Minimalism development through to modern time Essay

Minimalism development through to modern time - Essay Example Tracing back in time, we can find the examples of the Minimalist theory being exercised as early as the 18th century. This was the time when Goethe built an Altar of Good Fortune that was constructed solely of a stone sphere and cube. It was in the 1920s that artists such as Malevich and Duchamp started to produce works in the Minimalist mood. However, the American advocates in the form of Dan Flavin, Carl Andre, Ellsworth Kelly and Donald Judd did their best at reacting in a fast manner against the Abstract Expressionism in their respective bleak canvases, sculptures as well as installations from time to time. The Minimal Art has been concerned with a number of different movements like the Conceptual Art, which speaks for the manner in which the finished work has existed only as way to discuss the theory. Similarly, Pop Art is present there to form up a mixed fascination related with the impersonal ways and last but not the least, Land Art is available for one and all to see that fo cuses on the construction of simple shapes and figures. To put Minimal Art in the same perspective, the same has been quite successful at influencing the development of art in the 20th century in quite an enormous way. The Fluxus movement started out in New York in the 1960s which moved on further towards Europe and eventually to Japan. The Fluxus movement included a pretty fresh set of aesthetics that had already appeared in a number of different countries. That aesthetic encompasses a reductive gesturality.

Social Media Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words - 1

Social Media - Essay Example The company had not even finalized the process of informing the family since it was only thirty minutes from the accident. Her weighty question was, ‘Has facebook introduced dying in real time’. During my use of social media, I have always found status updates from friends on facebook that are either announcing the passing on of the friends’ parents, children, siblings, friends or relatives. I almost always wonder the motivation behind sharing such personal information was. The question that always lingers on the mind is what will one feel when they learn of the demise of their loved ones through facebook or twitter? Are social networks making us so inhuman as not to consider the feelings of others? Are we in a race to establish who breaks news of an event without considering the humane and ethics side of our actions? For the research, I choose to look for respondents who had either reported a death on social media or one who had learnt of the demise of a loved on e from the media. I requested my friends to try to remember if anybody in their connections had ever posted anything close to that. From my friends, I got a list of eleven possible candidates. I then visited these candidates’ profiles to try and pull up these updates and found that three of them had already deleted the posts or ‘unfollowed’ them. The first consideration I made was the time elapsed since the post was made. This was necessary since I did not want my interviewees to be people who were recently bereaved on such a sensitive subject. Next I narrowed down by geographical location since I preferred to do a face to face interview. At the end, I settled on two candidates, one a college student and the other a married man who only gave his age as ‘in the mid thirties’ For the purposes of this write up, I will only use alliances of Joe and Mary for the man and the college lady respectively. Both candidates had been using facebook for upwards of four years and as thus were well versed in uses and limitations. The college student was on a camping trip when one of her friends drowned. Immediately most of her friends went online to announce the incident with some mentioning the name of the victim in their posts or through the auto name link function of facebook. Mary insisted that she was not among the first to post this but on reflection she felt that the only reason might have been because she had been too much shocked and had to be taken to the hospital. Asked how it would have been had she been the relative and learnt of the occasion on facebook, she said she would be extremely troubled and actually termed it ‘disgusting’. Joe lost his young son after a short illness. Being a Muslim, the young boy’s body had to be interred the same day. His wife was in shock and all planning was left to Joe. With family to be notified and logistics to be handled, it was all too much for him. Then an idea hit him, why no t just it on facebook? He did exactly that, and he says he has no regrets. The post acts as his condolence book and most of his friends and family even those who live in faraway places were able to condole with him. Ilana Gershon uses the term Idioms of practice to describe the situation where people decide communally how to use various media and their appropriateness in certain situations (2010, p.6). This implies that a majority of the users of social

PERSPECTIVES ON THE EMPLOYMENT RELATIONSHIP AND CONFLICT

PERSPECTIVES ON THE EMPLOYMENT RELATIONSHIP AND CONFLICT Introduction Today industries have undergone a great change in terms of the kind of personnel they deploy as they look for maximization of their production and profits. There is keen selection of means of production especially specialized labor and therefore this means that todays employer is much more focused on what he needs in the process of production (Fredman Gillian 1989, p.48). There are increased agreements and dispute procedures which used to be forced on the unions by employer association some time ago, but the bargaining ability and freedom has called for diversification of employers functions and restructuring of the pay agreements (Bach Sisson 2000). Management of the businesses has also changed with regard to todays need and is being performed by board of governors (Guest 1991, p.153). There are two aspects of employer relationship namely; market relations and managerial relations. A market relation refers to terms and conditions on which labor is hired and is economic in character. Managerial relations refer to deployment of labor force by the management and how this deployment is to be done. Before trade unions, individual worker could chose to work or go elsewhere if he or she is not satisfied with employers terms of work. And because an individual worker was weaker than the employer, there came a regulated work market with trade unions where employees are allowed to collude with fellow workers for a collective bargaining. The primary justification of trade union is that it protects the worker in the economic aspect of his employment (Gintis 1987, p.68). In job regulations, employers