Kurt Vonnegut :: essays research papers

Kurt Vonnegut   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Kurt Vonnegut is an impressive author who combines comic fiction and social satire in his novels. He often writes about the main character Kilgore Trout, who seems to be more like Vonnegut’s alter ego. He has written many books including Player Piano, Cat’s Cradle, Slaughterhouse Five, Galapagos, Bluebeard, and Fates Worse Than Death.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Kurt Vonnegut was born November 11, 1922 in Indianapolis Indiana. His parents were Kurt Vonnegut Sr. and Edith Leiber. He graduated from Shortridge High School in Indianapolis where he was editor of the school newspaper. After graduation in 1940, he moved on to Cornell University in Ithaca, New York where he took classes for biochemistry. In 1942, he enlisted in the army as an Infantry Battalion Scout. Later he was trained by Carnegie Institute and University of Tennessee to become a mechanical engineer. In 1944, Kurt’s mother committed suicide on May 14. He returns home briefly, then was captured in the Battle of the Bulge. While working in a factory in Dresden, Germany, Vonnegut picked up his materials for Slaughterhouse Five. After this he married Jane Mary Cox on September 1, 1945. Working as a police reporter, he studied Anthropology at the University of Chicago, but his thesis was rejected. In 1947, his son Mark was born, later, in 1949 his daughter E dith. He then became a publicist for General Electric in Schenectady, New York, but in 1950 he quit GE, and moved to Cape Cod to write. He published Player Piano in 1952. His third child, Nanette was born in 1954. Between 1954 and 1956 he taught English at Hopefield school, worked for an ad agency, and opened the very first Saab dealership in the great United States. Next, Kurt was rocked with a number of close deaths. His father passed away in 1957 on October 1, his sister and his brother-in-law die in 1958. He then adopted his three oldest nieces and nephews. Kurt still found time to write and Cat’s Cradle was published in 1962. From 1965 to 1967, he took up a residency at University of Iowa Writer’s Workshop and published Pearls Before Swine. Vonnegut wanted a closer look in Dresden before he wrote the novel Slaughterhouse Five, to he went back to Dresden on a Guggenheim Fellowship. He finished the novel in 1969. His education was furthered after he taught creative writing at Harvard and received his master’s degree from University of Chicago for Cat’s Cradle.

Commentary Miss Clarissa Harlowe to Miss Howe

The extract taken from Samuel Richardson's Clarissa is a letter from Miss Clarissa Harlowe to her sister Miss Howe. In the letter, Miss Clarissa expresses her situation and her feels, as she slows builds up her trouble to the point where she becomes powerless and entangled. Her trouble is that she's in a situation where she's trapped by the events caused by two people whom both she dislikes, Mr. Lovelace who bothers her with improper suggestions and Mr. Solmes, who she's soon going to be married to. The extract is written in first person, since it is the actual letter itself where the writer describes her using the most common form â€Å"I†. This gives a more clear view towards the writer, Clarissa's inner emotions and thoughts. It is a piece of epistoltory writing, where the passage is constructed by short paragraphs that add intensity to the content. The passage starts with a factual tone where Miss Clarissa Harlowe describes her illicit correspondence with Mr. Lovelace by mentioning the letter he deposited in the private garden. The phrase â€Å"private place† suggest secrecy and illicitness of the correspondence and adds a sense of mystery. Speech marks are open in the second paragraph but there's no direct speech but only a summary of the situation, concerning time and place. In the factual summary, there's the omission of the names of people, and this implies that her sister Miss Howe knows the characters she mentions, and further, they must have a close relationship for her to know them. This is implication is corresponded with another implication that Miss Howe is not confused by the numerous pronouns used, that suggest she knows the situation well. The third paragraph is a complaint, that's slightly unfriendly and abrupt. The phrase â€Å"no one† gives a strong sense of accusation towards Mr. Lovelace. There's a sense of real trouble that builds up as the passage moves along. Her sister's, as well as her family's dislike towards Mr. Lovelace are expressed in the insults â€Å"upon him† and the preferring of M. Solmes stead of him. Trouble is suggested by the adding of bad relations of her family with Mr. Lovelace that makes the illicit correspondence dangerous. Mr. Lovelace's words about himself being more suitable for marriage than M. Solmes are polite and serious. He speaks of settlement, that includes wealth, money, land, which are all proper considerations of marriage. The â€Å"regularity of his life and manners† is a more serious expression that he had no bad habits. However, his bad habits are before his addresses to her, which implies that he had bad habits before. The politeness is suggested in the word â€Å"addresses†, as well as the phrase â€Å"he will not disgrace himself† and â€Å"hope of my favor†. However, contrary to Mr. Lovelace's polite offerings, the family and him are at bad terms, implied by the use of the imperative word â€Å"must† in his proposals, which suggest that the family will not likely accept them. Clarissa continues to use revelatory language to describe her situation with Mr. Lovelace. Her language reveals what Mr. Lovelace wants, says and what he will do in his letter. For example â€Å"he will submit to any measures that I shall prescribe, in order to bring about a reconciliation. † Along with his polite offerings, Mr. Lovelace tries to show that he has no bad intentions by the suggestion of a meeting