Respond to classmates-Sexuality Around the World Essay

Respond to classmates-Sexuality Around the World - Essay Example For example, homosexuality is openly condemned in many African countries and viewed as an act against African customs. Specifically, a Sub-Saharan country, Uganda, has been pushing for a legislative action against homosexuals dubbed â€Å"Kill the Gays Bill† by the media (Sharlet, 2010). This high criminalization of an aspect of sexuality instills fear and degrades sense of belonging when homosexuals have to leave their countries for fear of being incarcerated or killed so to speak. Societies and governments can essentially play a vital role in reducing sexual dysfunctions. They need to consider individual differences in sexual orientation, personality, character, sexual needs, and sexual interests. Expecting all persons to exhibit the same sexual behavior is ignorant to the actual environment within which people are brought up. Sexuality freedom should be upheld. Countries around the world approach sexuality from diverse and dynamic points of view. Your focus on Indonesia is very informative and country-specific, thus highlighting sexuality in an intensive and extensive approach. The highlights you have presented about Indonesia are shared by many other countries worldwide. For instance, in many Middle East and African countries, women are there to be seen and not heard. Ultimately, their self-esteem is highly affected subject to sexuality and sexual performance. Beading of girls is a common practice among the Samburu people of the Kenyan communities in East Africa (Parkinson, Phillips, & Gourlay, 2006). Young girls engage in sexual activities with older men, resulting in the belief that their sexual behavior is best designed for the older males in the community. Notably, underage marriages are common alongside female genital mutilation (Parkinson, Phillips, & Gourlay, 2006). These practices often result in sexual desire and arousal implications relative to what the young girls are made to believe and

European influence in North America Essay Example for Free

European influence in North America Essay In early colonial America, there were thirteen colonies. The English started them all, but those colonies varied indefinitely. The two primary regions of the colonies were the Chesapeake and the New England Regions. In the very beginnings of these regions, there were ample amounts of differences to create two very different American cultures. The first permanent English settlement in America is Jamestown, Virginia. Jamestown began as a business venture and then failed. Later a Virginia Company of London, which was a joint stock company, organized and sent one hundred and four colonists into Virginia in 1607. In a ships list bound for Virginia it is shown that there were no families aboard, just primarily single men and a hand full of single women. Also the list shows that the people aboard had no history in mining, instead there were people sent over that were perfumists and other needless expertise. The New England region had quite a different attendance, on a ships list bound for New England; there were many families with relevant work abilities. Having many families attributed significantly to the survival rate being much greater than Chesapeake Bays. John Winthrop, a leader of the puritans wrote God almighty in his most holy and wise providence hath so disposed of the condition of mankind [that in all times some must be rich, some poor, and some high and eminent in power and dignity, other mean and in subjection[yet] we must be knit together in this work as one man. These words spoken by John Winthrop show how the New England region was prosperous from the beginning. The New Englanders acquired ability or was established in their daily religion to form together and work as one. This unity was not embedded in the culture of the Chesapeake area. Captain John Smith wrote, on the history of Virginia the worse [among us were the gold seekers who] with their golden promises made all men slaves in hopes of recompense. There was no talk but dig gold, wash gold refine gold, load gold. This was the primary goal, to mine gold. One defines the religion in the New England region. The New England region was primarily consisted of Puritans. The Puritans initially left England in search of a refuge to purify the religion. Other than the Puritans there  were the Pilgrims, which were derived from the Puritans. There werent many differences at all between the Puritans and the Pilgrims. The only difference between the Pilgrims and Puritans is that the Pilgrims were not only against the Anglican Church but they called for a total separation from the church. In the New England Region the Puritan oligarchy was in place until the great awakening. In the Chesapeake region there were many religions from the beginning. For instance, Catholics, originally Protestants, settled Maryland. In result, New England was a lot more established and put together. Geography had many importances in colonial life. There wasnt any mountains in Jamestown therefore the colonists were susceptible to many attacks and invasions. Governor Berkeley and his council wrote on their inability to defend against the Dutch attacks in 1673. We thought it our duty to set forth in this our declaration, the true state and condition of this country in general and our particular disability to engage in war at the time of this invasion therefore do humbly beseech you most honorable council to consider that Virginia is interacted by so many vast rivers as makes more miles to defend than we do have me to defend them/. The Chesapeake region were not the only ones to run into trouble due to their geography, the New England region also had problems defending themselves. For instance in King Phillips war. Geography is also a major factor in any civilizations economy. The Chesapeake region primarily grew tobacco on there land. We all know that tobacco eventually ruins the soil, from draining all the vital nutrients from the ground. In order for the Virginians to generate a profit, they had to have an ample amount of land. The need to harvest tobacco resulted in a need for free-labor or indentured servants. Indentured servants were made to pay for there passage to colonial America by service instead of money. This source of service resulted in the Chesapeake Region having extremes of classes; meaning that the wealthy were becoming wealthier and the poor were becoming poorer. In Bacons rebellion a wealthy landowner, Nathanial bacon of Virginia finally  got fed up the aristocracy or that ran the government because he wasnt inducted. This is an exert from Bacons Manifesto We cannot in our hearts find one single spot of rebellion or treason or that we have in any manner aide at subverting the settled government, document H. These mean formed a government called the tide water aristocracy. Eventually Bacon started a riot. The poor in result were forced to move out to the western frontier. By them moving, it created tensions with the Native Americans. The Native Americans soon revolted and attacked the colonies. Bacon dies, and the rebellion were put to an end. This only occurred in the colonies and not England due to many things. One, there was more land to farm, two there was no tide water aristocracy, there was only land owners that were members of the church and established in the clergy. In the Chesapeake regions economy there was more than one variable, tobacco wasnt stable. In conclusion, New England and Chesapeake Regions were both settled largely by people of English origin but became to very distinct societies. There were many political, economical, religious, and cultural differences between the two regions. These differences resulted in two very distinct societies.

