The Kite Runner - Deep Thoughts Essay Example for Free

The Kite Runner Deep Thoughts Essay Guilt is an emotional experience when a person believes or realizes that they have done an unethical action. Many people regard guilt as an unnecessary, even harmful, emotion. Contrary to popular opinion, guilt can be a good emotion. Without guilt, individuals might lack the motivation to act morally. Guilt plays a major role in The Kite Runner, Amir attempts to redeem himself by his feelings of guilt. One of the positive attributes of guilt is that guilt teaches us not to make the same mistake twice. Making mistakes is part of being human, but it is the guilt we feel which prevents us from repeating our mistakes. If a student plagiarizes, then they would feel guilty. Guilt tells the student that this behavior is wrong because we have broken the trust of the teacher. Regardless of whether or not the student gets caught, the guilt prevents him or her from plagiarizing again. In The Kite Runner, Amir often treats Hassan as if he was only a servant rather than a friend. Despite this mistreatment, Hassan remains loyal to Amir and his family throughout the novel. Eventually, this combination makes Amir feel awfully guilty. Amir does not want to repeat his mistake with how he treats Hassan’s son, Sohrab. He said to Soharb,â€Å"Assef hurt your father in a really bad way, and I couldn’t save your father the way your father saved me†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦. I won’t hurt you, I promise (pg. 344).† Amir has implies to Sohrab that he had done an action sinful to Hassan. Guilt has changed the characteristics of Amir from a selfish person to a more caring human being. Another honorable characteristic of guilt is that it motivates us human beings to complete a task. Guilt is a motivator because we are motivated to act in order to make ourselves feel better about our transgression. If a student does not complete their homework, they would feel guilty because it is our duty and obligation to complete what we are intended to accomplish. With a low guilt score, we would not be driven to do anything because nothing is actually necessary or our responsiblity to be done. Amir, in The Kite Runner, is motivated by guilt to save Sohrab, who is an orphan in the war-zone Kabul. Without the motivation of guilt, Amir would not act on the rescue because it is not his duty plus it is possible for others to complete the burden for him. â€Å"There is a way to be good again. A way to end the cycle. With a boy. An orphan. Hassan’s son. Somewhere in Kabul.(pg. 245)† Clearly, Amir feels guilt of the action he has done to Hassan. Because of the guilt, Amir would want to redeem himself after doing a sinful deed. Rescuing Sohrab was â€Å"the way to be good again.† Although the feeling of guilt is a virtuous nature, too much of guilt would be paralyzing to an individual. Just like every other emotion, too much reaction leads to a psychological malady. Too much of guilt creates distorted thinking, the inability to perform tasks and other physical diseases. General Taheri, from The Kite Runner, meets this description perfectly. General Taheri was a high-ranked general back in Afghanistan. After the Soviet War of Afghanistan started, he fled from home to America. This action has build up the guilt within him because he had turned down on his country when the country needed him the most. â€Å"The general believes that Afghanistan would be freed. So every day, he donned his gray suit, wound his pocket watch, and waited (pg.191)† The believed excess guilt causes the general to escape reality. General Taheri goes to the flee market every day just so it seems like home, he does not have a job so he only receives welfare from the government, and he has headaches monthly and locks himself in his room. These all mostly symptoms of excess guilt. Guilt is rather a good characteristic than a harmful one, even though, there is a limit to positive guilt. The novel, The Kite Runner, has demonstrated to us various ways on how guilt could be a righteous nature. â€Å"A way to be good again†, the most well known quote from the novel is create by the guilt that has brought to all of us. The novel lacks its significance without the essence of guilt. Reference: Hosseini, Khaled. Chapter 13. The Kite Runner. Riverhead Mass-market International Edition ed. New York: Riverhead, 2007. 191. Print. Hosseini, Khaled. Chapter 18. The Kite Runner. Riverhead Mass-market International Edition ed. New York: Riverhead, 2007. 245. Print. Hosseini, Khaled. Chapter 24. The Kite Runner. Riverhead Mass-market International Edition ed. New York: Riverhead, 2007. 344. Print.

Literature Review of Cultural Leadership Essay Example for Free

Literature Review of Cultural Leadership Essay Cultural leadership is a diverse subject to touch upon. This aspect of leadership is constantly growing and changing. People should not look into cultural leadership with biased opinions. Dividing cultural leadership into sub groups just gives people an opinion on how to look at people differently. Cultural leadership should be looked at as a whole, as we are one, working together, with the same goal to be successful. Cultural leadership profiles are used to classify what followers expect from leaders in ten cultures cluster groups comprising of sixty-two countries. Six different leadership behavior classifications are used to show what profile is dominant in varying strengths in each region. A successful leader involves more than just planning, coordinate, managing and supervising. A successful leader also has the ability to deal with all genres of people. Whether in involves ethnicity, sexual orientation or people with different cultures. The success of an organization is highly impacted by its culture, which is part of a strategic planning of an organization. What is culture? Culture is defined as the universally shared beliefs, values, and norms of a group of people. Two factors that can hinder cultural awareness are ethnocentrism and prejudice. It is challenging for leaders because it averts them from fully understanding the world of others. Prejudice has a negative impression because it is self-orientated and restrains leaders from seeing the many sides and qualities of others. Whatever makes them unique is their culture. Having a clear understanding of one’s culture, communicating with each other will be much more efficient. Culture has been the attention of many findings across a variety of principles. In the past 30 years a significant number of studies have focused on specifically on ways to recognize and categorize the various dimensions of culture. Determining the rudimentary dimensions or charismas of different cultures is the first step in being able to recognize the relationships between them. Ever since World War II, globalization has been progressing throughout the world. Globalization is the increased interdependence (economic, social, technical, and political) between nations. People are becoming more interconnected. There is an increasingly significant amount of international trade, cultural exchange, and use of worldwide telecommunication systems. In the past ten years, our schools, organizations, and communities have become a lot more global. Increased globalization has created many challenges as well, for example the need to design effective multinational organizations, to identify and select appropriate leaders, and to manage organizations with culturally distinctly different employees. Globalization has also fashioned a need to understand how cultural differences affect the leadership performances. Globalization also created the requirement for leaders to become knowledgeable in cross-cultural awareness and practice. First, leaders need to understand business, political, and cultural settings worldwide. Second, they should learn the perspectives, tastes, trends, and technologies of multiple cultures. Third, they basically need to be able to work concurrently with people from many cultures. Fourth, leaders must be able to familiarize to living and communicating in other cultures. Fifth, they need to acquire to relate to people from other cultures from a position of equivalence rather than cultural supremacy. Anthropologists, sociologists, and many others have questioned the meaning of the word culture. Because it is a theoretical term, it is hard to define, and many different people often define it in unrelated ways. Here, culture is defined as the learned beliefs, values, rules, norms, symbols, and traditions that are common to a group of people. It is these shared qualities of a group that make them matchless. In summary, culture is the way of life, different customs, and script of a group of peoples. Related to culture, are the expressions of multicultural and diversity. Multicultural indicates an approach or classification that takes more than one culture into interpretation. It mentions to the existence of multiple cultures such an African, American, Asian, European, and Middle Eastern. Multicultural can also denote to a set of subcultures defined by race, gender, ethnicity, sexual orientation, or age. Diversity signifies to the