Carmilla the Lover and Monster Essay

The story of Carmilla is one that shows the complexity that mankind is capable of. This story shows how loving and caring mankind can be and how monstrous we can become without knowing how or why we became so monstrous. Carmilla meets the criteria to be called a lover and monster. Love is a virtue representing human kindness compassion and/or affection. Out of love Carmilla slowly drains the life out of Laura so she can turn her into a lifelong companion. But to die as lovers may–to die together, so that they may live together. Girls are caterpillars while they live in the world, to be finally butterflies when the summer comes; but in the meantime there are grubs and larvae, don’t you see–each with their peculiar propensities, necessities and structure. So says Monsieur Buffon, in his big book, in the next room. † Sometimes it was as if warm lips kissed me, and longer and longer and more lovingly as they reached my throat, but there the caress fixed itself. My heart beat faster, my breathing rose and fell rapidly and full drawn; a sobbing, that rose into a sense of strangulation, supervened, and turned into a dreadful convulsion, in which my senses left me and I became unconscious. This shows that Carmilla despite being a vampire has retained the human ability to love. She wishes to have friends and the only way to accomplish this task is to turn humans into vampires. She also has the characteristics that many would call monstrous. As a vampire, Carmilla needed blood to sustain her existence. As humans hunt for sustenance so did Carmilla, she obtained sustenance where ever she could without disrupting her relationship with Laura. As we sat thus one afternoon under the trees a funeral passed us by. It was that of a pretty young girl, whom I had often seen, the daughter of one of the rangers of the forest. The poor man was walking behind the coffin of his darling; she was his only child, and he looked quite heartbroken . â€Å"I hope there is no plague or fever coming; all this looks very like it,† I continued. The swineherd’s young wife died only a week ago, and she thought something seized her by the throat as she lay in her bed, and nearly strangled her. Papa says such horrible fancies do accompany some forms of fever. She was quite well the day before. She sank afterwards, and died before a week†. If Carmilla was just a monster she would have killed everyone in the area just to continue her existence and then moved on to another area to find sustenance. That is not the case here in this shows that certain things are not always as they seem. Carmilla believes her existence is better than that of the human and in many ways she is correct. She does not know illness of any sort and because of her longevity. She has been a vampire for over 100 years. â€Å"She ? I don’t trouble my head about peasants. I don’t know who she is,† answered Carmilla, with a flash from her fine eyes. â€Å"The house of Karnstein,† he said, â€Å"has been long extinct: a hundred years at least. My dear wife was maternally descended from the Karnsteins. But the name and title have long ceased to exist. The castle is a ruin; the very village is deserted; it is fifty years since the smoke of a chimney was seen there; not a roof left†. Carmilla in a twisted way shows the good and evil that has existed in our world for many millennia. She has the ability to love but for her to love long-term she must kill the object of her affection. As twisted as many would perceive this is a fair reflection upon mankind over the generations. Mankind has been doing strange things to find and hold on to what they believed they love for as long as we have been in existence. The existence of vampires such as in the text Camilla is imaginary but the actions of vampires are mirrored in many aspects by the actions of man!

Digital Fortress Chapter 9

Systems security technician Phil Chartrukian had only intended to be inside Crypto a minute-just long enough to grab some paperwork he'd forgotten the day before. But it was not to be. After making his way across the Crypto floor and stepping into the Sys-Sec lab, he immediately knew something was not right. The computer terminal that perpetually monitored TRANSLTR's internal workings was unmanned and the monitor was switched off. Chartrukian called out, â€Å"Hello?† There was no reply. The lab was spotless-as if no one had been there for hours. Although Chartrukian was only twenty-three and relatively new to the Sys-Sec squad, he'd been trained well, and he knew the drill: There was always a Sys-Sec on duty in Crypto†¦ especially on Saturdays when no cryptographers were around. He immediately powered up the monitor and turned to the duty board on the wall. â€Å"Who's on watch?† he demanded aloud, scanning the list of names. According to the schedule, a young rookie named Seidenberg was supposed to have started a double shift at midnight the night before. Chartrukian glanced around the empty lab and frowned. â€Å"So where the hell is he?† As he watched the monitor power up, Chartrukian wondered if Strathmore knew the Sys-Sec lab was unmanned. He had noticed on his way in that the curtains of Strathmore's workstation were closed, which meant the boss was in-not at all uncommon for a Saturday; Strathmore, despite requesting his cryptographers take Saturdays off, seemed to work 365 days a year. There was one thing Chartrukian knew for certain-if Strathmore found out the Sys-Sec lab was unmanned, it would cost the absent rookie his job. Chartrukian eyed the phone, wondering if he should call the young techie and bail him out; there was an unspoken rule among Sys-Sec that they would watch each other's backs. In Crypto, Sys-Secs were second-class citizens, constantly at odds with the lords of the manor. It was no secret that the cryptographers ruled this multibillion-dollar roost; Sys-Secs were tolerated only because they kept the toys running smoothly. Chartrukian made his decision. He grabbed the phone. But the receiver never reached his ear. He stopped short, his eyes transfixed on the monitor now coming into focus before him. As if in slow motion, he set down the phone and stared in open-mouthed wonder. In eight months as a Sys-Sec, Phil Chartrukian had never seen TRANSLTR's Run-Monitor post anything other than a double zero in the hours field. Today was a first. TIME ELAPSED: 15:17:21 â€Å"Fifteen hours and seventeen minutes?† he choked. â€Å"Impossible!† He rebooted the screen, praying it hadn't refreshed properly. But when the monitor came back to life, it looked the same. Chartrukian felt a chill. Crypto's Sys-Secs had only one responsibility: Keep TRANSLTR â€Å"clean†-virus free. Chartrukian knew that a fifteen-hour run could only mean one thing-infection. An impure file had gotten inside TRANSLTR and was corrupting the programming. Instantly his training kicked in; it no longer mattered that the Sys-Sec lab had been unmanned or the monitors switched off. He focused on the matter at hand-TRANSLTR. He immediately called up a log of all the files that had entered TRANSLTR in the last forty-eight hours. He began scanning the list. Did an infected file get through? he wondered. Could the security filters have missed something? As a precaution, every file entering TRANSLTR had to pass through what was known as Gauntlet-a series of powerful circuit-level gateways, packet filters, and disinfectant programs that scanned inbound files for computer viruses and potentially dangerous subroutines. Files containing programming â€Å"unknown† to Gauntlet were immediately rejected. They had to be checked by hand. Occasionally Gauntlet rejected entirely harmless files on the basis that they contained programming the filters had never seen before. In that case, the Sys-Secs did a scrupulous manual inspection, and only then, on confirmation that the file was clean, did they bypass Gauntlet's filters and send the file into TRANSLTR. Computer viruses were as varied as bacterial viruses. Like their physiological counterparts, computer viruses had one goal-to attach themselves to a host system and replicate. In this case, the host was TRANSLTR. Chartrukian was amazed the NSA hadn't had problems with viruses before. Gauntlet was a potent sentry, but still, the NSA was a bottom feeder, sucking in massive amounts of digital information from systems all over the world. Snooping data was a lot like having indiscriminate sex-protection or no protection, sooner or later you caught something. Chartrukian finished examining the file list before him. He was now more puzzled than before. Every file checked out. Gauntlet had seen nothing out of the ordinary, which meant the file in TRANSLTR was totally clean. â€Å"So what the hell's taking so long?† he demanded of the empty room. Chartrukian felt himself break a sweat. He wondered if he should go disturb Strathmore with the news. â€Å"A virus probe,† Chartrukian said firmly, trying to calm himself down. â€Å"I should run a virus probe.† Chartrukian knew that a virus probe would be the first thing Strathmore would request anyway. Glancing out at the deserted Crypto floor, Chartrukian made his decision. He loaded the viral probe software and launched it. The run would take about fifteen minutes. â€Å"Come back clean,† he whispered. â€Å"Squeaky clean. Tell Daddy it's nothing.† But Chartrukian sensed it was not â€Å"nothing.† Instinct told him something very unusual was going on inside the great decoding beast.

Ethnicity and language Essay

1. Ethnicity Ethnicity is not a clear-cut term. It usually describes someone’s racial or cultural background but has a whole host of other connotations connected with appearance, dress, food, lifestyle etc. The ethnic majority in a particular place are, not necessarily those with the largest numbers, but those with social and political power. It is also the case that often terms describing race are fairly meaningless. People from the ‘British race’ for example originate from many other cultures and countries, depending on how far back you trace their family trees. 2. Prejudiced language Language can be used to make certain ethnic groups appear to be outsiders, or different from the ethnic majority. Markedness It is often assumed that immigrants, and people from ethnic minorities, must fit in with the ways and traditions of the ethnic majority. When this happens, the ethnic identity of the majority begins to appear normal and invisible, whilst that of the minority appears, strange, worthy of mention and marked. We often find in the media that people’ ethnicity is only mentioned when they are not white. So, we hear things like â€Å"the murdered black teenager Steven Lawrence† even in instances where the description of ethnicity is irrelevant. Negative labelling People are often labelled according to their colour, race or ethnicity. The problem with such labels is firstly that they may stop us seeing other aspects of the person as we are focussed on the attribute that the label describes. The second problem is that very often these labels are associated with negative stereotypes. We often find that the most marginalized groups in our society have the largest numbers of offensive terms to describe them. In addition, the media runs relatively few stories about those from ethnic minorities, and those that are included tend to reinforce the negative stereotypes by being about crime or disorder. 3. Marking Ethnic Identity Language can also be used as a powerful marker of ethnic identity. The language that we speak, and how we speak it, shows the ethnic group to which we believe we belong and claim solidarity with. British Black English People of West Indian and African Caribbean origin in England use many different varieties depending on where about they live and how long their families have been in Britain. Those born in Britain usually speak a variety of English and also a variety of Jamaican Creole, known as Patois. Linguistic features of Patois ?Lexical items (lick (hit), kenge (weak), bex (angry) ?Use of [? ] and [? ] in place of [? ] and [? ] e. g. [t? n] for [ n] ?Plural forms without /s/ suffix (e. g. many cow) ?Verbs not marked for tense (walk in place of walked) ?Simplified pronouns ([mi] for I, me, my and [dem] for they, them and their) ?Use of ‘fi’ in place of ‘to’ before infinitives. African American Vernacular English In the USA, the distinct languages of people of African American origin disappeared centuries ago. Nevertheless, a distinct variety of English, called African American Vernacular English (AAVE), has developed which acts as a symbol of ethnicity. AAVE is most often heard in cities in the North of the states. Linguistic features of AAVE ?Absence of standard copula be (e. g. ‘she very nice’, ‘that my book’) ?Use of copula be to signal recurring actions (‘she be at school on weekdays’) ?Multiple negation (‘I don’t want none’)? Consonant cluster simplification (‘aks in place of asks’) ?Existential it (where standard English has ‘there’, ‘it’s a boy’ for ‘there’s a boy’) Maori English In New Zealand, it is not clear if a Maori dialect of English actually exists. What is certain is that the features listed below occur more often in the speech of Maoris than Pakeha (non-Polynesian New Zealanders, usually of European origin) Linguistic features of Maori English ?Use of [? ] and [? ] in place of [? ] and [? ] e. g. [t? n] for [ n] ?Use of vocabulary items such as kia ora (greeting) and kuia (old woman)? Vernacular verb forms (walk for walked) ?Present tense forms with /s/ ‘I sees you’, ‘we gets home’) 4. Social Networks Social networks can help us understand speech patterns as the language and variety we use is influenced by the people we spend time with. You can draw a simple social network by considering the four or five people you speak to most often and drawing lines from their names to yours on a map. If any of those people know each other independently of you, connect them with lines (preferably of a different colour) too. Then add their two or three best friends, and so on.e. g. Tom Richard Bob Barbara Sandy Dave Features of social networks Density Density refers to whether members of a person’s network are in touch with each other separately. In the example above, only Richard and Bob know each other independently of Tom so his network is not a dense one. Plexity Plexity refers to the type of transactions that we are involved in with other people. If, for example, Tom only ever plays squash with Barbara, the relationship would be considered a uniplex one. If however, Tom and Barbara lived, worked and socialised together it would be a multiplex one. Language and Networks The language or variety we use is influenced by the people we talk to and what we talk to them about. We may change the language or variety we are using depending on which part of our network we are currently interacting with. For example, we may be more formal at work than at home. This type of language/variety shift is probably more likely if our social network is not very dense and our relations tend to be uniplex. If our networks are dense and multiplex, the whole network is more likely to use the use the same language or variety.

