Normal Business Operations Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Normal Business Operations - Essay Example Within this understanding and appreciation for the means by which key strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats define the way in which this particular store will continue to integrate with customers in the near future, the following analysis will seek to provide something of a SWOT analysis with regards to this chain in the hopes that by understanding these key areas, the analyst will be able to define and appreciate the areas of opportunity and potential threats the firm faces both in the present and within the near future. Strengths: Firstly, with regards to the key strengths that Reeds grocers have within the current market, these can basically be understood with regards to the fact that they have established a resilient and well respected brand image among the client base and they also exhibit a resilient strength of the size and scope of their grocery store locations and offerings. Starting from a humble family owned beginning, Reeds transitioned over time, just as have so many other small firms, to encompass a great many stores and a wide variety of product and service offerings. Moreover, consumers of the firm have come to respect them within the world of grocers. This market presence along with a substantive level of respect and appreciation by a rather large client base is a net asset as well as a definitive strength upon which the firm can seek to leverage any further market growth or development within the near future. ... Another key weakness that the grocer faces is with regards to the fact that it cannot count on loyal consumers to carry it through economically difficult times. Whereas in the past grocers could count on loyal consumers to continue to derive a degree of revenue/sales, the current model indicates that less and less consumers are ultimately loyal to a single grocer and choose instead to shop many grocers in an attempt to maximize their savings. This represents an effective weakness that the firm is no longer able to attract and retain loyal consumers within a market that is more and more cut throat with regards to overall earnings and sales. Opportunities: Political/Legal With regards to the political/legal opportunities that the firm should seek to leverage, it is the understanding of this analysis that the firm, as well as any and all other firms within the system, should continue to engage with law makers and governments (at both the regional, state, and federal level) to continue t o lobby for tax breaks and business incentives so that they may continue to provide the most basic of goods to the consumers that they provide for; the need of sustenance. Economic Similarly, with regards to the economic opportunities that the firm is faced with, these can be understood with regards to seeking to model their business plan, at least in part, upon the runaway success that many of its greatest competitors have employed; i.e. offering at least a portion of overall goods to be sold as bargain buys and priced within the reach of a specific demographic of consumers that would otherwise be attracted to other stores instead. This serves as an economic opportunity that can be leveraged with very little overall cost to the firm and

HRM Assignment this is a Business degree Report

HRM this is a Business degree Report - Assignment Example This is what had happened to Bolton Wonderers wherein one of their female nutritionist had claimed for an equal pay. The main thrust of this paper is to provide the management team with advices in relation to legal and procedural issues to the claim of their female employee that she is paid substantially less than her male counterparts. Legal and Procedural Issues There is discrimination in the workplace if there is hostility toward an individual based on sex, age, religion, race and even disability (Hoffman, 1999). Legal training program in every organization is mandated by the Federal and state law to avoid any sex biases. The group of women is heavily regulated with so many legislations for them to be protected from discrimination particularly in the workplace. The study of Lockwood (2006) cited that some organizations nowadays are considering woman as one of the talented pools of becoming future employees. In fact, it is suggested that women are capable even in high level special ty careers. Although it’s difficult for them to achieve an equal footing with men in the workplace, the total of women workers is increasing. They are now considered as one of the great contributors in this change in demographics and economic factors. In almost all countries, provisions and legislation with regard to the employment of women are significantly considered because these could only paved the way to equal opportunities in employment. The European Economic Community (EEC) had constructed principles that women are entitled to receive equal pay with his male counterparts, provided that they are doing equal work. â€Å"In 1975, the Council of the European Communities issued the Equal Pay Directive (75/117) which states that all discrimination on the ground of sex in respect of pay should be eliminated† (Littlejohn, 1994). The issuance of the directive obliged members to completely comply with the legislation. It is stated in the regulation that all establishment s should give a woman an equal pay with man if they are doing like work, work rated as equivalent, and work of equal value to that of the man. In addition, it has been specified in the legal procedure revised by the Equal Opportunities Commission (EOC) that an â€Å"employer can only pay a man more than a woman for doing equal work if there is a genuine and material reason for doing so which is not related to sex† (Equality and Human Rights Commission, 2003, p.2). A sex discrimination in pay would exist if the employer’s reason is based on higher market value wherein it would regard the job as for male only. In the case of the female nutritionist, she claimed that she has grounds for an equal pay claim over his male counterparts who are the physiotherapists and the coaches. The claim could be considered by the management team considering that it is stated in the law that work of equal value would entitle the women to claim for an equal pay. The Legal Procedure Filing a sex discrimination in pay is a complicated process, and so the law provides a legal procedure for individual who wants to file a suit against their employers for an equal pay claim. If the female nutritionist would take a claim for equal pay with his male counterparts, then the issue should be first introduced to the management team of Bolton Wanderers being her employer. The issue should be first settled between the employee and the employer by applying the company’

Successful Athlete Essay Example for Free

Successful Athlete Essay Vince Lombardi says â€Å"the price of success is hard work, dedication to the job at hand and the determination that whether we win or lost we have applied the best of ourselves to the task at hand.† A dedicated athlete puts forth their all by fully devoting themselves to their sport. They always try to give one hundred and ten percent before during and after practice. Athlete achieves their success knowing they worked hard to attain it and can truly say they accomplished something that makes them a better person. For instance basketball sensation LeBron James keeps striving to improve. Branded the next Michael Jordan when he was in high school and drafted by the Cleveland cavaliers LeBron James kept his cool and kept working hard. He emerged an all-star and leader the cavaliers to the NBA playoffs three years in a row and made it to the NBA finals in 2007 against the San Antonio spurs. However the cavaliers lost their championship bid in four consecutive games. James continued to help the cavaliers improve in 2008 the team made it to the semifinals where they defeated by the Boston Celtics in seven games. Struggling for an NBA championship, shortly after becoming a free agent, however James announced that he would be joining the Miami heat. Many of his fans consider hid departure a betrayal to his hometown. James finishes second in the league during his first season with the heat. The 2011-2012 seasons also saw major success for James and the Miami heat. Winning his first NBA championship defeating the Oklahoma City thunder. Throughout his NBA career, LeBron James has been considered one of the best player in the league, and has been compared to basketball great Michael Jordan.

