Buddhism Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words - 1

Buddhism - Essay Example Buddha then offered to heal her child only if she is able to bring a mustard seed given by a family who has not experienced death. Kisogatami searched and was able to find families willing to provide her with the mustard seed but to her dismay each one had experienced death at one point. In the end, Kisogatami understood that death comes to all and she finally accepted the fact of her baby’s death (Matthews, p.115). The idea of death in Buddhism, much like in every other religion, is an acceptable and inevitable part of human life. But where death is usually the end of a life’s cycle in others, the concept of rebirth is a reoccurring process until one reaches Nirvana which is essentially â€Å"the state of being free of egocentrism and the suffering that it causes. Positively, it is joy and peace† (ibid). Karmic destiny is understood to be an invisible force to which certain events and something that even moral justice is not included as opined by some since some Buddhists regard this as the causation of suffering brought about not by their doing and beyond any person’s control. Weber (as cited by Keyes and Daniel, p.15) cannot â€Å"be a logical solution to theodicy, since it points to an ultimate force that cannot be comprehended in logical terms.† Cause and effect best describes the notion of karma and how it affects the life of an individual. Fundamentally, man seeks to find an explanation to the suffering which one endures and religion can provide for a comprehensive elucidation to this predicament by offering various and largely acceptable enlightenments. Westerns philosophers are among the supporters of how the notion of karma and rebirth provides for a substantial explication of suffering and the problem evil. Extensively compared to the Christian rationalization of evil, Max Weber and Arthur Henman together with Michael Stoeber points to the apparent logic of this Buddhist doctrines as a more reasonable justification than the notion of purgatory (Kaufman, pp.15-16). Buddhism has greatly advanced its presence worldwide and the logical appreciation of karma brings it forth as a simple yet compelling belief which can be attributed to its acceptability. In the strict erudite of theodicy, the conviction of God as an all-loving and all-knowing Supreme Being gives rise to the basic question of why does evil exist. This main concern of theodicy makes karma an inconsistent answer since as pointed out earlier, karma does not extensively discuss nor expound on the same because man’s suffering is by his own doing base on previous acts or wrongdoings. Nevertheless, Kaufman maintains that a modern understanding of the concept would elucidate on karma and reincarnation as it provides for an easy response to why suffering exists. He then accedes to the five recognizable flaws in consideration of karma. The first is that one does not remember anything in what is supposed to be one’s own past life a nd is thus inimical to justice since he would never know for what he is being punished for. Second is the fact that there must be a correlation to the amount of suffering in consideration of what was previously done and in this case, similar to the previous one, there would be clear difficulty in ascertaining what offense was previously committed. The third is what he refers to as infinite regress which points to questioning the beginning of the process and in this sense it ignores the question by the

Assignment 5 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words - 2

Assignment 5 - Essay Example More generally, we can see that cross-cultural encounters do not always end well for everybody involved. Before understanding what a cross-cultural encounter can do, it is important to understand what one is. In the broadest meaning, such an encounter could be described as any in which two different cultures meet. More specifically, it is one in which ideas that are different between cultures are exchanged, with varying results. In the case of Benin, one of the exchanges was â€Å"the discovery of Benin art by Europeans†. (Mackie 16) This can be seen in the last paragraph of the passage from Bacon, which states that some of the things found in the houses were â€Å"castings of wonderful delicacy of detail, and some magnificently carved tusks†. In the background, we can see that the Benin were perhaps initially pleased by contact with the West. Presumably, they happily traded for the â€Å"glass walking sticks, old uniforms, absurd umbrellas† and so on that Bacon describes as being in most of the warehouses. However, the exchange obviously did not go well for the Benin. In the context Mackie gives us, we know that Bacon is an invader trying to bring Benin â€Å"firmly under British control†. (Mackie 17) Although it is not explicitly mentioned in the passage, some sense of this chilling reason behind the cross-cultural encounter can be seen in the way Bacon describes the Benin people. Bacon was largely unimpressed with what he found, and so the cultural exchange which could have taken place was limited by the Europeans existing prejudices about the Benin people. The way the passage describes the Benin as â€Å"natives† who were tricked by â€Å"the usual cheap finery† reinforces the idea that the Europeans only wanted to manipulate this different culture for their own ends. The fact that the passage describes the Benin in very negative tones elsewhere, such as explaining the â€Å"ruined and uninhabited houses† as being

