1969). Recently a renowned economist told a group of individuals who were leaving their school that it would be not them who would get hired but their moms. This clearly shows that women in their middle ages have brighter prospects of getting employed. However, this statement is true to an extent but at times it can als o mislead the women. On the contrary Mohanty & Alexander state that this situation of employment cannot be compared to the situation in wartime when the women took over all the job opportunities they could get i.e. even the job of a man (Mohanty & Alexander, 1997). The women today in England are working in such a way that even the man wouldn’t consider doing. The twenty years of the movement of feminism in Britain has greatly influenced the whole system. The employment rate among women has increased significantly.... The revolution in the employment sector started from the 18th century as Engel's in his book describes the revolution. Mohanty & Alexander further explains that the industrial sector was experiencing a change and many individuals were replaced by modern technologies (Mohanty & Alexander, 1997). As men were removed from their labor women got a chance to enter the arena of employment. Comi states that women were the first to enter the work of maintaining and servicing the machinery which was bought in by the industries. In the recent times there have been a lot of developments in the world of women in England. Women are increasingly getting the rights which they should get (Comi, 2003). However, on the other side of the story, Dervin declares that women are still facing some difficulties while living in England. Even now the problem of rape and discrimination occurs in England. The cases of rape and trafficking of girls is still found in England. Other sorts of discrimination among the genders are also taking place (Dervin, 1997). Dixon claims that the United Kingdom consists of more than fifty two percent of the women's population. But still the percentage of the women which work in the government departments is far much lower than that of the males. 18 percent of the women signify for the Member of Parliament 23 percent for the civil department and 36 percent for the government employments. This shows that in all these departments there is discrimination amongst the women as they are not on the higher posts like the males. Thus it can be said that the males are dominating the society in England (Dixon, 2001). However the percentage calculated here is far better than the percentages analyzed when feminists

Social Work Counselling in Social Work

Social Work Counselling in Social Work The Role and Applicability of Counselling in Social Work Practice Introduction and Overview Social work originated as a community help measure in the 19th century and has since then become an organised discipline that aims to support and empower those who suffer from social unfairness. Apart from helping the disadvantaged to live with dignity, social work aims at achieving social inclusion and has been found to be effective in correcting disparities and in helping individuals to overcome impediments that arise from different aspects of life; apart from those that require knowledge of the physical and medical sciences. Social work practice has, over the years, become integral to Britain’s working life and current estimates put the number of active social workers in the country at significantly more than one million. (Parrott, 2002) Whilst social workers can be called upon to assist all sections of the community, the majority of their assignments concern helping individuals in stressful situations and those experiencing difficulties with issues that relate to emotions, relationships, unemployment, work, disabilities, discrimination, substance abuse, finances, housing, domestic violence, poverty, and social exclusion. Such a range of applications has necessitated the development of (a) a variety of skills and techniques, (b) methods to transfer these skills to social workers, and (c) procedures for the delivery of social work in a variety of settings, which include schools and colleges, households, hospitals, prisons and secured homes, and training and community centres. (Parton, 1996) Social work practice focuses on dealing with the problems of service users. The maintenance and improvement of their social, physical, and mental states is often dependent upon the effectiveness of social work intervention. (Miller, 2005) Users of social work services are largely economically and/or socially disadvantaged, and the vulnerabilities, which arise from these circumstances, frequently contribute to the nature of their relationships with service providers. (Miller, 2005) Social work makes use of a broad range of knowledge and incorporates information obtained from several disciplines; it empowers social workers in practice to use their acquired knowledge and skills first to engage service users and then to bring about positive changes in undesirable emotional states and behavioural attitudes, or in positions of social disempowerment. (Miller, 2005) Counselling forms one of the main planks of social work practice and constitutes the chief mode through which social workers directly engage service users; it is considered to be the public face of the activity and is an integrative course of action between a service user, who is vulnerable and who needs support, and a counsellor who is trained and educated to give this help. Face to face and 121 interactions between social workers