Counselling Rape Survivors

Counselling Rape Survivors According to the Home Office findings, Rape is defined as ‘forced to have sexual intercourse (Vaginal or anal penetration)’. The legal definition stipulates it to be ‘penile’. In general terms, rape is an act of aggression and violence against another; it is not an act of sex but is one of specifically dominance and power. Key points of the findings of the Research, Development andStatistics directorate of the Home Office published in 2002 are listedbelow. 0.4% of women aged 16 to 59 in England and Wales said they hadbeen raped in the year preceding the 2000 BCS, an estimated 61,000victims. 0.9% of women said they had been subject to some form ofsexual victimization (including rape) in this period. Around 1 in 20women (4.9%) said they had been raped since age 16, an estimated 754,000 victims. About 1 in 10 women (9.7%) said they had experiencedsome form of sexual victimisation (including rape) since age 16. Age is the biggest risk factor for experiencing sexual victimisation; women aged 16 to 24 were more likely to say they had been sexually victimised in the last year than older women. Women are most likely tobe sexually attacked by men they know in some way, most often partners(32%) or acquaintances (22%). Current partners (at the time of theattack) were responsible for 45% of rapes reported to the survey.Strangers were responsible for only 8% of rapes reported to the survey.18% of incidents of sexual victimisation reported to the survey came to the attention of the police; the police came to know about 20% of rapes. 32% of women who reported rape were ‘very satisfied’ with theway the police handled the matter, 22% were very dissatisfied. Lessthan two-thirds (60%) of female rape victims were prepared toself-classify their experience as ‘rape’ and less than three-quarters(70%) of women who self-classified themselves as having been victims of ‘attempted r ape’. Amnesty international reported that there were 14,000 recorded rapesin 2003 and 11,441 recorded rapes in 2002, representing a 8% increase.According to the Home Office, in the year ending March 2003, the totalnumber of sexual offences recorded by police in England Wales was 48,654, a 17% rise over the previous year. A victim of rape feels the fight or flight response that humans have built-in; which means that when the incident is over, one is leftwith a feeling of devastation, exhaustion, confusion, sadness, etc. The lingering psychological disorder is called Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). The most effective therapeutic approach for long-term,severe PSTD appears to be talking treatment sessions with a clinicalpsychologist, in which the person is encouraged to talk through theirexperiences in detail. This may involve behavioural or cognitivetherapeutic approaches. Antidepressants may also be prescribed torelieve concurrent depression, a common feature in survivors, andenable the person to get the most out of any psychological treatment.Counselling may be helpful too in the early stages of recovery,particularly from counsellors experienced in the treatment of PTSD. Before we go into detail on counselling for rape survivors, it is essential to take into account the effectiveness of counselling in general. According to the Department of Health (2001), Counselling hasbeen defined as â€Å" a systematic process which gives individuals anopportunity to explore, discover and clarify ways of living moreresourcefully, with a greater sense of well-being †. The use ofcounselling as a means of responding to people in distress and turmoilhas been increasing rapidly in recent years. This has generated adebate on the effectiveness of counselling process itself. The methodsof evaluation of effectiveness is also highly controversial. Theconcerns in the qualitative and quantitative evaluation is discussed indetail later. Bondi summarises from her reports on controlled trials conducted inhealth care settings. They seem to indicate that counselling is aneffective intervention, clinically and economically. Its costs andbenefits are broadly comparable to those of antidepressant medication. Moreover, it seems to be a popular choice with many patients. Cautionis sometimes attached to the results of these trials. This may be dueto the fact that it only involves a small trial when compared to thelarge trial group of medication. Studies of counselling in othersettings indicate a high level of satisfaction among clients. Bondialso writes that there is good evidence to suggest that counselling hasa capacity to reduce demand on psychiatric services. This is becausecounselling prevents less serious problems from becoming more seriousand helps people to maintain reasonably good levels of mental health. Choice of treatment of survivors of rape has been one of increasing significance within health care and also highlights the need toconsider factors other than clinical and cost-effectiveness.Counselling is not the only form of talking treatment available. Otherforms of talking treatment include psychotherapy, cognitive behaviourtherapy, self-help groups and support groups. Counselling attaches a great significance to the autonomy of the victim and therefore it cannot be administered to the unwilling. The success of counselling, therefore, depends on active participation. For counsellingof rape victims, feelings caused by abuse may be quite overwhelming and difficult to deal with. The Department of Health (2001) has recommended counselling as one of the types of psychological therapy for depression, anxiety, panic disorder, social anxiety and phobias andpost traumatic disorders. These problems can be mainly related tosurvivors of rape. The National Center for Victims of Crime (2004) recommends that counselling can help cope with the physical and emotional reactions to the sexual assault or rape, as well as provide necessary information about medical and criminal justice system procedures. According to the reports by the Brunel University (2005) on sexual abuse and rape, sharing experiences in a safe, understanding and confidential setting may help to manage their feelings by being heard and taken seriously.   Counselling enables to make sense of the present, in relation to the past.   Some survivors of sexual abuse maybe plagued by memories in the form of distressing flashbacks, mental images or nightmares.   Talking about the images and memories while being heard and supported will often ease the problem.   