Nursing Care and Crimes in Newark, New Jersey Research Paper

Nursing Care and Crimes in Newark, New Jersey - Research Paper Example Crimes affect the overall productivity of the area. People will not visit the place and economic activities will downturn. Also the health assistance and care are very much affected in that area. Ambulance, first aid kits and many medical staffs may be needed in case any crimes arise as they may serve as life support to the victims in case they are injured. For the paper, crimes will be studied and their effects upon the lives of people in the place and the demands for the health and nursing assistance will be analyzed. SDS or Symptom Distress Scale will be in focus to check out the crime effects upon the people in Newark, New Jersey. New Jersey is an American State located at the Atlantic portion of the world. It is surrounded by places like Atlantic Ocean, Pennsylvania, New York and Delaware (Fredeen, 2001, p. 7). In 2009 to 2010, a study revealed that New Jersey was the part of the top three wealthy States in America based upon the income per family. Also among the American States , it was known to get the 11th place in terms of population among American States (United States Census Bureau, 2010). New Jersey also became very important in American history as it provided the place for battles in the American Revolutionary War. It also serves as the home of American Indians since the time before the Europeans set foot on the lands of New Jersey (Fredeen, 2001, p. 8). ... Newark is the biggest city in New Jersey consisting of more than 270000 people (Fredeen, 2001, p. 8). It also caters to various schools famous in USA like Rutgers University and University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey. Being the center in New Jersey, it is also the place for ships, planes and trains from cargo to passenger types. Its location is on the Western part of Manhattan and also near to Atlantic Ocean that allowed the city to have its own port. That port serves as the hub for shipments going to New York. The city also has Newark Liberty International Airport which is a very popular local airport (Westergaard, 2006). The races in Newark are varying that also come with the diverse cultures (Fredeen, 2001, p. 7). Its communities are different from one another having busy streets and silent places. As Newark serves as a city and busy region of New Jersey, crimes happen in higher rate than other locations. It was even labeled as one of the cities in USA with major threa ts and crimes (Roberts and Yeager, 2004, p. 837). Despite of that label, a major improvement occurred when the cases of murder went down recent years. Surveys were then conducted by different groups and they found Newark to be consistently part of the upper 25 towns and cities with many crimes around United States (Sperling and Sander, 2007, p. 329). Probably, Newark experiences its upward turn, but it still faces other problems like healthcare. In analyzing the healthcare support needed, a model called SDS or Symptom Distress Scale is used. It is also used to know the condition of the patients and how urgently the medical attention is needed (Bowling, 2001, p. 35). It then focuses on the state of mind or the psyche of the person being measured by the scale. It came

Mong Schoolchildrn Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Mong Schoolchildrn - Essay Example This book rvls th story of young tchr's lif nd work in th Klly School, prt of th Holyok, Msschusts school systm. Th book provids insight into wht it is lik tching in multiculturl clssroom nvironmnt nd how importnt it is to b bl to monitor nd djust to troubld studnts, how vitl it is to chng your mthods of working, whr tching 24/7 profssion, not 8:00-5:00 job. During th whol yr Chris tckls not only issus of difficult studnts but prsonl issus s wll. This book provids futur tchrs with much rquird glnc t th rlitis of tching whr strss of bing tchr is vidnt. From Sptmbr to Jun, Chris Zjc, compssiont, dvotd tchr struggls with th nrly suprhumn tsk of tching innr-city childrn, mny from impovrishd nd brokn homs. .It fls lik you r in th clssroom with Mrs. Zjc. Trcy Kiddr dscribs rl tchr nd hr studnts nd tks th rdr with thm through th school yr. Zjc mngd to rlt th problms s wll s th succsss in th clssroom. Zjc is th kind of tchr tht prnt would wnt thir child to b round, bcus sh dos not only tchs bsic skills nd knowldg, but lso nturs nd dls with childrn who com to th clssroom with lot of bggg. Mrs. Zjc posssss ll trits tht vry tchr should hv: tough in loving wy, disciplind, slf-wr, nd willing to confss to hr own fults. Onc in whil whn sh rlizd tht sh is probbly boring, sh tris to shk up th lsson to void wtching bord studnts. Mrs. Mrs. Zjc is wondr tchr tht vry child should hv t lst onc in thir grd school crr, bcus sh posss ll ncssry qulitis of n xcllnt tchr. Sh is sympthtic, lmost to fult, bcus somtims sh givs too mny scond chncs to pupils who try to disordr hr clss, but sh lso mngs to gt through ll of thm, vn th ons who hd to b rmovd. Sh is hrd-working tchr nd lwys brings hom both th ppr grding nd th worris in which sh constntly rumints on ch studnt's lif nd how sh cn improv it. Sh dos not lv tchr flings t th school door nd s rsult lmost ll of innovtiv ids build up whil sh broods t hom ovr som kid's dilmm. Sh hs big hrt, nough to mbrc nd provid thm with unconditionl lov, spcilly to thos who xprincs hrdships t hom or vn to thos who dos not vn hv hom.In ordr to b n ffctiv tchr on hs to nturlly possss ll thos trits nd b bl to us thm in ordr to gt through to thir studnts. It is chllnging to b bl to s th diffrnc btwn "problm studnts" nd "good studnts" nd th chllngs thy prsnt in vry dy situtions. Th mjority of studnts in Mrs. Zjc's clss r Hispnic-- growing truth throughout th Unitd Stts--so long with th vrydy frustrtions of vry tchr, w s tht Mrs. Zjc hs n dditionl worklod imposd mrly by th prsnc of lngug brrir. Looking t fiv min rs of Mrs. Zjc's clssroom cn giv n insight into wht mks hr good tchr nd thos trits includ: tchr's intrction with th studnts, studnts' intrction with th tchr, studnts' intrction with othr studnts, contnt, nd nvironmnt.Sh intrcts in such wy tht studnts hv prcption tht sh wnts th bst out of thm, so thy try hrd in ordr to mt thos xpcttions. Whn Hnritt wntd to quit working on hr mth, Mrs. Zjc just tris to rpt hr xpcttions by sying, " No, Hnritt. You cn't quit. You hv to kp trying. You cn't just quit in lif, Hnritt." By following nd mting thos xpcttions, studnts t som point will try to outprform vn. nothr lsson tht cn b drivd from Mrs. Zjc's styl of tching is hr ttitud towrds trting studnts , whr sh sys "Trting studnts qully oftn mns trting thm vry diffrntly." Sh undrstnds tht vry studnt's bst is diffrnt, but just th fct tht h of sh trid to rch thir bst is lrdy nd indictor of succss. For xmpl, sh rlizd tht th ssy tht Jimmy wrot ws hug

Human resource management Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 9000 words

Human resource management - Essay Example Trade unions were primarily initiated in Europe rather it became popular in many other countries during industrial revolution. Moreover, a trade union may be of varied forms such as house union, company union, general union, industrial union and craft union among others (BIS, n.d.). The trade unions of the United Kingdom were initially decriminalised beneath the suggestion of the ‘Royal Commission’ in the year 1867. It approved that the establishment of these trade unions is for the benefit of both employers and workers. Development of trade unions is to promote the rights and visions of the labours in order to offer them a good living standard along with wage. Trade union maovement is a planned and controlled attempt of the workers of an organization to augment their living status and remuneration with the help of collective activities along with leaders and management. It is a type of socio-economic reform of the living conditions for the workers of British industries. Along with the fundamental rights of the labours against the management, the trade union movements are also attempted to locate requisite leaders, who might represent the labour commitee in the near future. Thus, from the above discussion, it is apprent that labour or trade unions play an important role in resolving the conflicts in between the employers and employees (Centrepiece, 2005). The report mainly highlights the benefits and the influences of trade unions on the labours or workers working in the industries of the United Kingdom. Along with this, it also specifies the human resource aspects and the current market trends of trade unions. Apart from these, the paper also includes the various strategies which should be implemented by UNITE trade union in order to attract increased memebership towards it, thereby enhancing its image among others in the

Social Media Project Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Social Media Project - Assignment Example The topics circled to address customer trust issues are wide ranging from the employees, product launch and customer service. However, the core problem identified is the customer care and after sales services as highlighted by the selected posts below. The negative perception by customers makes one wonder why Wal-Mart is still the largest retail chain in the world. A key profit determinant would be improvement in the public relationship area for it would multiply their current earnings based on the obviously large number of dissatisfied customers which must be the fraction enjoyed by its competitors. No. Date Feedback 1 12th 04/2012 Webersouza Flamengo: Always admired Wal-Mart till it came to Brazil and got hired. Disappointed because it segregates customers and employees according to its own preference. He was fired. 2 11th 04/2012 Kimberly Smith Higashi: Wal-Mart had a grand opening in San Jose L.A and totally forgot it’s all about customers who were neglected and felt disap pointed for attention was reserved to Wal-Mart executives and Employees. 3 11th 04/2012 Sandy H. Parker: Disappointed by Wal-Mart Online order services because her order was delayed and moved to a later delivery date and the customer care did not have courtesy to inform her. 4 10th 04/2012 Ben R. Dazzle: He claims Wal-Mart is the worst thing to ever happen in USA because it uses child labor from immigrants as well as chokes down small family retail businesses. 5 9th 04/2012 The worst store to buy a computer: Wal-Mart only cares before it gets your money then changes. Their goods do not reflect the warranties thus when defective, consumers end up suffering. Wal-Mart does not investigate the sources of its products. The above 5 posts represent a summary of 30 posts evaluated from the start of March this year to the current day. The main issues of concern can be diagrammatically represented in a pie chart as follows. The leading was dissatisfied customers from poor after sales services which included purchase of faulty products that were not accepted back in exchange by warranties and guarantees. The employees were not effective in advising the customers on how to service and maintain some of the purchased products. No one really cared after money was exchanged for a product reason being they had many more people to serve. Poor customer care was also an issue especially with regards to low effectiveness and efficiency in the customer service department. Delays and inconveniences highlighted this segment, many a times causing embarrassment to the customers. Majority vowed never to come back in these incidences. Misplaced marketing vision is best defined at new outlet launches where the attention seemed to be given to the executives and staff members thus making consumers feeling unwanted. The store also pays more attention in marketing themselves rather than what they offer to the consumers. Adverts should show a substantial content of what brings people into the stores; the products and services, rather than magnificent buildings and smiling employees. Weak employment policies refers to the child labor issues with focus on foreigners, low pay packages to employees, poor working conditions which make employees tired and thus impacting on customer interactions in a negative way. It is evident from the site that Wal-Mart has done little to explore social media options as well as collect electronic