The Oslo Agreements :: essays research papers

Framework & Implementation The Israeli Palesletinian peace negotiations took a giant leap forward during Yitzhak Rabin’s term as Israeli prime minister, with the commencement of the Oslo Peace Process. While no significant progress was being made in Washington in the bilateral talks agreed upon at the Madrid Conference in 1991, a secret unofficial channel began operating between Israelis and the PLO, under the auspices of Norway. The unofficial talks continued throughout early 1993 and culminated in the initialling of a joint Declaration of Principles (DOP) on August 19, 1993. Then, after having formally recognized each other in mutual letters, Israel, represented by Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin and the PLO, represented by Yassir Arafat, signed an agreement in Washington on September 13, 1993. The DOP created a framework for areas of negotiation and set outlines for a rapid hand-over of Gaza and Jericho to Palestinian self-rule. According to the agreement, major fundamental and controversial issues, such as Jerusalem, the future of Israeli settlements on in Judea & Samaria, and the Palestinian refugees (from '48 and '67), would be deferred to the permanent status negotiations. The following stages in the transition of power and land from Israel to the Palestinians were put forth. 1. Gaza and Jericho First: Self rule in the Gaza Strip and Jericho, including the withdrawal of Israeli forces. The details of the Gaza and Jericho First Agreement were negotiated and concluded in Cairo between Rabin and Arafat on May 4, 1994. The Cairo Agreement spelled out a step-by-step program for the extension of autonomy within a specified time-frame, without this being conditional on bilateral implementation or objectives. 2. Transfer of civil powers and responsibilities: Responsibilities in five specific spheres (education and culture, health, welfare, taxation and tourism) will be transferred to the Palestinians. The DOP proposed that this transfer take place immediately following the implementation of the Gaza-Jericho agreement. 3. The Interim Agreement and Elections: Elections will take place on the West Bank and Gaza Strip for a new Palestinian Authority. The Interim Agreement will detail the self-government arragements in the West Bank and terrotories. In the rest of the West Bank, Israel will pull out its forces from Palestinian populated areas. The Palestinian Council will have a strong police force in order to guarantee public order and internal security. Central to the DOP were two economic annexes which outlined economic cooperation between Israel and the Palestinians, both bilaterally and in the multilateral context.

Branches of Philosophy Essay

In order to narrow the aims of discussion philosophy was broken into branches. Traditionally philosophy has been broken into four main branches; however we would like to add a fifth branch in our text -Epistemology Epistemology, from the Greek words episteme (knowledge) and logos (word/speech) is the branch of philosophy that deals with the nature, origin, and scope of knowledge and love. -Metaphysics Metaphysics (derived from the Greek words â€Å"ta meta ta physika biblia†) – meaning ‘the book that follows the physics book’. It was the way students referred to a specific book in the works of Aristotle, and it was a book on First Philosophy. (The assumption that the word means â€Å"beyond physics† is misleading) Metaphysics is the branch of philosophy concerned with the study of â€Å"first principles† and â€Å"being† (ontology). In other words, Metaphysics is the study of the most general aspects of reality, such as substance, identity, the nature of the mind, and free will. In other way is a study of nature and the nature of the world in which man lives -Logic Logic (from Classical Greek (logos), originally meaning the word, or what is spoken, but coming to mean thought or reason) is most often said to be the study of arguments, although the exact definition of logic is a matter of controversy amongst philosophers (see below). However the subject is grounded, the task of the logician is the same: to advance an account of valid and fallacious inference to allow one to distinguish good from bad arguments. -Ethics Ethics is a general term for what is often described as the â€Å"science (study) of morality†. In philosophy, ethical behavior is that which is â€Å"good† or â€Å"right. † The Western tradition of ethics is sometimes called moral philosophy. Other Branches Philosophy of Education: Fairly self-explanatory. A minor branch, mainly concerned with what is the correct way to educate a person. Classic works include Plato’s Republic, Locke’s Thoughts Concerning Education, and Rousseau’s Emile. Philosophy of History: Fairly minor branch (not as minor as education), although highly important to Hegel and those who followed him, most notably Marx. It is the philosophical study of history, particularly concerned with the question whether history (i. e.the universe and/or humankind) is progressing towards a specific end? Hegel argued that it was, as did Marx. Classic works include Vico’s New Science, and Hegel and Marx’s works. Philosophy of Language: Ancient branch of philosophy which gained prominence in the last century under Wittgenstein. Basically concerned with how our languages affect our thought. Wittgenstein famously asserted that the limits of our languages mark the limits of our thought. Classic works include Plato’s Cratylus, Locke’s Essay, and Wittgenstein’s Tractatus Logico-Philosophicus. Philosophy of Law: Also called Jurisprudence. Study of law attempting to discern what the best laws might be, how laws came into being in the first place, attempting to delimit human laws from natural laws, whether we should always obey the law, and so on. Law isn’t often directly dealt with by philosophers, but much of political philosophy obviously has a bearing on it. Philosophy of Mathematics: Concerned with issues such as, the nature of the axioms and symbols (numbers, triangle, operands) of mathematics that we use to understand the world, do perfect mathematical forms exist in the real world, and so on. Principia Mathematica is almost certainly the most important work in this field. Philosophy of Mind: Study of the mind, attempting to ascertain exactly what the mind is, how it interacts with our body, do other minds exist, how does it work, and so on. Probably the most popular branch of philosophy right now, it has expanded to include issues of AI. Classic works include Plato’s Republic and Wittgenstein’s Philosophical Investigations, although every major philosopher has had some opinion at least on what the mind is and how it works. Philosophy of Politics: Closely related to ethics, this is a study of government and nations, particularly how they