subsistence of different cultures or ethnicities within a group or organization. Ethnocentrism is the inclination for beings to place their own group (ethnic, racial, cultural) at the center of their interpretations of others and the world. People tend to give importance and value to their own beliefs, attitudes, and values, over and above other groups. Ethnocentrism is the sensitivity that one’s own culture is better or more expected than the culture of others. Ethnocentrism is a worldwide tendency, and each and every one of us is ethnocentric to some degree. Ethnocentrism can be a major impediment to effective leadership because it averts people from fully understanding and/or respecting the perspectives of others. The more ethnocentric we are, the less open or accepting we are of other people’s cultural customs and practices. Prejudice is a general continual attitude, belief, or emotion believed by an individual about another individual or group that is based on defective or unproven statistics. It refers to assumptions about others based on previous decisions or occurrences. Prejudice involves obstinate generalizations that are impervious or change or evidence to the opposing. Prejudice is often thought in the framework of race. In addition to combating their own prejudice, leaders also face the experiment of dealing with the prejudice of followers. These prejudices can be toward the manager or the leader’s culture. Additionally, it is not infrequent for the leader to face followers who symbolize several culturally different groups, and these groups have their own prejudgments toward each other. A experienced leader needs to find ways to negotiate with followers from numerous cultural backgrounds. Training programs about culture and diversity have been admired for many years. At the center of these programs, people are educated about the degrees and characteristics of different cultures, and how to be perceptive to people in other countries and cultures. Considerate about issues about culture is useful in several ways. The discoveries about culture can help leaders recognize their own cultural biases and inclinations. Tolerant of their own preferences is the first step in accepting that people in other cultures might have different predilections Additionally, the findings help leaders to apprehend what it means to be a noble leader. Different cultures have different ideas about what they desire from their leaders. These verdicts help our leaders adapt their style to be more operative in different cultural settings. Third, the findings help leaders correspond more effectively across cultural and geographic boundaries. By considering cultural differences, leaders can become more empathic and precise in their communication with others. Information on culture and leadership has also been applied in very concrete ways. It has been used to construct culturally perceptive Web sites, design new employee orientation programs, organizing programs in relocation training, advance global team effectiveness, and expedite multinational merger implementation. These illustrations clearly specify the wide range of applications for research on culture and leadership in the workplace. GLOBE researchers allocated the data from the 62 countries they studied into regional masses. These masses provided a expedient way to investigate the similarities and differences between cultural groups, and to make significant generalizations about culture and leadership. In sum, these regional masses exemplified a valid and dependable way to differentiate countries of the world into 10 distinct groups. The GLOBE studies compromise the greatest body of findings to date on culture and leadership. GLOBE researchers studied how 17,000 managers from 62 different countries perceived leadership. They evaluated the similarities and differences between regional clusters of cultural groups by grouping countries into 10 distinct clusters; the outcome was a list of leadership attributes that were universally recognized as positive and negative. The representation of an ineffective leader is someone who is asocial, malicious, self-focused, and autocratic. The conceptualization of leadership used by GLOBE researchers was consequential in part from the work of Lord and Maher on implicit leadership theory. Concurring to implicit leadership theory, individuals have implicit beliefs and opinions about the qualities and theories that differentiate leaders from non-leaders and effective leaders from ineffective leaders. â€Å"Leadership is in the eye of the beholder.† Leadership refers to what people see in others when they are demonstrating leadership behaviors. To depict how different cultures view leadership behaviors in others, GLOBE researchers identified six global leadership behaviors: * Charismatic/Value-Based Leadership: Reflects the ability to inspire, to motivate, and to expect high performance from others based on strongly held core values. This kind of leadership includes being visionary, inspirational, self-sacrificing, trustworthy, decisive, and performance oriented. (Peter Northouse 2012). * Team-Orientated Leadership: Emphasizes team building and a common purpose among team members. This kind of leadership includes being collaborative, integrative, diplomatic, non-malevolent, and administratively competent. (Peter Northouse 2012). * Participative Leadership: Reflects the degree to which leaders involve others in making and implementing decisions. It includes being participative and non-autocratic. (Peter Northouse 2012). * Humane-Oriented Leadership: Emphasizes being supportive, considerate, compassionate, and generous. This type of leadership includes modesty and sensitivity to other people. (Peter Northouse 2012). * Autonomous Leadership: Refers to independent and individualistic leadership, which includes being autonomous and unique. (Peter Northouse 2012). * Self-Protective Leadership: Reflects behaviors that ensure the safety and security of the leader and the group. It includes leadership that is self-centered, status conscious, conflict inducing, face saving, and procedural. (Peter Northouse 2012). Cultural Leadership in organizations always seems to miss the discussion of how leadership keeps culture in organizations stable. Charisma is where it all begins. Therefore having multiple cultural leaders helps to resolve this issue. Most leaders do and say different things, but in the end, everyone just wants success. Whether that success is culture, coordination, or a profitable business, or all of those things, many people learn to cope with differences by experience. Experience is the best form of knowing, therefore, to be a great leader; you have to start somewhere. The leader, the followers, and the situation, all have to do with leadership. As well as playing a significant role in cultural leadership. Or any type of leadership for that matter. Personal qualities, perceived situation, vision and mission, followers’ and attributes, leader behaviors, performance, administrative actions, use of cultural forms, and the use of tradition all are key elements to a successful leader, their followers, the business, and the outcome of the business, organization, company. Multicultural is increasing all over the world. Even though America is known as the melting pot, everywhere across the world have cultural behaviors within their organization. Ethics affects leadership, as well as tradition. But studies complied on cross-cultural leadership have been attained, and this helps us to understand the differences between different cultures from our own. Decaregorization is a cultural leadership style for employees to become more aquinted with one another. This style helps companies get to know onw another and interact in a positive manner doing something else besides work. The leader would old a funraiser, etc. Therefore, rather than group-based interactions, this approach will focus on individuality. The following quotes are crucial to cultural leadership, and accepting differences among others. â€Å"Moral excellence comes about as a result of habit. We become just by doing just acts, temperate by doing temperate acts, brave by doing brave acts.† – Aristotle, Nichomachean Ethics (350 BCE). â€Å"Lead them with culture and regulate them by the rules of propriety, and they will have a sense of shame and, moreover, set themselves right.† – Confucius (5110479 BCE). The results of ethical leadership came up with six main themes from the responses of all six societies. Accountability, consideration and respect for others, fairness and non-discriminatory treatment, character, collective orientation – organization and social, openness and flexibility. Each society is unique, and to understand the differences, you must experience it firsthand. Reading and learning will only give your insight. Aforementioned cultural leadership must be learned in person, by the leader and its followers, for they are working towards a common goal. Leadership profiles are used to describe how cultures view leadership behaviors. There are six leadership behaviors identified by Globe researchers, they are: charismatic/value based, team-oriented, participative, humane- oriented, autonomous, and self-protective.