and service users take place mostly through counselling activities. Apart from the directly beneficial effect that occurs through counselling, much of the social work approach that needs to be adopted in specific cases for other interventionist activity is decided on the basis of feedback provided by counsellors. This assignment aims to study and analyse the importance of counselling in social work practice. Commentary and Analysis Social work practice, in the UK, has evolved along with the development of the profession, and with the progression of social policy, ever since the first social workers were trained at the London School of Economics, at the beginning of the 20th century. (Parton, 1996) Whilst social policy, formulated at the level of policy makers, defines the broad routes taken to alleviate social inequalities, the actual delivery of social work occurs through social work practice, an activity carried out by thousands of social workers all over the United Kingdom. (Harris, 2002) Social work makes use of a range of skills, methods, and actions that are aligned to its holistic concentration on individuals and their environments. (Harris, 2002) Social work interventions vary from person-focused psychosocial processes that are focused on individuals, to participation in social policy, planning and development. (Harris, 2002) These interventions include counselling, clinical social work, group work, soc ial academic work, and family treatment and psychotherapy, as well as efforts to assist people in accessing services and resources within the community. (Harris, 2002) Social workers, in their everyday activity, need to assume multiple roles that aim to balance empowerment and emancipation with protection and support. (Harris, 2002) Balancing this dilemma is often a difficult process; it depends upon the needs of service users and requires social workers to assume more than one role. (Harris, 2002) These roles, whilst being versatile and flexible, broadly consist of seven broad categories, namely those of planners, assessors, evaluators, supporters, advocates, managers, and counsellors. (Harris, 2002) Whilst social work practice is spread over these broad functions, this assignment aims to examine and analyse the significance and application of counselling in social work, especially with reference to (a) the complexities involved in its practice, (b) combating oppression and discrimination, and (c) from the viewpoint of service users. Counselling, whilst being a catch-all term, used for describing of various professions, is, an important component of social work practice. (Rowland, 1993) It is a developmental process in which one individual (the social work counsellor) provides to another individual or group (the client), guidance and encouragement, as well as challenge and inspiration, in creatively managing and resolving practical, personal and relationship issues, in achieving goals, and in self realisation. (Rowland, 1993) Whilst the relationship of social work with poverty and deprivation necessitates that most counselling activities relate to such issues, counselling has now become an active and interventionist method to achieve change in social situations and empower people to improve the quality of heir lives. (Rowland, 1993) The activity depends upon client-counsellor relationships and includes a range of theoretical approaches, skills and modes of practice. The British Association for Counselling defined the activity thus in 1991: â€Å"Counselling is the skilled and principled use of relationships to develop self knowledge, emotional acceptance and growth, and personal resources. The overall aim is to live more fully and satisfyingly. Counselling may be concerned with addressing and resolving specific problems, making decisions, coping with crisis, working through feelings or inner conflict or improving relationships with others. The counsellors role is to facilitate the clients work in ways that respect the clients values, personal resources and capacity for self determination.† (Rowland, 1993, p 18) Part of the confusion regarding the actual nature of counselling activity stems from the fact that the phenomenon is of recent origin and is becoming increasingly popular both as a widely sought service and as a professional career. (Dryden Mytton, 1999) Whilst social researchers have floated a number of theories to explain the growth in counselling in social work, most experts ascribe its increasing usage to the diminishing impact of religion, the breaking and scattering of family life, and the removal of previously existing family and community social structures. (Dryden Mytton, 1999) Priests have ceased to become confidantes and advisors; New modes of disempowerment have also led to the creation of a vast range of emotional and physical stresses with adverse effects on the psycho-emotional states of numerous people and their consequent need for counselling. (Dryden Mytton, 1999) Counselling has its origins, both in the past, and as an up-and-coming discipline, in various professions. It fills the intermediate gap between psychotherapy and amity, and thus becomes a particularly useful tool for intervening and touching upon the private, societal, professional, medical, and educational aspects of people. (Rowland, 1993) Whilst it grew organically, its effectiveness in diminishing distress led to its progressive assimilation in social work practice. Again the idea of the social worker as a person, who works with or counsels persons, has been a persistent