John Rawls Ethical Theory Essay Example for Free

John Rawls Ethical Theory Essay On February 21 on the year 1921 a man who’s in the future will be regarded as a prominent philosopher John Rawls in Baltimore Maryland was born. He graduated in Kent School in 1939; Rawls completed BA at Princeton University and received in here his Ph. D. in 1950. Great American Political Philosopher John Rawls was highly considered as an important person at the time, as the most prominent liberalisms’ advocate. He was also working as a Professor at Harvard University in his field of expertise, in the field of Political Philosophy. Rawls’ theory that often calls â€Å"justice as fairness† and its concepts presented in 1971 Theory of Justice, his primary published book. He is also the creator of 1993 Political Liberalism that means distinctive things into different people and The Law of Peoples in 1999. It presents a non-historical or hypothetical variation on the social contract theory. In the said theory, it declares that agents are making a balanced and rational social decision following a certain rule at the rear of â€Å"veil of ignorance†. The said theory makes them able to prevent from knowing in progress what condition and category they will hold. Rawls proclaimed that this method will be beneficial for all the citizens for it will surely produced a society in which the freedom of everyone embrace and their independence will be practiced. His proclamation also emphasized that this will maximize for the entire nation and social disparity will only happen when the circumstances prove that it will benefit a least favored constituents. In brief, what he has done is to combine the very strong principle of social and economic equality. In the issue entitled â€Å"When is creating a turnover situation the right thing to do†, the author, â€Å"MEK†, tells the story an employee who is really doing quite well in the job. However, it is also said that the employer of the said employee although willing to keep him for the job, is not willing and interested in making such investment for the development of the employee’s career. â€Å"MEK† also tells his story in regarding his past employer. In order to understand the situation let me first give a summary of the story. MEK once work as a shift supervisor in a certain company. By that time, the operations manager is really skilled not only in the job but as a leader too. After some time, the shift manager was promoted leaving MEK in charge of the vacant position. MEK works as acting operations manager for about 4 months and it can be said that he is doing a great job with increase in the sales and low turnovers during his time as the operations manager. Suddenly, after more than 160 days of working in the said position, it is said that he is to be replace by fresh graduate of BA degree. The said replacement had absolutely no experience in running a business. MEK is even asked to train the person who is to replace him. Thus, MEK was in actuality upset and decided not to work in the company to any further extent. The presence of ethical issue can be seen in this story. And this presence of issue can be resolved and accomplished using a concept formulated by John Rawls in what appear to us and popularly known as the â€Å"justice of fairness†. According to Rawls, two conditions must be satisfied for social and economic inequalities. First, fair equality of opportunity must be given when it comes to positions and as well as offices that are often to all who can be considered under condition. Second, it has to benefit those that are considered least advantage member of the society. Applying Rawls’s concept in the case of MEK, it can be said that MEK has the right remain as the operation manager of the said company. It can be said that MEK was not given equal opportunity because the company based their decision on the educational attainment of the individual (which is the main basis for most companies), something that MEK lacks. However, MEK had proven that although he does not have a BA degree, he is still able to do the job. Thus, applying Rawls concept in the situation, it would had been in goodwill and favor of MEK. Aside from what had been mentioned earlier, there had also been several concepts of Rawls that are considered of great value and importance in political philosophy. It is believed that John Rawls made an important contribution in the said field. Rawlss work not only attracted the attention of those who are interested and are in the field of philosophy but many other fields as well such as political scientist, economist and even legal scholars and theologians. This only proves that his ideology is well known and regarded as one of the best if not the best. Among all of the works of Rawls, his books of Justice as fairness, his original position, the reflective equilibrium, Rawls’ overlapping consensus, and public relations are the ones that had been given and receive extensive attentions. Rawls is regarded as unique among political philosophers in the contemporary time. Ethics involves the study of norms and values in particular action knowing what is right or wrong and the consequences of it weather bad or good and character virtue and this practices are importance in the fields of governance as well as in business world. Ethics aim was to provide a systematic explanatory account and inquiry that the people may actually have. The use of ethics in business and government world also imply public policy as a way of balancing or weighing relevant considerations usually identified by principles of common use. In my personal opinion, I also believe that in today’s business and government world study of ethics is of great value. In business, ethics examined moral and ethical problems that can arise and take it’s place in a business environment. Through this study, they will able to trace how the corporations conduct business, hold both within and outside workers of the company. Through this company can strengthens its relationship with the employees how they can manage and treat every member the right and most effective way, or workplace ethics, they can also formulate a proper governance, and make policies, decision making, appropriate techniques and understanding individual behavior. In the case of governance, it creates a leadership process and social responsibility to be able to administer and process the system. And so the governance for the organization, like a government would include such common feature such as a clear mission, a good responsibility, accountability, transparency, stewardship, flexibility, representation and most of all they may acquire success. The fulfillment of the organizations mission is a paramount concern be it to make profits do good works or act as a government.