( House Javidan, 2004) Charismatic/value based leadership is being visionary, inspirational, with the ability to motivate high performance from others based on strongly held core values. Team-oriented leadership is instilling a common purpose among team members to encourage a team effort by being collaborative, diplomatic, and administrative competent. Participative leadership involves making others in the decision making process and includes being non-autocratic and participative. Autonomous leadership is being unique, independent, and a individualistic leader. Humane-oriented leadership is being modest and sensitive to other people, being supportive, compassionate, and generous. Self-protective is self-centered, face saving, status conscious, ensuring the safety and security of the leader and group. There are ten distinct groups to differentiate countries of the world into regional clusters ( e. g. Ronen Shenkar, 1985) Middle East, made up of Qatar, Morocco, Egypt, Kuwait, and Turkey. Nordic Europe which includes Denmark, Finland, and Sweden. Latin Europe comprising Israel, Italy, Spain, Portugal, France, and Switzerland. Latin America made up of Ecuador, El Salvador, Columbia, Bolivia, Brazil, Guatemala, Argentina, Costa Rica, Venezuela, and Mexico. Southern Asia which includes The Philippines, Indonesia, Malaysia, India, Thailand, and Iran. Sub-Saharan Africa consisting of Zimbabwe, Namibia, Zambia, Nigeria, and South Africa. ( Black caucus) Anglo consists of Canada, the United States, Australia, Ireland, England, South Africa( white caucus) and New Zealand. Confucian Asia includes Singapore, Hong Kong, Taiwan, China, South Korea, and Japan. Eastern Europe is Greece, Hungary, Albania, Slovenia, Poland, Russia, Georgia, and Kazakhstan. Germanic Europe includes Austria, The Net herlands, Sweden, and Germany. Middle Eastern culture and leadership perceived to be effective in this region of the world are the interrelationships among societal culture, organizational culture and leadership methodologies. Data collected from four Middle Eastern nations (Iran, Kuwait, Turkey, and Qatar) provide an insight into the framework of societal and organizational values and management practices in Arab countries. The great majority of the population in Iran, Kuwait, Turkey, and Qatar are muslins. Turkey has a formal state ideology; the state is independent of religious rules and is run by secular rules mostly adapted from the west. Iran, Kuwait, and Qatar are not secular, but religious laws dominate. Also differences in the Islamic sects, Iran being predominately â€Å"shiite†, Kuwait, Turkey, Qatar people largely â€Å"sunni†. Language may account for part of the differences in Middle East region, while Islamic religion seems to be a common attribute. In making plans and forecasts all four nations are below average and very close to each other, which involves the concept of fate embodied in Islamic beliefs. Effective leadership attributes in Middle Eastern societies have universalistic characteristics and some culture-specific attributes with participation having a different meaning compared to western societies, being centered on satisfaction of egos rather than to improve quality of a decision. Organizational leaders tend to be more sensitive to local cultures and traditions and more future-orientated practices, plus promote change.( Introduction to the special issues on Leadership and Culture in the Middle East, Hayat Kabasakal and Ali Dastmalchian) Face saving and status are important characteristics of effective leadership, and deemphasizes charismatic/value based and team- oriented leadership. Looking after one’s job and security is of the upmost priority for most leaders in this group category. Diversity of management systems exist across contemporary Europe, and societal culture diversity remains unquestionable and frequently preserved as much as possible. The formation of the European Union has opened up all borders, increasing diversity if cultures, all intermingling, changing cultural clustering, and cultural divide between eastern and western Europe. Prior studies of cultural distinctions, cross-cultural studies between east-west and north-south European distinctions are changing from prior data and may need further studies. Managers in Germanic countries make more participative decision-making behavior, central Europe makes more autocratic decisions. West European (Nordic, Anglo, Latin) empathize more â€Å"Equality â€Å"or egalitarian commitment. East and near East countries lean more toward hierarchy or conservatism. North Europe has shown to favor equality and participation, while managers from Southern Europe prefer more hierarchy. A coaching leader is preferred in North Europe, while preference is for a directing leader in South Europe. While self centered and malevolence are seen as impeding leadership in all clusters. Eastern Europe leader would be independent while maintaining strong interest in protecting their position as leader. Nordic Europe want leaders who are inspiring and involve others in decision making, not concerned with status and other self-centered attributes. Anglo Europe want leader to be exceedingly motivating and visionary, considerate of others, team orientated and autonom ous and not autocratic. Latin America leader is charismatic/value based but somewhat self serving, collaborative and inspiring. Confucian Asia leader works and cares about others but uses status and position to make independent decisions without input of others. Sub-Saharan Africa sees effective leadership as caring, should be inspirational, collaborative, and not excessively self centered. A portrait of a leader who is high in integrity, is charismatic/value based, and has interpersonal skills is one whom almost everyone would see as exceptional. (Dorman et al. 2004) After major corporate failures and financial failures of banks and other high impact institutions, being honest and trustworthy could be a high priority for leadership positions in all culture groups. Other personal traits or learned skills would be useful and desirable attributes but lower on the priority scale. Being positive and intelligent definitely would be useful as a leader of any type of venture or business. There are a lot of other positive attributes that would be desirable for leadership; among them is one that plans ahead, having foresight to accurately see what is coming up in near and long range time predictions. Being a team builder, instilling confidence in others encouraging them with a just and dependable example. Personal traits such as being administrative skilled, decisive, and motivating people to be excellence oriented would be very beneficial to any leader and followers. Leaders should be aware and knowledgeable of the many undesirable attributes that can be obstacles in being an effective leader. Being a loner and anti-social would be very negative in showing followers your concern for them and gaining their confidence. The most visible and destructive undesirable attribute in recent events is that of being ruthless, as you would think of people in financial leadership of banks and wall street that caused the massive collapse of the world economies. Being dictatorial and egocentric is very bad for keeping a positive relationship with followers. Personal traits like being irritable and non-cooperative would be hard to understand by followers. There are many strengths associated with classifications of culture groups into clusters that can be easily be utilized for leadership profiles so as to provide a data base of reference for managers of international corporations. Providing valuable asset for training more efficient leaders is one of the strength, it also provides a good understanding of how different cultures have an impact upon leading a workforce into better cohesion and productive atmosphere in the workplace. What followers expect from leaders is a signal to upper management as to what type of person would be more effective with a certain culture group. A second strength could be that this provides useful information/guidelines about what is accepted as good and bad leadership, a yardstick for managers/leaders to measure how do I measure up? Leadership and culture are two separate studies, but inseparable in effective leadership programs. There are some criticisms on culture and leadership classification studies in that a lot of findings about perceptions of leadership in different cultures do not provide a clear set of assumptions and propositions that can be used to provide a single theory about the way culture influences the leadership process. Another one would be in that some of the terms used are hard to understand without any education about the diversity of world culture. The meanings of some terms are very vague. The conceptualizations in these studies of culture and leadership integration has had varying reception from people on that it being a process of being perceived by others as being a leader. Also the way a provocative list of universally endorsed desirable and undesirable leadership attributes are presented. Different