concept in social work all through its emergence. (Pease Fook, 1999) Counselling has also been connected with some of the critical principles of social work, particularly with regard to recognising the innate value of the individual and respecting the human being. (Pease Fook, 1999) Counselling and casework also find favour with those who look at social work, in its entirety, as a process where different compo nents work synergistically with each other in helping and supporting individuals. (Pease Fook, 1999) Also inherent in the role of the social worker, as a counsellor, is the idea that change will be involved in the behaviour or outlook of the service user. It is in fact the diminution on the role of counselling role, which has been one of the major apprehensions regarding provision of social work through services. (Pease Fook, 1999) Counselling, in its basic form, involves the meeting of a counsellor and a service user in a private and confidential setting to investigate the emotional and mental difficulties, and distress, the service user may be having because of varying person-specific reasons. (Rowland, 1993) Counselling, as is evident from its increasing usage, has been found to be of great help in a variety of situations; in treating people with mental problems of varying severity; in helping those suffering from trauma, anxiety or depression; and in aiding people with emotional or decision making issues. (Rowland, 1993) Whilst it has been found to be applicable across different locales, for example, in schools and colleges, disturbed domestic settings, and in workplaces, it has also proved to be effective in helping people afflicted with serious illnesses like cancer and aids, victims of road and industrial accidents, and people in various stages of rehabilitation. (Coney Jenkins, 1993) Counsellors meet the requirements of people who experience traumatic or sudden interruptions to their life development and to their social roles. (Dryden Mytton, 1999) Prominent among these counselling functions are those in areas of marital breakdown, rape and bereavement. (Dryden Mytton, 1999) The work of the counsellors in such cases can be clearly seen to arise from social problems, namely from shifting social perceptions of marriage, reassessments of male and female roles, and new patterns of marriage and family life. (Dryden Mytton, 1999) Counselling provides a route to helping individuals to negotiate this changing social landscape. Counselling has also been found to be helpful in the area of addictions. Specific counselling approaches have been developed to assist people with problems related to substance abuse, gluttony and for giving up smoking. (Pease Fook, 1999) In some areas of counselling, which deal with addiction, for example, with users of hard drugs, counsellors engaged in social work practice, function side by side, with sets of legal restrictions and moral issues. (Pease Fook, 1999) The possession and use of cocaine, for example, is not just viewed to be morally incorrect but also a criminal activity. (Pease Fook, 1999) â€Å"The counsellor working with a heroin addict, therefore, is not merely exploring ‘ways of living more satisfyingly and resourcefully’ but is also mediating between competing social definitions of what an acceptable ‘way of living’ entails.† (Pease Fook, 1999, p72) Some of the different objectives counsellors try to achieve in their dealing with service users relate to (a) providing them with an understanding of the origins of emotional difficulties, (b) enabling them to build meaningful relationships with other people, (c) allowing them to become more aware of blocked thoughts and feelings, (d) enabling them to develop a more positive attitude towards their own selves, (e) encourag ing them to move towards more fulfilment of their potential and (f) helping them in solving particular problems. (Pease Fook, 1999) The following example provides an instance of how counselling helps individuals to overcome serious personal traumas. â€Å"Paula had been driving her car. Her friend, Marian, was a passenger. Without any warning they were hit by another vehicle, the car spun down the road, and Paula thought ‘this is it’. Following this frightening event, Paula experienced intense flashbacks to the incident. She had nightmares which disturbed her sleep. She became irritable and hyper vigilant, always on the alert. She became increasingly detached from her family and friends, and stopped using her car. Paula worked hard at trying to forget the accident, but without success. When she went to see a counsellor, Paula was given some questionnaires to fill in, and he gave her a homework sheet that asked her to write about the incident for ten minutes each day at a fixed time. In the next counselling session, she was asked to dictate an account of the event into a tape recorder, speaking in the first person as if it was happening now. She was told to play the trauma tape over and over again, at home, until sh e got bored with it. In session 3, the counsellor suggested a way of dealing with her bad dreams, by turning the accident into an imaginary game between two cartoon characters. In session 4 she was invited to remember her positive, pre-accident memories. She was given advice on starting to drive her car again, beginning with a short five-minute drive, and then gradually increasing the time behind the wheel. Throughout all this, her counsellor listened carefully to what she had to say, treated her with great respect and was very positive about her prospects for improvement. After nine sessions her symptoms of post-traumatic stress had almost entirely disappeared, and she was able to live her life as before.