Internalism Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Internalism - Essay Example These factors can be fundamentally motivating. Internalists from the motivational background have a belief that there exists an internal connection that is necessary to be put into consideration between an individual’s conviction that something has to be done and the motivation as well to the intended purpose which can be labeled as X (Fischer&Mark 252). This philosophical concept when looked at in an ethical manner, then an individual should have committed to their desires or the goals that they would like to achieve. When taking an example that Peter, a young boy would like to be involved in drug use as used by fellow students in class, Peter has the internal reason to take the drugs as he wants to feel what the rest of the students usually feels when they are taking such like drugs. For an internal’s, Peter has all the reasons as to why he would like to be involved in drug taking but in an ethical perspective view of the internalist, Peter knows that it is wrong to commit such like crimes and he ought not to be involved in taking drugs like the rest of the students indulging in such(Schaubroeck 26). In the contemporary epistemology, internalism based on justification entails that there should be a justification for any action that is undertaken by any individual’s mind. A belief should highly be connected to the subject’s consciousness. Internalism can be distinguished in two sections. These include internalism based on knowledge and internalism that is based on justification and this should be distinguished well. Based on the judgment on justification, this is the most widely accepted form of internalism and is based on the conscious mind of an individual. Based on knowledge, conditions are distinguishable when established on beliefs and the knowledge that is upheld on a particular state of mind of an individual (Hawthorne 215). It is thus important to note that, internalism is can

Impact of the recent financial crisis to Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand Essay

Impact of the recent financial crisis to Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand and Korea - Essay Example The crisis left devastating impacts on the economies of the four countries (Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore and Korea) as discussed below. The 2007/2008 financial crisis left the four countries with huge financial debts borrowed from the developed economies (Lin, 2014). Generally, most south East Asian states including Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand and Korea had borrowed huge loans before the crisis to rebuild their economy after the Asian crisis that had happened previously. The crisis reappeared in a time when the countries were struggling to repay the loans borrowed for economy reconstruction after the Asian crisis. This placed a heavy burden on respective countries thereby retarding their development progress. These states are still paying the loans acquired before financial crisis set foot in Asia. The financial crisis hiked the cost of living to more than double in the four countries. up to date, the residents in the four countries go through very difficult times because job opportunities are still few and the available jobs are underpaying (Klein & Shabbir, 2007). Furthermore, foreign investors returned back to their countries and the domestic investment has performed poorly since then. Basically, low investments (both domestic and foreign investments) in a country results in inadequate job opportunities and consequently, high poverty levels. The crisis weakened the local currencies of Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand and Korea which caused these nations a huge fortune in terms of time and resources to reconstruct their economies. Poor performance of the local currencies made exports cheap wealthy nations seized the opportunity to develop their economies (Jensen, 2010). Moreover, depreciation of local currencies negatively affected local investment due to dumping by foreign investors. Additionally, depreciation of local currencies in the respective states during and after the crisis led to less demand of domestic products

Issues in contemporary management Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Issues in contemporary management - Essay Example In fact, some economic pundits project that the economy of China may overtake that of the U.S. in the next few decades. However, despite all these good fortunes, research indicates that China has not improved the working conditions for its workers to ensure their satisfaction (FoxNews.com 2012). This is because the government appears not to have enacted adequate laws to protect its labor force from unethical employers if media reports are anything to go by. The country’s media has reported several incidences of labor unrest in many companies in the country, which generally points at poor working conditions and rights violations by employers. For instance, the media has reported several instances of suicidal tendencies by Apple workers according to Green (2012). What is certain is that most workers at Apple resort to suicide when the management is not ready and willing to listen to their grievances and take action. Such behaviors by management can be termed unethical because it shows lack of management’s commitment to the worker’s welfare and well-being (Gayle 2012). This paper will examine the contemporary management issues at Apple in China in light of the high incidences of suicide in the company over the last few years. It is undisputable that Apple products command very high demand in the world. Nevertheless, the working conditions at most of its supply chain appears wanting if the number of suicides and labor unrest being experienced at its supply chains in Chain are anything to go by. For instance, Foxconn Company, one of the main manufacturers of Apple products in China has been making headlines mostly for bad reasons (He 2009). This is because a year hardly passes without labor unrest being reported. Reports indicate that most of the worker’s at Apple supply chains have been protesting through threats of suicide while other go to the extent of not just threatening, but by committing suicide. What is worrying is that the trend has been in place for quite some time now unabated. Ramzy (2012) reports that at least 14 workers committed suicide at Foxconn in the year 2010. However, Qiang (2012) also noted the number has so far risen to 18 following two reported cases of suicide with the last case having been reported on 14 June. However, to make mater worse, the company appears not to have learnt anything from the past suicides that have been committed in the company. This is because Moore (2012) recently reported another mass protest by least 150 Foxconn workers who were threatening to commit mass suicide in the company over poor working conditions in the company. Moore (2012) reported that the workers climbed on the rooftop of the factory in their numbers before threatening suicide. However, the management of the company pleaded with them before being coaxed away. Moore (2012) reveals that the protest began on 2 January 2012 following a move by the managers of Foxconn Company to shift close to 600 employee s to new production lines. However, the managers are reported to have made this move without providing enough training to the workers to be able to handle the new tasks they were being given (Ramzy 2012). In addition, one of the protesters said that as much as this was being done, they were being paid just piecemeal (McGrath 2012). The protesters stated that the salaries they were being offered by the company have made them poorer than they were before since it does not commensurate with the living standards of the

Evolution of the Nation Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Evolution of the Nation - Essay Example The New International Encyclopedia, Dodd,Mead and Company-New York. Copyright: 1902-1905 21 Volumes.] The causes are many. Firstly, the Railway Transportation hit rock bottom and locomotive transportation came to a stand-still. Secondly, fires engulfed a number of cities and people suffered immensely. In fact, many buildings were razed to the ground. Thirdly, the Coinage Act of 1783 brought about a huge change in the silver prices. Gold and Silver could no longer be mined. This not only affected the internal economy, but foreign relations as well. Debts of farmers increased and this affected the lower middle class. The Army Cavalry had to fight the Apaches and there was a huge emergency, when they were required to pull the wagons by hand. This had a big impact as well. In addition to this, the immense growth of the Railways saw most of the financial resources channelized to the sector, leaving the economy in the dumps. Big banks like Jay Cooke and Co. had invested majorly in the railways and couldn't meet the bonds they were supposed to clear. Besides all of this, the fiscal policies of the then President and the other entrepreneurs made things worse. So much so, that Jay Cooke and Co. went bankrupt. All these causes led to the Economic Depression of 1873, which not only affected the internal and external affairs of the United States. b. What caused the rise of American industry Initially, the American factories were run by using hydel power from the fast flowing rivers in Northern America. However, after the Civil War, rail links were laid between Southern and Northern America. Then, industrialisation, which was catching up in the rest of the world, took over the United States. This happened because of steam-powered manufacturing in factories, which succeeded water-powered factories. When the fast-flowing rivers were situated in Northern America, factories were located in the region. However, since steam-power was universal, the factories began to sprout everywhere, leading to industrialisation. Then, the first cotton industry came up, followed by wool processing. Mills came up everywhere and this initiated the first phase of industrialisation in America. Since Britain and the rest of the developed world were taking to industrialisation, America couldn't stay far behind and thus, industrialisation was brought about in the U.S, leading to the agricultural sector taking a backseat. c. What impacts did big business have on society, economics, and politics The Age of Industrialisation paved way for the establishment of big industrial houses. These houses grew by leaps and bounds and became establishments that help immense power and contributed immensely to the economy of America. These

Non-Uniform Essay Example for Free

Non-Uniform Essay I believe wearing a school uniform is an obstacle of children’s right to individuality and self-expression. Everyone is unique, and so making children wear a school uniform takes away their individuality and personality. Maybe this discourages them from performing to their fullest potential, and exceeding to higher levels in their subjects? I think most school uniforms are hideous and unappealing, and being forced to wear something that is not comfortable to a child is not good for their mental image. What happens if someone doesn’t like the colour green, red, yellow, grey or any other colour? If children were allowed to wear their own clothes at least they would be comfortable in it. In the case of younger children, if they got their only school jumper muddy, they wouldn’t have another one to wear the next day, which would mean they got told off at school. Uniforms make parents spend more money unnecessarily. They are expensive, and parents already have to spend money on clothes for children to wear outside school. If children didn’t have to wear a uniform, parents would definitely have more money to save up to spend on bills, rent, tax and VAT. People think that if children wore their own clothes, alliances and gangs would form according to social interests, fashion groups etc. I think these gangs or groups will still form even if everyone is wearing uniform; children would be bullied for other things except their clothes, maybe even encouraging racism. Because students are easily recognisable in school uniform, this may also encourage bullying and rivalry between pupils and schools.