cultures have different ideas about what they want from their leaders. Understanding the diversity of cultures in the workplace today can be very positive for leaders and followers in their pursuits. While there are many studies on culture leadership and the GLOBE Study, there is also a model that helps leaders in achieving effective cultural leadership. In that it helps them understand the difference that exits among national cultures. The model was developed by Geert Hotstede. In his research he outlines the variation of national culture into five dimensions. They are as follow: individualistic/collectivistic, high power distance/low power distance; high and low uncertainty avoidance, achievement/nurturing; and long-term/short-term orientation. Familiarity with the GLOBE Study and the Hofstede model, leadership culture is made easy and will increase organizational effectiveness. This will also create better relationship among nations. This will benefit the common good of all through respect and better communication. Individualistic people; according to Hofsede, worry about themselves and that of those who are close to them or who are like them. They tend not to trust outsiders. In contrast, collectivistic work in groups, much like team players. The second dimension of Hofsede’s study is power distance. Some cultures have accepted high power distance and others low power distance. High power distance cultures display great respect for those in authority or power holders. This model is seen based on the difference between leaders and their followers. It is obvious in pay scale, benefits and promotions. Though lower power distance: power is distributed more equally among group members; there is much lateral communication line between subordinates and leaders. Third dimension is high uncertainty avoidance. This dimension is concerned with the impact of societal norms, ritual and what is being done in avoiding uncertainty. Organizations want to be able to predict the future based the rules of cultures are used. They live under constant stress because of fear of the future. In contrast; low uncertainty avoidance is comfortable with risks, they do not impose or create friction over differences in behaviors and or others opinions. Those cultures in the low uncertainty avoidance tend to be more tolerant of others. The next dimension is achievement; those belonging to this group tend to be more aggressive. They are assertive, they are confrontational, there is a lot of greed for money and they lack humility. They encourage competitiveness among them and others. Whereas the opposite of that is nurturing, they value relationship and are genuinely concern about the wellbeing of others. The last set of dimension of natural culture is long-term orientation. They are optimistic of the future and they are persistent. Though short-term orientation, they stay in the past, they place high importance on values of the past. In addition to the Five Dimensions of National Culture as described by Hofsete, there is for additional dimensions that affect cultural leadership. They are as follows, and I quote as listed in Northouse (2010): * Institutional Collectivism: An organization or sociality encourages institutional or societal collective action. (Peter Northouse 2012). * In-Group Collectivism: People express pride, loyalty, and cohesiveness in their organizations or families. In-group collectivism is concerned with the extent to which people are devoted to their organizations or families. (Peter Northouse 2012). * Gender Egalitarianism: An organization or society minimizes gender role differences and promotes gender equality. (Peter Northouse 2012). * Assertiveness: People in a culture are determined, assertive, confrontational, and aggressive in their special relationships. (Peter Northouse 2012). * Future Orientation: People engage in future-oriented behaviors such as planning, investing in the future, and delaying gratification. (Peter Northouse 2012). * Performance Orientation: An organization or society encourages and rewards group members for improved performance and excellence. (Peter Northouse 2012). * Humane Orientation: A culture encourages and rewards people for being fair, altruistic, generous, caring, and kind to others. (Peter Northouse 2012). Through all of the studies it has been concluded that there is exact correlation between the culture of an organization and its effectiveness. And it also shows that a lot of those dimensions have a negative impact on the organization. In conclusion, cultural leadership is one of the major principles every organization, company, person needs to fully grasp. For decades, many researchers have been prophesying that globalization, increased technology, civil rights legislation, and changing demographics will generate new encounters for leaders who administer a diverse organization. All of these elements place a considerably improved probability that workers from both genders, diverse nationalities, ethnic backgrounds, numerous races, and a mixture of religious will be essential to work jointly. This in sum, employees must work together to create a positive environment. This is what naturally will happen, and this is an international effort. References Leadership Theory and Practice Fifth Edition Peter G. Northouse Introduction to the Special Issue on Leadership and Culture in the Middle East(2001) Hayat Kabasakal Ali Dastmalchian Cultural Variations Across European Countries(2000) Felix C. Brodbeck Michael Frese THE INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF INTERDISCIPLINARY SOCIAL SCIENCES (http://web.ebscohost.com/ehost/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?sid=a2b5ee8b-a9d2-4bae-a8ed-16919582d9c5%40sessionmgr115vid=4hid=14) Chrobot-Mason, Donna, Ruderman, Marian N. Weber, Todd J, Oholott, Patricia J, Dalton, Maxine A. (Nov 2007) Illuminating a Cross-Cultural Leadership Challenge: When Identify Groups Collide. Volume 18 (11) 2011 (26). Retrieved From http://discover.linccweb.org/primo_library/libweb/action/display.do

Social Psychology: Concepts and Research

Social Psychology: Concepts and Research Sophia Ashraf Social Psychology Assignment At times people and groups resort to negative, cruel and even murderous behaviour. Drawing upon contemporary or historical examples analyse whether this behaviour is influenced more by social pressure/structure or by something more personally sinister or selfish. Social psychologists have devoted extensive interest in studying the attitudes, feelings and behaviours of human beings. They have come up with numerous explanations for both helpful and aggressive human behaviours. Philosophers explain these differences in terms of human nature. For instance, Rousseau believes humans are innately peaceful creatures. Therefore, anti-social behaviours are a consequence of wider societal and structural factors. In contrast, Thomas Hobbes believes humans are born evil and are predisposed to criminality. Overall, history is filled with numerous examples of altruistic behaviours. One such example is of Oskar Schindler, who risked his life and saved over 4,000 Jews during the Holocaust. Equally, history has also witnessed inhumane atrocities which include the My Lai Massacre in Vietnam in the 1960’s and the Rwanda and Bosnia genocides of the 1990’s (Hogg Cooper, 2007; Hogg Vaughan, 2014). Social psychologists have offered numerous explanations that influence the behaviours, attitudes and perceptions of people, in performing horrendous crimes against humanity. These include: social pressures like conformity and obedience, and also individual personality traits such as possessing an evil, sadistic and psychopathic character. In this essay, I will use examples of historical and contemporary atrocities, social psychological studies and theoretical concepts to explain the reasons behind why certain individuals and groups commit negative, cruel and murderous behaviours. In doing so, I will analyse whether this behaviour is influenced more by social pressure/structure or by something more personally sinister or selfish (ibid). Social psychologists identify obedience as a major social influence on human behaviour. This is because it involves obeying the orders of other living beings. Psychologists have found obedience to have both a positive and negative impact on human behaviour. For example, it prevents chaos in everyday life as people are socialised to obey laws such as traffic lights, and do so even without the presence of an authority figure. Alternatively, obedience has also proven destructive as many people have blindly obeyed the orders of an authority figure without thinking of the consequences of their actions. Social psychologist Stanley Milgram (1963, 1974) was highly interested in the effects of obedience on human behaviour, and in particular whether an individual would follow the commands of an authority figure if it involved harming another living being (Aronson et al, 2013; Hogg Vaughan, 2014). In 1963, Milgram carried out a famous ground-breaking experiment on obedience to authority at Yale University. He recruited around forty participants from the community via an advertisement, to