and employees adopt an agreement contract. These contracts have rules over a wide variety of work places. They contain an individual interest which necessarily ignores the economic reality behind the bargain because the parties are simply not equal (Wedderburn 1986, p.8). This one sided interest of contract of employment is the bone of contention in the workplace relationship. The contract requires the employer to pay wages, provide work, exercise care and cooperate while employees are expected to obey reasonable order, exercise reasonable care and competence, maintain fidelity, honesty, protect confidential information, be accountable and not to sabotage employers business among other provisions. These provisions are just mere protection on managerial rights. However, the actual cooperation of legal rights in work places depends on the power, knowledge and organization of the parties as well as on the statute book (Edwards 1987, p.15). The agreement of work must take into consideration that what is offered by the worker to the employer is the capacity to work, which only the capitalists make maximum use of, but the output benefits only the capitalists (Braveman 1998, p.37). This paper seeks to examine the three perspectives that have been a wide reference regarding industrial relations, their take on how these conflicts may arise and how they are solved under each system. In the discussion we will also seek to see how managers under these perspectives seek to gain control for effective management. The perspectives There are three perspectives on the employment relationship that can contribute in analyzing the nature of conflict in work place: Unitarism, Pluralism and Marxism. Most writers and theorists have written on these schools of thought and have used them from different perspective to analyze social issues. Here they will be used to test their take on the nature of conflict in the workplace and the way managers or human resource managers seek control and effective guidance in exercising their vested authority. Unitarism This is the system whereby a focus is placed upon one source of authority without negotiation. It assumes a kind of partnership teamwork in its operationalization. In a unitary system, members are expected to strive as a unit and pursue a common goal and every unit component does its part to the best of its ability (Fox 1966, p.2). Members are expected to exhibit discipline, royalty and effective communication because the organized body is supposed to be an integrated and harmonious whole. Following the centralized leadership members accept their place and function and this means antagonist groups and rivalry in leadership are not accommodated. Unitarism holds the idea that conflict in the work place should be a two way because the Leaders, who expect loyalty and respect from members, must first exhibit and demonstrate the same to individual members. According to Fox (1966, p.3), the success and impetus of the team inheres from personal relationship and just like a football team there is no divided spirit especially with management authority. In this system also, it is believed that the structure and the organization of work and purpose is unitary and individual employees or trade unions are not expected to challenge the management. Worse still is that trade unions are perceived to be an illegitimate entity that sabotages the balance of the whole unit and. As Unitarism assumes that workplace conflicts are non existent due to the organization and symbiotic relationship among workers and managers, the idea of trade unions is conceived to be foreign. Unitary system therefore denies conflict in workplace and just assumes that the conflicts are only due to personal differences, faulty communication and works of inciters from without. Managers in this system believe that workers conflicts can be managed within the system than involving trade unions (Fox 1966 p.10). Unions are seen as achieving nothing for employees but sabotaging progress, pushing up cost and constantly frustrating the owners of production enterprise in the guise of resolving workplace conflicts (Fox 1966, p.11). The ideology also endeavors to integrate employees into organization based on employee commitment to quality production, customer need and job flexibility. It therefore serves three purposes in the management; self reassurance as an instrument of persuasion and as a technique of seeking legitimization of authority. Adopting the unitary view of industrial organization is one of managers tactics. This gives a motivation that harmony of purpose exists. Ideology also is a persuasive instrument in which employers persuade their employees and public at large; that industry is a harmony of cooperation which only trouble mongers choose to disrupt (Fox 1966, p.5). This way they make their work easier by convincing their employees and winning public support, should management be challenged by their workers. Moreover, management creates a situation where their interest and those of other employees are similar and legitimizes the regime. Therefore drawing from this assumed legitimacy, their government sanctions and cruelty become legitimate (Edwards, 2003, p.34). In their bid to gain authority under this perspective, managers are also likely to adopt measures that are aimed at debilitating trade union and favoring the company and this triggers further resentment from the trade union (Fox 1966, p.11). Moreover, Managers holding Unitarism perspective belief that collective bargaining, negotiation and reconciliation encourage the wrong attitude between the two sides in industry. They therefore term any resistance and conflicts to be due to stupidity, wrong headedness or outdated class rancor and they work toward inculcating such ideology to their subordinates who by following the ideology are easily controlled (Fox 1966, p.12). Managers also utilize conformist innovation whereby they focus on acquiring expertise that will enable them to demonstrate a close relationship between their activities and organizational success criteria (Thornley, 2003a, p.83). This is mostly attained through specialization in personal management. This influences the re action of workers and their management becomes easier. The assumptions of the unitary position, with its emphasis on managerial prerogative, and its attempt to deconstruct realities of divergent work group attitude and values in the interest of strong unified team renders it weak under modern conditions especially in their obsolete view on the nature of conflict in the work place. Unitarisms view on the nature, cause and how to handle workplace conflict is utterly conservative and time tested. This organized labor is challenged when it comes to the process of organizing and assigning work