It may beeasier to share incidents and feelings with a professional counsellorconfidential, rather than a friend. Some people prefer to talk to ahelpline so they do not have to face the person they are disclosing to.    According to Bondi’s summary of her studies on the effectiveness ofcounselling that sceptics often voice doubts of counselling because itappears to involve nothing other than one (or two people) â€Å"chatting† toa counsellor. However, in spite of these doubts, communication takesplace when counselling is effected, whereby a special kind ofrelationship is developed between the counsellor and the victim. Bondiattributes this to the fact that human beings are social creaturescapable of connecting with others. It is worth to note that allapproaches to counselling share a commitment to apply insights andunderstandings about the importance of these connections to offertherapeutically effective relationships. Impacts of counselling on rape survivors often depends on the development of a helpful working relationship between the counsellor and survivor.   According to the STAR findings, some women feel nervous and unenthusiastic about seeing a counsellor. Therefore, it is essential that they feel relaxed and comfortable to be able to talk freely. Setting up of a pace comfortable for the victim is important as it recognises the interlinked nature of people’s lives (Skinner andTaylor,   Home Office report 51/04).   According to Bernes (2005), effective counselling leading to a good counsellor-victim relationship follows the following dynamics. They are an emotionally charged, confiding relationship between the patient and therapist; warmth, support and attention from the therapist in a healing setting; a positive therapeutic alliance between patient and therapist; a new rationale or conceptual scheme offered with confidence by the therapist; the passage of time; installation of hope and expectancy and finally techniques consistent with patient expectation and efficacy. Common process strategies in counselling include gathering sufficient information, listening well and with understanding, helping the individual reflect and gain insight, helping in decision-making and goal setting, and providing options and ideas for client consideration (Korhonen). According to the Home Office reports on the STAR scheme, the data collected from the survey did not give any indications that anyone counselling technique works better than another.   Methods likedrawing or making lists of feelings, events, concerns and workingthrough them were found to be effective by some rape survivors. Some found making plans for the future, for example, symbolic moves such aschanging the dà ©cor of the room seemed to indicate a new phase in their lives.   Others indicated that a flexible integrated approach with respect, a respectful politeness, support and even the smiling face of the counsellors seemedto have helped them. The need for administering couna respectful, supportive and caring environment is also essential. Also, them cope development of a programme of work that enabled them to look at themselves in a logical, positive and respective manner athem cope with their emotions and move forward at their own pace is essential. The university of Dundee has introduced a computer counsellingtechnique called ‘ENHANCE’ for rape victims. Often, women who have been raped find it hard to talk about their feelings and research evidence shows that in sensitive and potentially embarrassing areas of human functioning, some people may find it easier to talk openly to acomputer. ENHANCE,   a computer based facility which includes a diaryfacility for free writing, a visualisation tool to describe feelingsand graphic manipulation and exploration, an information base to accessa range of supportive information, leaflets and contacts and the optionof what to destroy or save it for later reference. Further work is being done to develop ENHANCE and the researchers feel that their workcan be transferred to other agencies in future. Furthermore, it is inan early stage to be assessed for effectiveness. Computer counselling is, therefore, new and brings to attention to the fact there is very few online support avail able for rape survivors. This can be a good sourceof data for qualitative research as it reduces some of its ethical risks which are discussed in detail later.  Ã‚  Ã‚   It is very difficult to assess the effectiveness of counselling forrape survivors as due to the dilemmas in relation to the ethicalpractises of counselling, training and qualifications of counsellors and the evaluation of counselling and little published information.Counselling services are offered in a wide range of settings, which influences the kind of outcomes (Bondi). Bondi, in her review ofdifferent counselling orientations writes that similar effects may beusually reported. This is consistent with the argument that it is thequality of the therapeutic relationships offered by the counsellorswhich determine the effectiveness of counselling.   Effectiveness of rape counselling can be studied by either qualitativeor quantitative research. McLeod (2000) reports from his paperpresented at the 8th Annual International Counselling, University of Durham that counselling in Britain at the beginning of the twenty-first century does not have a clear vision of the role of research. It is worth mentioning that very few studies have focussed on research methods to measure effectiveness of counselling for rape victims. McLeod also reports that, in general, published studies of counsellingand therapy in dominated by quantitative research like up to 95%. Ingeneral, cultural assumptions are concerned with the development ofmethods that are valid and reliable.   Quantitative research reduceshuman experience and action to variables. Hypothesis are framed interms of the relationships between these variables, which can often beinterpreted a rational voice allowing no expression of feeling orpersonal experience (McLoad, 2000).   There has been no reports  relating to quantitative research on counselling for rape. Qualitative research has been used lately in the health care settingsand voluntary organisation for rape survivors. Qualitative research refers to research conducted in an interpretive or critical tradition. Research conducted in this tradition generally includes ethnographies, naturalistic observation or intensive interviewing studies, and usessome type of content analysis of words or texts to generate themes, which summarize the results of the study. The goals of qualitative research are not usually to generalize from the findings to some largertruth, but rather to explore or generate truths for the particular sample of individuals studied or to generate new theories. There is often an emphasis in qualitative research on perception or livedexperience.  