participate in a study that tested the effects of punishment on learning. The experiment consisted of three roles which include an experimenter who was a man dressed in a white lab coat, a teacher whose role was always played by the participants, and a learner named Mr Wallace who was actually a confederate of the researcher. All participants were provided with a shock generating machine which had thirty levers in total and ranged from 15 to 450 volts. Participants were also given a sample shock of 45 volts before the experiment commenced. As part of the study, Mr Wallace had to learn a set of pair associates, whereas the teacher was required to administer electric shocks progressively to the learner each time they gave an incorrect answer (ibid). During the experiment, the learner made some correct and incorrect responses. Whenever the learner received a shock for an incorrect response, he would cry and scream in pain and often demanded to be released from the experiment. Consequently, this made participants feel agitated and want to withdraw from the research. In response, the experimenter would reply with a series of direct coercive statements such as ‘the experiment requires that you continue’, and ‘you have no other choice, you must go on’. (Hogg Vaughan, 2014: 242). Milgram’s initial assumption was that his participants would refuse to follow orders that involved harming another individual. However, he was extremely shocked when his results revealed that 65% of his participants continued administering electric shocks till the very end. This study illustrates the devastating impact of obedience, a social pressure which induces ordinary people to perform damaging acts against innocent vict ims (Hogg Vaughan, 2014; Helm Morelli, 1979). Milgram’s experiment has received considerable support from numerous researchers such as Hofling et al, 1966 who found that nurses also obeyed doctor’s orders to administer what they knew were harmfully incorrect doses of drugs to their patients. Milgram’s study has also received substantial criticism for its ethical concerns. Firstly unknown to the participants, the learner was actually a confederate who did not receive any electric shocks throughout the study. Secondly, Milgram’s participants were not provided with a fully informed consent and right to withdraw. This is because the experimenter verbally prodded them to continue during the experiment. His participants were also deceived about the true aims of the study, as Milgram was actually investigating the effects of obedience to authority on human behaviour. Milgram’s findings also lack generalisation to the wider population. This is because the study involved male participants and was conduc ted in a laboratory setting which does not reflect real life situations (ibid). Many historical and contemporary crimes have been committed in the name of obedience to authority. These include historic atrocities witnessed during World War II and the Nazi era, and also contemporary atrocities such as those which have been witnessed in Iraq, Afghanistan and Syria. In all of these horrific events, the perpetrators have claimed to be following orders. For instance, the Nazi official Adolf Eichmann who was held responsible for the death of six million Jews claimed he was following and implementing Hitler’s orders. Eichmann’s trial was covered by the journalist Hannah Arendt (1963) in her book ‘Eichmann in Jerusalem: A report on the banality of evil’. Like Milgram, Arendt was also interested in what made Eichmann and other war criminals commit such devastating crimes against humanity (Aronson et al, 2013; Hogg Vaughan, 2014). Within her book, Arendt reveals a shocking finding and asserts that ‘these ‘monsters’ may not have been monsters at all. They were often mild-mannered, softly spoken, courteous people who repeatedly and politely explained that they did what they did not because they hated Jews (or Muslims etc.) but because- they were simply obeying orders’ (Hogg Vaughan, 2014: 240). Here, Arendt illustrates the importance of structural explanations, in particular obedience which a form of social influence that predisposes war time criminals to commit negative, cruel and murderous behaviours. Nevertheless, this structural explanation has been criticised for ignoring the very fact that an individual’s pathological personality and a group’s cultural norms, may also make them more vulnerable to anti-social and murderous behaviours (Aronson et al, 2013; Hogg Vaughan, 2014). To explain a perpetrators negative human behaviour, Milgram makes reference to the terms the agentic state which denotes absolute obedience. He claims that within the agentic state people see themselves as mere instruments obeying the commands of an authority figure. As a result, individuals experience a diffusion of responsibility for their actions. This is because they transfer personal responsibility onto the authority figure. For this reason, Milgram believes that the agentic state can be used to explain the behaviour of perpetrators, who claim they are not liable for their actions as they were simply following orders. Moreover, even the threat of punishment for disobedience can force many people and groups to perform criminal behaviours against their own wish. However, it must be noted that not everyone obeys the commands of an authority figure, and many people do display resistance to commands that go against their own beliefs (ibid). Social psychologists have also identified conformity as another major social influence on human behaviour. It is defined as a process in which the individual changes their attitudes and behaviours in accordance with the group’s views. Psychologists have identified two types of conformity. These are informational and normative social influence. Firstly, informational influence is a type of conformity where the individual relies on information, knowledge and opinions of others as evidence about reality. Secondly, normative social influence is a type of conformity which is heavily based on others expectations. Here, the individual conforms because they feel a need to gain acceptance and social approval from their group. They also want to avoid feeling socially ostracised. In support of conformity pressures Mark Twain asserts, ‘we are discreet sheep; we wait to see how the drove is going and then go with the drove’ (cited in Kassin et al, 2008: 221). This quote shows how suggestible and compliant people can be as a result of numerous group pressures (Aronson et al, 2013; Kassin et al, 2008). The famous psychologist Philip Zimbardo was highly interested in understanding the downside of conformity, and coined the concept ‘The Lucifer Effect’ to describe how good people turn evil. In 1971, he conducted a famous study named the Stanford Prison Experiment, where paid volunteers were randomly assigned to the role of either a prisoner or a guard. The prisoners were arrested from their house, and were taken to a prison which consisted of bare necessities. Their possessions were removed from them and they were provided with a uniform and a unique ID number. Alternatively, the guards were also given a uniform to wear, along with items such as clubs and whistles which were symbolic of their authority. All prisoners were required to follow a set of fixed rules; otherwise they risked receiving severe punishment (Baron and Branscombe, 2012: Meyers, 2008; Zimbardo, 2007). Within the experiment, Zimbardo played the role of a prison warden who was interested in observing the reactions of his participants. He also wanted to know whether his participants would conform to the norms and requirements of their roles and whether they would behave like genuine prisoners and guards. Zimbardo found that the prisoners were rebellious at first but, then later became passive whereas, the guards grew more and more brutal and sadistic in their character. This was seen in the manner in which they harassed and dehumanised prisoners. Zimbardo found that these changes in behaviour were so disturbing that it became necessary to end the study after six days, when initial plans called for it to last two weeks. According to the individualistic explanation of crime and deviance, such inhumane behaviours may be attributed to individual factors such as a genetic predisposition to criminality (ibid). In opposition to the individualistic explanation, Zimbardo (2007) adopts a structural perspective to explain his findings. He argues that a person inclination to conform to the norms of their social roles such as that of a soldier or prison guard can have harmful consequences, as they may make decent people perform indecent behaviours against members of their own species. A real life parallel to the Stanford Prison experiment is the disturbing events of the Abu Ghraib prison which started in Iraq in 2003. In this horrific event, American soldiers physically abused Iraqi prisoners as they perceived them to be less than human. According to the individualistic explanation, these horrific atrocities are attributed to individual deficiencies and limitations. For instance, people who are labelled psychopaths, sadists, and evil creatures are