to members as well as sanctioning the labor force. The failure to consider common interest leads to faulty communication or misunderstanding and at that time conflicts at workplace become a challenge. Pluralism Pluralist perspective is a system with a political analogy whereby many groups with divergent interests and beliefs act as one organization, and the government depend on their consent and cooperation. The final authority in pluralism lack moral bargain to arrive at final decision without relying on members unity (Clegg 1979, p.454). In this system, trade unions are legitimate institutions that represent collective interest of the workers and are granted powers to challenge management. There is therefore minimal authoritarianism because conflicts in the work place are viewed at as inevitable and as a phenomenon that is bound to occur without question. Pluralism views Industrial relations as much stable and adaptable as a result of collective agreement and it is very difficult for the management to sabotage trade unions unlike in the Unitarism (Clegg 1979, p.454). In the regulation of pluralism, conflicts induced by the trade unions are indispensable so the question of how to contain them triumphs over how to constrain the unions operations. In pluralist view, the organization is seen as a plural society with related but separate interests and objectives which should be tamed to a kind of equilibrium through conflict if workers are expropriated. Fox (1966, p.3) analyses that the running of a pluralism system is aimed at striking a balance of members activities of the group for the highest degree of freedom. This is done in line with general interest of the society as it is. The system is kept alive by the fact that sectional groups with divergent interests aim for a common goal and are mutually depended. Under this view, managers are expected to deploy many tactics in their professional functions should they expect to gain any accepted authority. These involve organizing work people and technical resources, shareholders, customers, the government and the local community. Managers who hold this perspective dearly seek to acquire some control through acting in the best interest of all stakeholders. Pluralist workers and other stakeholders, on the other hand, maintain their relations with managers as their source of information to deliver their goods and services to their satisfaction and to minimize work place conflicts (Clegg 1979, p.455). The effectiveness of managers under pluralism in their job is also, highly determined by their good relation with those who negotiate with them on behalf of the workers. Therefore it can be deduced that pluralism views workplace conflicts as indispensable and as a part of work relation hence trade unions are unavoidable institutions. Under this perspective the only way managers can be at ease is to strike a balance between their interest and that of workers by establishing good rapport with negotiators. In many organizations with pluralist approach, managers involve collective negotiations, procedures of dispute settlement, formal and informal consultation as tools of their power control. Marxism Marxism in its proper form is a general theory of society and social change with implications for analysis and industrial relations capitalism. Marxism has since its inception served as a tool for social research into power relations and a discourse in which other phenomena and reality are examined. Class conflict, a macrocosm of work place conflict, according to Marxists is there to stay within the system as far as profit is made out of exploitation of labor by the owners of production. Class divisions that inhere in society are closely intertwined with the bourgeoisie structure of industry and a wage labor (Hyman 1975, p.28). The capitalist, according to Marxism, has introduced social features that dominate labor process which is a property of the worker and this forces the worker to sell their labor power together with their interest. This alienates labor from the owner and makes it to be controlled by the capitalist. Karl Marx, the initiator of Marxists school of thought, noted that ones labor is equal to his or her humanity and one would be dehumanized once someone else controls his or her labor (Braveman 1998, p.39). Since the owner of labor is powerless and the buyer powerful there is a possibility of expropriation of the worker by the employee and hence trade unions are formed. Trade unions in Marxism are legitimate vehicles in challenging the excesses of property owners whenever they disrupt the distribution of national products as a result of power differences. Marxism therefore holds that workplace conflicts are bound to be there but measures should be put to tame them. Trade unions are therefore looked at as institutions that conjure up as a result of painful exploitation of employees by the owners of means of production and therefore as a collective bargaining person (Clegg 1979, p.455). A long history of conflicts has proved that they can be contained if positively perceived and handled. Marxism is the ultimate conflict theory that criticizes Unitarism and pluralism because of their leniency on handling workplace conflicts. Research demonstrates that Marxists and pluralists differ in their industrial relation analysis and further in their definition of its subject matter and nature (Hyman 1975, p.20). What is common in both schools of thought is that both are concerned with conflict and stability acquisition. This means in both perspectives conflict in workplace is unavoidable just as in any other sphere of social life. In most work places management asserts its authority and control down wards from above while work groups assert their independence and control upwards from below (Coffey Thornley 2009, p.93). This reverse expectation is the one that projects a conflicting point where balance has to be struck radically to the benefit of neither of the side. According to Clegg (1979, p.454) Marxist account of industrial relation has that, trade unions may become integrated in the institutions and operations of capitalist society. This strategy, which managers under Marxism may deploy to gain authority, is the greatest evil that can bedevil trade unions under Marxism because once that is accomplished unions cease to act as instruments of social class welfare. This integration may assume terms as economism, incorporation and institutionalization. As much as this is not consistent with trade unions objective it does not favor the employee who is supposed to be represented. Collective bargaining employs freedom for workers to organize independent trade unions to bargain independently and effectively with the employer. To get rid of persistent subordination, workers have freedom