Customer Loyalty In Indian Mobile Telecommunication Services Sector Marketing Essay

Customer Loyalty In Indian Mobile Telecommunication Services Sector Marketing Essay INTRODUCTION Service organizations in India are facing tough competition in the global market because of liberalization and globalization of the Indian economy. Hence, it is helpful for service organizations to know the customer service quality perceptions in order to overcome the competitors and attract and retain the customers. Because of the globalization and liberalization of Indian economy, Indian service sector has been opened for Multinational companies. In order to overcome the competition and to retain the world class service standards, Indian companies have been forced to adopt quality management programs. Nerurkar (2000) analyzed the SERVQUAL dimensions in India and concluded that service quality should form the basis for all customer retention strategies. Services are defined as: the activities, which are involved in producing intangible products as education, entertainment, food and lodging, transportation, insurance, trade , government, financial, real estate, medical, consultancy, repair and maintenance like occupation. Quality has become a strategic tool for obtaining efficiency in operations and improved business performance (Babakus and Boller, 1992; Garvin, 1983; Phillips, Chang and Buzzell, 1983). This is true for the services sector too. Several authors have discussed the unique importance of quality to service firms and have demonstrated its positive relationship with profits, increased market share, return on investment, customer satisfaction, and future purchase intentions (Rust and Oliver, 1994). One obvious conclusion of these studies is that firms with superior quality products outperform those marketing inferior quality products. Service quality can be concisely defined as the personal experience of the customer with the service provider. Service quality is playing an increasingly important role in the present environment where there is no further scope for the companies to differentiate themselves other than the quality of the service provided by them. Delivering superior service quality than the competitors is the key for the success of any organization. But, the companies face difficulties in measuring the quality of services offered to the customers. Because unlike measuring the quality of goods, the measurement of the quality of services offered by the companies is difficult due to the three unique features of services viz. intangibility, heterogeneity, and inseparability. Hence the only way of measuring the quality of services offered by the service provider is the measurement of the customers perception of the quality of service they are experiencing from their service providers. Quality has been defined differently by various authors. Some prominent definitions include conformance to requirements (Crosby, 1990), fitness for use or one that satisfies the customer. According to production philosophy of Japan, quality has been defined as zero defects in the firms offerings. Though initial efforts in defining and measuring service quality emanated largely from the goods sector, a solid foundation for research work in the area was laid down in the mid-eighties by Parasuraman, Zeithaml and Berry (1985). They were amongst the earliest researchers to emphatically point out that the concept of quality prevalent in the goods sector is not extendable to the services sector. Being inherently and essentially intangible, heterogeneous, perishable and entailing simultaneity and inseparability of production and consumption, services require a distinct framework for quality explication and measurement. As against the goods sector where tangible cues exist to enable consumers to evaluate product quality, quality in the service context is explicated in terms of parameters that largely come under the domain of experience and credence properties and are as such difficult to measure and evaluate (Parasuraman, Zeithaml and Berry, 1985). One major contribution of Parasuraman, Zeithaml and Berry (1988) was to provide a terse definition of service quality. According to these authors service quality means relating the superiority of the service with the global judgement of a person about it and explicated it as involving evaluations of the outcome (i.e., what the customer actually receives from service) and process of service act (i.e., the manner in which service is delivered). In line with the propositions put forward by Gronroos (1984) and Parasuraman, Zeithaml and Berry (1985, 1988) posited and operationalized service quality as a difference between consumer expectations of what they want and their perceptions of what they get. Based on this conceptualization and operationalization, they proposed a service quality measurement scale called SERVQUAL. Quality has become a strategic tool in obtaining efficiency in operations and improved performance in business. This is true for both the goods and services sectors. However, the problem with management of service quality in service firms is that quality is not easily identifiable and measurable due to inherent characteristics of services which make them different from goods. INDIAN TELECOM SECTOR In the year 1984, one of the members of parliament stood up and said to the erstwhile telecom minister about the pathetic state of affairs regarding the telecom services in our country. To the question posed, the minister replied that telephone is a luxury and not a necessity and if the honourable Member of Parliament is not happy with the service then he can return the connection as there were a lot of Members of Parliament waiting to get one. Getting a telephone connection was even more difficult than acquiring Maybach (one of the costliest cars in the world). The father of telecom revolution in our country was the erstwhile Prime Minister Shri Rajiv Gandhi, wherein he called Mr. Sam Pitroda who initiated the Digital telephony revolution in our country. Advances in technology coupled with reforms of 1991 and the fundamental, structural and institutional changes brought about in that period were instrumental in setting up the tone for future growth and development. Today, India is one of the fastest growing telecom markets in the world with current sub-scriber base nearing 490 mil-lion and looking positive to touch 500 million subscribers by 2010. India, the fastest growing telecom market in world, registered a CAGR of around 34% over the last decade and has left analysts around the world totally in awe. Among the various segments, cellular or mobile segment has been the key contributor and specially prepaid services, with its wide offerings of services, has been leading the growth wave. With the