more vulnerable to behave inhumanely with innocent people than psychologically normal people (Aronson et al, 2013: Baron and Branscombe, 2012; Keller, 2006). In relation to the Nazi Holocaust, the historian Daniel Goldhagen argues that ‘many German citizens were willing anti-Semitic participants in the Holocaust, not mere ordinary people forced to follow orders’ (Kassin et al, 2008: 243). Therefore, it may well be argued that the Germans had a character defect and were prejudiced and pathologically frustrated individuals. These factors influenced them to behave with cruelty towards others. On the other hand, developmental psychologists argue that anti-social and aggressive personality disorders can also predispose individuals to resort to criminal behaviours. For example, Adorno et al, 1950 adopts a psychodynamic framework and argues that early childhood rearing practices that are harsh and authoritarian produce individuals who are obsessed by authority and are more likely to be hostile and aggressive towards other people. This provides support for the claim that personality factors cause individuals to behave in a negative and cruel manner towards others (Aronson et al, 2013; Hogg Cooper, 2007; Kassin et al, 2008). In conclusion, social influence has proved to be a fundamental area of inquiry for social psychologists who attempt to explain the numerous influences on human behaviour. Psychologists argue that people and groups are subject to powerful and complex social pressures. These may originate from people, groups and institutions. Social psychologists explain violent and anti-social human behaviours as being either attributed to the individual, situation or system. Social psychologists have identified conformity and obedience to play an important role in influencing human behaviour. They have also identified individual factors such as a genetic predisposition to crime and also personality attributes such as a possessing a selfish, sinister and authoritarian personality to predispose people to behave criminally. There are also other factors that may shape. These include prejudice, discrimination and a radical ideology which may predispose people and groups to behave inhumanely with others. O verall, research on crime and deviance have revealed that it is highly complex to determine whether negative, cruel and murderous human behaviours are due to social/structural pressures or individual factors or a combination of both. Sexual Offences Act 2003: An Analysis Sexual Offences Act 2003: An Analysis The questions as posed raises a number of issues concerning the interplay between child and youth sexuality and the criminal law that is not readily resolved. The question shall be addressed using the following analytical approach that is intended to be considered progressively, commencing with the identification of the specific provisions of the Sexual Offences Act that demand the greatest scrutiny in when considering the interests of children. The analysis then explores the implications of the key terms employed in the question and how each may be interpreted in light of the Sexual Offences Act provisions; ‘children, ‘protection, ‘sexual abuse, ‘legitimate sexual behaviour, and ‘mistake are highlighted. The expression ‘over-criminalise is afforded a distinct consideration in view of the breadth of the potential sexual acts that might be prosecuted pursuant to the Act, coupled with the potential reach of both police and prosecutorial discretion in these proceedings. The analysis includes the review and inclusion of relevant academic commentaries that consider the issues noted above; the paper concludes with the assertion that while the Sexual Offences Act is an imperfect mechanism upon which to construct a protective scheme for children who are exploited or otherwise the victim of nonconsensual sexual activity, the current statute represents a legislative scheme that is clearly rooted in the public interest and one that addresses a number of important societal issues. The Sexual Offences Act, 2003 The Act provides for the regulation of a broad range of defined types of sexual misconduct. Commencing with s. 5 (Rape of a child), the enumerated Child Sex Offences provisions that are set out at sections 9 through 19 define the age limits applicable to establishing proof of the various enumerated offences. Section 10 (Inciting a child to sexual activity) is an example of the age definition employed in all of the Child Sex Offences: A person aged 18 or over (A) commits an offence if he intentionally causes or incites another person (B) to engage in an activity the activity is sexual, and   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Either: (i) B is under 16 and A does not reasonably believe that B is 16   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  or over, or (ii) B is under 13 Various acts of sexual touching are criminalised: the offence of ‘Grooming (s.15) is noteworthy in that the proof of the offence does not require proof of any physical contact directed by the perpetrator to the child victim to establish criminal liability for a sexual offence. The ‘grooming provisions are primarily directed to Internet based contacts (such as by way of Internet chat rooms) or mobile telephone media, such as text messaging between adults and children as defined. Commentators have suggested ‘à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦that applying the ‘grooming clause in practice is highly problematic given the difficulty of demonstrating ‘sexual intent towards a childà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦(previous case law) à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦illustrates the extent to which some sex offenders are prepared to go to secure a child for sexual activity and the overt manner in which ‘grooming occurred. The penalty provisions of the Act generally invite one of two types of dispositions. For the more serious offences such as rape, the maximum penalty is 14 years in prison; for the lesser offences the maximum penalty is a 5 year term. Subject to the definitions contained in each section, most offences are also capable of prosecution by summary means and a corresponding maximum penalty of 6 months in prison, or fine in the alternative. These provisions are considered in the context of the suggested ‘over-criminalisation, below. Key words As noted in the introduction, five words and phrases extracted from the question are employed to advance the present analysis. ‘Children It is submitted that while the definition of ‘child may be variable and highly dependent upon the context of any particular sexual circumstance, the age parameters set out in the Act are generally appropriate for the following reasons. While a child aged 13 or under may have the physical maturity and the emotional desire to engage in sexual activity (this varies significantly from person to person), there is strong academic support for the proposition that a young person of this age will generally lack the appreciation of the consequences of sexual activity, coupled with a lack of emotional maturity to necessarily deal with the activity in a safe and socially acceptable manner. Further when children are provided with the opportunity to use the Internet to make contact with virtual strangers, one comprehensive study revealed that over 60 percent of a sampling of London children aged 10 to 13 had limited understanding of the extent to which others could potentially harm them if they were not discreet concerning their personal identifiers or if they agreed to meet someone they did not personally know. In many respects the statutory definition may be regarded as a societal approximation. For any critic of the Act who believes that the age bar is set to high, particularly with regard to the 13 to 16 year old age range that involves the additional consideration of the concept of honest and reasonable mistake as to age, there are significant segments of modern UK society that define a child not simply by their biological age but in terms of their status as members of the family household, or as unmarried persons. Without stereotyping a particular group, the conservative elements of Christian, Muslim, and Jewish faiths all hold strong cultural / religious views that would place the definition of a child above age 13, or above age 16 where the mistake defences are invoked. An anomaly in the legislation is the disparity between the general age of majority laws in the UK and the sexual offence age provisions in some circumstances, a person can have consensual sexual intercourse at age 16 but be prohibited from voting, consuming alcohol, or entering into most kinds of contracts. The justification for this anomaly is beyond the scope of this paper; it is acknowledged that a greater measure of uniformity of age limits promotes consistency and social utility. However, it is also to be noted that the provisions are in general accord with the corresponding European Union conventions. ‘Protection It is submitted that one may properly be uneasy when significant consideration is given to concepts of protection when the conduct, such as sexual activity, is generally discovered