to organize autonomous trade unions (Wedderburn 1986, p.7). Integration of trade unions into capitalist society, midwifed by managers, influences all representatives, who interact with managers and employers association, to forfeit their duty to serve employees. To avoid this trade unionists are not advised, under Marxism to make a binding agreement with their employers. In Marxism it is expected that conflicting employee and employer prefer a settlement of their differences in an amicable manner close to each partys objective. This settlement is mostly to be achieved after a series of meetings (Clegg 1979, p.453). As the two sides also push each other to the wall, they must keep in mind that they are mutually depended on each other and that collective bargaining is the backbone of their industrial relations. This however does not imply that trade unions representatives always yield to the pressures of the enterprise. Marxism believes that workers ability to deliver their labor productively lies in the damage they cause to their employers whenever they strike. Further institutionalization of trade unions makes them not to be seen in the old goggles as tools of radical protest and revolt (Clegg 1979, p.454). Trade unions in Marxist setting are aligned to a political party with wider support, greater funds and more activists. Marxism therefore entrenches politicization of workers by action that workers must learn to deploy the mass power of the union as an instrument of revolt should a need arise (Clegg 1979, p.454). Conclusion However, debates on Marxism, pluralism and Unitarism no longer dominate in the labor market today but a new orthodox under the promising enterprise duped human resource management (Guest 1991, p.149) for managers to control power at the work place they adopt enhanced motivation and commitment at work that leads to high performance and therefore managers are expected to dig into it. Rules in an employment sector are either procedural or substantive and do not just follow some theorized routes as those established in Marxism, Unitarism or Pluralism. This is usually found in the spirit of collective agreement that is usually constituted in a body of rules. The Procedural part of the rules deals with matters as which methods are to be used and the means that are deployed when settling disputes that arise from places of work (Flanders 1975, p.86). This very part also deals with facilities to be provided to the representatives of parties who enter the agreement. Substantive part on the other hand pronounces the rate of wages, working hours among other terms of employment leaving exploitation as the last thing to be forced. The substantive rules of collective bargaining regulate the marketing interpretation and enforcement of such rules (Flanders 1975, p.87). However, each of the set of rules, whether substantive or procedural regulate different sets of relationships. Collective relations that involve representative organizations are under the procedural rules. The worker is subject to managerial relation whereby authority and subordination come to play with respect of who is who in the work place. The employee is usually placed at a position where he will exercise his powers in a limited way with regard to the hierarchy of power (Flanders 1975, p.88).The powers are born of organization of the management with an aim of attaining the goals of the enterprise. Here the employees interact with fellow employees and management as they share interests, sentiments, beliefs and values for the common purpose (Flanders 1975, p.89). In conclusion conflicts in the work place are indispensable but what should take precedence is how to solve them. Trade unions are meant to solve the conflict between the employer and the employee but there are other problems that management will have to deal with. The three perspectives offer their take on the industrial relation but their survival is depended on the culture of the society and how they will be interpreted by those involved. What is very important in this case is a balance that will maintain stability in the work place that every party will be satisfied.

Science of Microwave Heating :: microwave oven

The microwave oven, a tool that we use often in our busy lives to heat up foods when we just don't have the time or patience for a conventional oven to do its work. How does this device work? It's pretty simple if we use the basics of physics to explain it. Vibrations from the high frequency radio waves cause the water and fat cells in food to generate heat through friction of the molecules. An example of this using a turkey shows the molecules positive and negative particles acting through these vibrations to cause friction. J. Carlton Gallawa -- http://www.gallawa.com/microtech/howcook.html "In microwave cooking, the radio waves penetrate the food and excite water and fat molecules pretty much evenly throughout the food. There is no "heat having to migrate toward the interior by conduction". There is heat everywhere all at once because the molecules are all excited together. There are limits of course. Radio waves penetrate unevenly in thick pieces of food (they don't make it all the way to the middle), and there are also "hot spots" caused by wave interference, but you get the idea. The whole heating process is different because you are "exciting atoms" rather than "conducting heat"." -- Howstuffworks.com From Wikipedia.org: "Microwaves, also known as Super High Frequency (SHF) signals, have wavelengths approximately in the range of 30 cm (1 GHz) to 1 mm (300 GHz)." and "A microwave oven uses a magnetron microwave generator to produce microwaves at a frequency of approximately 2.4 GHz for the purpose of cooking food. Microwaves cook food by causing molecules of water and other compounds to vibrate. The vibration creates heat which warms the food. Since organic matter is made up primarily of water, food is easily cooked by this method." From http://www.gallawa.com/microtech/howcook.html: "Microwaves possess three basic characteristics: * Just as sunlight shines through a window, microwaves pass right through some materials. Materials such as glass, paper, and plastic are transparent to and generally unaffected by microwaves. * Microwaves are reflected by metal surfaces, much as a ball would bounce off a wall. The metal walls of the cooking space actually form a cavity resonator. In other words, the enclosure is designed to resonate the microwaves as they are radiated from the magnetron tube. The principle of resonance may be illustrated using sound waves. When a piano key is struck, it produces sound vibrations or sound waves. Sometimes a note is played on a piano, and an object across the room, perhaps a wineglass, can be heard vibrating and producing the same sound.