Theories to explain narcissistic personality disorder

Theories to explain narcissistic personality disorder Theories are explanations of cause-effect relationship of human phenomenon. A well-developed theory presents a set of testable propositions stating the relationships of variables producing a phenomenon i.e. it should be capable of explaining the dynamics of human behaviour. All theories of human behaviour are not alike. They do not enjoy equal status both in dimensions and depth. Some are major theories, others are mini theories, and still others are simply concepts. For example, psychoanalytic theory and reinforcement theory are major theories; cognitive dissonance theory and attribution theory are mini theories; and complementary theory of attraction and narcissistic theory of personality disorder are simply concepts. We take up Freudian psychoanalytic theory first. Freuds (1910, 1911) first explicit formulation of narcissism conceived it is a normal phase of development standing midway between autoeroticism and object love. During this transitory period, initially diverse and unconnected autoerotic sensations were fused into what was experienced as ones body, which then become a single, unified love-object. In 1914 Freud aligned narcissism with libido theory and proposed that it ultimately matured and diffused into object relationships. Shortly thereafter he reformulated his thinking on the developmental sequence and spoke of the autoerotic phase as the primary narcissistic condition. This first phase became the initial repository of libido from which emerged not only the love of self but love in general. In time narcissism was conceived by Freud as a universal developmental process that continued through life but unfolded through se ­quential stages. He recognized that difficulties may arise in this normal, sequential progression. First, the re may be failures to advance from li ­bidinal self-love to object-love, and, second, pe ­culiarities may occur in the way the person expresses narcissistic love. Freud (l914/ I925) described this latter difficulty as follows: We have found, especially in persons whose libidinal development has suffered some disturbance, as in perverts and homosexuals that in their choice of love-object they have taken as their model not the mother; but their own selves. They are plainly seek ­ing themselves as love object and their type of object choice may be termed narcissistic. (p. 45) In this only major paper devoted exclusively to narcissism, Freud (1914) suggested that in certain casesnotably among perverts and ho ­mosexuals libidinal self-centeredness stems from the childs feeling that caretakers cannot be depended on to provide love reliably. Either re ­buffed by their parents or subjected to fickle and erratic attention (seductive one moment and dep ­recating the next) these children give up as far as trusting and investing in others as love-objects. Rather than rely on the capriciousness of others or risk their rejection, these youngsters avoid the lasting attachment they achingly desire and de ­cide instead that it is only themselves they can trust and therefore love. In light of current debates within psychoana ­lytic circles, it is important to note that the devel ­opmental origin of the term narcissism described here was only one of several concepts that Freud posited as the source of libidinal self-cathexis. Moreover, the paper was not written for the purpose of formulating either a narcissistic personal ­ity type or a narcissistic character structure. Rather, Freuds interest lay in exploring and elaborating variations in both the development and the nature of libidinal cathexis. As far as clinical syn ­dromes were concerned, he referred in this paper to characteristics observed among paraphrenics (paranoid schizophrenics), megalomaniacs, and hypochondriacs. When Freud wrote, for the first time in 1931, about narcissistic libidinal type, he de ­scribed this individual as follows: The main interest is focused on self-preservation; the type is independent and not easily overawed, à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦People of this type impress others, being personalities; it is on them that their fellow men are specially likely to lean; they readily as ­sume the role of leader, give a fresh stimulus to cultural development or break down existing con ­ditions. (p. 249) What is striking in this quote is Freuds charac ­terization of the narcissists strength and confi ­dence, especially since it contrasts so markedly with the low self-esteem, feelings of emptiness, pain, and depression that certain of his recent disci ­ples (Forman, 1975; Kohut, 1971) attribute to this personality, Disparities in characterizations such as these often arise as a consequence of shifts in Freuds formulations from one period to another: over his productive and long career. In this case, it can be traced to the fact that Freud identified sev ­eral origins of narcissistic self-cathexis, only one of which is the type of parental caprice and rejec ­tion that may lead to feelings of emptiness and low self-esteem. As evident from earlier excerpts, and as later elaborated further, Freuds description of the narcissistic libidinal type, brief though it is, corresponds much more closely to the DSM-III portrayal of the narcissistic personality than do several contemporary characterizations that trace their antecedents to either parental rebuff or unreliability. Relevant to this issue is a Freuds view that that narcissistic self-investment is more likely to be a prod ­uct of parental overvaluation than of parental devaluation. Moving back somewhat to the 1920s, we find three analytically oriented theorists who addressed the concept of a narcissistic personality. Wilhelm Reich claimed to have first formulated what he termed the phallic-narcissistic character at a Vienna Psychoanalytic Society meeting in 1926, although Waelder (1925) made reference to narcis ­sistic personality features in an earlier paper focusing on the mechanisms of the psychotic process. According to Kernberg (1967) narcissists present an unusual degree of self-ref ­erence in their interactions with other people, a great need to be loved and admired by others and a curious apparent contradiction between a very in ­flated concept of themselves and an inordinate need for tribute from others. Their emotional life is shallow. They experience little empathy for the feelings of others, they obtain very little enjoyment from life other than from the tributes they receive from others or from their own grandiose fantasies, and they feel restless and bored when external glit ­ter wears off and no new sources feed their self  ­regard. They envy others, tend to idealize some people from whom they expect narcissistic supplies, and to depreciate and treat with contempt those from whom they do not expect anything (often their former idols). In general, their relationships with other people are clearly exploitative and sometimes parasitic. It is as if they feel they have the right to control and possess others and to exploit them with ­out guilt feelings, and behind a surface which very often is charming and engaging, one senses coldness and ruthlessness. Very often such patients are considered to be dependent because they need so much tribute and adoration from others, but on a deeper level they are completely unable really to de ­pend on anybody because of their deep distrust and depreciation of other. (p. 655) Kernberg (1967) asserted that the haughty and grandiose constellation of behaviors that charac ­terizes the narcissist is a defense against the pro ­jection of oral rage that, in turn, stems from the narcissists incapacity to depend on inter ­nalized good objects. In this etiologic formula ­tion, Kernberg claimed that the experiential background of most narcissists includes chroni ­cally cold parental figures who exhibit either in ­difference or covert, but spitefully aggressive, attitudes toward their children. At the same time, the young, future narcissist is often found to pos ­sess some special talent or status within the fam ­ily, such as playing the role of genius or being the only child. This quality of specialness serves as a refuge, at first only temporarily but ultimately an often-returned-to haven that reli ­ably offsets the underlying feeling of having been unloved by the vengefully rejecting parent. Kernberg (1975) describes the following pointwise eleven characteristics of narcissistic personality: Excessive self absorption. Superficially smooth, appropriate and effective social adaptation covering profound distortions in internal relations with other people. Intense ambitiousness. Grandiose fantasies existing side by side with feelings of inferiority. Over dependence on external admiration and acclaim. Feelings of boredom and emptiness. Endless search for gratification of strivings for brilliance, wealth, power and beauty. Incapacity to love to be concerned or to be empathic toward others. Chronic uncertainty and dissatisfaction about oneself. Exploitativeness and ruthlessness toward others. Chronic, intense envy, and defenses against such envy e.g., devaluation, omnipotent central and narcissistic withdrawal. Kohuts Approach Kohuts (1971) views are more difficult to summa ­rize than those of Kernberg, perhaps as a conse ­quence of their greater originality. Despite having been written in esoteric, if not obscure, psychoanalytic jargon and having been formulated in an ingenious, if at times ponderous and tautological fashion, Kohuts work has attracted numerous disciples. Fortunately, a score of in ­terpreters have sought to elucidate his metapsy ­chological assertions, which many consider among the more imaginative advances in recent analytic theory (Forman, 1975; Gedo Gold ­berg, 1973; Palombo, 1976; Wolf, 1976). Kohut (1971) rejects the traditional Freudian and Kernbergian thesis that narcissistic self-investment re ­sults from a defensive withdrawal of object-love attachments following a pattern of chronic parental coldness or vengeful spite. This classical view con ­tends that narcissism is a result of developmental arrests or regressions to earlier points of fixation. Thus, the future narcissist, according to standard analytic metapsychology, regresses to or fails to progress through the usual developmental sequence of initial undifferentiated libido, followed by auto ­eroticism, narcissism, and, finally, object-love. It is not the content as such but the sequence of libidinal maturation that Kohut challenges. His clinical ob ­servations have led him to assert that the primitive narcissistic libido has its own developmental line and sequence of continuity into adulthood. That is, it does not fade away by becoming transformed into object-libido, as contended by classical theo ­ri sts, but unfolds into its own set of mature narcis ­sistic processes and structures. In healthy form, for example, these processes might include behaviors such as humor and creativity; similarly, and most significantly, it is through this narcissistic develop ­mental sequence that the cohesive psychic structure of self ultimately emerges. Pathology in narcissistic development, according to Kohut, occurs as a consequence of failures to in ­tegrate one of two major spheres of self-maturation, the grandiose self and the idealized parental image. Confronted by realistic shortcomings that undermine early feelings of grandiose omnipotence, or subsequently recognizing the equally illusory na ­ture of the idealized powers they have attributed to their parents, these children must find a way to overcome their disappointments so as not to fragment If disillusioned, rejected, or experienc ­ing cold and unempathic care at the earliest stages of self-development, serious pathology, such as psy ­chotic or borderline states, will occur. Trauma or disappointment at a later phase will have somewhat different repercussions depending on whether the difficulty centered on the development of the grandiose self or on the parental imago. In the for ­mer, the child will fail to develop the sense of ful ­fillment and self-confiden ce that comes from I feeling worthwhile and valued; as a consequence, these needs will split off and result in the persis ­tent seeking of narcissistic recognition through adulthood. Along the second line of self-develop ­ment, children who are unable to idealize their par ­ents because of the latters indifference or rejection will feel devastated, depressed, and empty. Through adulthood, they will seek idealized parental surro ­gates who, inevitably, will fail to live up to the om ­nipotent powers the narcissists hoped to find within them. In their desperate search for an ideal that is greater than themselves, they are often led to be ­ have in a weak and self-effacing manner that will enable others to overshadow them. What is notable is that Kohuts is a developmen ­tal theory of self and not a personality characterization. Nevertheless, it leads to a clinical picture that at variance with those of Freud, Kernberg, and the DSM..III and IV. The features that emerge from Kohuts descriptions have been summarized by Forman (1975). Listed among the more promi ­nent are (a) low self-esteem, (b) tendencies toward periodic hypochondriasis, and (c) feelings of emptiness or deadness. Bursten (1973) has sought to distinguish four personality variants within the narcissistic grouping, speaking of them as the craving, paranoid, ma ­nipulative, and phallic types, He refers to the craving variety as clinging, demanding, often pouting and whining (p. 290). Those labelled paranoid narcissists correspond with general descrip ­tions of the paranoid personality. Manipulative narcissists encompass a large segment of what are referred to as antisocial personalities in the DSM-II. The fourth subtype, phallic narcissists, describes patients who are exhibitionistic, reckless, cold, and arrogant. In seeking to contrast borderline from narcissistic personalities, Bursten makes reference to the distinction as bearing on the cohesiveness of self. Elaborating this distinction, he speaks of the narcissistic personality as comprisingà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦a group of people whose sense of self is suffi ­ciently cohesive that they do not suffer from these types of fragility problems, The striking feature of this cluster of personality types centers around self-esteem, They maintain an intense interest in themselves and harbor both grandiose fantasies, al ­beit not to a delusional extent, and the need to as ­sociate with powerful figures, When one frustrates their vanity or their need for an ideal parent, they become dysfunctional-they suffer severe dis ­appointment, depression, rage, and hypochondria ­sis, They may even have fleeting episodes of confusion, but such mental disintegration