upcoming 3G allotment, the sector is likely to grow at a good rate riding on better and possibly a whole new range of services. OVERVIEW OF INDIAN TELECOM SECTOR 15 years back, no one had thought that India will become a country with more number of GSM subscribers than fixed line sub-scribers. With 490 million sub-scribers by 2009, teledensity has risen up to around 42%, and thus the other half is yet to be brought to the mainstream. Going by the current data, the subscriber base grew to around 494.07 million in August09, registering a growth of 42.67% over the last year. As per the estimates of Stock watch the expected mobile subscriber base will touch around 771 million by the year 2013. Telephony services i.e. (mobile and basic) and internet services dominate the Indian Tele-com services market. With a CAGR of 29% from 2002 to 2007 with revenues of $20 billion, it is expected to stabilize at 16% by 2010 with revenues in the range of $43 billion. Over the years, wire-less services has acquired almost 92% of the total telephony market, with State owned BSNL as the leader in the landline domain and Bharti Airtel being the leader in cellular s ervices with other players like Reliance, Idea Cellular and Vodafone giving it a tough competition. SERVICE PROVIDERS IN SECTOR The Indian mobile services market is more or less equally divided between GSM and CDMA customers with the former capturing around 53% of the sub-scriber base. Currently there are 11 players who are fighting tooth and nail to increase even one single percentage point in their market share. While Bharti Airtel dominates the GSM arena, Anil Ambani led ADAGs Reliance communications has been leading the CDMA services space in mobile telephony but the good sign for the sector is that revenues of all the incumbents have increased leading to an increase in their revenues. In GSM, Bharti Airtel is given a tough competition by Vodafone and Tata Teleservices which operates Tata Indicom and in CDMA; it is considerably behind Reliance communications in terms of market share. With Mobile number portability coming into the scene, the war will be fiercer in this space and there will be a huge swapping of subscribers among the existing players. SERVICE PROVIDER WISE MARKET SHARE AS ON 31-03-2010 Serial No. Name of Telecom Company Market Share 1 AIRCEL 6.06% 2 BHARTI AIRTEL 22.33% 3 BSNL 11.95% 4 HFCL 0.06% 5 IDEA 10.99% 6 LOOP 0.50% 7 MTNL 0.90% 8 RELIANCE 17.72% 9 SISTEMA 0.60% 10 STEL 0.09% 11 TATA 11.07% 12 UNINOR 0.47% 13 VODAFONE 17.27% SOURCE: TRAI GROWTH PROSPECTS: TELECOM IN INDIA Indian telecom industry has set an example by penetrating the market to an extent of around 43% in a span of 10 years when analysts and experts were extremely sceptical about India as a market. The growth has not been restricted only to the higher section of the society, now it is driven primarily by the rural market as well and the acceptance has been in-creasing considerably over the years. On an average approximately 8 million users are added per month to the kitty thereby making India the worlds fastest growing telecom market and thus happens to be the country offering highest Return On Investment for the telecom companies. To support the growing telecom market, the government is supporting telecom manufacturing by providing tax sops as well as setting up Special economic zones (SEZ) for the sector. TRENDS IN THE INDUSTRY 3G spectrum will be the next growth wave in the industry and also the source of additional revenues for the companies. Foreign players such as ATT and NTT DoCoMo have show great interest for the same. The spectrum allotment is a major investment opportunity and is estimated to attract an investment of around US$8-10 billion during 2008-11. The state owned incumbent BSNL has successfully launched its 3G service under the proposed India-Golden 50 scheme but could not create that much of buzz though for not being aggressive in marketing the same. WiMax on the other hand promises seamless connectivity with speed of more than 4 Mbps in tough terrains also. With the growing number of smart phones entering the market coupled with buzz created by the social networking websites, one can surely expect a substantial amount of people using their mobile phones for the internet. The telecom ministry is planning to auction few slots in WiMax in near future. Value Added Services on the other hand is the constant source of revenue and a means to en-gage subscribers. The expected revenue from Value Added Services will be around US$ 4.0 billion by 2015. The concurrent developments like M-Commerce, focus on localization, availability of content in vernacular languages, availability of mobile TV are few out of many growth drivers for the VAS industry. With the customer data at their disposal, telecom companies are generating knowledge and information by churning out this data to serve their customers better. The future for the Indian Telecom industry looks bright with fierce competition making way for consolidation. The growth will be majorly driven by rural sector which is currently attracting good investment not only from the players but also from the government. The biggest challenge will be to keep in touch with the rural customers as setting up customer touch points requires investment with not much tangible returns as the number of subscribers is still pretty low. As of now the penetration in rural areas is around 10% as opposed to around 30% in urban landscape. The industry currently is nicely poised with great new policy changes and new players entering the market to make it more fruitful for the consumers. THE REVIEW OF LITERATURE Several studies were conducted on the issue of service quality in various countries. Some studies were consulted for proper understanding of the concepts discussed in this study. Various models have been developed to determine measure and assess the determinants of service quality. SERVQUAL is based on the idea of a gap between expectations of the customers about service quality by service provider and their assessment of actual performance of service by service provider. Since Parsuraman et al. (1988) developed the SERVQUAL instrument many researchers have used and developed the 22-item scale to study service quality in different sectors of services industry. The following studies are consulted for the present study: A. Parsuraman, Leonard L. Berry, and Valarie A. Zeithaml, (1988) in their study described about development of 22-item instrument in the assessment of service quality perceptions of customers in service and retail firms, which was called as SERVQUAL. This study was revolutionary as it didnt depend on the earlier dimension of goods quality in the manufacturing sector. The initial study based on the focus groups yielded 10 dimensions of