There   are quite a few ethical concerns in qualitative research of assessing the effectiveness of counselling of rape victims.   Knapik (2002)in his paper summarises the ethical concerns of qualitative researchwhich mainly rev olve around an assessment of benefit versus harm,confidentiality, duality of roles, and informed consent   It is oftenassumed that qualitative data does not involve physical manipulation orintrusive procedures on victims. But it can pose certain risks to the victims.   Moleski and Kiselica (2005) highlight the dangers of a dual or multiplerelationships between the counsellor and victim. During research involving in-depth interviews or focus group discussions on such asensitive as rape, the researcher (generally a counsellor, but called aresearcher in this context as the data collected is for the purposes of qualitative research) develops a relationship of trust with the victim. The relationship may be misinterpreted by the participant as atherapist-client relationship. The data may be interpreted in waysunflattering or damaging to participants. It is therefore important toassess the harms and benefits in dealing with real clients. Secondly, risks to individuals participating in qualitative researchmay often not be anticipated. This is because the method and researchquestions are always evolving and changing from the various organisation’s approach to the case. These risks should be made clearto the participants from the beginning and also du ring the course ofthe experiment. Thirdly and most importantly, qualitative research   always generatesquestions on the ability to protect confidential information. Usually, names and personal data are excluded from published results, but quotations, cues from the publications can always identify theparticipant to those familiar with the research. Reasons for this maybe because of the nature of sensitivity of the rape abuse problem,  trial groups always being small and trials being conducted in smallcommunity structures. Reports were published by the Home Office on the ‘STAR young person project’ on assessing the counselling services offered to rape survivors. Young women primarily had a positive counselling experiencebut a small number reported some level of dissatisfaction.   One of the reasons were the short sessions of counselling, as they could not continue working with their counsellors on a long term basis. This indicated the issue of assess to a restricted number of sessions.  Another issue was the pace at which information is disclosed to thecounsellor, as a small percentage of the women disliked gettingstraight to the information or having to answer questions pertaining tothe incidents within a shorter period of contact between the victim andthe counsellor. This may be because a certain time span is needed toestablish a counsellor-victim relationship which varies from case tocase and depends on the severity of the case.       Another small percentage of the STAR participants felt that the counsellor was not equipped to work with areas of the case and thatthey were given unhelpful advise or irrelevant information or help in away which was not the one suited for the particular case. This throwslight on the training issues of counsellors, whether they are properly equipped for the job. Another percentage of the women, said that thecounsellor disapproved of them being late or related issues whichindicate an over-protective or over-controlling issue which can causenegative impacts on the counselling experience. The findings indicatethe need for a more flexible approach during counselling experiences, longer-term counselling and support by the counsellor, proper trainingfor counsellors and more research into counselling methods and theirevaluation.   According to the findings of the British Crime Survey (2002), it isdifficult to assess the level of support for victims of rape due to the small number of victims in year 2001. Also, the British Crime Survey(2002) reports that support services are under-funded, relative tosupport services dedicated to victims of domestic violence. In UK, therapy services for rape survivors are available from charity andlistening services, health services provided by the universities forstudents, NHS and   few religious movements.   In the NHS, there areusually long waiting lists sometimes up to a year for patients toaccess counsellor services. In voluntary and charity services there maynot always be round-the clock assistance for rape survivors. Telephone access is restricted to certain times of the day.   Findings of research on women rape victims are available in a varietyof forms and from a variety of places. Professional journals such as Violence Against Women, the Journal of Interpersonal Violence, Aggression Violence Behavior, Violence Victims, and the Journal of Family Violence include research conducted by psychologists, social workers, sociologists, advocates, and others. In addition to professional journals, findings of research are presented at domesticviolence conferences, described in the popular press, found on websites devoted to ending violence against women, and are available aspublications from government agencies like the Home Office, UK orprivate research organizations (various voluntary organisation’swebsites). Research reports published in scientific journals are subject to peer-review.   