Attachment Theories in Social Work Practice

Attachment Theories in Social Work Practice Demonstrating knowledge of relevant Theoretical frameworks (John Bowlby, Mary Ainsworth and Vera Fahlberg), discuss the challenges faced by social care workers in promoting attachment with clients in their agencies. Essay should include practice examples to support your argument. Introduction It is the purpose of this essay to discuss the challenges faced by social care workers in promoting attachment with clients in their agencies. This essay will be broken down into three main sections. Firstly, in understanding the basics of attachment theory as a broad outline to the essay, secondly a consideration of attachment theory in particular in relation to the challenges of social work, and thirdly a more specific consideration of attachment in relation to working as a secure unit for boys aged between 12-16, which is the specific situation faced by the author. Although the essay will be broken down into these three key areas, it is to be expected that there will be a certain amount of overlap between these three areas, and in particular than an understanding of the issues face by social care workers will also be present in the first section as well as the latter two sections. Understanding Attachment Theory Attachment theory, in as far as we understand it here has developed largely from the work of Bowlby and subsequently Ainsworth. Green (2003, p13) notes that ‘The attachment framework has for some time now been very influential and relevant to clinicians. As a theory it has offered a systematic way of understanding and measuring a primary, innate need. It lays emphasis on observable interactions that characterise the qualitative aspects of the inter-relationship between two people’. Not only is it relevant to clinicians but also to those working on the field of social care and welfare, as it seeks to both define and to explain the relationship between a care worker and those in care, providing a framework of action and expectation of the eventual result of the transaction of care. Holmes (1993, p.67) states that ‘attachment theory is in essence a spatial theory: when I am close to my loved one I feel good, when I am far away I am anxious, sad or lonely’. Many of the problems that are dealt with via the means of social care can be often as a result of a lack of this attachment, a disattachment as it were of the individual from the spatial relationship (often, but not necessarily the mother) that has promoted this sense of well-being and comfort. As Simpson and Rholes (1998, p.6) indicate, ‘attachment theory robustly demonstrates, as Steele argues, the need for a secure base. It posits our drive for a warm, safe relationship as a fundamental motivator. Well-being, in the first instance, depends on the maintenance of a secure bond.’ Therefore, attachment behaviour which demonstrates the lack of this bond, such as that potentially demonstrated by young offenders, shows evidence of either the weakness of lack of this bond, and should be re ctified. An important part of this from the social care workers perspective is an awareness of the family unit of the individual within their care. This is particular the case in our current study of adolescents aged between 12-16, recognising that, as do Simpson Rholes (1998, p.101) that ‘from an attachment point of view the discovery that the children who were classified as securely attached to their mothers with psychiatric symptoms more often developed later problems than did the children who were insecurely attached to symptomatic mothers’. Working with an understanding of the wider family situation therefore is of vital importance in recognising, diagnosing and treating those with such problems. Attachment Theory and Social Work Challenges There are, of course, particular challenges brought about by attachment theory in a social work setting. These raise questions that need to be answered by a social care worker in the context of their clients. There is this sense, already mentioned in the previous section, of the history of the client. This is not just to be dealt with by the social care worker, but will often involve a dialogue between the care worker in the client, for as Fahlberg (1991, p.6) notes, ‘it is difficult to grow up as a psychologically healthy adult if one is denied access to one’s own history.’ One particular challenge in promoting attachment in terms of social work is that the client’s social worker will not practically be available in a twenty four hour way in the same that perhaps the person’s primary caregiver has been in the past (although this may not have been the case at all). If the client has a number of different social care workers, this may make it very difficult to promote attachment if the care worker is intended to be viewed as a primary (or only) caregiver. Atwool (1997) notes that ‘consistency in the response of the caregiver is an important factor in building secure attachments. Where the environment is chaotic and the primary caregiver is not available to the child secure attachment will not be possible.’ It is important therefore in such situations and in the context of attachment theory, that as much consideration is given to the availability of the caregiver as possible, and also that there should be a high level of consiste ncy in the behaviour and action of this caregiver, if powerful and successful attachments are to be made. There may indeed be cases where a social care worker is, for many reasons, potentially the first secure attachment that an individual has had. This may particularly be the case in terms of adolescents who have had a difficult life thus far. Goldberg, et al. (1993, p.45) note how Ainsworth altered our understanding of this issue, in that ‘Ainsworth contributed the concept of the attachment figure as a secure base from which an infant can explore the world’. Social care work therefore, is a challenge, but can itself if successful provide this secure base from which clients can explore the world anew and afresh. Attachment Theory in a Secure Unit This third section will focus more specifically on the social work challenges involved in promoting attachment in a secure unit for boys between the ages of 12-16 who are serving sentences of anywhere between one month and four years in detention. Cassidy and Shaver (1999, p.368) note that ‘adolescent boys from father-absent homes tend to show, relative to father-present adolescents, more antagonistic attitudes toward femininity and toward women, exaggerated masculinity, and a relatively exploitative attitude toward females, with sexual contact appearing important as conquest and as a means of validating masculinity (Draper and Belsky, 1990)†Ã¢â‚¬â„¢. This will not be the case for all such young boys, but for almost all of them there will have been a sense of disattachment, and quite likely a failure in ability to form a narrative competence. This narrative competence, as described by Holmes (1993, p.9) states that ‘securely attached children tell coherent stories a bout their lives, however difficult they have been, while insecurely attached children have much greater difficulty in narrative competence, either dismissing their past or remaining bogged down in it, and in neither case being able to talk objectively about it.’ Part of the role therefore of social care work in this context is to begin the process of developing this narrative competence while enabling attachment to gradually take place at a much stronger level than it has done before. We now understand that attachment is so much more than just between two people, but that people develop multiple attachments. In the context of the secure unit therefore, it is important to develop the attachments not only between the adolescent and the social care worker, but also to do as much possible to promote the attachments within the family unit. Clearly depending on the history and nature of the family, this may not be practical, but where it can be done, it should be attempted, and can be a major key in breaking the cycle of criminal activity. Holmes (1993, p.66) states that ‘secure attachment provides an external ring of psychological protection which maintains the child’s metabolism in a stable state, similar to the internal physiologic al homeostatic mechanisms of blood-pressure and temperature control’. For those 12-16 yr old boys, they are at the cusp of their childhood attachments and towards making attachments as adults, and they should be taught and shown by modelling behaviour how to achieve these secure attachments and to improve their lives. Providing the correct environment is vital, as detention can be seen as a fearful place for young minds. Ainsworth, et al. (1978, p.20) state ‘how crucial it is in a potentially fear-arousing situation to be with a trusted companion, for with such a companion fear of all kinds of situation diminishes, whereas when alone fear is magnified. Attachment figures are ones most trusted companions’. Conclusion We have considered therefore, a basic understanding of attachment theory, as well as applying it in a wider sense to social care work. We have also considered some specific challenges of application of attachment theory in the case of a secure unit of young offenders. Attachment theory has much to offer social care work, but there are also challenges in promoting attachment in a social care setting. BIBLIOGRAPHY Ainsworth, M.D.S., Blehar, M.C., Waters, E. Wall, S., 1978, Patterns of Attachment: A Psychological Study of the Strange Situation. New Jersey: Lawrence Erlbaum Atwool, N, 2003. Attachment as a Context for Development: Challenges and Issues Available at: http://www.thelizlibrary.org/liz/attachment.html [Accessed 25th October 2008]. Cassidy, J. Shaver, P.R., 1999, Handbook of Attachment: Theory, Research, and Clinical Applications. New York: Guilford Fahlberg, V.I., 1991, A Childs Journey Through Placement. Indianapolis: Perspective Press Green, V., 2003, Emotional Development in Psychoanalysis, Attachment Theory and Neuroscience: Creating Connections. New York: Brunner-Routledge Goldberg, S. Muir, R. Kerr, J., 1993, Attachment Theory: Social, Developmental, and Clinical Perspectives. New York: Routledge Holmes, J., 1993, John Bowlby and Attachment Theory. London: Routledge Howe, D., 1995, Attachment Theory in Social Work Practice. London: Palgrave Macmillan Simpson, J.A. Rholes, W.S., 1998, Attachment Theory and Close Relationships. New York: Guilford