Frederick Douglass Rhetoric Analysis

Whenever injustice exists in society, it becomes the responsibility of others to step forward in defense of the oppressed. If this action does not occur, then the injustice will remain and innocent people will suffer. In order to preserve equality, sometimes people must take a risk in order to reveal the truth and uphold justice. Individuals throughout history, such as the founding fathers, Gandhi, and Martin Luther King, Jr. , have faced this peril in the pursuit of freedom.In 1845, Frederick Douglass published Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave, in order to do just that- to establish the truth behind slavery and advocate for freedom. In his narrative, Douglass uses diction, structure, imagery, and other stylistic elements to persuade people of the evils that slavery inflicts on both sides of society. In order to reveal the truth behind slavery, Douglass demonstrates his point through his use of diction and structure. Through his diction, Douglass uses wo rds to illustrate the barbarity and inhumanity of slavery.For instance, Douglass describes slaveholders as â€Å"human flesh-mongers† and their actions as â€Å"fiendish barbarity† (Douglass, 21, 27). By using words such as these, Douglass shows his contempt for those responsible and informs the reader of the cruelty of slavery. He compares the slaveholders to barbarians, revealing them as the height of cruelty and wickedness. In addition, after watching the white men heartlessly rank slaves with swine and thoughtlessly divide families, he â€Å"saw more clearly than ever the brutalizing effects of slavery upon both the slave and the slaveholder† (Douglass, 58).Douglass uses the word brutalizing to show how the power of owning another person turned the white brutal and inhuman. That they could commit these malicious acts on fellow human beings becomes incomprehensible, and he successfully communicates the terrible effects of slavery. In addition to his diction, Douglass uses structure to show how the barbarity of enslavement first turned him into a slave, and how that same inhumanity set him free. After about nine chapters detailing his slave life, he says, â€Å"You have seen how a man was made a slave; you shall see how a slave was made a man. (Douglass, 75) He then goes on to describe the turning point for him that sparked his quest for freedom. By structuring his narrative this way, he reveals both sides- how slavery broke him â€Å"in body, soul, and spirit† (Douglass, 73) and how it eventually â€Å"rekindled the few expiring embers of freedom† within him (Douglass, 80). In doing so, he gives the reader an insight into how he became himself, and reinforces the evils of slavery in the way it shapes a man’s life. Douglass’ use of diction and structure effectively persuades the reader of the barbarity and inhumanity that comes as a result of slavery.To continue his persuasion, Douglass uses selection of deta il and different tones to make his view known. When describing some aspects of slavery, Douglass’ use of detail opens society’s eyes to injustice. In one case, when describing the whipping of his Aunt Hester, he includes details that encompass sight- â€Å"the warm, red blood†¦ came dripping to the floor,† sound- â€Å"amid heart-rending shrieks,† and emotion- â€Å"I was so horror-stricken†¦ I hid myself in a closet† (Douglass, 24).By including facts covering many senses, he provides the reader a chance to piece together the scene, giving them perspective. If society has all the details, it becomes easier for them to pass an accurate judgment of slavery. His detail, or lack thereof, also contributes to his use of tone- in particular, one of coolness and detachment. When describing incidents involving himself, he seems as if relating the story of another- â€Å"scarce a week passed without his whipping me. I was seldom free from a sore b ack† (Douglass, 70).While he neither over or under exaggerates the situation, he seldom tells of his own emotions and disgust regarding his punishments, and he shows his contempt without appearing exceedingly emotional. By keeping a cooler tone, Douglass avoids writing hot with emotion and reestablishes his credibility. Douglass also uses a tone of despair to persuade of injustice. In one passage, he pours out his heart, â€Å"O God, save me! God deliver me! †¦ Why am I a slave? †(Douglass, 74). Through his touching supplication the reader better understands him.His despairing tone displays how slavery truly broke him down and pushed him into misery. Douglass’ use of detail and tone sincerely convinces one of slavery’s evils. In addition to stylistic elements used thus far, Douglass also uses both imagery and syntax to portray the horrors of slavery. To begin with, he uses imagery by personifying slavery: â€Å"there stood slavery, a stern reality, g laring frightfully upon us, -its robes already crimsoned with the blood of millions, and even now feasting itself greedily upon our own flesh. (Douglass, 90) By depicting slavery this way, he gives it power and emphasis, causing slaves to appear powerless beneath slavery’s influence. The mental representation he renders reveals once more the involuntary, villainous enslavement and that the effects of slavery are evil and need to cease. Along with personification, Douglass uses a metaphor to illustrate the terrible effects of slavery on his mistress- â€Å"Slavery proved as injurious to her as it did to me†¦Under its influence, the tender heart became stone, and the lamblike disposition gave way to one of tiger-like fierceness† (Douglass, 51).While her heart did not truly become stone, this illustration helps to reveal how the responsibility of owning another human being corrupted her. By using a metaphor, the comparison between her temperament before and after own ing a slave becomes a harsher, more stark reality of slavery’s evil influence. Along with imagery, Douglass’ use of syntax provides description and effectively helps to portray slavery’s harms.After escaping to