after the fact. The protection afforded the public is that of the combined effects of publicity concerning the provisions and deterrence associated with the criminal process. ‘Sexual abuse The Act has properly defined a broad range of sexual touching and physical contact as potentially constituting sexual abuse. The definition must be broad to encompass the psychological and emotional harm that can (but not always does) stem from any kind of assaultive behaviour, no matter how seemingly minor. Further, the risk of long term damage in such occurrences is well documented; ‘à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦More convincing evidence of the dangers of adult-child sexual activity comes from studies of cycles of sexual abuse The evidence is much stronger here-penetrative sexual acts by certain sorts of adults are virtually universal in paedophiles‘ childhood. Cramer reviewed numerous academic studies in this respect and concluded that ‘à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦it is not surprising that no measurable harm comes to some teenagers who knowingly consent to an involvement with adults just a few years older than themselves. In some communities with different laws, they might be old enough to be free to engage in sexual relations. ..However, this does not mean that all adult-young person sexual relations are invariably non-damaging-or that it is possible to predict ‘harmless‘ ones with any confidence. The question as posed carries the implicit suggestion that sexual activity involving a ‘consenting child (consent as defined in the Act) is not a risk to the child. Cramer properly identifies the fact that harm is a considerable variable for the reasons noted above. Further, all considerations of what is abusive behaviour deserving of societal sanction and what is acceptable will engage a number of different perspectives. As mentioned with respect to the definition of a child, the cultural and moral position of the child and their family may be a significant factor in how the activity is characterised. Biological, emotional and psychological considerations are also at stake. Given the passage of the Act by the UK Parliament, there must be some measure of societal acceptance of the statutory regime as one that properly reflects UK societal concerns regarding this activity. ‘Over-criminalise This term must be approached from two perspectives. The first is the effect of the statutory penalty sections. These provisions on their face provide significant latitude for a sentencing judge to fashion a disposition that meets the demands of each case. One would expect the cardinal sentencing rule of ‘worst offence, worst offender to draw the sentences approaching what is unquestionably a significant penalty of 14 years for rape; rape is equally a horrible offence. It is also clear that the mitigating factors of a positive relationship between the offender and child, relative age disparity, and similar issues must mitigate in the favour of the offender. The concern expressed for over-criminalisation is addressed at least in part through the power to deal with the extremely minor transgressions of this nature by way of the conditional caution provisions, or by virtue of the general powers of discretion vested in the Crown Prosecution Service. There are elements of UK society who may legitimately feel that public legislation that mandates certain proceedings or dispositions is far preferable a public interest safety mechanism than a discretion vested in the prosecution that is essentially unreviewable. Conditional cautions have attracted a mixed review in the UK press and legal commentaries; they are perceived in some quarters as a system soft on crime. However, the conditional caution mechanisms address precisely the issue posited in the present question while the Act may provide significant sentences in the proper case, like all other UK statutes, its effect is ameliorated by the discretionary caution. The distinctiveness of the administrative structure of the conditional caution has been furthered through the development of the Gravity Factor Matrix, an assessment tool developed by the Home Office to assist police services and prosecutors in the determination of which types of occurrences should be subject to a conditional caution. Police forces throughout the UK have now incorporated the matrix into their internal policy and procedures. The general considerations of both aggravating and mitigating circumstances are set out in detail; the Home Office issued a similarly comprehensive guideline concerning warnings for young offenders in May 2006. The use of the caution process enjoys a widespread acceptance with prosecutors, with 24 per cent of all UK criminal offences charged resulting in this disposition; 17per cent more conditional cautions were issued in 2005 over the previous year. Given this trend, concerns regarding the risk of over-criminalised youth sex activity are misplaced, provided the prosecutorial discretion remains active in the consideration of sexual offences. ‘Legitimate sexual behaviour The question is one that is loaded with the assumption that ‘children (depending upon the age definition) will innocently engage or perhaps experiment with sexual activity. In a hypothetical occurrence between a 14 year old boy and a 13 year old girl, where consent in the practical sense is alleged, it is difficult to imagine a reasonable person characterising the interaction as ‘sexual abuse† (subject to the cultural and religious observations noted above). The Act is clearly aimed at circumstances of the prescribed age difference creating a practical presumption of inequality, or the obvious circumstances of harm that are consistent with abuse. ‘Mistake It is contended that there is nothing within the framework of the Sexual Offences Act, 2003 that creates a potential deviation form the now well developed legal principles in support of the defence of mistake. Due statutory deference is paid to the fact that sexual offence circumstances are often emotionally charged, carrying the potential to affect recollection and perception,. For these reasons reasonable mistake of fact as to age must remain an available defence; wilful blindness and recklessness are relegated (as they should be) to the category of mitigation, if any. It seems doubtful given all of the factors noted above that the UK courts would embrace the de facto reverse onus now imposed upon an accused in these circumstances by the Supreme Court of Canada. The availability of mistake in the statutory regime is consistent with the European Convention provisions regarding the assurance of a fair trial. Conclusion The present question does not recognise the strengths of the Sexual Offences Act as they pertain to children who are victims of sexual assault. The act strikes an appropriate balance between individual rights and societal protection.

Difference Between Greek and Roman Warfare :: essays research papers

DIFFERENCE BETWEEN GREEK AND ROMAN WAREFARE   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The main difference between Greek and Roman warfare was the formations that they fought in. The Grecian armies all used the phalanx as a fighting formation while the Romans used the maniple. The phalanx was one mass formation that consisted of infantry eight deep. The maniple formation was actually a group of formations in a checkerboard pattern. Each maniple consisted of about 120 men and when employed in Italy, the Romans used thirty maniples. The maniple proved to be a better formation, because the phalanx left no room for maneuvering after engagement.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The Greeks basic soldier was a foot soldier that was trained for close combat. The basic combat soldier in Rome was a horse rider and an expert bowman. This was also due in part to the increase in technology as well. The Grecian hoplite would also carry a spear that compared to the Roman pilum as a predecessor. The pilum was much longer and could be thrown a lot further.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Another difference in warfare was the way that the different regions treated their opponents after a victory. The Greeks would enslave and control a defeated people while the Romans would not treat a defeated nation as slaves, but would â€Å"invite† them to ally and basically become part of Rome. This was the case of the Sicilians after they were defeated during the first Punic War.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The Roman Empire split into two different empires, the eastern or Byzantium and the western. The two empires mirrored each other politically, but not religiously. The Greeks never allowed themselves to split territory into two different powers, although some Greek city-states had dual kings, but never on a national level.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The political system of both Roman empires was based on virtue and the republic was founded with the Senate as the center. The magistrates were elected annually and also had control of the armies. The key to Roman superiority was the patriotism and training and drills.