service quality that included access, competence, courtesy, credibility, security, tangibles, reliability, responsiveness, communication, and understanding the customer. In concluding remarks, authors proposed that SERVQUAL scale can help a vast range of service and retail firms to assess the customer expectations and perceptions of service quality as it had a variety of potential applications. Johnson, William. C, and Anuchit Sirikit (2002) conducted a study on the landline and mobile users of the Thai telecommunication industry using the SERVQUAL scale (reliability, responsiveness, assurance, empathy, and tangibles). The study was conducted with the objectives of finding whether service quality ratings predict a competitive advantage among Thai telecommunication firms as indicated by future customer intentions and whether SERVQUAL reliably assesses service quality perceptions/expectations among customers in the Thai telecommunication industry. G.S.Sureshchandar, Chandrasekharan Rajendran, and R.N.Anantharaman (2003) critically examined the service quality issues from the customers point of view. In their study conducted in a developing country, India, authors selected three groups of banks for their study viz. Public sector, Private sector, and foreign banks. Authors in their study found that in terms of the customer perceptions of service quality, the technological factors appear to contribute more in differentiating the three sectors and the people-oriented factors appear to contribute less in differentiation among three sectors. In terms of performance foreign banks topped among three groups, and performance of public sectors banks is even less than private sector banks. Ndubisi, Nelson Oly, and Chan Kok Wah (2005) conducted a study on the Malaysian banking sector. The study concluded by saying that banks can generate customer satisfaction by exhibiting trustworthy behaviour, commitment to service, communicating information to customers efficiently and accurately, delivering services in a competent manner, handling potential and manifest conflicts skilfully, and improving overall customer relationship quality. Najjar, Lotfollah, and Ram R. Bishus (2006) study on the US banking sector using a nondifference score of SERVQUAL scale focused on the importance of improving service quality in the banking sector. The study used statistical tools like ANOVA, Factor Analysis, and Regression to analyze the data. The final results of the service quality analysis showed that reliability and responsiveness were the two most critical dimensions of service quality and they are directly related to overall service quality. The findings of the study substantiated the findings of Berry et al. where reliability and responsiveness were shown to be important factors of service quality. Abdolreza Eshghi, Sanjit Kumar Roy, and Shirshendu Ganguly (2008) conducted an empirical study in Indian mobile telecommunication services sector and concluded that reputation is intertwined with the perceived service quality and customer satisfaction, and with the help of public relation campaigns and innovative communication strategies, positive corporate reputation can be build and maintained, which ultimately help to increase customer satisfaction. Study was conducted in Indian cities namely Delhi, Kolkata, Mumbai, and Hyderabad. 32 variables related to service quality were considered for the study, which were identified from the past literature. Exploratory factor analysis and multiple regression analysis were used to derive the conclusions. Based on values of beta coefficients hierarchy of factors was framed. In their analysis relational quality, competitiveness, reliability, reputation and transmission quality factors emerged as significant predictors of customer satisfaction. In hierarchy of factors competitiveness, relational quality, and reliability were more important than rest factors. RESEARCH GAP As per the literature reviewed for the present study in the Indian mobile telecommunication sector no integrated study about service quality attributes, customer value, customer satisfaction, and customer loyalty in Indian context has been conducted. So as per the stiff competition in the market between these mobile telecommunication companies, it is important to find out whether any relationship exists among service quality attributes, customer value, customer satisfaction, and customer loyalty. Also customers have different mindset towards these companies about services provided by them. The Indian mobile telecommunication sector is vast and there are big business opportunities for service providers. With almost all the public and private companies offering the same kind of services and network coverage, the quality of service offered to the customers became one of the important differentiators for all the service probiders to maintain their competitive advantage in the market. Ser vice quality refers to the perception of the customers of the organization regarding how well the organization is fulfilling their service needs. As said in the introduction, measuring the quality of services provided is possible only through the perception of the quality of service that the customers are experiencing from their service providers. OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY Although research on the service quality of telecommunication services based on customer perceptions has been conducted widely, no recent studies have been conducted which examine the effect of the service quality dimensions on perceived value, satisfaction, and loyalty in an integrated model in Indian context. This research attempts to examine the effect of service dimensions/attributes on perceive service quality, value, satisfaction, and service loyalty based on the research objectives which presented as follows:   1. Using mobile telecommunication services setting in India, what are the specific attributes of service quality that influence customer value, and customer satisfaction.   