† (Starkey, 2000, p37) Counsellors need to keep in mind that socialisation leads to the development of perspectives on issues like race and gender. (Moore, 2003) Many of these perspectives are assimilated to such an extent that people have little control over them and are bound to impact the working of counsellors if not understood, isolated and overcome. (Moore, 2003) â€Å"In an anti-oppressive framework, these views are broken into six main lenses; racism, sexism, heterosexism, ableism, ageism, and class oppression.† (Moore, 2003) People are regularly excluded on account of their colour, gender, sexual orientation, abilities, age, and class. (Moore, 2003) Most of these factors do not occur in isolation and thus lead to multi-oppression, for example an aged female from a minority background could face oppression because of three factors, the whole of which becomes stronger than the sum of individual components. Oppressive perspectives occur through a common origin, namely economic power and contro l, and employ common methods of limiting, controlling, and destroying lives. The PCS model developed by Thompson, in 2001, argues, in similar vein that inequalities, prejudice and discrimination operate at three levels, Personal, Cultural, and Structural, and by constantly strengthening each other, create powerful mental biases and prejudices against members of out-groups, people who are disadvantaged by way of colour, race, ethnicity, religion and language. Individual views, at the personal level, interact with shared cultural, historical and traditional beliefs to create powerful prejudices. (Thompson, 2001) Dominant groups within society constantly reinforce their superiority by driving home the inferiority of other groups through a number of overt and covert methods. (Harris, 2002) Whilst movements that aim to dismantle such stereotypes are emerging slowly, the biggest conflict is still within. (Harris, 2002) Internalised oppression is the oppression that we impose on our own selves due to environmental pressures. (Harris, 2002) The oppression is internal ised from the prevailing society’s message through various institutions like the media, existing religious infrastructure, and other forms of socialisation. (Harris, 2002) Examples of such oppressive practices are the pressure put on working mothers to run an efficient household, in addition to putting in a full day at the office, or expecting mothers who stay at home to work from dawn until late night. (Harris, 2002) These prejudices are further strengthened by structural discriminations that are created by social and governmental structures, (as evinced by diminished employment opportunities for people with histories of substance abuse or the refusal of landlords to rent houses to members of certain communities), and create a complex web of mutually reinforcing social processes. Counsellors are prone to be oppressive because of assimilated perspectives, stereotyping, and because they hold power over service users. It is imperative that they recognise these imbalances and wo rk towards eliminating them in their work as well as in the promotion of change to redress the balance of power. Looking at social issues through the perspectives of service users is thus critical to counselling activity. Social workers often face ethical challenges in their dealing with service users. There are many instances in social work where simple answers are not available to resolve complex ethical issues. Clients, for example, can inform counsellors about their intention to commit suicide or inflict physical harm on their own selves, ask for reassuring physical contact in the nature of hugs, and confide about their intentions to harm others. (Langs, 1998) There is a strong possibility of sexual attraction developing between counsellor and service user. (Langs, 1998) Such situations can lead to the development of dichotomies between personal and professional ethics, and to extremely uncomfortable choices. (Langs, 1998) Conclusion Counselling is a complex and demanding activity that demands knowledge, experience and people skills, as well as compassion, empathy and understanding. Above all counselling activity, as an integral component of social work, requires commitment to social good. Counselling theories have evolved over the last half century; they have multiple origins, are complex in their formulation, and whilst having common features, need to be individually adapted to the needs of service users. Whilst it is not easy to grasp and apply these theories, their comprehensive understanding and application are essential to the effectiveness of counselling work. Counsellors, by virtue of the nature of their work and their power in counsellor-service user relationships exercise enormous influence over the decisions of service users. The diversity and heterogeneity of counselling reflects the sensitivity of counselling to the enormous variations in human experience. Whilst understanding of theory helps in discharging of responsibilities, counsellors are also limited by assimilated perspectives on oppression, career and money demands, and their own emotions. Their responsibilities are manifold, and include duties towards service users, towards the profession, and towards the wider community. Apart from being challenging, satisfying and rewarding, counselling also provides the opportunity to