came about, what makes good governments, what obligations citizens have towards their government, and so on. Classic works include Plato’s Republic, Hobbes’ Leviathan, Locke’s Two Treatises, and J. S. Mill’s On Liberty. Philosophy of Religion: Theology is concerned with the study of God, recommending the best religious practises, how our religion should shape our life, and so on. Philosophy of religion is concerned with much the same issues, but where Theology uses religious works, like the Bible, as it’s authority, philosophy likes to use reason as the ultimate authority. Philosophy of Science: Study of science concerned with whether scientific knowledge can be said to be certain, how we obtain it, can science really explain everything, does causation really exist, can every event in the universe be described in terms of physics and so on. Also popular in recent times, classic works include Hume’s Treatise on Human Nature, Kripke’s Naming and Necessity, Kuhn’s Structure of Scientific Revolutions. Empiricism is a philosophical idea based on the idea that all reliable knowledge about the world is gained in the process of experience. Famous empiricists were Hume, Locke and Berkley, basing themselves on ideas already postulated by Aristotle, that we are born with the Tabula Rasa which receives throughout our lives information on which it can base all thinking and knowing. The movement of empiricism was in part a countermovement to what Descartes and Spinoza had proposed as rationalism. Knowledge derived from experience is called a posteriori. ————————————————- Doing Philosophy Many fields can be studied and learned without ever actually working with the tools in the field. For instance, chemistry can be learned in depth without ever picking up a test tube or mixing ionic compounds. Philosophy, however, is more about the methodology behind deriving answers than it is about the answers themselves. As such, students studying philosophy must use the methodology of philosophy on the philosophy they are learning as they are learning it. Doing philosophy involves asking the right questions, critically examining the work of previous philosophers, truly understanding the works and the reasoning behind the works, and possibly building on the works of previous philosophers by expanding or testing this methodology.

Fourty famous studies that influeneced psychology Essay

Born First, Born Smarter This study involves a person’s intellectual development in correlation to the order in which they were born in relation to their siblings. Two research psychologists, Robert B. Zajonc and Gregory B. Markus, developed a theory in an attempt to explain the relationship between birth order and intelligence. They conducted this study by gathering information from previous research and applied it to the data they collected themselves. A research project was conducted n the late 1960’s that involved testing the intellectual abilities of children born at the end of WWII. They found a strong relationship between the birth order and the Raven test scores. The ones born first scored higher, and the score decreased with the declining birth order. However, the average Raven score for the first born in a two family is only about 5 points higher then that for a last born in a family with nine children. So the more children you have, and the smaller the gap between each child is, the more intelligent each child in succession will be. In Control and Glad of It Researchers Ellen J. Langer and Judith Rodin conducted a field experiment using elderly people in an elderly home to test the outcome of when people are given control as opposed to when people have everything done for them. Langer and Rodin’s prediction was that if the loss of personal responsibility for one’s life causes a person to be less happy and healthy, then increasing control and power should have the opposite effect. Two floors of the elderly home were randomly selected to be observed. One floor was given options for certain things such as there furniture arrangement and which movie they would like to attend. The other floor, was given no such options and had everything arranged and done for them by the staff. The staff was asked to fill out questionnaires about the patients on their floor (the staff new nothing of the experiment). The questionnaires had questions on it to comment about things such as if the patents were sociable, happy, alert, and even how much they visited other patients. The differences between the two groups were incredible. They determined that overall, the increased responsibility group’s condition improved over the three weeks of  the study, while the no-control group was doing progressively poorer. They concluded that when people who have been forced to give up their control and decision-making power are given a greater sense of personal responsibility, their lives and attitudes improve, as is true with the opposing side. More Experience = Bigger Brain Mark R. Rosenzweig and Edward L. Bennett wanted to find out if the brain changes in response to experience. Because this experiment involved long periods of observation and even autopsies to observe the changes in the brain, the two researchers couldn’t use human subjects, so they used rats for the experiment. Three male rats where chosen to participate and assigned to one of three conditions. One rat remained in the colony cage with the rest of the colony. One rat was placed in an â€Å"enriched environment† and one was placed in an â€Å"impoverished environment†. There were 12 rats in each of these conditions for each of the 16 experiments. The standard cage had many rats and had adequate space with food and water always available. The improvised environment was a slightly smaller cage, isolated in a separate room, where the rat was alone with adequate food and water. Finally, the enriched environment was a large cage filled with many toys and furnished with e very luxury a rat could want. The results indicated that the brains of the enriched rats were highly different from those of the impoverished rats. The cerebral cortex of the enriched rats was significantly heavier and thicker then those of the impoverished rats. Also, the study found a significantly greater number of glial cells in the enriched rats’ brains compared with the rats raised in the dull environment. After 10 years of experiment and research the researchers could clearly and confidently state that â€Å"there is no doubt that many aspects of brain anatomy and brain chemistry are changed by experience.