â€Å"attended by whom I please†. Mr. Lovelace's suggestions are all improper, wild and impossible. Young women do not meet men at nighttime in some garden because reputation mattered. It was improper to offer her an asylum when she should be tyrannically treated and it was almost impossible for her friends to drive her into a foreign protection. She is offended towards the suggestions because she mentions them. M. Lovelace's suggestions condemn itself because its impossibility and improperness are all implied. The paradox exists when she mentions, â€Å"I had given him great encouragement† as well as the improper suggestions that she's offended to. It emphasizes the improperness of the suggestions and her feeling of being offended. Clarissa's retelling of Mr. Lovelace's description of himself, contrasts with Mr. Lovelace's improper, impossible suggestions. One is polite, serious while the other abrupt and offensive. The contrast further intensifies the feeling of being offended by Clarissa. In contrast to her strong feeling, her comments are reduced to only four lines while the majority of the description is about Mr. Lovelace. She moves to the inequality between man and woman where she finds women are too complaisant or bashful. There's an indication of the arrogance of men where women are entangled by old supposals and offers. However, inequality is only pinpointed with a few lines. There's the omission of detail of the inequality she mentions, as well as the omission of detail in her descriptions of her situation. Further there's the omission of Mr. Lovelace's emotions although he is the one that offers and suggestions. Later, she reanalyzes her own background, where she uses the alliteration â€Å"drawn and driven† that presents a sense of entrapment and powerlessness. Her emotions are shown through her heart, that condemns the â€Å"mere lover-like correspondence†. The sense of entrapment is further shown by the idea of things that crowds on her, where she could not â€Å"break it off†. The paradox between her being crowded by the idea of things and her being alone also strengthen the sense of entrapment. The demanding of advice from her sister suggests her alones and that she has to confide to someone not living there to seek her help. She sees love as entanglement, as she condemns the lover-like correspondence. The correspondence had caused the unhappy situation, â€Å"more and more entangled†. She not only dislikes Mr. Lovelace, but also Mr. Solmes, as she mentions that she wants break off the marriage. She's eager to escape the entanglement and seeks to be free, shown by her wishing to â€Å"put an end to it†. This is supported by the desperate tone she has, as she points clearly to her suffering by obvious words such as â€Å"unhappy. Her tone is also pessimistic, as she uses words such as â€Å"extricate†, which has a negative meaning. My personal response is that her entanglement is very difficult to resolve since she's going to marry soon. If she breaks off the marriage, it would cause Mr. Solmes to misunderstand her that she accepts his improper suggestions. Her problem is tragic and inevitable to avoid. For that, I feel sorry for her.

Different Perspectives in Psychology Coexist Rather Than Conflict

This paper approaches the topic from a consideration of psychological research in the fields of sex and gender and language. It does so in general terms and avoids discussion at levels of detail. Therefore where a reference is made to specific research the intention is to do no more than exemplify a general principle. The paper will conclude that different perspectives in psychology do at times co-exist, though complement and conflict are frequent.It will suggest the lack of a decisive answer is a result of the relative immaturity of Psychology as a discipline and a concomitant lack of adequately powerful theories that might serve to unite otherwise disparate perspectives. A consideration of how psychology approaches the study of sex and gender reveals, amongst others, four significant theoretical perspectives that are for the most part quite distinct in terms of their objects of knowledge and consequent methods of analysis.Biological psychology is concerned with explaining the diffe rences between male and female in terms of hormones, genes and brain structure. It is mechanistic, with a strong empirical tradition. Evolutionary psychology attempts to explain differences between sexes in terms of behavioural selection for reproductive fitness. Whilst in large part necessarily theoretical, it embraces empirical methods as a means of testing theories. Social constructionist psychology approaches sex and gender through the study of discourse in various historical, cultural and social contexts and so is hermeneutic.Finally psychoanalytic psychology primarily uses clinical observation and the study of infants to gather evidence of how humans acquire and develop a sense of sex and gender (cited in Holloway et al, 2007, pp. 127ff). (6) The immediate impression from the above is that the scope for complement, conflict or co-existence is not clear-cut. Given that they do not share common objects of knowledge, the hope might be for complementary theories that together cont ribute to a broad understanding. Certainly the biological and evolutionary perspectives appear complementary at the theoretical level n that both regard biological sex as the determinant of gender and view differences between sexes as biological features that have been selected for during evolution. However, biological psychology attempts to explain differences in male-female psychology in terms of selected physiological characteristics, for example dimorphism in brain structures (cf. Hofman and Swaab, 1991, cited in Holloway et al, 2007, p. 139). On the other hand the evolutionary psychologist would principally argue in favour of selected behavioural characteristics such as differences between male and female sexual attitudes (cf. Clark and Hatfield, 1989, cited in Holloway et al, 2007, p. 146).There is thus an apparent conflict at the level of analysis. It is therefore ironic that evolutionary psychology must perforce co-exist with biological psychology since, given the understand able constraints on its ability to conduct the sorts of empirical investigations that might be wished for (cf. Herrnstein-Smith, 2000, cited in Holloway et al, 2007, p. 173), it is dependent on a certain amount of corroboration from the biological perspective, amongst others (cited in Holloway et al, 2007, pp. 84). (22) Whereas the biological and evolutionary perspectives agree that biological sex lies at the heart of explaining gender, the social constructionist perspective explicitly rejects that view; sometimes for political reasons (cited in Holloway et al, 2007, pp. 185; see Spence, 1984 and Spender, 1980). Social constructionism regards both sex and gender as characteristics that are revealed only through discourse and action. They are a consequence of the individual's behaviour and experience in a given cultural, social and historical context (ibid).The depth of the conflict is exemplified by a comparison of evolutionary studies that emphasise cross-cultural stability in part icular sexual preferences (cf. Singh 1995, p. 148; Buss and Schmitt, 1993, p. 148, cited in Holloway et al, 2007) and social constructionist ideas such as Bem's (1994, cited in Holloway et al, 2007, p. 153) Gender Schema Theory. Crucially, for the social constructionist gender is something that is continually re-established throughout the lifetime of the individual (cited in Holloway et al, 2007, pp. 153). From the biological and evolutionary perspectives, it is predetermined. 33) Whilst the psychodynamic perspective largely complements the social constructionist, in terms of its interpretive or hermeneutic methodology, its explanations largely focus on the unconscious given that its objects of study entail â€Å"the meaning of the biological differences between men and women and how these become internalised in the child's mind† (cited in Holloway et al, 2007, pp. 184).Thus both the social constructionist and psychoanalytic perspectives conflict with the biological and evolu tionary approaches at the methodological level. Uniquely however (ibid, p. 86) the psychodynamic perspective recognises both biological and cultural contributions to it's theorising. It is not without its share of conflict however. Within the perspective, Freudian notions of the opposite sexed p arent as ‘sexual object of choice' and ‘penis envy' (ibid, p. 161f) quickly came under scrutiny of female and feminist psychologists (cf. Horney, 1926, cited in Holloway et al, 2007, p. 163). There is also conflict with evolutionary explanations of rape as an adaptive strategy (compare Thornhill and Palmer, 2000 and Rose and Rose, 2000 cited in Holloway et al, 2007, p. 71, p. 172). (26) Turning to a consideration of the study of language and meaning, one finds an equally intriguing mix of potential co-existence, complement and conflict when comparing the three principal perspectives. The evolutionary perspective sets out to explore the origins of language and its implications for the human species; the cognitive perspective adopts an information processing approach to the transmission of meaning; and the social constructionist perspective focuses on â€Å"meaning making† as a dynamic between interlocutors (cited in Cooper and Kaye, 2007, p. 119).It is possible therefore to view the three perspectives as at least co-existent. Their objects of knowledge are different and one might expect their cumulative product to contribute to some sort of unified theory. Indeed, from the evolutionary perspective Deacon (1997, Cooper and Kaye, 2007, p. 115) suggests that language is a social phenomenon that defies explanation only in psychological, or only in neuro-biological terms. (9) However, the potential for conflict between the cognitive and social constructionist perspectives is revealed in how they view meaning as the object of knowledge.For the former it is something that is constructed internally by the individual prior to transmission, and subsequently rec onstructed by the audience. For the latter it is negotiated as a result of discourse between individuals – meaning emerges as the result of a complex interplay of intentions, interpretations and power-relations. Thus, there is cause for disagreement as to what â€Å"meaning† is and where it comes from (cited in Cooper and Kaye, 2007, p. 102). That this is adequate to justify a claim of conflict seems weak since the types of â€Å"meaning† espoused by the two perspectives are themselves different.Further, at the level of common sense they are mutually sustaining. The very notion of discourse requires at least two participants seeking, though perhaps not achieving, a consensus of meaning. This demands that at some level each participant is cognising about their intended meaning and how the other is construing it. The implication is that the two perspectives ought to complement the other, or at least co-exist. (6) A key social constructionist argument against a pur ist cognitive perspective is that linguistic (and other cognitive) processes cannot be â€Å"transparently reported† (cited in Cooper and Kaye, 2007, p. 11). This argument is one that cognitive researchers have long acknowledged.Commenting on early research into the cognitive modelling of language Boden (1977, pp. 113ff, et passim) notes that a person's understanding of language in a given instance is dependent, not simply on their knowledge of the world around them, but crucially on their understanding of their relationship with their interlocutors. Other researchers emphasise the point (cf. Sperber and Wilson, 1986, cited in Cooper and Kaye, 2007, p. 99). For their part, social constructionists such as Edwards et al (1992, p. 42, cited in Cooper and Kaye, 2007, p. 112) recognise the