2. Using mobile telecommunication services setting in India, what are the specific predictors (service quality attributes, customer value, or customer satisfaction) which influence customer loyalty. Will the proposed path model predict individual path relationships among service quality attributes, customer value, customer satisfaction, and customer loyalty? Research Model Research model for the present will be developed based on the constructs namely service quality attributes, customer value, customer satisfaction, and customer loyalty. It will include hypothesized relationships among above mentioned constructs, and statistically this model will be tested. Hypotheses of the study Hypotheses will be developed with support from past literature to test the relationships among the followings: Relationship between service quality attributes and customer value Relationship between service quality attributes and customer satisfaction. Relationships among service quality attributes, customer value, and customer satisfaction. Relationship between customer value and customer satisfaction. Relationships among attributes of service quality, customer value, customer satisfaction, and customer loyalty. Justification of the Study   This research is designed to help both academicians and practitioners understand the extent to which service quality, customer value, and customer satisfaction relate to customer loyalty in a telecom environment. The assessment of the most important attributes in telecom services set up can provide important cues, which may be used to review characteristics of the sector as experienced by customers. These cues can be used to improve customer value and customer satisfaction, which will lead to improved customer loyalty.  Finally, this study contributes to the service marketing literature by applying concept of service quality, customer value, customer satisfaction, and loyalty in a telecommunication services setting in India, as one of developing country in Asia. RESEARCH DESIGN To create a research design for the study appropriate measures and model are considered as per requirement of the research work. The focus of present research work is investigation of relationships among attributes of service quality, customer  value, customer satisfaction, and customer loyalty in Indian mobile telecommunication services sector. Since present research work will be based on primary data, which is to be collected from Indian mobile telecommunication services users with the help of structured questionnaire, a field based survey design will be used as data collection method. THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK Many researchers have conducted researches in the field of service quality and customer satisfaction such as Parasuraman et al. (1985, 1988, 1991, 1993, 1994), Zeithaml et al. (1988, 1991, 1993, 1996), Cronin and Taylor (1992, 1994), Hartline and Jones (1996), Johnston (1997), Lassar, Chris Manolis, and Winsor (2000), cronin, Brady, and Hult (2000), Caruana (2002), and Abdolreza Eshghi, Sanjit Kumar Roy, and Shirshendu Ganguly (2008). In the year 1985, pioneer research was conducted in the field of service quality by Parasuraman, Zeithaml, and Berry. In their research they came out with service quality dimensions, and succeed in developing five gaps of service quality model. Researchers defined service quality as gap between customers expectations and perceptions about quality of service offered by the service provider. With the help of this research they were able to develop service quality scale to measure the quality of service quantitatively, and scale was named as SERVQUAL. In 1988, Pararsuraman et al. conceptualized the dimensions of SERVQUAL scale namely Tangibility, Responsiveness, reliability, Assurance, and Empathy. For these five dimensions a total of 22 items were selected in the service quality instrument. After development of service quality instrument, many researches were conducted in different service set ups by using SERVQUAL. To examine the process of delivery of service quality, customer value and their impact on behavioural intentions of customers Hartline and Jones (1996) developed a model, which included same theories and concepts as earlier taken by Bolton and Drew (1991a), Boulding et al. (1993). In their research work, they came out with strong evidences that specific performance cues of employees have significant effect on overall quality and as a result this quality had significant impact on overall customer value. Effect of overall customer value was found relatively more on behavioural intensions as compared to overall quality. Whereas effect of specific performance cues was mediated by overall customer value and overall quality. In the year 2000, Cronin, Brady, and Hult conducted research in various service industries by taking into consideration service quality, customer value, customer satisfaction, and behavioural intentions. They found in their study that service quality, customer value, and customer satisfaction have direct impact on behavioural intentions, if all these three are taken collectively, whereas indirect effects of service quality and customer value increased their impact on behavioural intentions. Caruana in 2002 developed a model showing mediation role of customer satisfaction between service quality and customer loyalty. Results of the research provided evidences for the proposed model and confirmed the mediating role of customer satisfaction between service quality and customer loyalty. Many past studies have specified linkages among service quality, customer value, customer satisfaction, and behavioural intentions. However the results do not confirm which of these three variables or their combinations have direct impact on behaviour intention. In the past literature it has been found that bivariate relationship exists between behavioural intention and all three constructs. Zeithaml et al. (1996) found that service quality is an important determinant of behavioural intention, but the exact relationship was not discovered. Therefore this type of partial relationship determination may lead to omitted variable bias and hamper the results. To overcome this biasness, an integrative model is needed so that true relationship may be developed and can be tested in a model. Caruana (2002) suggested the role of customer value and reputation of an organization can be considered as new constructs to relate customer satisfaction with customer loyalty. The present research expands the previous researches conducted by various scholars and includes the model developed by Hesketts, Sasser, and Schlesinger (1997), popularly known as Service Profit Chain. Service Profit Chain model suggests that there is positive direct relationships among profit, growth, value of products offered to the customers, customer satisfaction, customer loyalty, productivity, service quality attributes. With the use of customer friendly strategies satisfied employees deliver better quality of services and able to retain the customers for a long time for the betterment of organization. Service quality attributes and customer value directly influence customer satisfaction and customer satisfaction directly affects customer loyalty. Consequently loyalty of customers towards organization leads to phenomenal growth and finally adds to the profits of the organization. Therefore proposed research model for the present study is shown in figure below: Conceptual research model of service quality attributes, customer value, customer satisfaction, and customer loyalty.