Research published in scientific journals thus gives thereader some confidence in the scientific credibility of the researchfindings. Scientific credibility, however, does not necessarily meanthat the findings represent â€Å"the truth†. Research released directlyfrom an organization sponsoring the research does not usually gothrough the peer review process. So there is a real need for independent qualitative research into the counselling services for rape victims in the UK. The UK Home Office should actively engage inindependent evaluation of counselling services for rape victims. The STAR project recommendations the following for future research. There is need for piloting and evaluating peer support systems. New research projects into contexts and circumstances of rape is requiredto throw new light on the academic and practitioner’s knowledge. More research is needed into the needs of victims from internet supportservices while reviewing the current internet support service toprovide guidelines for practise. More creative approaches in regards toservices for survivors were also required. It is also recommended that counsellors be given appropriate training to improve the services to rape survivors. According to Bernes (2005), there are five critical components forbecoming an effective counsellor. The counsellor should have aprofound, genuine and early draw to the field, a profound and genuinefascination to try to understand human nature, cognitive ability, arigorous and quality academic program and major field exposure. There is therefore a genuine need for efforts to be focussed in creating effective counsellors to deal with rape victims. More funding to develop therapy services is required. There is a need to establish infrastructure towards organisations involved in treatmentand care of victims. Further research into the effective processes ofvarious approaches of counselling is recommended. Detailed research isneeded into the qualitative analysis of effectiveness of thecounselling processes. Also, independent qualitative analysis in victimsupport is needed to verify the results. In general, in the UK, counselling for rape survivors have still a long way to go.

OLIVER CROMWELL :: essays research papers

There is definitely an association between John Knox and Oliver Cromwell. Knox, in his book The Reformation of Scotland, outlined the whole process without which the British model of government under Oliver Cromwell never would not have been possible. Yet Knox was more consistently covenantal in his thinking. He recognized that civil government is based on a covenant between the magistrate (or the representative or king) and the populace. His view was that when the magistrate defects from the covenant, it is the duty of the people to overthrow him. Cromwell was not a learned scholar, as was Knox, nevertheless God elevated him to a greater leadership role. Oliver Cromwell was born into a common family of English country Puritans having none of the advantages of upbringing that would prepare him to be leader of a nation. Yet he had a God-given ability to earn the loyalty and respect of men of genius who served him throughout his lifetime. John Bunyan, author of Pilgrim's Progress served under his command in the English Civil War, and John Milton, who penned Paradise Lost, served as his personal secretary. Cromwell's early years were ordinary, but after a conversion experience at age 27, he was seized by a sense of divine destiny. He became suddenly zealous for God. He was a country squire, a bronze-faced, callous-handed man of property. He worked on his farm, prayed and fasted often and occasionally exhorted the local congregation during church meetings. A quiet, simple, serious-minded man, he spoke little. But when he broke his silence, it was with great authority as he commanded obedience without question or dispute. As a justice of the peace, he attracted attention to himself by collaring loafers at a tavern and forcing them to join in singing a hymn. This exploit together with quieting a disturbance among some student factions at the neighboring town of Cambridge earned him the respect of the Puritan locals and they sent him to Parliament as their representative. There he attracted attention with his blunt, forcible speech as a member of the Independent Party which was made up of Puritans. The English people were bent upon the establishment of a democratic parliamentary system of civil government and the elimination of the "Divine Right of Kings." King Charles I, the tyrant who had long persecuted the English Puritans by having their ears cut off and their noses slit for defying his attempts to force episcopacy on their churches, finally clashed with Parliament over a long ordeal with new and revolutionary ideas. OLIVER CROMWELL :: essays research papers There is definitely an association between John Knox and Oliver Cromwell. Knox, in his book The Reformation of Scotland, outlined the whole process without which the British model of government under Oliver Cromwell never would not have been possible. Yet Knox was more consistently covenantal in his thinking. He recognized that civil government is based on a covenant between the magistrate (or the representative or king) and the populace. His view was that when the magistrate defects from the covenant, it is the duty of the people to overthrow him. Cromwell was not a learned scholar, as was Knox, nevertheless God elevated him to a greater leadership role. Oliver Cromwell was born into a common family of English country Puritans having none of the advantages of upbringing that would prepare him to be leader of a nation. Yet he had a God-given ability to earn the loyalty and respect of men of genius who served him throughout his lifetime. John Bunyan, author of Pilgrim's Progress served under his command in the English Civil War, and John Milton, who penned Paradise Lost, served as his personal secretary. Cromwell's early years were ordinary, but after a conversion experience at age 27, he was seized by a sense of divine destiny. He became suddenly zealous for God. He was a country squire, a bronze-faced, callous-handed man of property. He worked on his farm, prayed and fasted often and occasionally exhorted the local congregation during church meetings. A quiet, simple, serious-minded man, he spoke little. But when he broke his silence, it was with great authority as he commanded obedience without question or dispute. As a justice of the peace, he attracted attention to himself by collaring loafers at a tavern and forcing them to join in singing a hymn. This exploit together with quieting a disturbance among some student factions at the neighboring town of Cambridge earned him the respect of the Puritan locals and they sent him to Parliament as their representative. There he attracted attention with his blunt, forcible speech as a member of the Independent Party which was made up of Puritans. The English people were bent upon the establishment of a democratic parliamentary system of civil government and the elimination of the "Divine Right of Kings." King Charles I, the tyrant who had long persecuted the English Puritans by having their ears cut off and their noses slit for defying his attempts to force episcopacy on their churches, finally clashed with Parliament over a long ordeal with new and revolutionary ideas.