importance of the cognitive perspective and suggest only that theirs is a new perspective that offers different insights. Therefore, unless a researcher is determined to hold to one or the other perspective as a matter of purist dogma, it seems more reasonable given the disparate loci of the respective objects of knowledge and the statements that each perspective favourably acknowledges the other, then the cognitive and social constructionist perspectives are thus far co-existent. (32)Within the evolutionary perspective there is a debate as to whether language evolved as an adaptational advantage and was the foundation for other cognitive abilities (Pinker, 2000 cited in Cooper and Kaye, 2007, p. 121), or as a consequence of selection for an ability to form and manipulate predictive metarepresentations (Sperber, 2000 cited in Cooper and Kaye, 2007, p. 121). These are polarised and conflicting views. Pinker's would complement the cognitive perspective with its emphasis on information processing, whilst Sperber would complement the social constructionist.However, Deacon (1997) offers evidence that both capacities evolved in parallel. If he is correct, then there are substant ial grounds for seeking a complementary accommodation between the cognitive and social constructionist paradigms. (6) Even from this scant evaluation, one is struck by the disparate objects of knowledge, types of theory and methodologies. The inevitable conclusion is that psychology is characterised by perspectives that at one or more of these levels conflict, co-exist or complement.One might wish for a parallel to the cosmologist's search for a Unified Theory of Matter; where although theories might diverge cosmology has one over-arching object of study and one comprehensive methodology in computational empiricism. Psychologists do not stand on such substantial bedrock. The questions they pose are often difficult to formulate computationally without reducing the predictive power of any solution, or indeed are abstractions that cannot be treated computationally without trivialising them (see Sundem, 2006 for amusing examples).Whereas the history of physics can be measured in thousan ds of years, psychology as a recognisable discipline has existed for just over a century. A sense of internal conflict muted by convenient co-existence and fortunate complement should not therefore come as a disappointment. It is merely an acknowledgement that psychology is still an emerging and diverse field, and that whatever conflict exists can reasonably be attributed to a lack of sufficiently powerful theories with which to reconcile the different perspectives. This essay focuses on the social perspective of psychology referring Language nd Meaning and Gender and Sex. It deals with the relationship between psychological theory and method in a range of material in both chapters, with particular attention to how social influences shape human development and behaviour. Language and Meaning ‘Language and meaning’, is used to describe a social constructionist approach to language. There are several ways in which the social perspective has promoted understanding in this area. There are primarily two different psychological perspectives on language: cognitive and social.These approaches take evidence from different research bodies, each of which have a different focus As social beings, we continuously interact with other people, thinking about our use of language and how it may best serve us. The social constructionist perspective sees language as a way of creating meaning between individuals as they interact. The social psychological perspective defines the human world as being created through language, making it one of its most powerful and important features. This approach to language sees people using language to take action and achieve objectives.Language is seen as a means by which goals might be achieved. The social psychological approaches to language therefore focuses on understanding language and its meanings as a social process. It sees language as an interactive process between people. It is seen as social because it involves this very i nteraction, and it is through this social interaction that meaning is created. Social psychology argues that there is more to language than the knowledge of syntax, semantics, phonics and coding and other rules of language, even if these are described as being interactive within a cognitive approach.This argument helps define the contrast between social psychological and cognitive approaches to language. In social psychological perspectives, the purpose of language is not to reflect thoughts and emotions and convey them neutrally to someone else. Instead, the motivation for language is defined by the desired action brought about by the use of language. Social psychological approaches to language do not place meaning inherently in the constructions of language such as lexicon, grammar or semantics in the same way as cognitive approaches do.One of the methodological complexities involved in researching language is that we must use language itself as the means by which we research it a s a subject in its own right. This issue is at the centre of the tension that exists between cognitive and social approaches to language. The paradox here is that the necessity of responding in language may predetermine what is said about language. The cognitive perspective assumes that there are separate cognitive processes that language can represent in communication to others, or in dialogue with the self.The accuracy of this depends upon how closely language communicates the cognition behind it. Cognitive psychologists believe that the thinking that underlies language can be studied accurately and in social isolation. However, discursive psychology argues that, when people use language, they do so in a social context, with an audience and for a reason. The social constructionist approach views language