The Role of the Narrator in Byrons Don Juan Essay examples -- Don Jua

The Role of the Narrator in Byron's Don Juan The narrator of Don Juan takes the traditional role of omniscient narrator. He states the facts but also adds in his personal thoughts on the characters. From the beginning he lets the reader know that he is in search of a hero. He cannot find a hero in his contemporary time, therefore he will return to the hero who has stayed a hero through time. The hero is "my friend Don Juan" (5.8). There is no doubt that the narrator feels a close relationship with the hero and the hero will be treated as casually as friend. He relates that the usual course for a poem is to start in the middle, "that is the usual method, but not mine" (7.1). He will start at the beginning and give opinionated views of Juan's parents. Immediately the narrator establishes control, and therefore sets the tone of the poem. He lets the reader know that Juan's parental skills are lacking (according to him) and if he was Juan's parent he would do things differently. Of young Juan's mischievousness, if "they been but both in their senses, they'd have the young master To school, or had him soundly whipp'd at home, To teach him manners for the time to come" (25.5-8) Certainly this establishes his authority. As the reader, we want to believe him. Obviously (to the reader) Juan's parents are negligent in their duties and the reader sees herself agreeing that she too would do the same. He guides us to be prejudiced to Juan's parents and this trust develops between narrator and reader that carries throughout the poem. Of course the na rrator like any instigator will deny their input. A particularly amusing part of the poem is where the narrator in self-parody tells us "For my part I say nothing--nothing--but This I will... ...rity over the hero. The narrator alone has the power to keep Don Juan alive. In addition, the narrator is really the personality of the poem. We are told Don Juan's actions, but is the narrator that flavors it. It is interesting that Lord Byron decided to include the narrator so prominently; but definitely to the poem's advantage. Works Cited Bostetter, Edward E., Twentieth Century Interpretations of Don Juan. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall, 1969. Boyd, Elizabeth French, Byron's Don Juan: A Critical Study. NY: Humanities Press, 1958. Byron (George Gordon, Lord Byron), Don Juan, ed. Leslie A. Marchand. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1958. McGann, Jerome J., Don Juan in Context. Chicago: U of Chicago Press, 1976. Steffan, Truman Guy, & Willis W. Pratt, eds., Byron's Don Juan: A Variorum Edition. 2nd ed.. 4 vols.. Austin: U of Texas Press, 1971.