make profound differences to the lives of other human beings. References Bond, T, 2000, Standards and Ethics for Counselling in Action, Sage Publications Ltd. London Corney, R. Jenkins, R, (Eds.), 1993, Counselling in General Practice. London: Routledge Counselling saves British business millions every year, 2003, British Association for Counselling and Therapy, Retrieved December 3, 2007 from www.instituteofwelfare.co.uk/downloads/welfare_world_24_full.pdf Dryden, W, 2006, Counselling in a nutshell, Sage Publications Ltd. London Dryden, W., Mytton, J, 1999, Four Approaches to Counselling and Psychotherapy, London: Routledge Feltham, C, 1995, What Is Counselling? The Promise and Problem of the Talking Therapies, Sage Publications Ltd. London Harrow, J, 2001, Working Models: theories of counselling, Retrieved December 3, 2007 from http://www.draknet.com/proteus/models.htm Harris, J, 2002, The Social Work Business /. London: Routledge Hornby, G., Hall, C., Hall, E. (Eds.), 2003, Counselling Pupils in Schools: Skills and Strategies for Teachers, London: RoutledgeFalmer Langs, R, 1998, Ground Rules in Psychotherapy and Counselling. London: Karnac Books Miller, L, 2005, Counselling Skills for Social Work, Sage Publications Ltd. London Moore, P, 2003, Critical components of an anti-oppressive framework, The International Child and Youth Care Framework, Retrieved December 3, 2007 from www.cyc-net.org/cyc-online/cycol-1203-moore.html Nelson-Jones, R, 2000, Six key approaches to counselling and therapy, Sage Publications Ltd. London Noonan, E, 1983, Counselling Young People. London: Tavistock Routledge Now Youre Talking; Counselling Has Become a Big Business Employing Thousands. but Is It a Job for You? Bonnie Estridge Talks It through London Jobs/Opportunities, 2004, October 14, The Evening Standard (London, England), p. 61 Parrott, L, 2002, Social Work and Social Care, London: Routledge Parton, N. (Ed.), 1996, Social Theory, Social Change and Social Work, London: Routledge Pease, B. Fook, J. (Eds.), 1999, Transforming Social Work Practice: Postmodern Critical Perspectives. London: Routledge Retail Therapy: Beauty So Tell Me, Whats the Problem? Laura Davis Investigates the Growing Trend for Counselling, 2004, October 28, Daily Post (Liverpool, England), p. 8 Rowland, N, 1993, Chapter 3 What is Counselling? In Counselling in General Practice, Corney, R. Jenkins, R. (Eds.) (pp. 17-30) London: Routledge Shardlow, S. (Ed.), 1989, The Values of Change in Social Work. London: Tavistock/Routledge Starkey, P, 2000, Families and Social Workers : The Work of Family Service Units, 1940-1985 /. Liverpool, England: Liverpool University Press Thompson, N (2001) Anti-Discriminatory Practice, Third Edition, London: Palgrave Urofsky, R. I., Engels, D. W, 2003, Philosophy, Moral Philosophy, and Counselling Ethics: Not an Abstraction. Counselling and Values, 47(2), 118+

Dialectal Awareness in the Reeves Tale Essay -- Reeves Tale Essays

Dialectal Awareness in the Reeve's Tale Throughout any given period of human history, language has been the highest expression of observable and transmissible culture. Individuals generally affiliate themselves with those of like culture and characteristics and tend to shun those who express qualities and beliefs that are different from what is commonly accepted or familiar. Wedges are often driven in the midst of identical groups of people with common beliefs, simply because one particular dialect of their language is strange to the ear of another group, or is difficult for that other group to understand . The differences between the Northern and Southern Middle English dialects of the late 1300's were, for many valid reasons, so distinct that over time lines of demarcation were conceived, as were stereotypical views of the people who spoke the language of the North. But fourteenth century poet Geoffrey Chaucer saw beyond the divisions to the heart of the matter; he recognized the efficacy and validity of the Northern dialects, considering them as no less proper forms of English than his own native "Londonese"-- a mixture of Southern and East Midlands dialects. It is by capitalizing upon these well-known stereotypical views through his distinct dialectal differences that Chaucer helps Oswald the Reeve get "one up" on the impertinent Miller through his own savvy, satirical Canterbury tale. In order to understand the implications that dialectal differences would have had upon the Southern view of a Northern speaker of Middle English, one must first investigate the individual differences that clearly existed between the two forms of the language. As there was no standardization of the ... ...frey. The Canterbury Tales: Nine Tales and the General Prologue. Ed. V. A. Kolve and Glending Olson. New York: W. W. Norton, 1989. Clark, Cecily. "Another Late Fourteenth-Century Case of Dialect Awareness." Review of English Studies 40 (1989): 504-505. Ellis, Deborah S. "Chaucer's Devilish Reeve." Chaucer Review 27 (1995): 150-161. Geipel, John. The Viking Legacy: The Scandinavian Influence on the English and Gaelic Languages. London: David & Charles, 1971. Hughes, Arthur and Peter Trudgill. English Accents and Dialects : An Introduction to Social and Regional Varieties of British English. Baltimore: University Park P, 1979. Mossà ©, Fernand. "Introduction." A Handbook of Middle English. Trans. James A. Walker. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins UP, 1952. Woods, William F. "The Logic of Deprivation in The Reeve s Tale." Chaucer Review 30 (1996) : 150-161.