as the means for the socially produced meaning. It is the means by which people construct their world, interact with others and set out to achieve their objectives.The cognitive a pproach sees language as the part of the cerebral information processing. It can be argued that meaning is generated by people as they communicate. There is therefore a tension between the social constructionist and cognitive perspectives with respect to meaning and whether it is communicated between people or constructed between them. The social constructionist perspective on language is that it is a tool for social interaction. These different views of language have different implications – the cognitive perspective is that language underpins human thought.The social constructionist approach has no particular implication for the relationship of language to thought as it places language firmly within a socially constructed context. Sex and Gender ‘The psychology of sex and gender’, is used to refer to the social constructionist approach to sex and gender. There are several ways in which the social perspective has promoted understanding this area. With respect to the two terms (sex and gender), there is a distinction between the biological and the social.However, biological sex may also be expressed in behaviour that is influenced by social factors and psychological meanings. Therefore, as labels, sex and gender may only be useful as theoretical constructs. However, gender is usually taken to refer to social constructs that pertain to biological differences. These sex differences can be the result of interactions between biological, psychological and social processes. Social constructionist psychology looks at how sex and gender have been constructed within particular social contexts.It examines these social constructions and their influences. The social constructionist perspective is based upon the theory that the construction of meaning through language and social practices as discussed in the section above has produced patterns of behaviour, cognition and emotions that are gender-differentiated. Social constructionism argues that behavio ur cannot be directly explained solely by biological, reproductive sex. It also argues that the world is constructed to have two biological types (male and female) who have many diverse social and behavioural manifestations.This suggests that the many discourses of masculinity and femininity are socially produced. Social constructionism sees reproductive sex as being the visible difference between the sexes that provides the basis for a range of socially constructed gender differences. According to this perspective, biological sex is not central to explaining gender identity, but is a visible indicator to which a range of socially constructed gender differences are attached. Discourses about masculinity and femininity are therefore used by individuals to create their own gendered positionality.Gender is seen as being constructed throughout life, as behaviour and experience is defined through cultural manifestations of gender. Evolutionary psychologists also acknowledge social influe nces on sexual behaviour. However, they provide no systematic way explaining this in their experimental approach. The strength of the social constructionist approach to gender is its ability to take into account the social and cultural contexts of individuals. Evolutionary psychology however does offer some explanation of the origins of gender difference.The social constructionist perspective argues that sex is not central to explaining gender differences. Evolutionary and social constructionist perspectives have contrasting ideas about the relationship between sex and gender. Psychoanalytic psychology takes a different approach to social constructionism’s emphasis on external influences in determining people’s behaviour. However, both social constructionism and psychoanalysis are based upon the interpretation of meaning.Unlike evolutionary psychology, psychoanalysis, in common with social constructionist psychology, believe that the researcher’s positionality a nd subjectivity is inevitably involved in research. The onset of puberty is an example of the convergence of biological, psychoanalytic and social constructionist perspectives. The psychoanalytic and social constructionist approaches use methods that consider people’s beliefs and experiences, and focus on the interpretation of meaning by relying on the interpretation of symbolic data.The social constructionist perspective examines the importance of culture in the construction of gender. The psychoanalytic perspective acknowledges both the importance of biological difference and the social and cultural meanings inherent in this difference. The social constructionist and psychodynamic perspectives may be seen as complementary to each other in terms of methodology, as both use approaches are based on a hermeneutic theory to understand the meanings of gender.Conclusion The social constructionist perspective underpins discursive psychological theories of meaning as emerging from c ontext and interaction. Although the social perspective goes some way to addressing the influences of language and gender issues, there are some aspects which are also given a different perspective by other approaches. This can be seen in the sometimes useful linguistics frameworks of syntax, phonics, semantics etc. which is adopted by cognitive psychologists.In some instances the social perspective complements other perspectives. Such an example is psychoanalysis in the area of sex and gender. However, in other instances it more commonly just co-exists, for example in the case of social constructivism and evolutionary psychology. Social constructivism is in clear conflict with the cognitive perspective in the area of language as illustrated and argued above. Cognitive and social constructionist perspectives make conflicting assumptions about communication.