is very brief and does not have the prominence and the persistence of people whose personalities fall in the borderline cluster. To be noted, cohesiveness of their sense of self is maintained by the intensity focus on themselves. (Bursten 1973, p. 414). Drawing on Burstens conceptions of self ­ cohesiveness, Adler (1981) elaborates further on the continuum of narcissistic and borderline personalities: Borderline patients have serious difficulties in maintaining stable self-object transferences as well as a sense of self-cohesivenessà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ Patients with narcissistic personality disorders on the upper end of the continuum are able to main ­tain self-cohesiveness, except for transient fragmentation. These fragmentation experiences can often be examined in the therapeutic situation with ­out serious disruptionà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ Finally, patients with a narcissistic personality disorder do not experience the feelings of aloneness experienced by borderline patients. From the borderline patient capable of a serious regression at one end of the continuum to the patient with a stable narcissistic personality disorder at the other end, we can evaluate our patients, using cohesiveness of the self; self-object transference stability, and the achievement of aloneness. (pp. 47-48) Coopers Approach Cooper (1984, 1988, 1989) has written exten ­sively on different facets of the narcissistic char ­acter, describing aspects of its development, the central role of an integrated self-image, and its in ­tertwining with masochistic like tendencies. In each sphere, his Insights have been unusually as ­tute and his themes both scholarly and eloquently expressed. Speaking of the importance of an integrated self-image, Cooper (1984) writes: A vital aspect of normal self-development is the achievement of an internalized, integrated self image (p.46) Different workers have referred to these integrative capacities and failures .in a variety of ways Kohut spoke of enfeebled selves lacking co ­hesion, Kernberg speaks of splits in self-represen ­tations. Erikson referred to identity diffusion, and winnicott spoke of the false Self. Under many different headings, every investigator in this area has emphasized the core importance of the cre ­ation of a unified, coherent, integrated i nner sense of self. (p. 47) Describing the intermeshing of narcissistic and masochistic pathology, Cooper (1989) comments: Frustrations of narcissistic strivings lead to repara ­tive attempts to maintain omnipotent fantasiesà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦.Self esteem takes on a pathological quality when an individual begins to derive satisfaction from mas ­tery of his own humiliations. A pattern of deriv ­ing pleasure out of displeasure has begun. This pattern provides the groundwork for the later clini ­cal picture of . . . the injustice collector. These individuals are basically narcissistic- ­masochistic characters and their analysis regularly reveals that narcissistic defenses of grandiosity and entitlement are used to ward off masochistic tenden ­cies toward self-abasement and self-damage. (p. 314) Taking issue with the descriptively narrow for ­mulations of the narcissistic personality in the DSM, Cooper and Sacks (1991) offer the following comments: The diagnostic features are a caricature not a clinical picture. The core issue is a conflict over self-esteem in defense of self-inflation. This grandiosity is more or less fragile or becomes more or less pathologically unrealistic when threats to self-esteem and self-representation .are present in the form of criticism tasks beyond ones capacity, etc. These patients often have a slippery ethical sys ­tem, not out of intent to exploit, but out of the need to hide flaws and keep their defects secret. Narcissistic characters also have frequent paranoid tendencies, again arising out of the need to hide im ­perfections. The sense of needing to feel perfect is as much a part of the picture as grandiosity, which is an overt characteristic. (p.3) Akhtar and Thomsans Approach In a series of particularly insightful papers, Akhtar and Thomson (1982) have sought to bring the scattered literature on the narcissi into a multifaceted profile, including their characteristic overt and covert features in six areas of psychoso ­cial functioning. In a recent book, Akhtar (1992) indicates that narcissists appear overtly grandiose, exploitative, seductive and articulate. Covertly, however, they are doubt-ridden, envious of others; chronically bored corruptible, and unable to love. Akhtars format for differentiating the overt from the covert is an extremely helpful distinction owing to the disparity that exists among many narcissists between their self-presentations and their intrapsychic doubts. Gundersons Approach Another important contributor in the narcissistic personality literature is Gunderson (1983; Gunderson Ronningstam, 1991, Gunderson. Ronningstam, 1991 Smith. In summarizing the features of the narcissist, he includes several criteria (Gunderson Ronningstam, 1991): Narcissistic patients are usually talented and have had sustained periods of successful academic employment, or creative achievement, This is frequently a source for their sense of superiority, It is also a reason why they are more apt to appear in private practice settings than in either institutions or clinics. Narcissistically disturbed patients reported histories in which they have reacted with hostility and suspicion to the perception of other peoples envy toward them. They believe that because of envy other peoples envy toward them. They believe that because of envy other people have set out to hurt them spoil their work, diminish their achievements, or criticize them behind their back. Feelings of devaluation/or contempt may occur toward many people but are especially evident to ­ward anyone why they believe has betrayed or oth ­erwise disappointed them. These become sustained attitudes of dislike or dismissal. (pp. 114-115) Stones Approach Another astute contemporary theorist. Stone (1993) further amplifies the divergent back ­grounds and psychic states of the narcissist as the following: Narcissistic traits can develop, curiously, when there are deviations from ideal rearing on either side: pampering or neglecting; expecting too much or too little. Excessive praise of a child . . . can give rise to . . . feelings of superiority, of being destined for greatness. . . . But compensatory feel ­ings of a similar kind can arise where there has been parental indifference and neglect, for in this situation a child may develop an exaggerated de ­sire for greatness by way of shoring up a sense of self-worth in the absence of the ordinary parental praise. Whereas the overly praised child may regard himself as better than he really is, the neglected child may present a dual picture: an outward sense of (compensatory) specialness cov ­ering an inward sense worthlessness. (p. 260) Learys Approach: Timothy Leary (1957), a disciple of Homey and others of the social and interpersonal school of thought, extended their notions to what he terms adjustment through competition. Leary speaks of this pattern as demonstrating a competitive self-confident narcissism, described in the follow ­ing quotes: In its maladaptive extreme it becomes a smug, cold, selfish, exploitive social role. In this case the adaptive self-confidence and independence be ­come exaggerated into a self-oriented rejection of othersà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ The individuals feel most secure when they are independent of other peopleà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦The narcissist putsà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦distance between himself and others- wants to be independent of and superior to the other one. Dependence is terrifying. (p. 332) The second group of . . . patients . . . are those whose self-regard has received a decent defeat. They often report the most colorful and fearful symptomatology . . . The superficial impression of depression or dependence is deceptive. Psychologi ­cal testing or perceptive interviewing will reveal that the patients are not as anxious or depressed as they appear. What becomes evident is a narcissistic concern with their own reactions, their own sensi ­tivities. The precipitating cause for their entrance to the clinic is usually a shift in their life situation, which causes frustration or a blow to their pride. (p. 335) Benjamins Approach Following the interpersonal perspective of Leary are a number of interpersonally oriented theorists who drafted their model of various personality disorders in highly fruitful work. Notable among this group is Benjamin (1993), who has formulated a complex analysis of the narcis ­sistic character. In her recent work, she describes this personality as follows: There is extreme vulnerability to criticism or being ignored, together with a strong wish for love, sup ­port, and admiring deference from others. The baseline position involves noncontingent love of self and presumptive control of others. If the support is withdrawn, or if there is any evidence of lack of perfection, the self-concept degrades to severe self-criticism. Totally lacking in empathy, these persons treat others with contempt, and hold the self above and beyond the fray. (p. 147) [The narcissist] expects to be given whatever he or she wants and needs, no matter what it might mean to others. This does not include active decep ­tion, but rather is a consequence of the belief that he or she is entitled. For example, the NPD would not set out to con a little old lady out of her life savings; however, if she offered them, the NPD would accept such a gift without reflection about its impact on her. [He/She] will expect great dedication, overwork, and heroic performance from the people associated with him or her without giving any thought to the impact of this pattern in their lives. (p. 150) Beck and Freemans Approach Contributing the insightful analysis of the nar ­cissistic personality from a cognitive point of view. Beck and Freeman (1990) provide the following proposal concerning this individuals dis ­torted belief system: The core narcissistic beliefs are as follows: Since I am special, I deserve special dispensations, privi ­leges, and prerogatives, Im superior to others and they should acknowledge this, Im above the rules. Their main strategies consist of doing whatever they can to reinforce their superior status and to expand their personal domain. Thus, they may seek glory, wealth, position, power, and prestige as a way of continuously reinforcing their superior image. Their main affect is anger when other people do not accord them the admiration or respect that they believe they are entitled to, or otherwise thwart them in some way. They are prone to becom ­ing depressed, however, if their strategies are foiled. (Beck Freeman 1990. p. 50) Narcissistic Personality Disorder can be conceptualized as stemming from a combination of dysfunctional schemas about the self, the world, and the future. The early founda ­tion of these schemas is developed by direct and indirect messages from parents, siblings, and sig ­nificant others, and by experiences that mold beliefs about personal uniqueness and self-impor ­tanceà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ Narcissists regard themselves as spe ­cial, exceptional, and justified in focusing exclusively on personal gratification; they expect admiration, deference, and compliance from oth ­ers, and their expectations of the future focus on the realization of grandiose fantasies. At the same time, beliefs about the importance of other peoples feelings are conspicuously lacking. Be ­havior is affected by deficits in cooperation and reciprocal social interaction, as well as by ex ­cesses in demanding, self-indulgent, and some ­times aggressive behaviors. (p. 238). In writing theories of narcissistic personality disorder, the stereotyped pattern was not adopted. Rather, attempt was made to present the view of clinicians, theoreticians and social thinkers. Highlights are given below: Psycho dynamically oriented theorists conclude that the narcissistic disorders are the product of emotionally unhealthy parent child relationship. The cold and callous mother/father produce a sense of rejection and unworthiness in child with he result that such a child spends his life defending himself that he is good and loved child and he deserves admiration and attention form all others around him. Object-relation theorists are basically psychodynamically oriented. They are as a matter of fact both derivatives and deviationists. Since they give much more importance to mother-child relationship than what is commonly given to parent-child relationship, they are described as object-relation (mother-child relation) theorists. According to object-relation theorists, negative relationship between mother-child relationship has negative impact on the growing negative personality of the child. Generally such a child develops a grandiose self-image, consequently, illusion of self-sufficiency and freedom from parental restriction is reported. Such a child is much prone to narcissistic personality tendencies. Those who give importance both to behavioural and cognitive aspects or personality development do not approve the extreme sides of child-rearing practices. They approve neither too much love nor too much negligence. Extremity of approach to the child is held to be a responsible factor in the development of narcissistic disorder. In support of this proposition, first born/the only born child who is generally over-loved is said to be prone to the development of narcissistic tendencies. Socio-cultural theorists hold that in a society where freedom of living life in the way parents are living is not questioned, adolescents feel free to adopt individualistic life-pattern. In other words, narcissism is held to have link with fading interest in ones culture. That is, where individualism is preferred to collectivism, where new values are getting recognition, narcissistic lifestyle is very likely to gain strong ground. It may be summarized that articles and books have been written about narcissistic personality disorders from two opposite perspectives. The first perspective is psycho, analytic theory which suggests that personalities are compensating for inadequate affection and approval from their parents in early childhood (Kernberg, 1975; Kohut, 1972). The second perspective is social learning perspective (Millon, 1969, 1981) which holds that narcissistic personality disorders are the product of home life, created by parents who have inflated views of their childrens intelligence, achievements, and beauty of face, figure and complexion.

