The Call For Rehabilitation Health And Social Care Essay

This paper will turn to issues that call for rehabilitation. The issues include ; Drug maltreatment, street households, political instability, sexual issues, societal relationships fiscal issues, Death, Crime, old age, National calamities terminal unwellness and accident. We will further discourse the causes, effects and give necessary redresss.2.0 ISSUES THAT ARISE IN REHABILITATION2.1 Drug abuse/ substance maltreatment drugs are substances whether in signifier of drink, nutrient, medical specialty, fume, injection pulverization or exhausts which when taken into the organic structure through the oral cavity, nose or clamber, upset the biochemical system ( working ) of the organic structure and particularly the nervous system. Examples of normally abused drugs include stimulations, Sedatives, Hallucinogens inhalants, steroids and narcotics. Stimulations are drugs that affect the nervous system and distribute up the operation of the encephalon. These are drugs like miraa, bhang and cocaine, the stimulating consequence make the user experience good and alarm? Sedatives are drugs that act on the cardinal nervous system. They are used as depressants. They cut down tenseness and hearten up the user. Example of sedatives includes intoxicant, opium ( bhang ) and heroine. Hallucinogens are drugs which cause hallucinations that is hearing or seeking something that does non be. Example of this drugs is Marijuana. Inhalants are drugs inhaled by users for illustration gum, methylbenzene, gasoline, butane and snuff. Narcotics are drugs that affect temper or behavior for illustration heroine, cocaine and morphia. Peoples who are addicted to utilize of these drugs may demo the undermentioned marks ; aggression, anxiousness, depression deficiency of coordination and concentration, increased blood force per unit area and bosom rate, deficiency of appetite restlessness, loss of memory and damage in larning. Low self- regard and Loss of assurance, musculus hurting and tummy spasms.2.2 Street householdsStreet households are yet another issue which arises in rehabilitation. The province of stateless kids particularly in urban subsiding is high. This is because of dislocation in household support systems and difficult economic state of affairss. Street kids in Kenya are referred to as â€Å" Chokora ‘ . They live in little groups and are ever whiffing gum, and frequently perceived as unsafe. Due to miss of attention and counsel, some of them grow to go difficult nucleus felons, drugs pedlars and hire for slaying ‘ packs. They are hopeless and this has a negative impact on a kid ‘s physical, educational and emotional development. The kid ‘s life lacks continuity, privateness, consistence cleanliness, permanence and belonging. This finally consequences in unacceptable behaviors such as moving low, combat, restlessness, depression and low defeat tolerance. Most street kids are normally ill-fed and may demo delayed development and physical jobs. They are likely to endure from anxiousness, may be abused physically or psychologically such kids do non travel to school and when they do, they are normally marginalized by fellow pupils and instructors due to their idiosyncrasies therefore need for rehabilitation.2.3 Political instabilityThis refers to state of affairss that arise as a consequence of discord between different categories of persons in society. This besides consequences from inappropriate political policies, clime alteration, nutrient deficit, population detonation every bit good as inordinate dependence on external trade. Political instability can ensue from a famine state of affairs. This arises from drouth or devastation of harvests by disease and animate beings which will ensue to people endeavoring for the barely available 1s therefore political instability. Tribalism and nepotism. This refers to a state of affairs where a individual uses influence or place to prefer people from his folk or kin in public place. This leads to discontentment that causes discord. It can besides originate from unjust allotment of national resources. Corruptness and misdemeanor of human rights. This is experienced when persons get involved in peculation, greed for power unemployment. Greediness for power particularly causes civil discord.2.4 Sexual Related issuesThe sexual related issues come in different signifiers. They include ; Sexual torment. This consequences from single who molest particularly misss or female gender sexually. Incest: This is a instance of relations acquiring involved in sexual intercourse which may originate from sexual mental instability or even usage of drugs. Sexual add-on that consequences from either moral eroding or influence of drugs that arouse one ‘s emotional and physical strengths towards sex.2.5 Terminal unwellness.Terminal unwellness may come in different ways. These will include malignant neoplastic disease, bosom and kidney jobs, HIV/Aids, physical damage. These consequences from the undermentioned facets. Inheritance: the familial factors may do such diseases as blood malignant neoplastic disease. They may do lasting cicatrixs in persons may necessitate guidance. Accident: these may besides do lameness an person will hold to populate with. Deformity of the organic structure or even being a beginning of a bodily disease people requires encouragement in such incidences.Domestic force and physical maltreatment.The cause of force are on the rise whether domestic or group. Peoples have been affected emotionally due to this. Domestic workers are the major victims which are widening to adult females and kids. Such victims require that they get involved in rehabilitation to minimise the effects originating from them.2.6 Condemnable instancesThis is a by and large agreeable aberrant behavior in society. They range from burglary, carjacking. They are caused by the undermentioned factors ; Deprived vicinity. Economically destitute vicinity may engender condemnable heads. They seem to envy and seek to steal in order to have. Peer group influence: This normally consequences from persons who have been involved in offenses enticing their closest brothers. Lack of religion in an person ‘s abilities and believing plenty in one ‘s internal arm. These include logic and ground. Lack of love. This consequences from persons raised in dysfunctional households, disadvantaged background, a feeling of favoritism. A combination of all these impel an person to affect in offense. Lack of parental control, supervising and monitoring. Parents who do non supervise the tendency and behavior of their kids and up in condemnable universe. Poverty: society has indoctrinated us to believe in the position of wealth as a step of success. Lack of it or as people want more and more can take to offense when acquiring them is difficult therefore a short cut of stealing is the best. Poor judgement: deficiency of proper instruction and great existent theoretical accounts leads to persons non cognizing the right from incorrect largely, offenses do non look to make anything incorrect from their point of position but it is right.2.7 Financial related