Media Violence Outline Essay

I. Introduction A. Thesis Statement You are what you watch. Easy to say, and not too difficult to imagine either. A little over a decade ago, two boys who later became household names in America, Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold walked into Columbine High School in Colorado and went on a mass murdering spree where they killed 12 students, 1 teacher and injured 23 others before shooting themselves (Anderson & Dill, 2008). While their motives behind doing so cannot be ascertained, one possible contributing element which did surface was the influence of violent video games. At the risk of oversimplifying what is possibly a complex psychological minefield, Harris and Klebold did enjoy playing a game called Doom, which is licensed by the American military for the purpose of training soldiers to kill effectively. Harris had customized his own version of this game and put it up on his website, which was later tracked by The Simon Wisenthal Center (Anderson & Dill, 2008). This version of the game had two shooters with an unlimited supply of weapons and ammunition, and their targets lacked the ability to retaliate. A class project required them to make a video of themselves similar to the game, and in it, they dressed in trench coats, armed with weapons, and conduct the massacre of school athletes. Less than one year had gone by when Harris and Klebold played their videotape out, in real life, and became the protagonists of the deadliest high school shooting in U.S. history (Anderson & Dill, 2008). II. Body paragraph #1 There is nothing new about the presence of violence in our tools of entertainment. Whether they were ancient Greek dramas, theatre in the Elizabethan era or the modern electronic dramas of today, a healthy dose of violence was never missing. In Macbeth for instance, Shakespeare showed Macbeth’s head being brought on stage at the end of the play (Bushman & Anderson, 2001). The Great Train Robbery, an 11-minute film directed by Edwin S. Porter was the first firm considered to tell a story in a systematic manner. In one scene, he shows an intense scene where a cowboy fires a pistol directly at the camera, which when first showed to audiences, had them running out of the theaters in disarray and fear (Bushman & Anderson, 2001). A. Since the advent of media itself, there have been countless studies on the connection between depiction of violence in media and its occurrence in real life. B. Discussions, debates, conclusions and grey areas have all been further examined and while television is the most prominent target of accusations, comic books, jazz, rock and roll music and video games have not escaped blame either. C. Research on this topic started as early as the 1960s when television was a recent entrant in the media fray and a causal connection has been derived between media violence and aggressive behavior. III. Body paragraph #2 Opponents fuss over the definition and measurement of media violence, does actual physical bodily harm constitute violence or can a threatening statement also be deemed so? Then, does media violence cause aggression, or are the two simply associated? Consistency of the relationship also causes doubts over agreed upon data when the example of Japan is quoted, where violent media is extremely common, yet crime rates are significantly low  (Anderson & Dill, 2008). Then is media solely to blame for violence in society? Doesn’t that take the blame away from a lot of other contributing factors in society itself and make the argument generally unrealistic? A. All these issues and thorny areas can be settled by the simple logic of the social learning theory which proposes that when people see that a certain behavior causes positive or desired results, there is a high probability of them imitating and enacting that behavior (in this case, violent) themselves (Anderson & Dill, 2008). B. So while the strength of the relationship and the presence of other factors and the measurement of violence itself can be debated till the end of time, the fact remains, when children view aggressive behavior and violence in cartoons, video games, movies, as well as on the internet, it encourages similar tendencies in them and these children are more likely to be aggressive as children and later as adults. C. Research started as early as 1956 when researchers analyzed and compared the behavior of 24 children, half of whom had watched an episode of the cartoon Woody Woodpecker with distinct depictions of aggressive behavior, while the other half were exposed to the cartoon The Little Red Hen which did not depict any violence at all (Huesmann. 