Evaluate the Organization’s Involvement and Responsibility

Motivation and Empowerment Evelyn Hamilton, Aaron Pobleh and Regina Taylor CJA/474: Managing Criminal Justice Personnel November 26, 2012 Instructor: Pam McIver The term motivation and empowerment is a universal concept that is hoped to work towards the good of any organization. Motivation and empowerment does not come from rewards to employees but instead, recognition, responsibility and advancement. Leaders who are effective in motivating and empowering their staff have acquired a great achievement, which can increase efficiency, and self development of skills and abilities.When employers are concerned about the welfare and needs of their staff, this provides trust among staff. The purpose of this paper is to compare motivation and empowerment, define the components of empowerment, analyze the implications of empowerment and delegation in a criminal justice organization and analyze the role of trust in personnel issues. Compare motivation and empowerment Motivation and empowerment are two words that are very popular in every workplace. Generally when one mention motivation, everyone would think it is what employer gives their employees, unfortunately, motivation in the workplace goes way far beyond that.Motivating your employees gives them authority to do more work for you and do it better. According to businessdictionary. com, motivation is both internal and external factors which desire and energize people to become committed to a job, role, or subject, or to strive to reach a goal. While empowerment is management practices which allow the sharing of information, power, and rewards with employees so that they can take initiative, and make decision to solve problems, and improve themselves as well as enhance their performance (www. usinessdictionary. com). Everyone need to feel empowered regarding their work ethic on the job or being assertive in life challenges and changes, but without the key elements of self-motivation, assertiveness and the ability to ma ke good decision how would they be able to motivate others. Mangers of an organization should show through their behavior and actions how provide the necessary skills to be productive and efficient. This in turn will produce happier employees. Define the components of empowermentIn order to be an effective leader a person would need to be empowering by those below them and therefore allow them to take initiative on their own. A leader that has poor management skill fails to empower anyone underneath him. For example, an office manager as well as a beginner officer within the work place or in the field must feel good about performing on their own and not feeling they will be overly scrutinized regarding their errors. They must not fear the aftermaths or punishments for taking individual decision making.When this happens, employees began to shun management for fear always doing something wrong. Employers should provide positive communication to their staff (National Empowerment Center ). There was a research designed to examine the concept word of empowerment in this programs sponsored by multiple examiner of the criminal justice it was first anticipated to create a working definition. After research the â€Å"elements of empowerment were identified, including access to information, ability to make choices, assertiveness, and self-esteem. Empowerment has both an individual and a group dimension (Tom Roger, 2011).This research studied participants in self-help programs for people with no self-motivation and the need for encouragement. At the beginning of the study,† it was stated numerous of the individuals involved empower in their research. It’s obviously the important theory concerning the essential to defining meaning of empowerment as part of the development. Although it â€Å"recognized that empowerment had elements in common with such concepts as self-esteem and self-efficacy, these concepts did not fully capture what was considered a distinc tiveness about empowerment† (Tom Roger, 2011).In an earlier â€Å"debates empowerment was† considered â€Å"complex, multidimensional concept, and that it described a process rather than an event†. It was never â€Å"believe that an individual had to display every quality on the list in order to be considered† empowered (Tom Roger, 2011). Analyze the implications of empowerment and delegation in a criminal justice organization Today the style and practices of police leadership is changing rapidly. The term shared leadership is one being used by many police chiefs all across the country.They believe that this approach to management by sharing power and influence to individuals within the organization, who are otherwise hierarchical unequal, will view their leadership as a leadership which looks at the broader aspect of giving authority to employees which will allow them to make decisions, solve problems, and be held accountable for their actions (Mussellwhi te, 2007). Whenever officers are empowered they become dedicated to their jobs. Because they are given the skills, resources, authority, opportunity to be motivated and committed to their jobs, roles, or duties.Something which is refers to as being dedicated. Employees empowerment in a police department which delegate assignments, allow officers to take responsibility of their jobs results. It also allows them to make decisions about it. When officers are delegated with responsibilities, it makes them think in decision making, take control, behave, and take actions responsively, because they know that they will be held accountable for their actions. Police departments that apply employee empowerment create an environment in which their officers are empowered, productive and are happy in their jobs.Such police departments do not limit their employees to information (Heathfield, 2012). Analyze the role of trust in personnel issues. The role of trust in personnel issues involves how em ployees relate and respond to their employer. For example, if an employer is more concerned about getting the job done employees