Quiet Revolution Essay -- Canadian History

In 1960, a series of swift and sweeping reforms, were in processing in Quebec, and the reforms carried out by Jean Lesage, who is the leader of Quebec Liberal Party. This term was commonly believed for six years from 1960 to 1966 (Cuccioletta & Lubin, 2003). Before the Quiet Revolution, Quebec was under control of its leader Maurice Duplessis, who is an ideologically conservative traditional politician. He insisted on preserving the traditional role of Quebec from 1944 to 1959. It is believed that some policies of Duplessis’s regime were regarded as the factors that resulted in the Quiet Revolution. In the first place, Duplessis has dominated Quebec’s economy in his term as the leader of government, and he almost expropriated the autonomy of his ministers and place Quebec’s economy in the hand of foreign companies. The profile of Quebec before the Quiet Revolution is a church-ridden and agricultural society while some other North American countries were industrialized ones in the same time period (Behiels, 1985, P. xi). Duplessis encouraged and entrusted the development of Quebec economy to the English-speaking Canadians and some foreign companies. At the meantime, he set barriers, and even block the development to French-Canadians’ economic groups. Therefore, foreign companies and English-Canadians owned much more power and rights than the French-Canadians; francophones have no choice but to work for Anglophone and foreign companies. Nevertheless, French-Canadians still obtained much lower wages compared to English-speaking workers. These unfair treatments to francophones led to unsatisfied of the contemporary government. Besides supporting the English-speaking and foreign economy, in Duplessis era, positive interference of unio... ...identity regarded themselves as Quebecers but French-Canadians no longer. Works Cited Behiels, M.D (1985). Prelude to Quebec's Quiet Revolution: Liberalism versus Neo-nationalism 1945-1960. Kinston and Montreal: McGill-Queen's University Press. Gagnon, A.G & Montcalm, M.B (1990). Quebec: Beyond The Quiet Revolution . Scarborough: Nelson Canada. Cuccioletta, D. & Lubin, M. (2003, September 22). Article: The Quebec quiet revolution: a noisy evolution. Retrieved February 14, 2011 http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1G1-118986705.html Gauvreau, M. (2005). The Catholic origins of Quebec's Quiet Revolution, 1931-1970. Montreal: McGill-Queen's University Press Clibbon, J. (2010, June 21). Re-examining the roots of Quebec’s ‘Quiet Revolution’. Retrieved 2 24, 2o11, from CBCNews. http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/story/2010/06/18/f-quebec-conradblack-interview.html

My Diary Essays -- essays papers

My Diary October 11, 1950 I found the diary of my girlhood journey and new life in America yesterday. I feel that the story and lesson I learned from it are priceless and should be told; therefore I am publishing this collection of deep innermost thoughts from my youth for you to read and enjoy. It is my hope that you can look at your life and realize all the things there are to be thankful for. It seems like just yesterday I was first coming to America. I can still clearly feel the wonder and astonishment that rushed through my body that day at the sight of America. The tall buildings aligned with the horizon welcomed me to my new home. All I could manage to utter was, "There it is! This is it." My mouth gaped open in amazement and a chilly wind whipped through my hair as I set eyes upon the beginning of the rest of my life. There it stood beckoning to me, Ellis Island. It was my first stop in America. I heard all about America from my father, who had already visited once. He told me of the different clothing styles, big cities, bigger buildings, free education, and unusual foods. Soon I would experience all this on my own. My parents' decision to bring my sister and I to America back in 1899 was based upon bettering our lives and pure adventure. We had everything in Germany, but back then everyone wanted to be American. My sister and I could receive free education here. There wasn't much education available in Germany at the time, and what there was cost a great deal. In America education was free. October 18, 1900 My first stop in America was at a place called Ellis Island. All of the immigrants have to stop there first before being considered a real American. While there, I saw no two people that looked a like. Everyone spoke different languages. It was hard to communicate with some people. Luckily, my sister, Emily, and I speak some English, and we'll learn even more once we start school. After the brief registration at Ellis Island, Dad took us straight to our new dwelling. I was hoping it would be spacious and clean, just like our old house, but it wasn't. It wasn't a house like I was used to, but what they call tenement housing. It's a small apartment, with only two rooms. I don't even get my own bedroom. ... ...ted the furniture shop from Dad, and it's still open today. My parents were very happy at the success of their two children. I completed school, married, and later became a writer. Emily also completed school and married. She became an English teacher. Emily died at the tender age of 24 during childbirth. I miss my family dearly. Looking back on those months of my life when we first arrived in America, I only now realize how much I learned. I can now see how selfish and inconsiderate I was to my family. I was self-centered, but I didn't realize it at the time. Dad was having problems supporting his family, but I was worried about not having a new dress or toy. Both of my parents made the best life possible for Emily and I with what little they had. They sacrificed the certain life they once knew in Germany to come to an unknown country with no idea what the future would hold for them, just so my sister and I could better our lives. I didn't learn this lesson until I went to school and experienced my own struggles. I realized how hard it is to survive and support myself let alone a family. I can never show enough appreciation to my parents for what they did for Emily and I.

Life on the Color Line

I cannot imagine being considered a different race at this point in my life; let alone being considered the â€Å"other† race by two different races. Gregory Howard and his brother, Mark, had to figure out this tough challenge at an early age in the 1950s during an enormous financial and racial struggle. Many people did not accept the difference in skin color and some refused to accept anything from the other side of the color line. If I were a child in the 1950s I would probably have had hatred and other disgusting feelings toward the other races, whether I was white or black. That is how Howard feels toward colored people in Virginia. He feels as though he and his family is better because of their skin color. They are viewed as ignorant and untrustworthy. When he was a child that is all he knew of the other race in Virginia because he was still unaware of his actual ethnicity. He still had friends that were black but they were not from school and they never came to his house or anything. They would just play together at the playground. When Greg was at the tavern, he would always talk to everyone no matter what color they were. It was all for the good of the business and the customers were fort Belvoir soldiers. When Billy and Mike found out that they were not really â€Å"white† even though that was the color of their skin, they figured out that life was going to be different. Billy tried as much as he could to not let people find out that he was colored once they moved to Muncie. When he first started going to class in Muncie at Garfield Elementary School, Billy met two white girls that became his best friends. He was in the fourth grade and appeared to be white. Molly and Sally were his best friends and the three of them appeared to be white, but the girls did not know Billy was actually not white. Once they saw him on the other side of the tracks in Muncie going back to school after lunch, they no longer talked to him. None of the other â€Å"white† kids would talk to him nor would they talk to Mike. The boys’ cousin, Mary Lou would tell anyone that she could that the two boys were not actually white but they were colored just like her. Greg would not deny the fact that he was not fully white to the other colored people but he would reluctantly admit it to some of the white people. Life on the Color Line I cannot imagine being considered a different race at this point in my life; let alone being considered the â€Å"other† race by two different races. Gregory Howard and his brother, Mark, had to figure out this tough challenge at an early age in the 1950s during an enormous financial and racial struggle. Many people did not accept the difference in skin color and some refused to accept anything from the other side of the color line. If I were a child in the 1950s I would probably have had hatred and other disgusting feelings toward the other races, whether I was white or black. That is how Howard feels toward colored people in Virginia. He feels as though he and his family is better because of their skin color. They are viewed as ignorant and untrustworthy. When he was a child that is all he knew of the other race in Virginia because he was still unaware of his actual ethnicity. He still had friends that were black but they were not from school and they never came to his house or anything. They would just play together at the playground. When Greg was at the tavern, he would always talk to everyone no matter what color they were. It was all for the good of the business and the customers were fort Belvoir soldiers. When Billy and Mike found out that they were not really â€Å"white† even though that was the color of their skin, they figured out that life was going to be different. Billy tried as much as he could to not let people find out that he was colored once they moved to Muncie. When he first started going to class in Muncie at Garfield Elementary School, Billy met two white girls that became his best friends. He was in the fourth grade and appeared to be white. Molly and Sally were his best friends and the three of them appeared to be white, but the girls did not know Billy was actually not white. Once they saw him on the other side of the tracks in Muncie going back to school after lunch, they no longer talked to him. None of the other â€Å"white† kids would talk to him nor would they talk to Mike. The boys’ cousin, Mary Lou would tell anyone that she could that the two boys were not actually white but they were colored just like her. Greg would not deny the fact that he was not fully white to the other colored people but he would reluctantly admit it to some of the white people.