Lorraine Hansberrys A Raisin In The Sun :: Essays Papers

A Raisin In The Sun "A Raisin in the Sun" was written by Lorraine Hansberry. It has won her an award in 1959, at age 29, the youngest American, the fifth woman, and the black playwright to win the Best Play of the Year Award of the New York Drama Critics. This book of the play has been put in its entire form. The original play did not include some scenes. This book has been an inspiration to a lot people. In my personal opinion, the central message is to show how the value systems of black families are. In some ways they are unique, but most ways are exactly the same as white families. In most white and black families, God is the center and heart of the family. An example of how strong an influence on families is when Beneatha and Lena argue about God's existence. "Beneatha: Mama, you don't understand. It's all a matter of ideas, and God is just one idea I don't accept. It's not important. I am not going out and be immoral or commit crimes because I don't believe in God. I don't even think about it. It's just that I get tired of Him getting credit for all the things the human race achieves through its own stubborn effort. There simply is no blasted God-there is only man and it is he who makes miracles!" After Beneatha had finished her argument, Lena slapped her across her face and made Beneatha say, "In my mother's house there is still God". Lena stressed out her points that she will not tolerate any ideas like that in her house, or as long as she's around. Black families have a huge sense of pride of where they come from. For example, Asagai always talked about Africa and how it will be good for him if he goes there. He even asked Beneatha if she would go with him. ''Asagai: Nigeria. Home. (Coming to her with genuine romantic flippancy) I will show you our mountains and our stars; and nice you cool drinks from gourds and teach you the old songs and the ways of our people-and, in time, we will pretend that- (Very Softly)-you have only been away for a day. Say that you'll come- (He swings her around and takes her full in his arms in a kiss which proceeds to passion)"

As Good As It Gets?: An Examination Of The Mechanism And Mode Of Treatm

As Good As It Gets?: An Examination Of The Mechanism And Mode Of Treatment Of Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder Obsessive-compulsive disorder, often referred to as simply OCD, is a mental illness in which an individual experiences endless cycles of repeated thoughts and rituals, known as obsessions and compulsions, which she feels she cannot control (1). Although many people possess habits and routines that help them organize their every day schedules, people with OCD form patterns of behavior that are extremely time-consuming and interfere with their daily lives. Once believed to be a rare and incurable disease which people kept hidden for fear of embarrassment (2), OCD is now recognized as being far more common than previously believed, affecting both men and women, and people of all races and socio-economic backgrounds equally (3). In fact, recent studies have shown that about 2.5% of the population have this disorder at some point in their lives (2), with between 3 to 5 million Americans affected with the disorder each year (3). Though OCD is a chronic illness that can take over a person's life if left untreated (1), a strict regiment involving proper medication and effective treatment can vastly improve the OCD sufferer's condition. Obsessive-compulsive disorder is composed of two major constituents evident in its very name - obsessions and compulsions. Obsessions are recurring thoughts or impulses that seem to invade one's mind despite attempts to ignore or suppress them (4). Though these thoughts range from the tedious and seemingly innocuous sort, to the shameful and morbid kind, all are generally viewed as senseless and are accompanied by anxiety to some degree (4). Some common examples of obsessions include: fe... ...tion remains an option. Regardless of whether an OCD patient is treated in or out of a hospital, treatment is vital in improving his condition, for if left untreated, the disorder will continue indefinitely (3). With the wide range of treatment options available to OCD sufferers and the extensive studies being conducted in lieu of the disorder, the promise of a future with less worries and anxiety appears to be well within reach. WWW Sources 1) Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder , on the National Institute of Mental Health website http://www.nimh.nih.gov/anxiety/ocdfacts.cfm 2) Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder: What Is It and How To Treat It http://familydoctor.org/133.xml 3) Most Frequently Asked Questions About OCD http://www.ocdhelp.org/faq.html 4) Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder , on the Encyclopaedia Britannica website http://www.britannica.com/

Sonnys Blues :: essays research papers

Brothers tend to grow apart yet eventually find a way to revive an old beat up relationship. These brothers grew up on the rough streets of Harlem and went their separate ways. Sonny was a drug-addicted musician and his older brother was a high school algebra teacher with a family. The way the two brothers reunite through addiction, memories and strife make their bond seem stronger than ever. Sonny’s Blues, by James Baldwin, is a story about enlightenment through brotherhood when Sonny and his brother go to the club. Sonny’s brother saw the newspaper while he was on his way to work and realized that his little brother was in trouble because of drugs. The beginning of the enlightenment started when Sonny’s brother ran into the man who got Sonny started on heroin, or how they call it â€Å"horse.† â€Å"A great block of ice got settled in my belly and kept melting there slowly all day long, while I taught my classes algebra. It was a special kind of ice. It kept melting. Sending trickles of ice water all up and down my veins but it never got less. Sometimes it hardened and seemed to expand until I felt my guts were going to come spilling out or that I was going to choke or scream. This would always be at the moment when I was remembering some specific thing Sonny had once said or done.† The fact that Sonny’s brother wanted to have nothing to do with helping Sonny made it seem that he did not care that his brother was killing himself but deep down he knew that I wa s killing him too. Sonny’s brother felt like he had to help Sonny but he should not because his brother got himself into the drug scene. Sonny’s brother and him finally decided to reconcile when Gracie, Sonny’s niece, passed away at a young age. The brothers wrote back and forth and one thing became clear to Sonny’s brother, music affected him. Sonny’s brother always saw the music/jazz scene as an unhealthy lifestyle full of drugs and scandal. The only thing Sonny would really reinforce was that it was not because of the music. Sonny came back to New York after rehab from heroin and came to see the old neighborhood in Harlem. The brothers see that they have so much to be thankful for and that they will always have each other.