the north, Douglass describes the thoughts running through his mind: â€Å"let him place himself in my situation- without home or friends- without money or credit- wanting shelter, and no one to give it- wanting bread, and no money to buy it,†¦ – perfectly helpless both as to the means of defense and means of escape, †¦ – I say, let him be placed in this most trying situation, – the situation in which I was placed,- then, and not till then, will he fully appreciate the hardships of, and know how to sympathize with, the toil-worn and whip-scarred fugitive slave† (Douglass, 110).The choppy flow of this sentence, filled with breaks in thought, makes him seem breathless and reflects his panic as a runaway slave. This show s that slavery, which has instilled deep fear into the hearts of slaves, makes adjustment in a free world difficult for fugitives. To convince society of the harm that slavery wreaks on both the slave and slaveholder, Frederick Douglass uses many literary elements in his narrative to convey his message.Overcoming many difficulties and prejudice against him, Douglass published his narrative, despite numerous risks, to persuade society of slavery’s evils. Engaged in pleading the importance of freedom, his narrative, read across the world, stands as a witness to the  ¬Ã‚ ¬Ã‚ ¬Ã‚ ¬Ã‚ ¬Ã‚ ¬ struggles required to pursue freedom. All through history, courageous individuals have stood up in the face of adversity to protect the rights of others. Today, where freedoms are threatened across the world, people can still make a difference, like Douglass’ narrative, and unify people in a worthy cause to defend liberty.

Family Health Assesment Essay

The Family discussed in this paper has two children and both parents have been married for seventeen years. The paternal and maternal grandmothers are alive, while both paternal and maternal grandfathers have died of heart disease. The maternal grandmother lives with the family. The family assessed was interviewed two times and both times, the interview took place in family’s home and lasted for thirty minutes. The author of this paper has used Calgary Family Assessment model in assessing the family, which is an integrated, multidimensional framework based on the foundation of systems, cybernetics, communication and change theory and influenced by post-modernization and biology of cognition (Wright & Leahey, ). For complete assessment to take place as described by this model, a sense of importance and open communication was established between nurse and family. The family was encouraged to attend interview together . Names of family members have been changed to protect their privacy & confidentiality. Structural Assessment It is meant to identify the composition which consists of internal and external structure of family and its connectivity. Internal Family Composition Immediate family consist of father [Tim] and mother [Maria] who are a married couple and together they have two sons; older son (Jim) aged 14,younger son [Jacob] aged 10, grandmother [Gia] and pet dog [Sheenu] aged 2 years. Gender Both genders seem equal in this family. Differences in genders were not evident. Tim and Maria both consider themselves as breadwinners of family. Tim goes on business trip for weeks and Maria work long hours to make family financially secure. This was evident when Maria stated, â€Å"I want to make sure that we have everything for decent living and best education for Jim and Jacob† (Maria, October 16, 2010). Gia stays at home and does all the cooking and look after Jacob and Sheenu. Love, respect and appreciation for one another’s contribution to the family unit were evident in this family. Sexual Orientation The sexual orientation among the couple is heterosexual. Both Jim and Jacob stated their interests for girls, and are heterosexual. Any other sexual orientation will not be accepted by the family due to family’s culture. Rank Order Gia is sixty five years old. Tim is forty seven years old and Maria is forty five years old. Jim is fourteen years and Jacob is ten years old. There is a gap of 4 years between Jim and Jacob’s birth. The family takes pride in mentioning that everybody was born in October. Jim and Jacob, both are tall and handsome. Physically they have similar features but Jacob is healthier than Jim. During family interview Jim opened up easily and talked while Jacob was quite and answered only when specifically asked. Jacob was having more non verbal communication than anybody else in the family. Based on observation of interviewee there was sense of equality between Tim and Maria but Jim seems to have some kind of control over Jacob. Before saying anything Jacob would look towards Jim. The couple state that Tim finish outdoor family tasks while Maria deals with family issues. Tim referred Maria as â€Å"Finance Minister of family† (Tim, personal communication October 16, 2010) Subsystems Dyad subsystems were evident in the family. Gia is playing role of mother, grandmother and holding the whole family together. Tim and Maria seem very close but Jim and Jacob were not so close. Jacob was trying to avoid Jim all the time. He was comfortable sitting closer to Gia and changed to another sofa when Jim sat beside him. There was strong bond between mother and sons as well as grandmother and grandchildren. The bond between sons and father was not so strong. Father’s tone of talking to sons’ was authoritative. The mother was patting her sons’ back and was quite cheerful while talking about her sons; father would only smile and admitted that his wife knows more about kids because he spend more time away from home. The whole family agreed that if there is any problem or issue within the family, everybody would sit and discuss to sort out the problem. The family could be described as close knit. Boundaries The family has set some clear boundaries. Jim is not allowed to hang out with friends without his parents’ permission. The elders in the family and outside family are to be treated with respect and love. Both