Qualitative Research in Geography: An Overview

Qualitative Research in Geography: An Overview Geography seems to be one of those disciplines that shifts its interest from one perspective to another without necessarily changing its central research questions. Qualitative methods have long been used within the discipline of human geography. However, it was not until recently that they have become sufficiently established that some consider them to have gone too far (Marshall, 2001), as the last decade has undoubtedly seen an expansion in qualitative work in both terms of the types of work and the topics addressed. This essay will address the fact that we have moved from a period when papers were prefaced with legitimisations of qualitative work to a time when we are seeing debates within qualitative methods over establishing orthodox approaches and standards. This will be done thorough a reflection on current re-evaluations of the most common methods – mainly interviewing and ethnography –and where they are developing. Qualitative approaches have long had a strong association with cultural, social and radical geographies, in part as a reaction to quantified social geography. For example, in terms of the geographies of gender, feminist critiques of masculinist approaches were picked up and an argument about empathy amplified the concern with qualitative methods. This also could be reversed, labelling qualitative work with a feminist `softness as opposed to hard science. This debate though, has matured, from quick over-assumptions that qualitative work was generally `soft, to considering its weaknesses and strengths in a more balanced fashion (Raju et al., 2000). Qualitative research has also had to wrestle with the argument that simply listening to, giving voice to and representing the silenced is not enough. There is now a maturity about qualitative methods in geography, but also that there comes with this a certain conventionality of approaches. In delving deeper into this discussion it is important to consider the continued debates about the framing of qualitative, and especially ethnographic, work, after the so-called ‘crisis of representation’ and work in the performative vein, as qualitative research is often torn between a constructivist approach and a longing to convey a ‘real’ sense of the field. Geography has followed anthropology through these debates on ethnography and representation, responding to the question ‘how is unruly experience transformed into an authoritive written account?’ (Besio and Butz, 2004: 433). There has been a backlash against what are described as ‘excesses’ of reflexivity in some responses to this question. For instance, Bourdieu (2003) called for a renewed ‘objectivity’ via structural reflexivity in a participant observation. He argues for a personal understanding of reflexivity, to address the academic and social structures that drive research agendas, which for geography in non-western settings would show how ‘academic research practices †¦ have relied extensively on remnant colonial discourses and structures of domination for access to research subjects, efficacy of data collection and legitmation’ (Bourdieu, 2003: 288). Katz points out that ‘in the field and in their private readings, ethnographers share a culture of evaluation which is masked by the fractious, even righteously indignant commentary that characterises rhetoric about ethnographic writing’ (2002: 64). Katz argues that ‘as ethnographers, we must do more than claim: we need to show’ (2002: 68). However, Besio and Butz (2004) offer an alternate reflexivity, taking Marie Louse Pratt’s definition of autoethnography. Where rather than being about reflecting on one’s own practice it refers to the subject or dominated people’s self-representation to colonisers’ terms while remaining faithful to their own self-understandings. This tradition is not just framing local knowledges; Gold (2002) looks to a globalised religious movement that is using its self-representations and indeed academic work in its self-constitution. This makes the important point of not separating ethnography from writing – not privileging oral research over written material but rather seeing productions of various representations as moments for situated reading and interpretations by all actors. If we thus move to models of representation as intervention rather than corresponding to prior reality, we might look for new ways of producing and judging truth. Besio and Butz (2004) provide their own critique of transcultural representation. They point out that this is not an automatic process but something that has to be worked at and may only be achieved in specific circumstances. The apocalyptic tones of this debate seem particular to anthropology with its habitual [re-] definition of fieldwork as residential participant observation – as opposed to the more plural practices of qualitative methods in geography. These reflexive studies raise questions about how the usual methods fit these new topics. Meth (2003) suggests that reflective, discursive diaries first offer a ‘discontinuous writing’, allowing people to change their minds and priorities, meaning that they are not dominated by what happened in the morning before an interview. Moreover, they offer different and possibly easier routes for respondents to express themselves, especially their emotions, and reflect upon their own world-views. Alternately, Harper (2002) provides a history of the ‘photo-elicitation’ interview where pictures push people’s normal frames of reference to form the basis for deep discussions of values. The use of pictures in presenting material raises the issue of how visual and verbal relate to each other, whether they could speak to different ways of knowing rather than just being treated as different kinds of evidence (Rose, 2003). As Basio and Butz (2004: 444) note, the ‘visual in ethnographic has generally not been used intrinsically for interpreting and representing ethnographic data and culture’ but either as just more data or subordinated to a textualising metaphor. Whatmore (2003: 89) notes ‘the spoken and written word constitute the primary form of ‘data’’, whereas the world speaks in many voices through many different types of things that ‘refuse to be reinvented as univocal witnesses’. This comes back to the heart of a new kind of programmatic writing which is ‘suggestive of nothing less than a drive towards a new methodological avant garde that will radically refigure what it is to do research’ (Latham, 2 003: 2000). It is normally at this point, as we engage artistic approaches, that policy-orientated researchers voice concerns about a turn away from commitments to engaging ordinary people and offering them a voice. This seems to me to be a false opposition of committed, ‘real world’ versus ‘inaccessible’, theoretical research. It might be a good idea to end this report by returning our attention to the rich yet ambiguous and messy world of doing qualitative research. As Thrift notes: ‘Through fieldwork is often portrayed as a classical colonial encounter in which the fieldworker lords it over her/his respondents, the fact of the matter is that it usually does not feel much like that at all. More often it is a curious mixture of humiliations and intimidations mixed with moments of insight and even enjoyment’ Thrift, 2003: 106), where knowledge is coproduced ‘by building fragile and temporary commonplaces’ (2003: 108, see also Tillman-Healy, 2003). This seems to be a good summary of the qualitative work currently being done in human geography. It remains inspired by ethical and political concerns, and practitioners are deeply concerned by the moral and political implications of their work. Some of the old taken-for-granteds about fieldwork have been replaced, but it is instructive to wonder what questions have not been asked. While researchers have struggled to populate their work with real subjects rather than research objects, there have never been fewer attempts to talk about materialities in practice if not in topic. However, it does not seem that this entails a rejection of work that has been, is being and will be done, nor a turn from engaged and practical work; but that it does raise issues about the investment in specific notions of what ‘research’ is, what evidence is and how the two relate to each other. References Basio, K. Butz, D. (2004) Autoethnography: a limited endorsement. Professional Geographer, 56, 432 – 438. Bourdieu, P. (2003) Participant observation. Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute, NS9, 281 – 294. Gold, L. (2002) Positionality, worldview and geographical research: a personal account of a research journey. Ethics, Place and Environment, 5, 223 – 237. Harper, D. (2002) Talking about pictures: a case for photo-elicitation. Visual Studies, 17, 13 – 26. Katz, J. (2001) From how to why: on luminous description and casual reference in ethnography (part 2). Ethnography, 3, 63 – 90. Latham, A. (2003) Research, performance, and doing human geography: some reflections on the diary-photograph, diary-interview method. Environment and Planning A, 35, 1993 – 2018. Marshall, G. (2001) Addressing a problem of capacity. Social Sciences, 47, 1 2. Meth, P. (2003) Entries and omissions: using solicited diaries in geographical research. Area, 35, 195 – 205. Raju, S., Atkins, P., Townsend, J. Kumar, N. (2000) Atlas of women and men in India, London, International Books. Rose, G. (2003) On the need to ask how, exactly, is geography visual? Antipode, 35, 212 – 221. Thrift, N. (2003) Practising ethics, in Whatmore, S. Using social theory, London, Sage, 105 – 121. Tillman-Healy, L. (2003) Friendship as method. Qualitative Inquiry, 9, 729 – 749.

The Minutes Pass :: Personal Narrative, Autobiographical Essay

The Minutes Pass I sit at a round desk for eight hours eight bucks an hour and doodle. The phone rings once or twice every few hours (if I’m lucky, that is) and the population of people over 50 seems to rise by the minute. I sit with my legs crossed, sandal-less, wearing â€Å"work† shoes and my â€Å"work† smile. I enjoy the company I find myself in, even if it is a good book and a nice thought of myself at the beach. So I play tunes in my head, sing songs of glory under my breath, even snack on crackers when my stomach grumbles. Right now I’ve got â€Å"Riders on the Storm† playing along in my head Riders on the storm riders on the storm Into this world we’re born into this world we’re throw It’s kinda funny, seeing as how among the massive song files the Doors have recorded, I usually find this one to tickle my fancy the least, though always hear it up on the radio, overplayed in time. I mean don’t get me wrong - great song, better than most - but as far as the Doors go, I find the song rather mundane. It has become accepted by the public, merely because it’s too far out of grasp for ordinary people to actually determine its true and logical meaning. Of course, they’re all oblivious to this. Only true Americans, and maybe some Europeans, can come to some sort of conclusion within themselves about the truth in things of small importance. Europeans I say, because they live within their culture, see the past and their history. Most Americans on the other hand, live in the present, see only BIG and eat at McDonald’s. I say â€Å"Americans† because we’re the home of the free, the home of the brave, all that good stuff. Every other country looks up to us for one reason or another – we are the Mother country. Only it takes a true American to actually comment on the facts that really come into play while living in an unmistakable society. I mean kids are still hungry, households are disrupted, yet there’s a working world out there for us all. Jobs should be out there, and I think they may be.

Media: A Strong Influence on Body Image and Disordered Eating Essay

It would be incredibly naive to believe that our American society is not extremely preoccupied with the quest for thinness. Everywhere you go, (i.e. grocery stores, bookstores, fitness centers, theaters) images of both men and women who society has deemed "beautiful" are deliberately posted in order to sell a product, entice an audience, or merely to gain attention. Even in an age where the rates for obesity are increasing at a rapid pace, it seems as though our society still idolizes the chiseled, lean man and the ultra thin woman. Many would argue that Hollywood and media has a definite force on creating a standard of beauty for its viewers. Many adolescents and young adults are feeling it very difficult to achieve and maintain this specific body and weight "ideal". It should make one wonder whether or not this emphasis on the external appearance has a played a part in the increasing numbers of men and women who are unhappy with their bodies and who as a result, decide to make extr eme changes in their dieting and exercise routines. It has been suggested that mass media may be partly to blame to the drastic increase in the prevalence of eating disturbances in our nation (Anschutz, Van Strien, & Engels, 2008). Many believe that there is an ever-widening gap between what the media portrays as the ideal body size and weight and what women's actual body size is. As a result, after continually viewing images of people whose size is almost impossible to achieve, both men and women are increasingly feeling bad about their bodies and report dissatisfaction. Thornton and Moore assert, "according to the social comparison theory, people tend to evaluate their own appearance more negatively after viewing highly attractive individuals" (as... ...m" women who appear on most of today's television media are very rarely is the size of the average American women. Instead, television most often portrays women who have had a number of children and yet still are maintain a very slim, size two wearing, frame. Certain communication theories state that exposure to various media outlets can lead viewers to begin to accept the media portrayals of beauty as reality. Some researchers believe that this constant exposure creates in women the belief that looking like the seen images is expected and central to attractiveness. Lavine and Harrison (2004) assert, "media presentations of women’s bodies are so skewed, showcasing an ideal that is out of reach to most, adopting this reality may lead to decreased satisfaction with one’s own and to behaviors aimed at meeting this ideal" (as cited in Grabe, Ward, & Hyde, 2008). Media: A Strong Influence on Body Image and Disordered Eating Essay It would be incredibly naive to believe that our American society is not extremely preoccupied with the quest for thinness. Everywhere you go, (i.e. grocery stores, bookstores, fitness centers, theaters) images of both men and women who society has deemed "beautiful" are deliberately posted in order to sell a product, entice an audience, or merely to gain attention. Even in an age where the rates for obesity are increasing at a rapid pace, it seems as though our society still idolizes the chiseled, lean man and the ultra thin woman. Many would argue that Hollywood and media has a definite force on creating a standard of beauty for its viewers. Many adolescents and young adults are feeling it very difficult to achieve and maintain this specific body and weight "ideal". It should make one wonder whether or not this emphasis on the external appearance has a played a part in the increasing numbers of men and women who are unhappy with their bodies and who as a result, decide to make extr eme changes in their dieting and exercise routines. It has been suggested that mass media may be partly to blame to the drastic increase in the prevalence of eating disturbances in our nation (Anschutz, Van Strien, & Engels, 2008). Many believe that there is an ever-widening gap between what the media portrays as the ideal body size and weight and what women's actual body size is. As a result, after continually viewing images of people whose size is almost impossible to achieve, both men and women are increasingly feeling bad about their bodies and report dissatisfaction. Thornton and Moore assert, "according to the social comparison theory, people tend to evaluate their own appearance more negatively after viewing highly attractive individuals" (as... ...m" women who appear on most of today's television media are very rarely is the size of the average American women. Instead, television most often portrays women who have had a number of children and yet still are maintain a very slim, size two wearing, frame. Certain communication theories state that exposure to various media outlets can lead viewers to begin to accept the media portrayals of beauty as reality. Some researchers believe that this constant exposure creates in women the belief that looking like the seen images is expected and central to attractiveness. Lavine and Harrison (2004) assert, "media presentations of women’s bodies are so skewed, showcasing an ideal that is out of reach to most, adopting this reality may lead to decreased satisfaction with one’s own and to behaviors aimed at meeting this ideal" (as cited in Grabe, Ward, & Hyde, 2008).