Organizational Behavior Assignment

Since this business has been around and owned by my family for over 40 years, we still have leadership harries from 40 years ago that has kept them going for so long. We have adapted new leadership theories from the times changing but most of them have stuck. The owner in our business it not really a leader, since she is retired from her other job, it is up to the manager to lead the employees in the right direction. Some of the aspects of leadership that has stuck with the business over the years would be, what the main focuses are (the customers), the training process and how the manager interacts with the employees.In this business it is like a family so there is a close relationship between the anger and the employees. I believe the theory that best goes along with this family business would be a combination of traditional and contemporary. We have many factors of the traditional but also contemporary because we are always trying to keep up with what is going around us but we als o are stuck with the old leadership from 40 years ago that has gotten us this far in the business. Overall, each leadership will work but for different businesses. You need to find the one that will work the best for you business.Working at a family business creates a lot of stress for not only the family UT the employees also. Since there is only five employees it is hard to get off or call in sick at times; this causes stress between the employees and we have been able to figure a way out to create less stress. We have a sheet where people can list when they need off and another list that people can sign up for the hours that are going to need to be filled. It is almost as if the employees have control but we just put the outline there. Next there is the job roles, each and every person does everything, not just one part.This causes stress sometimes because the employees are not sure what to do first hen there is so much work to get done. We recently fixed this problem, making a l ist of priorities. So when there are many tasks to get done they know what to do first and then they can work their way down the list Also we have made it so if they do not get something done, that list gets passed down to the next shift. I have noticed that this has lifted a lot Of stress Off of all the employees because they have some type of structure and order. The one good aspect that I have noticed in this business is that there are great working conditions.Customers and employees have mentioned that they love working here because of the working conditions and they feel safe and their moods are brought up. The next part of stresses would be within each worker themselves. This honestly has been a hard one to overcome with this business. The top one would be type of personality; the manager here has the type of personality that it is their way or no way. That is good that they have a strong head on their shoulders but that is not always good for a business. When she is around ev erything gets done but all the employees are extremely stressed out when she is here.We have tried to fix this problem but it has not been successful. This is why family business can be hard to work for sometimes, each family member has their own personality and sometimes it clashes and it would be hard on the family if you had to fire them. Other than the type of personality, the individual stresses are not really an aspect at this business. Overall, stresses are a huge part in a business and the faster you catch it the easier it is to fix the problem or work with it to work around it. Group work is a large part in any business.For Franks Beer Stein, it makes up the whole business; since there are no specific tasks dedicated to any specific person, it all takes teamwork to get everything done. We have many steps to make sure everyone is working together; the top one would be everyone's mood that day. We have a policy that you leave your problems at the door unless it deals with wor k itself. If you have a problem with work you can either call the manager or the owner to talk about the problem. This has seemed to work so far, and there has been a huge turn around while everyone is working together.Next would be make a list of what needs to get done and you assign people to do a certain task so everyone knows what each person is doing and does not get frustrated when you do not know where everyone is. Finally, like mentioned before, if the list is not completed by the time your shift is over, that is k, you hand it off to the next shift and so forth. This way it relieves the stress of having to get everything done and rushing instead of taking your time and doing it correctly. Overall, that is not many steps but being a small business it has seemed to work wonderful here ND could possibly work at other companies.There are many potential sources of conflict within a group; these link with the five conflict management styles. The first one is competing; this would be when the workers are competing to either finish first or do a better job. Either way the work is not going to be done the way it should on one of the sides. Also, this would not be working together in a group but working against each other, which from experience does not turn out to be good. Next there is compromising; this would be where to parties would not agree and end up owing to an agreement which they would fall short on each side because they had to come to an agreement.I have never experienced this at my work but if it came to that no one would be making progress so there would have to be changes. Then there is avoiding which I have seen many times and it always has ended horribly. When two or more people would avoid someone because of either they did not get along or they are avoiding a problem that is going on. This overall is not a good thing if you are avoiding something or someone that means something is not getting done at your job and it could urn out with someon e getting fired just because of not facing the problem but rather avoiding it.Next there is accommodating; when you are doing things the way someone else says and it could be working against your full potential. Finally there is collaborating this could be good and it could also be bad. This would be teamwork but two people coming together to work on both of your tasks. This could take up more time because you both are working on one task at a time but it also could make sure you are doing everything correctly because you have two eyes on what you are working on.Overall, most of these management styles are huge conflicts but some can also be good at times to. There are many barriers in communication but there is always a way to fix it. One barrier would be cultural; this is when Someone knows their own culture but not another persons, this could lead to them understanding something differently then one another. This could highly impact teamwork because if a task is said and they mea n one thing but the other person heard it differently, this could impact the relationship and business.The one person would think hat they did it wrong but they could have done exactly what they heard and understood. One way of addressing this would be writing things down and showing at the same time. This will make sure they understand because they will see what you said and physically see what to do, this will limit a lot of problems with cultural barrier. Another barrier would be biases; this would be if someone does not talk to another person because they think that they will not understand or agree with us. This aspect is very common and could effect the teamwork.If you are working with a couple people and you always talk to the same person because in your conscious you know that they are most likely to understand you the most, other employees could see this and it could cause a problem. I have personally seen this happen is my work, with different ages and different genders of the employees. Other employees might get mad or think that you do not like them which would create a whole different situation. A way to solve this would be try' to see who you talk to the most and try and talk to everyone else instead, equally.It would make everyone feel like they are involved and that you do not just favor one person over the rest. Overall, most businesses have these communication problems and there are many different ways to work around them and fix them. But if you do not fix them when they first start happening it could grow into a much larger problem and would be so much more stress on the whole company. Furthermore, there are many problems and conflicts that can come across in every business. Many people thin their lifetime will see most of them and might not even realize what the true problem is.