Jim and Jacob have been taught to knock at door before entering and seek permission to use or borrow anything whichever does not belong to them; to give a kind of respect to each other. Both the boys have to complete their education. Jim and Jacob have been given choice to study whatever they want and their education will be paid by parents. Maria stated â€Å"all the basic necessities like food, clothing housing will be met by us as long as the boys are studying; if they keep changing their mind every year about their future studies; then this is wastage of time and money. As long as they have definite plans for a career we are ok with that; if the boys don’t want to study they have to move out and find their own living† (Maria, personal communication, October 16, 2010). External Extended Family Maternal grandmother lives with the family. Maria has three sisters. All are married and live in Michigan. Tim’s mother, brother and sisters live in New York. All of them stay in touch with each other via phone. Tim has a cab and trailer business in New York and visits his family twice a month and stays with them for couple of weeks. Maria’s family lives in the same city and visits each other quite often. Maria’s sisters’ come to help her when needed, if Tim is away on business trip. The sisters’ children and Maria’s boys sleepover at each others’ places and get along well. Gia admitted that the sisters stand by each other in thick and thin. Be it a family sickness or children’s school problem or any other appointment they are always there to help each other. Larger Subsystems Family visits their temple once in a week to say their prayers and socializes in their community. Other than this the family does not have any connections with any other religious organization or community agency. Context Ethnicity/Race /Religion/Spirituality This family is South Asian, originally from India, and immigrated to United States in 1992. Both Tim and Maria are Hindus; they have respect for all religions. They have not forced their religion on children and are free to follow any religion. Environment This family lives in safe, high middle class neighborhood in a two story four bedroom house with finished basement and a big front and back yard. They live closer to shopping malls, grocery stores, schools and library. Home is ten miles away from Maria’s place of work but she don’t mind driving as home is in safe and secured area. Developmental This family is upper-middle class family and according to Calgary health assessment model the family is in stage four of family life cycle. In this stage families often increase flexibility of boundaries to include children’s independence (Wright and Leahy, p. 91). While observing family interactions, there was typical parent-child relationship. The parents would keep quite when teenager wanted to talk. Functional Assessment Instrumental Activities of daily living Tim works less; since he has business in New York; almost two weeks in a month he spend over there. Whenever he is in Michigan he just stays home. Maria works full time. During her day off she takes care of house and children. Jim and Jacob go to school and they are underage to work outside. Jim does not help family with household chores like cutting grass and removing snow. Expressive Emotional and Verbal communication Family was respectful to each other’s opinion and gave everyone chance to speak a. Nonverbal communication was also present. They were nodding in approval or disapproval. There was time when Jim was interrupting parents to enforce his statement rather than listening. Roles/Influences and Power When asked about roles and power sharing between family members, all of them smiled at each other. Maria stated boys do help but its Jacob who helps more in doing chores than Jim. Jim usually put garbage outside for pick up. Jacob help his mom by vacuuming the house and putting dishes in the dishwasher and taking Sheenu out for walk. Maria does all the grocery shopping and Gia cooks food for the family. Maria has role of wife, mother and daughter which she is carrying with responsibility. Tim has role of father and husband. Gia has role of mother and grandmother. Jim and Jacob have roles of sons, grandsons and brothers. Family Strengths and Challenges The family’s strength lies in adherence to their cultural norms, beliefs and values and desire to form strong relationships with other cultures. The family uses the resources available for their health care needs; visits physicians for annual physicals and dental exams. The family wants to pass the positive things about their culture to next generation like respect, trust and loyalty. Being educated and believing in healthier relationship is also strength of family. The challenge for this family is the behavioral problems of teenager son within the family and outside the family; which is a source of stress for family. During the second interview Tim was not present due to business trip and children were away to school. Gia admitted that Jim is having some behavioral problems, to which Maria also agreed. Maria stated â€Å"Since he is a teenager it is really hard to keep him under control like other kids but he do have some problems† (Maria, personal communication, October 20, 2010). The problem started with Jim arguing with teachers at school. He would laugh in class for no reason; making other students to laugh and disturbing class. He used to argue a lot with teachers always stressing that he is right which was disrespectful. At home he gives hard time to Jacob and Sheenu. Gia stated that he comes home earlier than Jacob and as soon as Jacob comes home; Jim would not let Jacob in or would tell him that he is a loser or saying that nobody loves him. When Jim says something like that, Jacob would start crying. Gia stated that she does not like to intervene as Jim is in habit of pushing others and she is scared that if he pushes her; she will fall and can get a fracture. Jim also yells at Sheenu. When Jim is home Sheenu