All My Sons Essay -- All My Sons by Arthur Miller

Life is full of many hard decisions that people have to take, often on the spur of the moment. Some we get right others turn horribly wrong. Joe Keller, the tragic hero of Arthur Miller's play All My Sons, was no different. His whole life was dedicated to his family and their well being but all his plans were undone by one fatally flawed decision. The audience can relate to Joe and feel sympathy for him because he was a good man who did many great things for his family and in the end paid the ultimate price. Towards the end of the play, Joe's son Chris anguishes over the fatally flawed decision made by his father, thus eliciting the sympathy of the audience. However, this is not enough to detract from the audience relating to Joe as a basically good man, who has made the hard decisions for many years and ends up a tragic hero paying for his mistake with his life. Joe is a good man who has spent his whole life trying to live the American Dream. He has built a home and started up a business to take care of his family. He is a hardworking and considerate father to his sons, Chris and Larry and a caring and loving husband to his wife Kate. The audience knows this because early in the play, of Act 1, he says to Chris, "Because what the hell did I work for? That's only for you Chris, the whole shootin' match for you!"(Act 1, p15-16). The audience believes this because throughout the play they see no evidence of Joe indulging in any of the human weaknesses, which would squander his money. He is an easy-going man who is a good friend to everyone. The play is set in his backyard, which seems to be a perpetual open house to the neighbourhood. He is well-liked by people in his small town, as Ann says, "People like to do things for the... ...-one other young pilots. However, there are many in the audience who like Joe would think that Chris has had things too easy and is making much ado about nothing. It is Joe Keller for whom the audience feels the greater sympathy and respect because he was a great man, who made a fatally flawed decision, which continued to haunt him through life. He finally understood the meaning of life within family and the society in which we all live in and that is that you cannot make flawed decisions which impact others and get away with it. When Joe realises this, he is brave enough to pay the price for his mistake, and that is what makes Joe a hero in the audience's eyes. As the US folklorist & expert on mythology, Joseph Campbell, said, "A hero is someone who has given his or her life to something bigger than oneself ." There was nothing bigger for Joe than his family.

Daniel Goleman Theory of Emotional Intelligence Essay

The cognition ability among humans is as varied as their physical abilities. However, one apparent fact is that they all possess some similar characteristics. Psychologists have often tried to understand humans by studying their behavior and explaining it in terms of sense cognition. As such, it has been argued that the way a person perceives and interprets his physical world, described and exhibited in behavior, is determined by intelligence. However, psychologists are not yet agreed on the exact definition of intelligence even though there are some agreed upon attributes that can be attached to the concept. The ability to comprehend complex ideas, handle situations effectively and reason is varied among humans. It is recognized that this variation is substantial but never consistent as an individual will exhibit different intellectual performance on different occasions. The concept of intelligence is thus aimed at rearranging and clarifying these complex phenomena. There has been progress with regard to rearranging and clarifying these complex phenomena even though they still do not command universal assent. Psychologists have often focused on cognitive aspects on their analysis of intelligence. In other words, emphasis has always been laid on such aspects like memory and problem solving skills. However, some psychologists recognize the importance of non-cognitive aspects in analyzing intelligence. In his definition, David Wechsler identifies such factors like rationality, purposeful action and ability to handle the environment effectively as the main features of intelligence. In his early works, Wechsler identified non-intellective as well as intellective aspects. By intellective and non-intellective aspects, he was referring to social, personal and affective factors. (Wechsler, 1940: 444-445) He further held that the possibility of success in life is dependent upon non-intellective abilities. In recent past, a new aspect has emerged with regard to intelligence and this has been motivated by the need to explain how emotions and thought impact on each other. It is thus in the interest of this paper to look at this aspect of intelligence which has gained prominence in the field of psychology. This new aspect is what has been referred to as emotional intelligence. In this paper, I will look at the development, theories and elements of emotional intelligence. What is Emotional Intelligence: Background The term emotional intelligence was coined by Salovey and Meyer in 1990. When they coined this term, they were well aware of the previous work by other psychologists on non-cognitive aspects of intelligence. In their description of emotional intelligence, Salovey and Meyer viewed it as the ability of an individual to guide his or her thinking and action through monitoring his or her feelings and emotions (and those of others) and compare them against his own. As such, they considered it a form of social intelligence. The study in this field of social intelligence emerged as a result of research in the field of cognition and affect. Research in this area also gained prominence as a result of works by other psychologists who pointed out that there could be a cognitive connection between mood and judgment. These psychologists suggested that there could be a possibility that when a person gets happy, for instance, he is bound to cognitively judge his past positively thus elevating his moods further. On the other hand, bad moods lead to negative thoughts thereby increasing or worsening the condition. Robert Zajonc (1980) suggested that in determining attitudes, feelings played a bigger role than cognition. His argument was that it is feelings which paid attention to the