The land of Palestine

The land of Palestine is considered holy for the Muslims and the Jews, the Jews consider it as the promised homeland from god. The conflict between the Israelis and the Palestinians dates back to the time of the Ottoman Empire in the 1880s. At that time, the Muslim Arabs predominantly inhabited the land of Palestine where as the Arab Christians and the Jews were present in smaller groups. It was the idea of the Promised Land, which inspired the Jews to come and settle in the land of Palestine.It was in Europe where the early Zionist movement started which promoted the idea of Jews having a â€Å"state of their own† which should be in the Land of Israel (Palestine). In 1897 the World Zionist Organization was founded by Herlz â€Å"declared that the aim of Zionism was to establish ‘a national home for the Jewish people secured by public law'†¦ this idea began more pronounced among Jews and got immense support from the West because of the riots against Jews which prov ed murderous for the Jews .The mass killings of the Jews by the Nazis during World War II in which about six millions Jews were cruelly murdered under the rule of Hitler calling it the Final Solution of the Jewish Question. These killing by the Nazis intensified the international support for the creation of a homeland for the Jews. The Zionist movement overlooked a major factor before promoting the idea of a state in Palestine, which was that another people, the Muslim Arabs, already occupied it.More interestingly, the West and Europe also ignored this crucial problem this was due to the fact that idea of a Jewish state attracted the British for religious as well as practical purposes. It was 1917 in which the British army took control of Palestine from the Ottoman Empire and in the same year Balfour, declaration was passed which was seen as a promise made by Britain to the Jews for further increasing its efforts for a Jewish national home in Palestine. A point that is to be noted h ere is that after the second world war Jews made a 33% of the total population in Palestine where as in 1922 they were a mere 11%.They saw the increasing number of Jews in their homeland as a conspiracy against them and their homeland the Jews were looked upon as outsiders. They also became greatly influenced by the European anti-Semitism and adopted many ideas and claims of Holocaust deniers as well as the anti-Zionist ideology of radical Jewish intellectuals. The newly created UN suggested dividing the country into two one for the Arabs and the other part for the Jews, and Jerusalem was to be assigned as a corpus separatum meaning an international city.The Jewish community accepted the plan as they had nothing to lose, in fact they were at last achieving what they have always wanted, and the Palestinians on the other hand saw it as a division of their homeland. Shortly after this suggested UN plan, a war between the Palestinians and the Jews started in the beginning of the Decembe r of 1947. The condition worsened in January when the Arab Liberation Army and help from Egypt came in, in the form of Abd al-Qadir al-Husayni who intervened with several hundred of his men of the Jaysh al-Jihad al-Muqaddas.The Jewish authorities were funded by sympathizers in US and greatly assisted by Stalin. This war also marks the massacre of the Arabs by the Jewish army and the expulsion of about 250000 Palestinians to leave their country and take refuge in the neighboring countries. More successful Jewish offensives created a united front around Jerusalem. The Jews declared the state of Israel on 14 May 1948 exactly a day before the British Mandate of Palestine was to be expired, furthermore its immediate acceptance by the Soviet Union, the United States, and other Western countries, enraged the Arab States greatly.`Therefore over the next few days the newly created state was attacked by the combine forces of Lebanon, Syria, Iraq and Egypt, the state which has taken the right of the Arab homeland and in way this proves to be right too because it was the Jews who were the immigrants. This action was declared as an illegal aggression by the US and the Soviet Union whereas China backed the Arab cause. Volunteers from both the United States and Canada supported the Israeli army. The outcome of the war was a disaster for the Arab States and the Israeli forces not only managed to protect their territory but also expanded their holdings.In 1949 Israel signed peace treaties with the Arab states and the new borders now was 50% more than what the UN partition plan proposed. Egypt controlled the hold of the Gaza Strip and the West Bank was under the control of Tran Jordan. War resulted in the displacement of around 711,000 Palestinians from their homes, a proposed figure by the UN. Although a UN resolution was passed which allowed the refugees to return home but somehow the resolution was completely ignored which created the major Palestinian Refugee Crisis and the West too failed too respond.At last the dream of Zionism was achieved even though it marked a historic change in the state of the Jews i. e. the former â€Å"oppressed were now the oppressors† and as in the future the further killing and massacre of the Palestinians, including women and children will confirm the authenticity of the statement. Literature Review: Avi Shalaim wrote in his book, The politics of partition, 1921-1951: King Abdullah, the Zionists, and Palestine, â€Å"The clash between Arabs and Jews in Palestine is one of the deepest, gravest, and most protracted international conflicts of modern times.It is difficult to imagine more bitter enmity than that between the Arabs and Jews during the decades leading up to and following the emergence of the State of Israel. Indeed, the Arab-Israeli conflict has sometimes been described as a ‘pure' conflict, that is to say one in which the interests of the two prot- agonists are completely and irreconcilably oppose d. † For years now countless tragedies have been encountered on both sides, the majority of which the Palestinians have encountered which includes the ruthless killing of even children by the Israeli forces and the demolition of the Palestinian houses.The Palestinians on the other hand reply to this kind of Israeli atrocities by any available means this may include rocket attacks on Jewish settlements or suicide bombings. Palestinians are constantly trying to get this territory back by any means possible, and then come the issue of the Palestinian refugees who despite having their own homeland are being forced to live in neighboring countries because Israel refuses to acknowledge them. The international community and the UN have criticized Israel countless times on target killings and human rights violation but Israel seems adamant.The only way through this conflict as the international community or the West saw was to provide the Palestinian with a homeland and to persuade Is rael to leave the Arab territories. There had been treaties and accords for this purpose over the past many years, the first prominent among them were Camp David Accords which was initiated by the President of US Jimmy Carter. The accord was agreed between the President of Egypt and the prime minister of Israel Menachem Begin. Two agreements were signed between Egypt and Israel the framework consisted of three parts.The first part outlined to establish a self governing authority in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip and to implement the UN resolution 242, which called for â€Å"the establishment of a just and lasting peace in the Middle East† to be achieved by â€Å"the application of both the following principles:†. â€Å"Withdrawal of Israeli armed forces from territories occupied in the recent conflict† and: â€Å"Termination of all claims or states of belligerency†. The second part of the agreement was concerned about the relations between Israel and Eg ypt.The third part defined to principles upon which Israel was supposed to improve its relations with neighboring Arab countries. Egyptian sovereignty was to be exercised on the internationally recognized border between Egypt and the mandated Palestine. The withdrawal of Israeli forces from Sinai and the use of airfields by Israel al-Arish, Rafah, Ras en-Naqb, and Sharm el-Sheikh for civilian purposes only. The right of free passage by ships of Israel through the Gulf of Suez and the Suez Canal based on the Constantinople Convention of 1888 applying to all nations.The Strait of Tiran and Gulf of Aqaba are international waterways to be open to all nations for unimpeded and non suspend able freedom of navigation and over flight. The construction of a highway between the Sinai and Jordan near Eilat with guaranteed free and peaceful passage by Egypt and Jordan; and the stationing of military forces were also agreed upon in the accord. The signing of this agreement triggered enough hatre d for Sadat in the Arab world that he was assassinated as he was seen as a traitor to the Palestinian cause.Israel greatly benefited from this accord as compared to Egypt because peace on the border meant that the Israeli forces could now lower their alert level. The peace agreement was also seen as an agreement between the Israelis and the President of Egypt only because his people or the rest of the Arab world, which his assassination confirmed, did not share his views. Perhaps the most notable step in the peace process was the Oslo process in 1993, in which a framework for the future relations between the Israelis and the Palestinians were worked out.A US president, Bill Clinton this time, PLO’s Chairman Yasser Arafat representing Palestine and Israel’s Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin representing the Israelis, again initiated this. This accord provided the creation of a Palestinian authority, which was to be responsible for the administration of territory assigned und er its control. This accord also called for the withdrawal of Israeli forces from some parts of Gaza and the West Bank. Both sides accepted territorial compromise as the basis for the settlement of their long and better conflict.The Oslo accord was a great breakthrough for Israel, a number of Arab states thought about establishing diplomatic relations with Israel after PLO’s recognition of Israel. The Arab League too debated upon lifting of economic sanctions from Israel, which have been in place since the creation of Israel. Every thing changed for Israel and its neighboring Arab countries after the Oslo accord. Still after the Oslo process, the expansions of settlements continued and hence further disturbing the already worsening economic conditions.There fore creating doubts, frustration, and thereby causing a drop in the support for the Oslo agreement. The agreement has five chapters, which consist of thirty-one articles, seven annexes, and nine attached maps. The most im portant part of this agreement was the recognition of Palestinian Interim Self- Government Authority. The agreement also provided a safe passage of transport and person between the Gaza strip and the West Bank, it refrained each sides from any kind of hostile propaganda against each other.Palestinian Police was given the authority to be established and operate in coalition with the Israeli forces. The agreement also outlined the plan for the transfer of power from Israel to the Palestinian authorities. The agreement divided the territory into three areas Area A which was supposed to be under the control of Palestinian authority, Area B comprised both of the Palestinian and the Israeli authorities, the Palestinian was to control civilian authority while Israel continued to be in charge of security, Area C was to be under exclusive control of Israel.This process saw a downfall with the assassination of Rabin and the Likud party coming into power, which came as a serious blow to the pe ace process. The Likud party destroyed homes of the Arabs, confiscated their lands, started building new Jewish settlements, and opened an archeologist tunnel near Muslim Holy places in Old Jerusalem. Avi Shlaim wrote in his book International Relations of the Middle East, â€Å"That the basic reason for the failure of Oslo to resolve the conflict is that Israel, under the leadership of the Likud, reneged on its side of the deal.By resorting to violence, the Palestinians contributed to the breakdown of trust without which no political progress is possible. But the more fundamental cause behind the loss of trust and the loss of momentum was the Israeli policy of expanding settlements on the West Bank which carried on under Labour as well as Likud. This policy precluded the emergence of a viable Palestinian state without which there can be no end to the conflict. † In May 1999, the Likud party was overthrown and the Labor party came into power by a landslide victory.Ehud Barak was elected as the prime minister but Barak lacked Rabin’s vision and his style was arrogant and authoritarian and he approached diplomacy as the extension of war by other means. Under Barak’s regime the expansion of Jewish settlement which was seen as a barrier to the peace process. There fore one more agreement with this new government was needed and quite necessary because a deadlock had been created between the Israelis and the Palestinians. On July5, 2000 Bill Clinton invited Arafat and Barak to negotiate the peace process.Barak appeared believing that America would help impose his agenda in the final settlement. Barak suggested an independent Palestinian state, which would consist of the whole Gaza Strip and most of the West Bank, he also agreed for the return of the refugees that would involve 500 people a year. He agreed on partitioning of the city of Jerusalem, but the Palestinian authority refused this point because they wanted exclusive sovereignty over all Arab suburbs and over Temple Mount.The Palestinian authority was divided on the proposal some saw it as a historical breakthrough others saw it as a compromise with their national right. Further more the delegation came under pressure from Egypt and Saudi Arabia not to compromise the holy places of the Muslims. Therefore, Arafat rejected most of the proposals, the summit ended in failure, and very easily, Barak and Clinton put the whole blame of the failure on the shoulders of Arafat. The Palestinians accused Bill Clinton of siding with Barak, therefore Arafat returned home once again empty handed.According to Ken Booth and Tim Dunne, in their book, Worlds in Collision: Terror and the Future of World Order â€Å"the policy of using US moral, material, and military support to give Israel the confidence to go forward in the peace process, has not achieved the desired results. The best proof is Bill Clinton. He was, in the words of one Israeli newspaper, the last Zionist. Yet, even he could not sweet talk Israel into a final settlement. If Clinton could not do it, nobody can. That leaves only one possible path to progress: an externally-imposed solution. † [1] The failure of the Summit at Camp David started an outbreak of violence began.The violence was further sparked by the visit of Israel’s opposition leader Ariel Sharon to the Temple Mount, the site of Al-Aqsa mosque in Jerusalem. There fore the second intifada, an Arabic word for uprising, started. The Palestinians saw the Israeli-American proposal at Camp David a complete surrender to Israel’s demand, they knew that they have been malevolently duped with not even a minimal solution to the issues which constitute the Palestine question. It is against this background and Sharon’s provocative visit to Al ‘Aqsa that the Second Intifada erupted.The uprising resulted in a new wave of brutal killings from the Israeli side to stop the rebellion which included the killing of a 12 ye ar old, the Palestinian responded by suicide bombings attack on Israeli civilians. An article in Australian for Palestine stated that â€Å"Since the Al ‘Aqsa Intifada, Israel defines the situation in the occupied Palestinian territories as â€Å"a situation of hostility† rather than a â€Å"belligerent occupation† and therefore it contends that the Hague Regulations which protect civilians under military occupation no longer apply.Furthermore, it contends that it is not responsible for compensating the Palestinians for any damage caused or any property taken. † This incident also increased the international involvement; according to a report, Israel annually receives $1. 