† However, many scientists were skeptical of there findings because there were factors that Rosenzweig and Bennett didn’t take into consideration. The enriched rats were handled more which could have been a brain stimulus and the impoverished rats could have been stressed from having no contact with anyone or anything at all. See Aggression†¦Do Aggression One of he most famous and influential experiment ever conducted in psychology history demonstrated how children learn to be aggressive. This study by Albert Bandura and his associates Dorothea Ross and Shelia Ross was carried out in 1961 at Stanford University. The researchers asked for the help of the Stanford University nursery in obtaining thirty-six boys and thirty-six girls raging from ages 3-6. The average age for he children was 4 years and 4 months. Twenty four of the children were assigned to the control group which was the group that wasn’t exposed to any model. The rest of the children were divided into two groups: one exposed to aggressive models and one exposed to non-aggressive models, they were also divided by sex. They eventually had 8 experimental groups divided by gender and level of aggression. First, the experimenter brought a child from one of the groups to a playroom with an adult model. The adult model beat a Bobo doll with a fake mallet while the child played with other toys. Another child was brought in after and the adult model ignored the Bobo doll. This went on for all the groups. 1) The children who were exposed to the violent models tended to imitate the exact violent behaviors they observed when left alone with the Bobo doll. 2) Overall, girls were more likely to imitate the verbal aggression toward the Bobo doll, while the boys showed more physical violence. 3) Boys were significantly more physically aggressive then girls in nearly all the conditions. 4) The boys used the mallet significantly more then girls in almost all of the conditions. 5) The control group was generally less violent then the experimental group.6) in cases with a non-aggressive female, the children used hardly any aggressive language. What You Expect Is What You Get This study involves teacher’s expectancies of pupils and how that affects the students I.Q. gains. Robert Rosenthal and Lenore Jacobson conducted a study where they theorized that when an elementary school teacher is provided with information (such as I.Q. scores) that creates certain expectancies about a student’s potential, either strong or weak, the teacher might unknowingly behave in ways that subtly encourage or facilitate the performance of the students seen as more likely to succeed. An elementary school was chosen and  all the children grades 1-6 were given an I.Q. test near the beginning of the year. The teachers were told that there students were taking the â€Å"Harvard Test of Inflected Acquisition†. This was told to them because this test was supposed to be a predictor for a child’s academic blooming. Teachers believed that students that scored higher would enter a period of increased learning abilities. This was also not true. Children were chosen at random to be within the top 20 percentile of this test and the teachers were informed of this. All other children were the control group of this experiment. At the end of the year the children were tested again using the I.Q. test and the children originally chosen for the top 20% showed a significantly increased score then those of the control group in grades one and two. In grades 3-6 the difference was not so great. The reason for the 1st and 2nd grade development was thought to be because of how younger minds were more malleable then older children and how younger children don’t have a reputation from previous school years. I Can See It All Over Your Face Researchers Paul Ekman and Wallace V. Freisen conducted a study about how facial expressions and emotions are a universal language. The first problem with this experiment was that the researchers had to find subjects that had never been exposed to media or magazines because this would enable the subjects to not truthfully identify a certain emotional expression. Ekman and Freisen found a group of people like this in the Southeast Highlands of New Guinea called the Fore people. They were an isolated Stone Age society with not much contact of any other people outside there environment, let alone any media. They had not been exposed to emotional facial expressions other then those of there own people. The two researchers showed there experimental groups of adults and children pictures of different facial expressions of people from the United States and told them a sentence. They asked them to identify by pointing, to the correct matching facial expression. The adults were given three pictures to choose from and the children were given two. There was not much difference between male and female recognition of expressions, however the children did fair a little better in the experiment. This could have been attributed to the fact that  the children only had to choose between two pictures instead of three. The results for both adults and children clearly support the researcher’s theory that particular facial behaviors are universally associated with particular emotions. The only trouble that the Fore people had was distinguishing between fear and surprise, and this was because these people closely associated fear and surprise as one emotion. Racing Against Your Heart Using their earlier research and clinical observations, two cardiologists, Meyer Friedman and Ray H. Rosenman, developed a model of traits for a specific type of persons behavioral pattern that they believed was related to growing levels of cholesterol and to heart disease. The first pattern, pattern A, had characteristics such as a drive to achieve your goals, a competing personality, multi-tasking that involves meeting deadlines, and extreme alertness. Following this is another type of people, called pattern B. Pattern B is the exact opposite of pattern A. They lacked drive, ambition, desire to compete, and involvement in deadlines. A third set of behaviors developed was called pattern C. This was very much like pattern B but involved anxiety and insecurity. Friedman and Rosenman interviewed about 166 men for there experiment. They first questions they asked them were about there family’s medical history, so they could see if they had CHD. While in this interview the researc hers categorized each man into a pattern A or B category by the way he answered questions, or his tone, or body language. Each subject was asked to keep a log of there diet over the course of a week and blood tests were taken from each of the men to measure cholesterol levels. Friedman and Rosenman matched each man into pattern A and pattern B easily. Each man fit into one of the developed patterns. The researchers found that the men in Pattern A group had significantly higher chances of heart disease and that type A behavior was a major cause of blood abnormalities. However there could be other reasons why Type A had higher chances of heart disease such as, there family’s