Anthro Assignment

Anthropology 100Dr. Judkins Fall 2012 Writing Assignment by Christina O’Shea In the early twentieth century, Arnold van Gennep, a French ethnographer, wrote â€Å"The Rites of Passage† in which he describes the process of changing social states of being. This one theory has certainly made a deep impact on anthropological thought due to the fact that it can be applied to a number of situations, both past and present, in which transitions are made. It can also be used as an educational tool for people to use so that they can have a better understanding of the practices of many different cultures.In fact, many examples of the theory of Gennep can be found in ethnographic autobiographies, such as â€Å"Sun Chief: The Autobiography of a Hopi† by Don C. Talayesva. â€Å"Sun Chief: The Autobiography of a Hopi† is the story of Don C. Talayesva, a man raised as a Hopi Indian and then trained as a white man. Written from his point of view, the autobiography allows t he reader to have a better understanding of Hopi culture as Don shares the story of his life. At one point in the work, Don mentions a particular moment in his life when he decided to join his father on a salt expedition to Little Grand Canyon.I can honestly say that when I first read of the salt expedition of Don, I did not really think much of it. I believed that the reason that this event was even mentioned was to describe to the reader the method that the Hopi Indians used to acquire salt. However, after learning the rights of passage theory of Arnold van Gennep, I began to realize that this journey became more to do with initiation rather than nutrition. In â€Å"The Rites of Passage†, Van Gennep explains that a rite of passage has three phases that are handled through ritual and a symbolic code by which we understand meaning.The first phase is called the â€Å"separation† phase in which you remove yourself from a former social status. In â€Å"Sun Chief†, one example of how Don used this phase while on the expedition was before the journey even began. Don states that on the morning of the expedition, â€Å"the War Chief sprinkled a corn-meal path, placed a feather upon it with the breath line pointing westward†¦each of us stepped on the â€Å"road-marker,† and the expedition was under way†. Throughout the journey, Don describes the ultiple customs of must perform while on the salt expedition in which he and his traveling companions pay respect to the ancestors and the gods which allowing Don to grow more spiritually, thereby preparing him for his transition. Following in the tradition of his ancestors, Don carves his clan emblem on a rock in order to pay respect to Hopi salt gatherers from years passed. At the shrine of the Salt Woman, Don also has intercourse with the shrine as a prayer for health and an increase in offspring. Since it was his first expedition, Don had to strip completely naked beforehand.While re ading of the various tasks that Don had to complete on his journey, I realized that the amount of commitment that Don had to these preparations reminded me of how I felt as I was preparing to receive the sacrament of Confirmation. By deciding to be a candidate for Confirmation, I, like Don, chose to follow in the footsteps of my parents and grow more spiritually. In order to be â€Å"confirmed†, I had to complete various activities to prove that I should become an adult member of the Catholic Church.The second phase of passage is called the â€Å"liminality† or â€Å"transition† phase is essentially the middle point where the actual transformation takes place. When Don arrives at the kiva â€Å"and the hole through which mankind emerged†, since this was his first salt expedition, he is given the task by the War Chief to reach down into an empty cavity, where the kiva was connected, while holding a prayer feather sprinkled with corn meal in his hand. In ex change for the feather, the spirits, traditionally, will give to Don the coveted yellow clay that, Don states, â€Å"is always used for paho making†.Without fear Don reached down, while being held securely by his father and the War Chief, into the hole and, while letting go of each feather, drew handfuls of clay. During this, Don states â€Å"I could feel the presence of spirits below, who accepted the feather and gave me clay†. After depositing the feathers and praying, Don and his companions proceeded to a small fountain, high atop which was a cupped top overflowing with salt that they proceeded to gather for themselves and for the Salt Woman. While reading of the spiritual connection that Don experienced, I remembered that which I received during my Confirmation ceremony.I had spent months preparing for this moment and now, at long last, there I was, wearing my red robe sitting in the pew in front of the church, waiting for my name to be called. Finally, when I was called by the bishop to come to him in front of the alter, I, like Don, showed no fear as I rose out of the pew and walked down the aisle of the church with my back to the congregation. After being called by the name of the saint that I chose to honor, I received a blessing from the bishop and was proclaimed a confirmed member of the Catholic Church.The third and final phase of passage is called the â€Å"re-aggregation† phase in which one re-enters society with their new status. In â€Å"Sun Chief†, when all of the needed salt is gathered, it is determined that the expedition is now over and Don and the others begin the journey home. As they pass the various shrines Don notices that his offerings had been viewed favorably by the spirits. Eventually, after distributing a large amount of salt to the Salt Woman, they reached Moenkopi and, after turning the â€Å"road-marker†, which they used in the beginning of their journey, eastward, they soon made their way bac k home to Oriabi.Don is asked by his father what he thought of the salt expedition. Don replies that it was â€Å"pretty tough† and he believes that the salt that they have gathered will not last them a year. His father replies that this is the way that most young men think now. After finishing Don’s account of the salt expedition, I could not help but sympathize with Don. After all of the steps that Don had to preform, Don probably thought that he would receive a larger amount of salt than he actually got.As I was preparing to receive Confirmation, there were times where I would be sacrificing time, which, at the time, I felt was more important and so, I began to wonder if all of these preparations were even worth going through. However, I soon realized that spiritual growth is not something that is just given to you; it is something that is earned. Therefore, the journey to that growth needed to be tough for it showed how much you wanted it. Throughout the process, I kept reminding myself that it would all be worth it and, in the end, it was.After being confirmed into the Catholic Church, I instantly felt the feeling of satisfaction and accomplishment. I was now officially an adult member of the Catholic Church. I also felt that through this sacrament, I had grown more spiritually and that my relationship with God had grown stronger. In Don’s case, without question, he showed no fear as he performed each of the tasks and, though he did not think so at the time, all of the preparation was truly worth it. While on the expedition, Don paid tribute to both the spirits and the ancestors allowing him to grow more spiritually.Since Don participated in the expedition, his elders no longer consider Don a novice for he has now gained experience necessary to assist him in the future. By going on this salt journey, Don has shown his respect for his culture and how he honors the traditions and customs of his heritage. By using van Gennep’s rit es of passage theory, the overall structure and true meaning of Don’s salt expedition has certainly become clearer. Using this information, I have also found that van Gennep’s theory cannot only be applied to the salt expedition, but to other life events of Don as well.Other instances in â€Å"Sun Chief† where van Gennep’s rites of passage theory can be applied are when Don was born, when he became married to Irene and when he was initiated into the Wowochim society. By showing me how Don’s journey of spiritual growth resembled my own, I can now say that van Gennep’s, surprisingly universal, theory has allowed me to have a better understanding of Don’s culture. Works Cited 1. Talayesva, D. (1942). Sun chief: The autobiography of a hopi. (p. 232-246). London, England: Yale University Press.