will pick up on that and will respond to their employer in a negative way. But when employers’ show that they truly care about their employee’s well being they will respond in a positive way. It would be in the organizations best interest for employers to take time to get to know their employees.Employers should empower their staff by allowing them to make important decisions in reference to their day to day duties. This will cause employees to respect their employers which will also lead to trust. When employees trust and respect the organization they will do the best possible work they are capable of doing. This in turn will lead to accountability on the part of the employee (Mussellwhite, 2007). When an employer gains the trust of their staff, they will know how to motivate each individual person for the best outcome of the organization.Em ployees understand that no organization is a perfect organization. When employees know and feel important to the organization, respect and trust will deepen. Respect and trust will take an organization to higher creativity and increased efficiency (Forbes. com, 2009). Positive communication is the cornerstone to empowerment and trust within an organization. When employers take the time to consider their staff opinions and feedback on daily operations, this can cause higher productivity and increase efficiently. Employers should share information about the organization with their staff.This provides for a clear picture of how the organization is progressing or not progressing. This also produces trust among employees because employers trust their staff (Mussellwhite, 2007). Conclusion In conclusion, this paper compared motivation and empowerment, defined the components of empowerment, analyzed the implications of empowerment and delegation in a criminal justice organization and analy zed the role of trust in personnel issues. Motivation and empowerment is about providing production and management guidelines to employees and then allows them to operate in an independent manner.Empowerment and delegation within the criminal justice system involves sharing power and influence to individuals within the organization, who are otherwise hierarchical unequal. This leadership looks at the broader aspect of giving authority to employees which will allow them to make decisions, solve problems, and be held accountable for their actions. The components of empowerment are about communication, feedback and productivity. Employees should be trained properly so that trust is gained through empowerment.A motivated and empowered employee will respect and trust the organization which will lead to accountability and responsibility. Leaders can gain great achievement when they effectively motivate and empower their staff into self development of skills and abilities. References Chris Musselwhite, 2007. Inc. Motivation=Empowerment; retrieved on November 22, 2012 from www. inc. com/resources/leadership/articles/20070801 Employees Empowerment: How to Empower employees. Retrieved on November 22, 2012 from www. humanresources. about. com/od/employeeempowerment Empowerment in the Workplace ttp://ezinearticles. com/? Empowerment-in-the-Workplace&id=6541445 Make sure your employees trust you or else. Forbes. com 2009. Retrieved from http://www. forbes. com/2009/03/23/trust-respect-employees-leadership-managing-blanchard. html. National Empowerment Center Article www. power2u. org/articles/empowerment/workingdef. html Susan Heathfield. 2012. What is Empowerment; Retrieved on November 22, 2012 from www. businessdictionary. com/definition/empowerment. html What is Motivation; Retrieved on November 22, 2012 from www. Businessdictionary. com/definition/motivation. html

Strategic Management and Sustainability Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Strategic Management and Sustainability - Essay Example specifically. Political: Apple operates across multiple geographies, which imply that the organization is subject to political influence of multiple countries. When an organization operates in a particular nation, it is bound by the country’s predefined business policies. It has been found that in case of Apple, a majority of product sales had originated from countries outside the U.S. market particularly after the recession of 2008 (Apple, 2013). In order to utilize opportunities outside U.S., Apple has steadily spread its manufacturing operations in countries like, Korea, Czech Republic, Ireland and Cork. Diplomatic political relations of U.S. government with the governments in other countries benefits Apple’s operation in dissimilar regions (Hassan, 2014). Tax regulations are also an important determinant of profitability. For instance, introduction of taxes by the Chinese government against foreign companies had significant impact on profitability of the organization. Similarly, the U.K. government had raised VAT by 20%, which is expected to lower consumer spending on luxury items. So, a reduction in purchase of Apple products is likely (BBC News Business, 2011). Economic: There are mainly three important parameters that impact business prospects of Apple, namely inflation, value of currency and recessionary trends. The operations of Apple are subject to currency and exchange rate risks as foreign exchange market remains volatile after recession. One of the major trends since recession of 2008 was contraction in the demand for expensive electronic gadgets in countries of European Union like, Greece, Portugal and Italy (Berglof, E., 2011). However, the impact of recession on emerging countries has been lesser to an extent. It has been observed that rising rate of GDP and per capita income in the emerging countries like, Brazil, India and China, has been

Shanghai Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words