2003). IV. Body paragraph #3 Studies have also shown that the kind of violence which affects their psyche and causes them to model their behavior as depicted in media is when they can associate real life with the situation depicted, because they can identify with the character responsible for the violence and observe him/her/it getting rewarded for the violence. A. Research conducted by Boyatzis, Matillo and Nesbit (Gunter & McAleer, 1997) proved earlier theories about media violence getting encoded in the cognitive map of viewers and subsequently instigating violent thoughts and acts upon repeated viewings. B. The popular children’s series Mighty Morphin Power Rangers was used to prove that after watching a single episode from this show, children incorporated more aggression into their play with other children. C. Results showed that children who had seen the episode became significantly more aggressive at play the following day as compared to the children from the control group: V. Body paragraph #4 TV is not the sole culprit in this regard. Other mediums and tools of entertainment have an equal role to play. In â€Å"Effects of Video Games on Aggressive Thoughts and Behaviors During Development†, Koojimans (2004) explains the General Aggression Model – the name coined for the phenomenon which explains how video games and their depictions of violence influence people and make them more susceptible of indulging in violent behavior themselves. This model elaborates on how various situational and personological factors combine to influence a person’s internal state which includes his thoughts, feelings and physical arousals (Koojimans, 2004). A. Research conducted on video games by Nicoll and Kieffer, presented to the American Psychological Association as â€Å"Violence in Video Games: A Review of the Empirical Research† found that youth upon playing a violent video game, if only for a short while, displayed more aggressive behavior than before (Nicoll & Kieffer, 2005). B. Another study was conducted with more than 600 students of 8th and 9th grade as participants and showed that children who played more video games also had more of a tendency to get involved in arguments with their seniors and other teachers, and they would also be more likely to get into physical rows with their peers (Nicoll & Kieffer, 2005). C. Not only that but it was also found that children who spent more time watching video games imitate the characters they acted out in the video game and their moves while playing with their friends. VI. Conclusion The plethora of research knowledge available about the effects of violence in the media definitely supports initial concerns about media violence as well as the efforts to control its harmful effects. While causality can be debated till time eternal, what can’t be denied and what should absolutely not be brushed under the carpet for any longer is that a steady diet of violence does in fact instigate violent tendencies in viewers, be it through violent television programs, movies, cartoons, video games or any other forms of entertainment which incorporate violence in various forms. Media today plays a key role in nourishing children’s minds, and for the larger case of public health and societal betterment, we need to ensure that we provide more nourishing fare for our children and youth. Reducing their exposure to violent media is definitely the first step in the right direction, with the potential to yield positive benefits. An intervention is needed before we start reaping the seeds of aggression and rebellion that have been planted in young minds owing to careless media policies. References Anderson, Craig and Karen Dill. â€Å"Video Games and Aggressive Thoughts, Feelings, and Behavior in the Laboratory and in Life.† Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 78 (2008): 772-790. Bushman, Brad and Craig Anderson. â€Å"Media Violence and the American Public: Scientific Fact Versus Media Misinformation† American Psychologist 56 (2001): 477-489. Gunter, Barry and Jill McAleer. Children and Television (second edition), Routledge: London, 1997. Huesmann, L. Rowell, Jessica Moise-Titus, Cheryll-Lynn Podolski, and Leonard Eron. â€Å"Longitudinal Relations between Children’s Exposure to TV Violence and their Aggressive and Violent Behavior in Young Adulthood: 1977-1992.† Developmental Psychology 39 (2003): 201-221. Kooijmans, Thomas. â€Å"Effects of Video Games on Aggressive Thoughts and Behaviors During Development†. Rochester Institute of Technology. 2004 Nicoll, Jessica and Kevin M. Kieffer. â€Å"Violence in Video Games: A Review of the Empirical Research.† Presentation to the American Psychological Association, August 2005.