history. More men in the pattern A group had parents with heart disease. Another difference was that pattern A men smoked more cigarettes a day then did the subjects in group B. This study was very important in the history of psychology for a few  reasons. One way was that it proved certain behavioral patterns can cause major heart related illness. Another is that this study began a new line of research and questioning into t he relationship between behavior and CHD. The largest long-range outcome from this study that has played an important role in creating a new branch of psychology called health psychology. Not Practicing What You Preach This study involves attitudes and actions toward different racial groups. It was determine if what people say is actually what they will do if they come face to face with the problem. Richard T. LaPiere traveled extensively with a young Chinese couple in 1930 and 1931. The couple was very nice and personable and he was glad to be traveling with them. During this time there was a lot of prejudice in the U.S. against Asians. So, LaPiere was very surprised when the Asian couple was graciously accommodated at a very fine hotel that had a reputation for greatly disliking Orientals. Two months later he called the same hotel and asked if they would accommodate a very important Chinese man and they said defiantly not. LaPiere then developed a theory that stated â€Å"What people say is often not what they do†. The study was conducted in two separate parts. First, LaPiere went with his Chinese friends to many hotels and restaurant throughout the U.S. over the course of two years. He took record of how the couple was treated and made sure to first stay out of site of the managers of the establishments to ensure that the couple wouldn’t be treated differently in his presence. The second part of the experiment was for LaPiere to wait 6 months after there trip (to make sure the effect of the Chinese couples visit had faded), and then call each establishment that they went to or stayed at, and asked them if they would accommodate a Chinese person. After almost three years, LaPiere had enough information to make a comparison of social attitudes social behavior. Out of the 251 hotels and restaurants they attended, only one refused the couple and LaPiere service because of the couple’s race. Aside from that instance, all other places accommodated them with average or above average service. When he received most of the letters back with an answer from the hotels and restaurants over 90% of them said they would absolutely not accommodate anyone of the Chinese race. This confirmed LaPiere’s theory that what people  say, is not always how they will act. The Power of Conformity Research psychologist Solomon E. Asch conducted a study to see if people will give into peer pressure and conform to there friends ideas. A person was let into a room (Subject A) with seven other subjects. These seven people, without subject A knowing, were not participants in the experiment, they were helping the experimenter. Each person was asked which line was longer on a card that was shown to them. Subject A went first and then followed was the seven other subjects and then subject A was asked again. They did this several times until one time, all the other subjects disagreed with subject A and all picked the same one, different form his choice. When the card came back to subject A he picked the one everyone else picked. Seventy-Five percent of the time the first subject will conform to the group’s consensus at least once. The powerful effects of group pressures to conform were clearly demonstrated in Asch’s study. There are four factors that could have an effect on the reduction of conformity. These factors are social support, attraction and commitment to the group, size of the group, and gender of the group. If you have people on your side you are more likely to stay with your answer rather then conform. Crowding Into The Behavioral Sink The effects of crowding on our behavior are something that has interested psychologists for decades. One man in particular, John B. Calhoun was especially interested in it when he conducted this study on crowding and social pathology. It may be hard to believe but rats do have a social side. The reason Calhoun used rats were because he needed many subjects for long periods of time that were willing to crowd together for a while. Humans wouldn’t be very good at this. He used a 10Ãâ€"14 foot room and divided it into 4 sections. Section one was connected to section 2 by a ramp, section 2 was connected to section 3 by a ramp, and section 3 was connected to section 4 by a ramp. The walls were electrified so in order to get from section 1 to section 4 you needed to go through all the rooms. The rooms were also filled  with shreds of paper, in order for the rats to make nests. The experimenter filled the rooms with rats. They started with about 4 rats and waited or the rats to multiply until they reached 80. When over 80 were reached some rats were removed so they always had a constant number. When the rats got older, they started to fight with each other for space even though it wasn’t necessarily too crowded. The two end rooms were soon fought for because they got the most space and privacy so the rat that won the fight always stayed on guard at the end of the ramp for security. Some rats became submissive and others always fought. Some of the rats were very sexually active and some wanted nothing to do with it. Some of the mothers in the two middle pens became inadequate. They often left their children and lost all maternal abilities. One environment where the same thing that happened to the rats might happen to humans is in an overcrowded prison. It was found in a very crowded prison where each inmate has approximately 50 square feet, as opposed to one with more room, there were more cases of homicides, suicide, illness, and disciplinary problems. Crowding also has negative effects on problem-solving abilities. When in a small room that’s crowded subjects had a more difficult time listening to a story and putting tighter a puzzle, then did another group with more space and the same tasks. Relaxing Your Fears Away Researcher Joseph Wolpe was a research psychologist specializing in the systematic desensitization treatment of neuroses. The word phobia comes from Phobos, the name of the Greek god of fear. Phobias are divided into three main categories. Simple phobias are phobias that involve irrational fears of animals or specific situations such as small spaces or heights. Social phobias are irrational fears about interaction with others. Agoraphobia is the irrational fear of being in an unfamiliar, open, or crowded space. These are all irrational and all can be treated in similar ways. Systematic desensitization is a behavioral