Shanghai - Essay Example The city’s economic history began in the thirteenth century through cotton manufacturing and production. The production of Cotton and textile were the city’s economic backbone of city’s economy through to the nineteenth century. The economic development of Shanghai continued to grow after the construction of dikes, canals, and real estate development by private investors during the Song Dynasty. The city would have developed earlier in the fifteenth century, but the Ming Dynasty placed restrictions on trade in efforts to guard the city against Wokou. The dynasty was also responsible for the construction of the city’s wall. Part of the reasons that were encouraging rapid grow in Shanghai was the inclusion of the city as a treaty port in the Treaty of Nanjing of 1842. Around mid nineteenth century, the city of Shanghai was an established regional trade point, which attracted the Great Britain’s interest in the land. After victory in the First opium wa r, Britain began efforts to acquire land in the region, managing to obtain both trading rights and 140 acres on the riverbank to the north of the Chinese city. France and America were the next invaders around the city, with France settling in the western part of the town (later called the French Concession), and the American establishing themselves to the north of Suzhou Creek in 1863 (combining with the British settlement to be the International Settlement). These foreign communities were trading on opium in exchange to the goods they had come with. They had their own rules apart from the Chinese. During the Taiping uprising between 1850 and 1864, the international communities stepped in to contain the revolt throughout the city and the entire country. Their interest was Shanghai’s fortune, and this led to further development of the city’s infrastructure, including buildings in the foreigners’ style, telephones in 1881, electricity the year that followed, and r unning water in 1884. Shanghai defeat in the Sino-Japanese War was a leading factor for the establishment of the 1895 Japanese Concession, with manufacturing rights. Soon, the city had a diverse set of foreigners, from the White Russians to the Iraqi Jews (O’Sullivan, 2008). In accordance with the theory of existence and origin of cities, Shanghai developed from a self-sufficient household to innovative development by the foreign settlers. The influx of diverse communities decorated the city, making it a cosmopolitan location in China. It is set to eclipse its rival Hong Kong in the near future. Growth The growth of Shanghai was slow in the Ming Dynasty due to the trade restrictions. It began re-establishing inter-state trade in the Song Dynasty, and that is when it began to grow and develop rapidly. The major growth factor of Shanghai was its strategic position in the Grand Canal and the intersection of the East China Sea, as well as the Yangzi confluence (O’Sullivan, 2008). This was a good exposure point for development of a trade center, considering that at the time, the main means of long-distance travel was water transport. Another important growth aspect was the incorporation of the city as a treaty port with four other cities, including Xiamen, Fuzhou, Linbou, and Canton. The treaty ports were part of the 1842 Treaty of Nanjing between the Great Britain and China. The treaty permitted

Hate Crime Prevention Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Hate Crime Prevention - Essay Example In order to eradicate hate crimes, it is important to understand the nature of hate crimes. Hate crime is generally defined as "an attack on an individual or his or her property (e.g., vandalism, arson, assault, murder) in which the victim is intentionally selected because of his or her race, color, religion, national origin, gender, disability, or sexual orientation" (U.S. Dept. of Education [USDOE], n.d.). Hate crime is a serious problem as thousands of hate crime incidents are reported every year. According to the Federal Bureau of Investigation [FBI] (2004), there were 7,649 reported incidents of hate crime in 2004, with more than half of those incidents were related to racial discrimination. These crimes mostly involved anti-black bias, while a small percentage was based on anti-white bias. Some of the reported hate crimes are based on religious discrimination, sexual orientation bias, ethnicity and even disability bias (FBI, 2004). Racial discrimination remains to be the bigges t issue related to hate crimes. Already there are several programs that have been developed for schools and communities to help avoid the incidence of hate crimes. ... Studies also show that people who commit hate crimes are not mentally ill, although they generally exhibit anti-social and aggressive behaviors (DeAngelis, 2001). They also tend to show discriminative and violent behaviors, so it could be possible to prevent a hate crime by discouraging bias and violence in the school. This could be done by teaching students that subtle forms of discrimination such as offensive name-calling, stereotyping, group exclusion are hurtful and could lead to head crime incidents (USDOE, n.d.). Since profiled perpetrators of hate crimes are generally not mentally ill, it is possible to appeal to feelings of empathy. Students should also be taught a way of dealing with conflict in a non-violent way. It could start in minor ways such as painting over graffiti and forming discussion groups on how to express disappointments and frustrations in a non-violent manner. DeAngelis (2001) reviewed several studies made on hate crimes and found that the tendency to commit hate crimes is rooted on stereotypes that people make on other people or groups of people that are outside their own group. It is always difficult for people to understand other cultures who come to dwell in their society, especially when they have not heard anything about those other cultures. When this happens, people tend to generalize, instead of seeing the "different" people as individuals. This attitude can be seen in how typical Americans see people who migrated from other countries. This difficulty in adjusting to "group outsiders" is more serious in young people who are at that stage where they have a need to belong and leave out people who are different. All of these issues have to be elaborated and discussed in