issues.Finance normally contributes to success of persons in life. Lack of it can besides do serious effects. Financial issues may lift from ; Loss of a occupation. When an single loses a occupation and if it is the lone beginning of income leads to a serious favoritism in life. This calls for rehabilitation guidance. Collapse of concern: this can besides be beginning of defeat in life particularly if it is the lone beginning of income. Unemployment. Many alumnuss leave with high expectancies of geting a occupation instantly. If it is non realized, it has serious reverse in life. This calls for the rehabilitation. Embezzlement. This can originate from overspending money particularly when it is at that place non retrieving that tomorrow it at that place. When it misses it through persons into entire confusions. Health measures: persons with really immense medical measures end up disbursement to the last penny of it go forthing nil at manus. If by bad deficiency persons ( the sick ) base on balls on, foliages on them non merely the decease cicatrix but besides earnestly strained in fundss.2.8 DeathThe incident of this nature can convey out sorrowful incidences in the household of believed 1s. This will accordingly name for rehabilitation guidance. Death is caused by the undermentioned facets ‘Illness: persons can be sick which eventually causes decease.Accidents: when people are involved in an accident they will either be injured or decease immediately or thenceforth. It may be route accident, accidents that involve machines. Drug maltreatment: the substance maltreatment may besides do decease. This means the overdose of drugs. The nuts besides portion centers for shooting drugs such as cocaine into the blood system. Some are infected with HIV/AIDS which may be transmitted. Due to hapless or even distressing conditions that this people live under they so die. Death can besides be caused by homicides, race murders or self-destructions.2.9 Natural catastrophesThese are events that occur and are beyond human control. They include drought, temblors, epidemics, inundations storms. They normally leave behind a batch of desolations. Peoples die, belongingss are destroyed or even paralysing the economic system. In the event that they occur, so single victims require to be rehabilitated in order to get by with world.2.10 Ages:Persons who have advanced in age may be given to experience so bare and abandoned. Some complication may attach to age such as ocular and hearing damages. This may necessitate to be addressed and the lone manner they can be made is through rehabilitation guidance.EFFECTS EMERGING FROM THE ABOVE ISSUESEmerging from the above would be several effects. They include ; Mental unwellness: The unwellness can originate from substance maltreatment that may be irriversable. This is why it calls for rehabilitation. The street households will besides impart to petty offenses in the streets where they dwell. They to a really big extent involve in this as a manner of gaining their life. They besides dirtily the streets. Political instability lead: to internally displaced persons. It besides mains and wounds others. They besides lend to belongings devastation. Accidents that lead to decease besides end up traumatising others. They may besides do lefty measures of medical related. Natural catastrophes besides cause devastations, supplanting of people. They may besides take to diseases such as the H2O – borne diseases as cholera Drug maltreatment besides may take to socially dysfunctional societies. Wayward kids, pervert and kids w Ho are morally decayed. A coevals of hopelessness and desperation. Sexual related instances besides cause injury to the colza victims. They feel affected in the actions and the cicatrix is about lasting.REMEDIES TO THE ISSUESThe above mentioned issues necessitate to be tackled so as to control them in society. The following are the proposed redresss for issues ; In the instance of political instability there is demand for transmutation aims including ego sufficiency in nutrient production, poorness decrease, and sustainable growing in all sectors. It besides requires authorising of people through the basic entree to basic production particularly the land, capital, and creative activity of employment chances for the young person. There should be a form of wealth distribution to all topographic points. Guidance and guidance besides should be at the Centre for the above. The instances that are already at the extreme and require that they need to be rehabilitated to convey them back to usually. Some catastrophes which are related by adult male such as the environmental debasement demand to be addressed and environmental preservation. This will keep cut down facets such as drouth so controling dearth. The rehabilitation centres to be established through out the state. This will assist reconstruct persons who have be en affected and are beyond counsel and reding degree. They need to be good equipped with the installations and forces who are good trained to assist the victims stabilize socially emotionally, physically and even spiritually. Capacity edifice is another facet to be enhanced. This will assist make consciousness in the society as whole on the ways of forestalling the issues such as substance maltreatment, sexual related 1s every bit good as the accommodation of persons to occupation loss, retirement, convulsion unwellness every bit good as promotion in age. It will besides affect esthesis of persons on how to cover with them merely in instance they arise. Capacity edifice will besides assist persons to cognize the nature of side effects when for case people abuse the substance or drugs. Legislation. The Torahs sing the wrongdoers need to be more rigorous in order to populate people from acquiring involved in such instances as the drug cyberspace mob where they sell them to the young persons in the metropoliss, small towns and larning establishments. It will besides assist to control junior-grade offenses in the society if good utilised. Authorization. All people should be empowered through wealth creative activity methodological analysiss. The young person should be initiated into authorization chances which will prosecute them in order to avoid their engagement of either in the junior-grade offenses or 500 carpet maltreatment. This will besides do them see ground in development instead than devastation. Environmental issues that end up doing instances such as drouth ensuing to famine ought to be addressed through environmental preservation. Peoples should be sharply be involved in the procedure of tree planting, waste direction in the instance of towns every bit good as the saving of the natural wood. Dearth can besides be utilized with good established presentation schemes. This will assist minimise the hungriness related issues The early heating system centres ought to be established in instances where people get involved in amusing or unusual inclinations of drug maltreatment, offense every bit good as political instability. Such centres besides prepare persons merely encase at that place occurs such as those of the natural catastrophes.