would like to stay with an adult to have a sense of protection. Jim’s behavior at school and home had brought a lot of stress for the family. Maria admitted that she was made to sit in his class to watch Jim’s behavior while he was not aware of Maria’s presence and was acting as a clown in the class. Asked about Tim’s reaction to his son’s behavior, Maria stated that Tim consider it normal for growth and development. Maria seems to be quite concerned about his son’s behavior. Maria agreed that his behavior problems started in middle school. He would come home and tell stories about boys selling â€Å"candies† in the school and he had put up those candies in his locker. The candy story made Maria worry about his son’s company and getting drugs. Without further questioning Jim; next day Maria had a meeting with school principal and Jim’s locker was searched in presence of Jim, Maria, principal and two other teachers. Nothing was found and Jim could not give any description of the person selling â€Å"candies† and what they look like. He admitted that he was just playing a joke on his mom. After this he stopped telling lies and shifted his focus on being a clown in the class. When he comes home after school; he usually takes a nap and then stays up whole night to watch television or play games. The next day he would sleep in the class. Jim does have some behavioral problems but he is a homely guy. After coming home from school, he likes to stay home and spend some time with Maria telling about school activities. Jim’s behaves well in Maria’s presence. The family’s main concern is to change Jim’s behavior. Summary of Assessment The family operates within close knit system; having internal and external harmony among friends and extended family. In terms of completing the family cycle, the mother is putting extra efforts for adjusting to the fact that she is mother of a teenager while the father has laid back attitude towards his son’s behavior. The father needs to take responsibility to find reasons for his son’s behavioral problems. Given the fact that the teenager spend most of his time in school and at home, interventions should be directed at peer influences. According to Erickson’s stages of development the teenager is going through establishment of identity versus role confusion (Kozier et al. , p. 325). The need for independency and family support creates conflict between teenager and family. The family’s ability to cope with stress affects the health of individual family members, and the health of this individual family member influences the family’s ability to cope (Kaakinen et al. , p. 65). Guidance need to be presented in a way that the teen feel loved. The above summary will be basis of health promotion for this family. Health Promotion Plan The goals of health promotion plan will be to incorporate all individuals of the family within interventions. The health concern of the family should not be for individual member but for family as unit. The health plan will be aimed at improving dimensions of family life, promoting health of this family. Family is considered a most important part in a child’s growth and development. Open communication, child-parent interaction can have a positive effect on child’s development. To stop an inappropriate child behavior, first we need to know the triggering event to that behavior. It’s important to just focus on offending behavior rather than criticizing the child. The teenager in this family has attention seeking behavior in school. He should be encouraged to participate in school games; to divert his mind and energy from unacceptable behaviors. More time need to be spent with him. Since both his parents are busy in their jobs and other responsibilities; they are spending less time with the children. The teenager is at risk of developing other health problems like smoking, drinking and dropping out of school. For prevention of those risk behaviors among teenagers; time devoted to shared activities is important for the child’s healthy development. Parent’s education, their motivation in favor of healthy lifestyle, positive thinking, guidance as well as encouragement to acceptable behaviors can reduce the manifestations of risk behavior among the adolescents. Monitoring what teenager is watching on television and internet will help in reducing problems. Both the parents are educated; they should make the teenager aware of their expectations from him. A sense of trust should be developed between teenager and parents to help his transition into adulthood and to become independent, responsible, communicative young adult. The child should be encouraged to be a role model for his younger brother and should be rewarded for taking responsibility. Making him aware of inappropriate behavior will help him in deciding right and wrong. Inappropriate behavior should be ignored and appropriate behavior, must be reinforced. Positive reinforcement used immediately after appropriate behavior like offering praise immediately after the behavior will help. Setting limits for watching television and access to internet and making rules for going to bed at specific time will help in dealing with problems at school. The parents have already recognized the need for seeking counseling for their son. The mother has taken the responsibility to go with him or he can talk in private to counselor about his problem. After going for 2-3 sessions the family has observed positive changes in teen’s behavior. Conclusion Of all the interventions discussed above, the most applicable in implementing health promotion plan for the family assessed in this paper will be the parent-child interaction. Interaction between them will help in preventing other health problems in adolescent like drinking, smoking. The parents should present their own behavior in a positive way, so that children can learn from them. It is time that family should pay close attention to teenager’s behavior problems to protect and prevent him from developing other health problems.