Single-Sex School’s Benefits

Single-sex school's benefits In some countries single-sex schools is not provided and against the law. In 2002, only a dozen schools were separating sexes and this research is according to the National Association for Single Sex Public Education. Many parents believe that placing their child in single-sex schools give them sexual freedom. Students in single-sex school benefit more than those in co-education. It improves the behaviour, performance of the students, although boys and girls have different styles of learning. Most of the people agree on that the behavior of students differs.In co-education schools grades are equally for both genders. Indicting that neither gender is disadvantaged by the other, in fact the reverse is true. Sex segregation increases gender divisions among children. â€Å"Separating boys and girls in public school classrooms makes gender very salient, and this salience reinforces stereotypes and sexism,† Fabes said. In the other hand, according to Vai l, â€Å"By far, the advantages most often associated with schooling boys and girls separately is that eliminates distraction. Freed from the worries of impressing the opposite sex, boys and girls can focus on their books† (vail, 2002, p. 5). Moreover, in coeducational settings, the culture is one of socialization where for some academics might not be a priority. For these individuals, single-sex classes or single-sex schools might be a better choice. â€Å"Single-sex school officials say test scores and attendance rise and attitude improve† (Vail, 2002, p. 33). An experiment take place at Matthew Henson Elmentray School, Dunkel reports that if the disciplinary problems decrease, the attendance will increase and the academic performance will improve and positive attitudes will appear.By providing single-sex schools which decrease the disciplinary problems, the students will have the maximum achievement. Students have different styles of learning. Co-education interacts between boys and girls that sum up all the styles which are better. According to professor Alan Smithers, There are no overriding advantages for single-sex schools on educational grounds. Studies all over the world have failed to detect any major differences. ‘Studies show that here is difference in children's brains beyond the larger volume of boy's brains and the earlier completion of girl's brain growth, which have nothing related to learning. However, Boys and girls have different styles, according to Leonard Sax which says â€Å"The kind of learning environment that is best for boys is not necessarily best for girls† (Vail, 2002, P. 36). Scientist thinks that in co-education school require different teaching techniques at different time† (Howley , 1994) . These different teaching techniques will decrease the performance of students.Boys have a weird ways in concentration, such that boys tend to use a lot of space. So if boy and girl share a table the boy mig ht take a big room by spreading his papers over the entire table which leave little room for the girl, as Gurian and Ballew stated, â€Å"This tendency can affect psychosocial dynamics† (2003, p. 18). There is another environmental learning-style difference is collaborative learning. Girls seem to benefit from this collaborative learning style than boys as Gollnick and Chinn stated, â€Å", â€Å"Girls are more likely to learn in cooperative mathematics activities†¦Ã¢â‚¬  (2004 , p. 152).But in the other hand, boys do not benefit from this learning and style instead they might can not collaborative easy with girls. Many people believe that sex segregation decrease the performance of the students. Richard Fabes, PH. D, one of the authors of the Science article said â€Å"Though public sentiment may have strengthened in support of such setting for improving the learning environment and outcomes for both boys and girls, the science is just not there to support this†. However, Supporters of single-sex school are totally against what Richard Fabes said. They believe that single-sex schools increase performance.Teachers of single-sex schools do not have to teach a lot of different styles, they just can concentrate on only one teaching style which will help the students a lot to understand easily. Moreover, the concentration of students and participation will increase a lot. Distraction between students will decline. There is assumption here that boys and girls should learn about each other in school. But is the main goal of school is to develop students socially? The assumption is false; other, there are a lot of another ways to develop socially through family, neighbourhood and clubs.Finally, single-sex school students behaviour is much better than co-education schools students because the distraction vanish, attendance rise and positive attitudes will occur. Most of the people agree on that boys and girls have different styles which decrease there performance. There is kind of learning which is good for boys and not good for girls. Each sex cooperates with each other better than cooperating with the opposite sex. Moreover, single-sex schools help the students to participate more than in co-education schools.So every country should provide a choice to parents to have single-sex education along with co-education. Reference List |Internet | |In text Citation | |Internet article |Alan Smith ‘ Advantages of Co-Education' | | | | | |Gurian and Ballew (2003, p. 8). ‘The Advantages of Single-sex Education' | | | | | |Gollnick and Chinn 2004, p. 152). ‘The Advantages of Single-sex Education' | | | | | |(Howley , 1994) . ‘The Advantages of Single-sex Education'. | | | | |Richard Fabes ‘Single-Sex Schools Fail to Improve Learning'. | | | | | |(Vail, 2002, p. 35). (Vail, 2002, P. 36). (Vail, 2002, P. 33). | | |'The Advantages of Single-sex Education' | | | Sources: 1-‘The Advantages of Single-s ex Education' from: NATIONAL FORUM OF EDUCATIONAL ADMINISTRATION AND SUPERVISION JOURNAL VOLUME 23, NUMBER 2, 2006-2007 http://www. eric. ed. gov/PDFS/ED492000. pdf 2-‘The Advantages of Co-Education' from: http://www. cathedral-school. co. uk/co-education. html 3-‘Single-Sex Schooles Fail to Improve Learning' from: Arizona State University http://psychcentral. com/news/2011/09/23/single-sex-schools-fail-to-improve-learning/29723. html