physical world. This view emanated from an empirical conception of human life. It is a widely held position that it is the senses that is responsible for feeding the brain with information for interpretation. This on the other hand affected or is affected by moods and memory. The influence of mood on memory was examined by Gordon Bower who described an activation model of memory. He observed that happy moods influenced happy thoughts while on the other hand, sad moods influenced sad thoughts. (Bower, 1981) According to him, if one was in the state of happiness, he is bound to view his past social actions positively which in turn stimulates positive thoughts. On the other hand, if one is sad, he is bound to view his past as a series of failures within the social realm thereby increasing his sadness. As such, the state of mind influences attitude and cognition. This analysis by Bower helped in the comprehension and explanation of many empirical aspects of emotional intelligence. Much contribution in the field of emotional intelligence was brought by Clerk and Fiske’s ‘Affect and Cognition’. A departure from research on the interaction between emotion and cognition was marked by the study of emotion and thought by social, personality and cognitive psychologists. The concept of defense mechanism by Sigmund Freud even though put emphasis on the pathological factors, also recognized and emphasized on the interaction between thought and emotion. The view that emotions prejudiced and disrupted thought was inherited when the cognition and affect literature surfaced. The idea that emotions and thought caused biasness went hand in hand with the idea that emotions could be adaptive for thought. This went on as inquiries into emotions and thought diverged from an emphasis on psychopathology to normal everyday thoughts and moods. The result was the idea that intelligence and emotions can integrate to perform complex information processing that either cannot manage independently. This was the development of the concept of emotional intelligence. Salovey and Mayer in their attempt to develop accurate and valid measures of emotional intelligence initiated a research program which was also meant to explore its significance. Daniel Goleman recognized their work which led to his formulation of the theory of emotional intelligence. Theories of Emotional Intelligence There is a general conception that emotion and intelligence are two distinct concepts which cannot integrate. As such, the term emotional intelligence appears as a contradiction. However, emotions often convey messages which can be processed. That is, they signal relations. This assumption makes the term sensible. Philosophers have often inquired into the nature and meaning of emotions and came into a conclusion that they define the relationship between an individual and other members of the society. As such, every emotion defines an individual’s relationship with himself and his relationship with others. There is a universality and regularity in the meaning of emotions. Comprehending the universal meaning of emotions was adopted by cognition and affect researchers. A system which defined joy as a positive feeling which comes after an assurance that an action will be rewarded and relief as a positive feeling which points to the absence of punishment was outlined by Roseman (1984). A similar approach was taken up by Ortony, Clore and Collins (1988) which defined joy as a â€Å"well being† emotion which comes as a result of self reaction to desirable occurrence. Emotional intelligence can be fragmented into four branches of abilities. These include perceiving and expressing emotions, integrating emotions in thoughts, comprehending and managing emotions. All these are important in the overall theory of emotional intelligence. Perceiving Emotions Accurate perception is the first step in emotional information processing. The system of emotional perception is a product of evolution built through time so as to facilitate communication between parent and child. The child therefore learns emotions from the mother. For instance, when the infant smiles, her mother reflects back the kind of face associated with smiling which in this case is contracting the cheek’s muscles. As a person grows, he learns to generalize patterns of how emotions are manifested in the physical realm which includes objects, artwork and even other people. For instance, a person may associate a relaxed shouldered posture with calmness. Emotional integration After the perception of an emotion, it has the capacity to influence cognition at various points of processing. Emotional integration thus focuses on the contributions that emotion makes in the reasoning process. Various suggestions have been put forward on how emotions may facilitate cognition. According to Easterbrook (1959), Mandler (1975) and Simon (1982), emotions provide an impulse to prioritization. (Tad. In John D. Mayer, Emotions, Intelligence and Emotional Intelligence. p. 420) For instance, someone in deep concentration in say, a movie is oblivious of the surrounding environment, even the couch he is seated on. Nonetheless, he may experience a growing sense of anxiety and on hearing the voices of children outside; he realizes that he is supposed to be in a psychology class. The interrupting anxiety to some extent is a second processing system independent of the central cognitive system. As such, it enables cognition to direct resources to a problem until and unless a competing response emerges. Another way through which emotions help cognition is by functioning as a secondary store about emotions themselves. For instance, if an artist wants to paint suffering, he reflects back on an experience or scene of suffering and recreates the feeling. The act of mood cycling or mood switching is another way through which emotions contribute to intelligence. Cognitive system is often refreshed by mood alterations. These mood alterations have a consequence of bringing various emotional tools to handle a particular problem. According to Mayer, a shift in judgment through increasing motivational direction may enhance functioning. (Ibid. 421) A cycling of moods also provides different perspectives on a subject or problem thereby enhancing creativity. Mood can also assist intelligence by providing implicit information on past experiences. As such they act as references in decision making processes. For