2 billion in economic aid and $1. 8 billion in military aid from the United States, excluding loan guarantees, besides that many humanitarian groups also responded greatly after this incident. the incident also provided a significant shift in U.S policy. The Palestenian leader was now not welcomed in Washington by the new Bush adminstration, furthermore Bush called on to the Palestinians â€Å"to elect new leaders, leaders not compromised by terror†, hence clearly indicating the shift of policy towards the Palestinian leader. To maintained peace he also outlined detailed steps prominent among them were the Palestinian rejection of terrorism (suicide bombing) and an end to Israel’s settlement expansion.Haig Khatchadourian in his book, The Quest for Peace between Israel ad Palestinians, said, â€Å"Consequently, its brilliant military victories over the Arab states are bound to remain very incomplete victories so long as it clings to the land that Palestinians rightfully call their own. Only when the heavy chains binding occupier and occupied are broken, and Palestinians become their own masters, can real peace and stability in the region become more than a wistful hope. For then not just sulh but salaam should become the order of the day between the ma jority of West Bank and Gaza Palestinians, and Israel.† In April 2003, these detailed steps took the form of the â€Å"road map to peace. † The Palestinian elected a new leader, Mahmoud Abbas, which made both the US and Israel happy because they saw him more liberal and more importantly not as a â€Å"terrorist† as in case of Arafat. These new developments made the way for a major summit of Israeli, Palestinian, Jordanian leaders, and US but the summit proved a failure. The road map to peace aims in creating an independent Palestinian state living side by side with Israel.Israel on the other hand would accept the state and end its settlements; the Palestinian on the other hand would have to stop their attacks on Israel. The road map’s process consists of three-phase development; phase1 of the project requires the Palestinian to stop any kind of violence against Israel, which is seen as an act of terrorism by both Israel and the U. S. it urges the Palestini an to make political reforms and hold fair elections. Israel on the other hand would have to withdraw and freeze on settlement expansions.The phase2 consisted of a revival of the destroyed Palestinian economy by means of an International Conference, which will support the recovery of the Palestinian economy, which would ultimately lead to the establishment of a Palestinian homeland. This part of the plan will also concentrate upon issues like water resources, arms control, economic development etc. it would also urge the Arab states to revive links with Israel, which were before the intifada period. The third phase was the confirmation stage, a second calling of an international conference and the final status and agreement of the borders.This phase was the permanent end to the conflict. The issue of the city of Jerusalem and the refugee problem also falls in the third phase of this project. Both the sides i. e. the Palestinian and the Israel have concerns over this road map. The in ternational community has become very much involved for resolving the Israeli-Palestinian conflict based on this road map project. A group known as the Quartet formed which consisted of representatives from the Russia, the United Nation, and the European Union, which began shaping up the international policy necessary for a peace accord.Case Study: Many amendments and revisions has been taken place to the statement which was issued by the Quartet regarding the roadmap for peace on September 17, 2002, therefore the program’s outline is changing with time seeing the international events that has taken place. As stated earlier both the Palestinian and the Israeli authorities have reservations upon the project’s various versions, which they have reported, but still some experts say based on evidence that the Palestinians are opening up and beginning to comply with what the roadmap has to offer.On the other hand, the Israeli prime minister Ariel Sharon only made empty promi ses and there is no evidence whatsoever that Israel would go ahead with the plan. In the October of the same year, the American President Bush amended and issued his version of the roadmap, which was more detailed than the previous version and was based on the input, which he received from the Israeli and Palestinian authorities. The key reservations from the side of the Israeli government is the issue of terrorism i. e.how will the Palestinian authorities act if the terrorist activities continue and would the Palestinian government be able to handle the terrorism. The Israelis feel that this roadmap for peace may fail due to the same reasons which were responsible for the failure of the Oslo process i. e. many agreements were made but nothing were done to implement them effectively. The Palestinian authority on the other hand has accepted the plan but has not implemented the key requirement of the plan, which was to put an end to terrorist activities.Likewise, the Israeli governmen t later agreed with the plan but made fourteen reservations on the plan and like the Palestinian authority has not implemented the crucial step of the first phase, which was to freeze all the activities relating to the settlement activity and the removal of illegal check posts from the Palestinian territories. The effect that the Iraq war has on the roadmap for peace or the Israeli-Palestinian conflict in general is immense. Due to the failure of the Bush policies in Iraq and the loss of thousands of innocent lives has made President Bush’s policies regarding Iraq a target for much criticism.Furthermore, these policies have created a feeling of great hatred among the Muslims of the world against these policies and the West in general, because of which terrorist organizations like Al-Qaeda take advantage and recruit and brainwash these already angry Muslims. Therefore, to redeem his position in the eyes of the world and especially among the Muslim world peace in the Middle Eas t seems the best option available. Therefore, the Bush administration has to come up with options that will be acceptable to both the sides and if proposed properly Israel may accept the roadmap as being under pressured from the Quartet.Israel has faced a lot of criticism from the international community when it comes to human right violation, which has left Israel vulnerable so the Quartet could impose a roadmap on it. In 2004, Bush presented the roadmap with two significant changes as a part of the new American policy for the roadmap, and expected a final outcome of the conflict. The Israeli leader Ariel Sharon readily accepted the newer version of the plan as the two changes that Bush made seemed favored Israel a lot. The first change was on the issue of borders, which Bush suggested that it would be unwise for Israel to go back to the borders as in 1949.The second issue was of the Palestinian refugees, for which Bush stated that: â€Å"It seems clear that an agreed, just, fair and realistic framework for a solution to the Palestinian refugee issue as part of any final status agreement will need to be found through the establishment of a Palestinian state and the settling of Palestinian refugees there rather than Israel. † So no final agreement was reached. The same year saw the demise of Arafat which the US saw as a significant moment in Palestinian history.Abbass was elected in january 2005 and was invited to the white house hoping for a breakthrough atlast in the conflict after Arafat’s death who was regarded as a terrorist by the American authority. The summer another wave of voilence erupted between Palestinian and the Israelis and faded the hope for a peaceful outcome. The same year in August the world saw the withdrawl of Israeli forces and settlers from the Gaza strip and the West Bank, the withdrawl was initiated by the Israeli prime minister ariel sharon, who also left the Likud party joined a more moderate one.The withdrawl was heav ily appreciated all around the world and the international for once saw a ray of hope amidst the darkness of the bloody conflict. In January 2006 Sharon got a massive heart stroke and retreated from the party , the same month saw the Palestinian ruling party Fatah got defeated by Hamas, a group which the USA had labeled as a terrorist organisation long ago. Hamas has always held the views for the destrution of Israel.Therefore immediately after the Hamas’s victory USA and Israel called for the financial and the diplomatic isolation of the new Palestinian government and this also put an end to any more peace talks with the Palestinian government because both Israel and USA refused to recgnise Hamas in the government. Ehud Olmert succeded Sharon in the elections of May 2006 as the prime minister of Israel, who promised the completion of the withdrawl of Israeli forces from most of the parts of the West Bank by 2010. in the same year fresh clashes started between Hamas and the i sraeli forces in the Gaza strip.In the same year Israel clashed with Hezbollah in Lebanon and suffered casualities and upon admitting defeat withdrew its forces from Lebanon. This conflict had an important impact on the road map and many interpreted these clashes as an end to the roadmap peace process. In the October of the same year an Israeli news paper revealed that the government was still developing new settlements in the West Bank, even though Olmert promised the withdrawl and the removal of the settlements. Many of these settlements were being made on Palestinian property that even the Israeli government recognise as being theirs.For a fear of a political crisis with the USA and for the fear of being criticised by the international community , the report was kept a secret. The situation of the Middle East was worsened by civil clashes between the two major Palestenian groups Hamas and Fatah. Whether or not the Roadmap for Peace succeded or achieved its desired results or outc omes is really hadrd to tell because the success or the failure of the project solely depends on how sincerely both the parties work for the restoration of peace making sure that their ideologica differences do not interfere with the peace plan.The international community have countless times tried to maintain peace between the two sides by proposing a solution which would be acceptable to both the parties, but every time due to some reason or the other the peace process seems to end with completion possibly because the terms and the conditions of the proposed agreements were not suitable for one of the party or during the peace process a deadlock creates due to clashes or hostilities e. g. the second intifada.The Roadmap for peace plan guaranteed the creation of an independant Palestinian state wxisting side by side with Israel in peace, it also promises the Palestinians that Israel will withdraw its troops and freeze the building of its settlements on Palestinian territories. So f ar nothing of this sort has happened so baically the roadmap as I see it has failed because it failed to provide what it promised to the Palestinians and the Israelis. The Palestinians still have to live under a constant threat of being attacked or even killed by the Israeli forces anytime, not even the children are safe.The Israelis have to face the Palestinian revenge when some loved one of theirs die in a suicide attack. Both sides have endured countless casualties mostly civilians and the innocent people. Further more the building of the wall around the Palestinians have complicated issues even further and has restricted the Palestinians to a limited area of land only, there are only two openings and travelling to the world outside the wall is not possible air, sea or land. It is seen as another illegal attempt tocapture Palestinian land.The international community have proposed many proposals inaddition to the ones mentioned above but all of them have not proved any useful. USA has been playing the role of an initiator of peace talks between the two authorities for many years now, but as USA is a close ally of Israel and have political advantages to reap from Israel, the muslim world in general see the sfforts being made by the American government as inefficient or being biased and always in the favor of Israel.They feel that it is in the power of the American government to force Israel out of Palestenian areas and to make Israel stop the killings of the innocent but still America is reluctant to do such a thing and make peace in the region. The United Nations too has passed many declaration agaisnt the violations of human rights, which includes the killings and the destruction of homes of the Palestinian, by the Israeli government but Israel has never taken any heed.The united nations has also passed a number of resolutions against the barrier and the International Court of Justice has also issued an order which describes the barrier as illegal an orders to be stripped down . Israel on the other hand has ruled out the decision of the International Court saying that it did not considered the court’s jurisdication. In a 2004 report Amnesty International wrote that â€Å"The fence/wall, in its present configuration, violates Israel’s obligations under international humanitarian law.† The world council of churches has also condemned the barrier saying that it is a serious violation of human rights and humanitarian consequences owing to the construction of the barrier. Some international governments do support the Israeli actions but still oppose the barrier as it is built outside the 1949 armistice lines. Conclusion: The conflict between the Israelis and the Palestinians have been going around for decades it has not only sabotage peace in that particular region but has also effected the neighboring countries as well.The conflict has created many problems and many enemies for the state of Israel. Many people think I srael as an illegal state which donot have the right to exist, where as there are a group of people which agree the right of Israel to exist as a nation, as a state but not at the cost of the annexation of Palestinian land and not by the killing of the Palestinian. The Roadmap for Peace, even though has been accepted by all the sides but still has done little to promote peace in the region because no sincere efforts have been made to implement the plan.However over years of negotiations the RoadMap remains the only alternative that leaders from both the sides have agreed upon , whereas agreements like the Geneva initiative still has a long way to go before it is officially accepted by the leaderships of the two parties. Many experts view the geneva accord as a better means of promoting peace among israelis and the palestinians because the accord provides many realistic solutions to problems which have been evaded in the past agreements. An article in the Israeli news paper commented thatTel Aviv Ma’ariv (Israeli, Hebrew-language, centrist), April 22: The Israeli-Palestinian conflict today isn't just a conflict between leaders and worldviews, it is a conflict between two peoples filled with bitterness and hatred, between parents and children who have lost many of their relatives and their belief in peace. They will not place their destiny in airy promises of a new Middle East. There is not, and there cannot be, an agreement for mutual trust between the two peoples in this manner. Perhaps in the next generation†¦. [U. S.President George] Bush's road map is a positive step but nothing more. Even if both sides agreed to accept it exactly as it is written, without changes or comments (and there is no possibility of that happening), there is nothing in the road map or in Bush’s vision that will allow the spanning of a bridge across the deep abyss between the two peoples and which would bring an end to the dispute. —Dan Shilon As far as I am concerned and I see it the palestinian are the opressed here, because as I see it the Jews were the one who were the outsiders, the immigrants, it was the courtesy a