technique that was credited to Wolpe as perfecting and applying it to the treatment of anxiety disorders. Systematic desensitization is the way of unlearning a learned behavior. Reciprocal inhibition is when two responses inhibit each other, and only one may exist at a given moment. There are three steps that a patient must follow in order  to rid themselves of a phobi a. Wolpe says that you cannot be in a complete relaxed state and have an irrational fear at the same time, so the first step is relaxation. He taught the patient to go into a deep state of relaxation whenever they wanted or needed too. The process involves tensing and relaxing your muscles until you have reached a state of complete relaxation. Wolpe also incorporated hypnosis to ensure full relaxation. The next step in the process is for the therapist and patient to develop a list of high anxiety-producing situations involving your phobia. Starting with the least stressful and ending with the most stressful. The final stage is called the unlearning stage. The patient has to go into a deep state of relaxation and the therapist will read off to you your fears of the list. If at any point you feel anxiety the therapist stops you return to your relaxation mode and the therapist will continue. This process continues until the therapist can go through the entire list with you feeling the least bit anxious. The success of their therapy was judged by the patients own reports and by the occasional direct observation. He had a success rate of 91% with the 39 cases he had. The average number of treatment sessions needed was 12.3. Wolpe said that he hasn’t had any patient relapse after a complete desensitization recovery. Who’s Crazy Here, Anyway? David L. Rosenhan conducted an experiment with sane people going into mental facilities claiming to hear voices, to see if the patients would be immediately released if acting completely sane. Rosenhan questioned whether the characteristics that lead to psychological diagnoses reside in the patients themselves or in the situations in which the observers find the patients. Eight subjects including Rosenhan committed themselves to eight different mental hospitals. Each subject was completely sane and in perfect mental health. When committing themselves to the hospital they complained of hearing voices and all but one where admitted and on record as having schizophrenia. Each patient once admitted, acted perfectly sane and showed no signs of schizophrenia yet were treated as though they did have a mental illness throughout their entire stay. They were given medication which they disposed of and were not treated as normal people. It was as if because they  were in the mental hospital, they were automatically considered to not be a real human being. Rosenhan’s study demonstrated rather strongly that normal â€Å"patients† cannot be distinguished from the mentally ill in a hospital setting. According to Rosenhan, this is because of the strength of the mental setting has over the patient’s actual behavior. Once patients are admitted to such a place, there is a strong inclination for them to be viewed in ways that strip them of all individuality. This study surprises me. I’m taken aback that these professionals that have worked with mentally ill patients cannot decipher between a truly mental patient and a completely mentally-healthy patient. It is extremely unprofessional that the staff member/nurse did at one of the facilities by adjusting her bra in front of patients as if they weren’t real people. Thanks For The Memories One of the leading researchers in the area of memory is Elizabeth Loftus at the University of Washington. She has found that when an event is recalled it is not accurately recreated. Instead it’s what’s called reconstructive memory. Loftus defines a presupposition as a condition that must be true in order for the question to make sense. For example, suppose that you have witnessed an automobile accident and I ask you, â€Å"How many people were in the car that was speeding?† The question presupposes that the car was speeding. One experiment done by Loftus was having students in small groups watch a car accident video that was about 1 minute long. After the film ended the students had to answer questions. For half the students the first question was â€Å"How fast was car A going when it ran the stop sign?† The other students had a question that read â€Å"How fast was car A going when I turned right?† The last question for both groups was â€Å"Did you see the stop sign?† In the group that had been asked about the stop sign 53% of the subjects said they saw a stop sign for car A, while only 35% in the â€Å"turned right† group claimed to have seen it. Based on these and other studies, Loftus argues that an accurate theory of memory and recall must include a process of reconstruction that occurs when new information is integrated into the original memory of an event. There is little doubt that in the course of criminal prosecutions, eye witness reports are subject to many sources of  error such as post event information integration.

Biography of Benito Mussolini, Italian Fascist Dictator

Biography of Benito Mussolini, Italian Fascist Dictator Benito Mussolini (July 29, 1883–April 28, 1945) served as Italy’s 40th prime minister from 1922 to 1943. As a close ally of Adolf Hitler during World War II, he is considered a central figure in the birth of European fascism. In 1943, Mussolini was replaced as prime minister and served as the head of the Italian Social Republic until his capture and execution by Italian partisans in 1945. Fast Facts: Benito Mussolini Known For: Mussolini was a fascist dictator who ruled Italy from 1922 to 1943.Also Known As: Benito Amilcare Andrea MussoliniBorn: July 29, 1883 in Predappio, ItalyParents: Alessandro and Rosa MussoliniDied: April 28, 1945 in Giulino, ItalySpouse(s): Ida Dalser (m. 1914), Rachelle Guidi (m. 1915-1945)Children: Benito, Edda, Vittorio, Bruno, Romano, Anna Maria Early Life Benito Amilcare Andrea Mussolini was born on July 29, 1883, in Predappio, a hamlet above Verano di Costa in northern Italy. Mussolini’s father Alessandro was a blacksmith and an ardent socialist who scorned religion. His mother Rosa Maltoni was an elementary school teacher and a devout Catholic. Mussolini had two younger siblings: brother Arnaldo and sister Edvidge. Growing up, Mussolini proved to be a difficult child. He was disobedient and had a quick temper. Twice he was expelled from school for assaulting fellow students with a penknife. Despite all the trouble he caused, however, Mussolini still managed to obtain a diploma and even worked for a short time as a school teacher. Socialist Leanings Looking for better job opportunities, Mussolini moved to Switzerland in July 1902. There he worked a variety of odd jobs and spent his