instance, one may have some facts on a given event but still would not be in a position to choose which of his alternatives is best for him. As such, he reflects back on his feelings towards those alternatives. Emotions thus summarize these past experiences. Comprehending Emotion The closest branch to traditional intelligence is understanding emotions. The hypothesis is that there exists a mental processor whose main function is to understand, abstract and reason about emotional data. Labeling feelings and understanding what they represent are just but part of this processing. For instance, one may label a feeling love. As such, he or she recognizes that love reflects upon relationship with other people. Emotion Management This is the final branch to emotional intelligence model. It involves the management of emotions for personal development and growth. For instance, an informative emotion enables one to gather information about his environment, especially the social environment, if one opens himself for such information. People open to sadness will best understand the painful conditions which man has to grapple with in the course of existence. This also enhances the good in the sense that one may not be in the position to appreciate blessings if he doe not understand the difficulties in life. For instance, after sacrificing ones time to study hard, he may achieve happiness when he graduates with a first class honors. However, openness is not the end of management. The knowledge gained from perceiving, integrating and understanding emotional dispositions must be put into practical use in order to maximize emotional management. In other words, it is through perceiving and understanding emotions that one knows the consequences of experiencing them or blocking them. The theory has left open the way in which emotional intelligence manage emotions. Intelligence enables one to explore and evaluate possibilities with their own goals in mind. Even though one may hope that many people manage their emotions well, emotionally intelligent individuals at times manage their feelings negatively. Discussion The foundations of the new theory of emotional intelligence are based on the field of cognition and affect. As inquiries were made on how thoughts were altered by emotions by cognition and affect researchers, a shift emerged from the clinical researchers who emphasized on how thoughts were pathologized by emotions. Normalization of such phenomena was started by the cognition and affect researchers who who found them in everyday human behavior. The focus of emotional intelligence was thus how emotions and intelligence facilitate each other mutually in order to create a high level of emotional information processing and a higher level of thought. A model of emotional intelligence was formulated which viewed it as a form of intelligence mainly concerned with processing emotional signals related to relationships. As such, emotional intelligence is concerned with the capacity to consider emotions rationally for better management. Measuring Emotional Intelligence The assessment of intelligence is done entirely by ability tests. As observed earlier, theoretical model construction and measurement procedures are involved in the development of emotional intelligence. Individuals who take ability tests are subjected to relevant mental tasks within a controlled environment. This is meant to measure their optimum mental performance. However, the examination of many different skills which may be tied to intelligence is a requirement for the establishment of intelligence. This is so because the existence of intelligence is based upon the intercorrelation between skills which also develop with age. The Value of Emotional Intelligence When people are confronted with setbacks or failure, they tend to make some causal attributions. Optimists tend to make external attributions that are temporary and specific while pessimists make internal attributions which are universal and permanent. This is according to learned optimism construct developed by Martin Seligman. In a research carried among salesmen by Seligman and his colleague, they found that optimistic new salesmen sold more insurance in their first years than the pessimistic ones. When the company hired another group of individuals who failed normal screening but scored high on optimism, the made more sales than the pessimists by 21 per cent. (Schulman, 1995). an aspect of emotional intelligence which has exhibited much success is the ability to handle stress and manage feelings. Tests of Emotional Intelligence According to Goleman, even though entry level executive positions require technical skills and IQ, high emotional intelligence is an integral part of high performance leadership. A simple emotional test based on theories by Goleman can help identify emotional intelligence and leadership. As such, one may establish his emotional intelligence through the use of emotional intelligence test so long as it is based firmly on emotional intelligence theory. A happier and more balanced lifestyle can be achieved by an awareness of ones emotional abilities which may also help in improving his emotional intelligence. Rating of ones ability to regulate his emotions in a balanced and healthy manner can be achieved through emotional intelligence tests. After the completion of the test, an individual is in a better position to comprehend his greatest emotional strengths and weaknesses which enables him to evaluate his aptitude in every emotional category. Emotional intelligence theory is also important in identifying the emotional intelligence of a child which provides abase for emotional intelligence training. Developing emotional intelligence skills require that one is in a position to identify his emotional intelligence strengths and weaknesses. References Bower, G. , H, (1981) Mood and Memory. American Psychologist. 36, 129-148 ed. John D. Mayer, Emotions, Intelligence and Emotional Intelligence. p. 420 Goleman D. (1995) Emotional Intelligence. New York: Bantam Mayer, J. & Salovey, P. Choosing a Measure of Emotional Intelligence: The Case for Ability Scales. In R. Ban-On Handbook for Emotional Intelligence. Guilford Wechsler, D. (1940) Non intellective Factors in General Intelligence, Psychological Bulletin, 37, 444-445 Zajonc, R. , B. , (1980) Feeling and Thinking: References Need No Inferences. American Psychologist, 35, 151-175