Middle Eastern Views of Mental Illness

There are many countries that are considered to be countries of the Middle East. Some of these include Iraq, Iran, Turkey, Yemen, and Isreal, just to name a few. Many of these countries have things in common, such as belief in Islam, use of the Arabic language, connections through the Arab League, historical ties, etc. The different countries form a chain of countries that are linked by culture and religion on the one hand and yet vary greatly in terms of dialect and history on the other.The Arabic language is a large common denominator between these countries; however, dialects can be so different from each other to a point where a person from Syria can hardly communicate with a person from Algeria. (1) Most landscape in the Middle East is either occupied by harsh desert conditions or mountains. This has made its people very tough in terms of living conditions. Lebanon, parts of Syria, Turkey, Iran and Iraq have mountainous areas while most of the other countries are flat and extrem ely arid.Those living in the desert traditionally used to move around in a perennial search for water, which resulted in unique eating behaviors and homes. A typical Arab house in the desert is built out of mud and has little furniture. The food is basic with little processing. However, in the mountains of Lebanon, Syria or Turkey one will encounter strong homes with heavy stones and arches that can last for generations. In addition, food in these areas is usually produced during summertime and stored in cellars for use when nature does not allow them to go out and work their snow covered fields. 1) Religions play a big role in the dynamics of the Middle Eastern society. They are considered to be one of the main pillars of the society and individuals are stereotyped based on religion. Islam, Judaism, and Christianity are the main religions practiced in the middle-east and people who practice these faiths only surround themselves with people of the same faith. Daily life is practiced on the basis of ones religion and others are expected to respect that.1) The present day Middle East is a mixture of very old cultures and very young nations that were organized by European colonial powers after the defeat of the Central Powers which led to the end of World War One and fall of the Ottoman Empire. The culture of the Middle East is thus understood only by learning about the history of the region and the forces that have influenced the growth and demise of controlling powers. Since World War One, colonial countries such as France, Great Britain, and The United States have ignificantly influenced the Middle East. (1) Keeping in mind this very generalized description of the Middle Eastern culture we can now begin to look at the beliefs in terms of mental illness. In my research it is safe to say that most all opinions by middle easterners are based off of their religious beliefs. According to the SRA (Stigma Research and Action) people from non-Western cultures tend to attribute the cause of mental illness more frequently to the afflicted individual.It is possible that discrimination against the mentally ill differs in an Islamic culture where mental illnesses and other ailments are, to some extent, considered to be due to the will of God, rather than evil forces, bad behavior, or other personally devaluating factors. According to the holy Koran, people with a mental disorder should be treated with respect, and this might result in a less stigmatizing attitude.Such a perception of causality would also reasonably apply to the individual, and might be a factor that reduces self-blame. One must bear one’s predicament and wait for the mercy of God! A study was done by SRA researchers and participants were asked a series of open-ended questions. Responses indicated feelings of alienation, sharing stereotypes about the mentally ill, experiences of discrimination, social withdrawal, and resistance to being stigmatized and discriminated against.For example, responses included: Yes, they discriminate against us; They don’t count on us; Our society has no capacity for us; I mean there is no cultural understanding in our society; They ridicule, insult and harm us; I wish they could understand that psychiatric patients are like other patients, like patients with cancer or cardiac disease and that they can live their lives.A recurring theme was the idea of the mentally ill as dangerous and aggressive: They all believe a mentally ill patient is a natural born killer and that’s why I try to keep myself to myself and not even claim what I’m entitled to; When the police came they were acting as if I was a criminal, but they ought to know that I’m a patient, not a criminal. (2) The International Journal of Mental health Systems has thoroughly researched the country of Iraq in terms of their views on Mental illness.According to their research public attitudes towards mental illness in Iraq has shown that comm unity opinion about the aetiology of mental illness is broadly compatible with scientific evidence, but understanding of the nature of mental illness, its implications for social participation and management remains negative in general. (3) As nurses we have to remain unbiased, and educational towards our patients and their families.When faced with a patient with a mental illness whom is Middle eastern we need to stay mindful of the fact that they probably believe that they were afflicted by their God in some way, or in some way they deserved to be born with this illness. We need to simply educate them on the importance of medication Therapy and safety. We should treat all of our patients the same no matter what their cultural beliefs are and we should always treat each patient with respect.Active listening is an important skill to master as a nurse with all patients but with Middle Eastern patients especially it is a sign of respect to listen to them first, and allow them to finish completely prior to speaking. Giving this level of respect to all patients all the time will ensure that as nurses we never offend, and that we give the best quality care.