evenings attending local socialist party meetings. One of his jobs was working as a propagandist for a bricklayer trade union. Mussolini took a very aggressive stance, frequently advocated violence, and urged a general strike to create change, all of which led to him being arrested several times. Between his turbulent work at the trade union during the day and his many speeches and discussions with socialists at night, Mussolini soon made enough of a name for himself in socialist circles that he began writing and editing several socialist newspapers. In 1904, Mussolini returned to Italy to serve his conscription requirement in Italy’s peace-time army. In 1909, he lived for a short time in Austria working for a trade union. He wrote for a socialist newspaper and his attacks on militarism and nationalism resulted in his expulsion from the country. After he returned to Italy, Mussolini continued to advocate for socialism and develop his skills as an orator. He was forceful and authoritative, and while frequently wrong in their facts, his speeches were always compelling. His views and his oratory skills quickly brought him to the attention of his fellow socialists. On December 1, 1912, Mussolini began work as the editor of the Italian Socialist newspaper Avanti! Changing Views In 1914, the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand set off a chain of events that culminated in the start of World War I. On August 3, 1914, the Italian government announced it would remain strictly neutral. Mussolini initially used his position as editor of Avanti! to urge fellow socialists to support the government in its position of neutrality. However, his views of the war soon changed. In September 1914, Mussolini wrote several articles supporting those who were backing Italy’s entry into the war. Mussolini’s editorials caused an uproar among his fellow socialists and in November of that year after a meeting of the party executives, he was formally expelled from the party. Wounding On May 23, 1915, the Italian government ordered the general mobilization of armed forces. The next day, Italy declared war on Austria, officially joining World War I. Mussolini, accepting his call to the draft, reported for duty in Milan on August 31, 1915, and was assigned to the 11th Regiment of the Bersaglieri (a corps of sharpshooters). During the winter of 1917, Mussolini’s unit was field testing a new mortar when the weapon exploded. Mussolini was severely wounded, with more than 40 pieces of shrapnel embedded in his body. After a long stay at a military hospital, he recovered from his injuries and was discharged from the Army. Turn to Fascism After the war, Mussolini, who had become decidedly anti-socialist, began to advocate for a strong central government in Italy. Soon he was also advocating for a dictator to lead that government. Mussolini wasnt the only one ready for a major change. World War I had left Italy in shambles and people were looking for a way to make the country strong again. A wave of nationalism swept across Italy and many people began to form local nationalist groups. It was Mussolini who, on March 23, 1919, personally assembled these groups into a single, national organization under his leadership. Mussolini called this new group Fasci di Combattimento (the Fascist Party). Mussolini formed groups of marginalized ex-servicemen into squadristi. As their numbers grew, the squadristi were reorganized into the Milizia Volontaria per la Sicuressa Nazionale, or MVSN, which would later serve as Mussolini’s national security apparatus. Dressed in black shirts or sweaters, the squadristi earned the nickname â€Å"Blackshirts.† The March on Rome In the summer of 1922, the Blackshirts made a punitive march through the provinces of Ravenna, Forli, and Ferrara in northern Italy. It was a night of terror; squads burned down the headquarters and homes of every member of both socialist and communist organizations. By September 1922, the Blackshirts controlled most of northern Italy. Mussolini assembled a Fascist Party conference on October 24, 1922, to discuss a coup de main or â€Å"sneak attack† on the Italian capital of Rome. On October 28, armed squads of Blackshirts marched on Rome. Although badly organized and poorly armed, the move left the parliamentary monarchy of King Victor Emmanuel III in confusion. Mussolini, who had stayed behind in Milan, received an offer from the king to form a coalition government. Mussolini then proceeded to the capital supported by 300,000 men and wearing a black shirt. On October 31, 1922, at the age of 39, Mussolini was sworn in as prime minister of Italy. Il Duce After elections were held, Mussolini controlled enough seats in parliament to appoint himself Il Duce (the leader) of Italy. On January 3, 1925, with the backing of his Fascist majority, Mussolini declared himself dictator of Italy. For a decade, Italy prospered in peace. However, Mussolini was intent on turning Italy into an empire and to do that the country needed a colony. In October 1935, Italy invaded Ethiopia. The conquest was brutal. Other European countries criticized Italy, especially for the nations use of mustard gas. In May 1936, Ethiopia surrendered and Mussolini had his empire. This was the height of Mussolinis popularity; it all went downhill from there. Mussolini and Hitler Out of all the countries in Europe, Germany had been the only one to support Mussolinis attack on Ethiopia. At that time, Germany was led by Adolf Hitler, who had formed his own fascist organization, the National Socialist German Worker’s Party (commonly called the Nazi  Party). Hitler admired Mussolini; Mussolini, on the other hand, did not like Hitler at first. However, Hitler continued to support and back Mussolini, such as during the war in Ethiopia, which eventually swayed Mussolini into an alliance with him. In 1938, Italy passed the Manifesto of Race, which stripped Jews in Italy of their Italian citizenship, removed Jews from government and teaching jobs, and banned intermarriage. Italy was following in the footsteps of Nazi Germany. On May 22, 1939, Mussolini entered into the â€Å"Pact of Steel† with Hitler, which essentially tied the two countries in the event of war- and war was soon to come. World War II On September 1, 1939, Germany invaded Poland, initiating the Second World War. On June 10, 1940, after witnessing Germany’s decisive victories in Poland and France, Mussolini issued a declaration of war on France and Britain. It was clear from the very beginning, however, that Mussolini was not an equal partner with Hitler- and Mussolini did not like that. Over time, Mussolini became frustrated both with Hitlers successes and with the fact that Hitler kept most of his military plans a secret from him. Mussolini looked for a means of emulating Hitler’s accomplishments without letting Hitler know about his plans. Against the advice of his army commanders, Mussolini ordered an attack against the British in Egypt in September 1940. After initial successes, the attack stalled and German troops were sent to reinforce the deteriorating Italian positions. Embarrassed by his armies’ failure in Egypt, Mussolini, against the advice of Hitler, attacked Greece on October 28, 1940. Six weeks later, this attack stalled as well. Defeated, Mussolini was forced to ask the German dictator for assistance. On April 6, 1941, Germany invaded both Yugoslavia and Greece, ruthlessly conquering both countries and rescuing Mussolini from defeat. Italy Revolts Despite Nazi Germanys victories in the early years of World War II, the tide eventually turned against Germany and Italy. By the summer of 1943, with Germany bogged down in a war of attrition with Russia, Allied forces began bombing Rome. Members of the Italian Fascist council turned against Mussolini. They convened and moved to have the king resume his constitutional powers. Mussolini was arrested and sent to the mountain resort of Campo Imperatore in Abruzzi. On September 12, 1943, Mussolini was rescued from imprisonment by a German glider team commanded by Otto Skorzey. He was flown to Munich and met with Hitler shortly thereafter. Ten days later, by order of Hitler, Mussolini was installed as head of the Italian Social Republic in Northern Italy, which remained under German control. Death On April 27, 1945, with Italy and Germany on the brink of defeat, Mussolini attempted to flee to Spain. On the afternoon of April 28, on their way to Switzerland to board a plane, Mussolini and his mistress Claretta Petacci were captured by Italian partisans. Driven to the gates of the Villa Belmonte, they were shot to death by a partisan firing squad. The corpses of Mussolini, Petacci, and other members of their party were driven by truck to the Piazza Loreto on April 29, 1945. Mussolinis body was dumped ​in the road and people of the local neighborhood abused his corpse. Some time later, the bodies of Mussolini and Petacci were hung upside down in front of a fueling station. Although they were initially buried anonymously in the Musocco cemetery in Milan, the Italian government allowed Mussolini’s remains to be re-interred in the family crypt near Verano di Costa on August 31, 1957. Legacy Although Italian Fascism was defeated during World War II, Mussolini has inspired a number of neo-fascist and far-right organizations in Italy and abroad, including the People of Freedom party and the Italian Social Movement. His life has been the subject of several documentaries and dramatic films, including Vincere and Benito. Sources Bosworth, R. J. B.  Mussolini. Bloomsbury Academic, 2014.Hibbert, Christopher.  Benito Mussolini: a Biography. Penguin, 1965.

Free Essays on Virtue Aristotle

Aristotle defined virtue as the excellence of the soul, and happiness is the virtuous activity of the soul. In the moderate, self-controlled and courageous, everything is in harmony with the voice of reason. Aristotle differentiated intellectual virtues from ethical virtues. Intellectual virtues are developed by teaching; ethical virtues are formed by habit (ethos). Virtues are not implanted in us by nature nor are they contrary to nature, for we are equipped by nature to receive them and can develop them by habitual practice. Thus we become just by acting justly, self-controlled by controlling ourselves, and courageous by acting bravely. Others may become undisciplined and short-tempered by acting in those ways. Thus habits developed in childhood make a considerable difference. Aristotle noted that the purpose of this study is not to know what virtue is but to become good; thus we must act according to right reason. Aristotle observed that ethical qualities are destroyed by defect and by excess. Just as too much or too little food destroys health, the same applies to courage and moderation. The one who fears everything becomes a coward, while the one who fears nothing acts recklessly. Whoever revels in every pleasure is undisciplined, while those who avoid every pleasure are insensitive. Virtuous behavior is reinforcing. Abstaining from pleasures results in moderation, and the practice of moderation helps one to abstain from pleasures. Enduring fear makes one courageous, and acting bravely makes one more able to endure fear. These pleasures and pains test virtue, which can be developed or destroyed by whether it is practiced or not. Yet avoiding pleasures and enduring pains must be of the right kind done at the right time and place and in the right manner. Choice is determined by what is noble, beneficial, and pleasurable and their opposites of what is base, harmful, and painful. Ethical action requires knowledge of what one is doing... Free Essays on Virtue Aristotle Free Essays on Virtue Aristotle Aristotle defined virtue as the excellence of the soul, and happiness is the virtuous activity of the soul. In the moderate, self-controlled and courageous, everything is in harmony with the voice of reason. Aristotle differentiated intellectual virtues from ethical virtues. Intellectual virtues are developed by teaching; ethical virtues are formed by habit (ethos). Virtues are not implanted in us by nature nor are they contrary to nature, for we are equipped by nature to receive them and can develop them by habitual practice. Thus we become just by acting justly, self-controlled by controlling ourselves, and courageous by acting bravely. Others may become undisciplined and short-tempered by acting in those ways. Thus habits developed in childhood make a considerable difference. Aristotle noted that the purpose of this study is not to know what virtue is but to become good; thus we must act according to right reason. Aristotle observed that ethical qualities are destroyed by defect and by excess. Just as too much or too little food destroys health, the same applies to courage and moderation. The one who fears everything becomes a coward, while the one who fears nothing acts recklessly. Whoever revels in every pleasure is undisciplined, while those who avoid every pleasure are insensitive. Virtuous behavior is reinforcing. Abstaining from pleasures results in moderation, and the practice of moderation helps one to abstain from pleasures. Enduring fear makes one courageous, and acting bravely makes one more able to endure fear. These pleasures and pains test virtue, which can be developed or destroyed by whether it is practiced or not. Yet avoiding pleasures and enduring pains must be of the right kind done at the right time and place and in the right manner. Choice is determined by what is noble, beneficial, and pleasurable and their opposites of what is base, harmful, and painful. Ethical action requires knowledge of what one is doing...