Discrimination Essay Essay

Discuss this statement in relation to the human resource practices and the issues relating to personality, perceptions and values of managers. This essay argues that discrimination is a likely occurrence during the recruitment process. It will focus upon the various forms of discrimination faced and the issues relating to personality and perceptions resulting from the mainstream perspectives, stereotypes and ideologies held by Anglo-Saxon Australians. It will then examine the human resource practices and the selection process, highlighting the discrimination that occurs due to the unrealistic and unnecessarily high standards of recruitment criteria and specifications laid out by managers for candidates. Finally it will address the impact and influence that the managers values can have upon the recruitment criteria and the final selection made. Discrimination has long been a likely occurrence during the recruitment process, becoming a major problem throughout Australian society. Dating back through Australia’s history we have continually seen society empirically group people according to their country of origin and culture. The idea of ethnocentrism has surfaced as a result of the pre-existing culture of intolerance of cultural difference. As Ho and Alcorso demonstrate, ‘Australian employers and local workers in the post-war decades had a clear interest in utilizing a workforce that was not only ethnically distinguishable from the local workforce but also considered to be largely unskilled and little educated’ (2004, p. 254). The reluctance that many employers have in their willingness to recruit migrants and those of ethnic backgrounds, as a result of a pre-disposition held, is seen consistently in the workplace and is reflected in the long-term. As Wooden notes, ‘differences in pay, occupational status and probability of employment’ between migrants and people of ethnic background, in comparison to Anglo-Saxon Australians ‘reflects differences in the average productive capabilities of the two groups’ (1994, p. 220; cited in Ho and Alcorso, 2004, p. 239).

Annie Dillard’s “Handed My Own Life” Essay

With much enthusiasm and ease, Annie Dillard’s â€Å"Handed My Own Life† tells us a story that many children may relate to. The excitement and wonder that ensnared her mind when Dillard laid her eyes on the much anticipated microscope she received for Christmas, as well as its â€Å"ingenious devices,† (Chaffee 50) is practically unbearable. In this essay Dillard not only tells us, but shows us the impact of her first scientific observation. After reading The Field Book of Ponds and Streams several times when she was younger, Dillard became spellbound by the scientific world and its many microscopic organisms. From the amoeba to the â€Å"euglena with its one red eye,† (Chaffee 50) Dillard couldn’t help but think that these were the only things that people would want to see under their own private microscope that they, too, might have stashed away in their basement. When Dillard discovers all of the tiny samples, including the one â€Å"jungle in a drop,† that came along with her precious microscope, she becomes ecstatic and can not wait to begin investigating every bit and piece of each slide. Unfortunately, she is overcome with disappointment from the very start. When her â€Å"jungle in a drop† experiment proved ineffective, she was upset, but continued on to the next subject. And from that failure, she became even more displeased, and so on leading her to eventually lose faith in her study. Dillard, annoyed, states, â€Å"The kit’s diatomaceous earth was a bust† (Chaffee 49). After waiting so many years for a microscope to investigate the countless things she had in mind, Dillard slowly built up high expectations in what she would see. When her high hopes were brought to a halt, Dillard’s beliefs about science and its amazement were suddenly brought to question. For example, when she talks about the sample from the â€Å"Cliffs of Dover† she is expecting to see something much more animated and detailed than, well, just a closer picture of a rock. Since she had these high expectations crushed so fast, she couldn’t help but think that somewhere out there waiting for her were all those little  organisms she read so much about. Convinced that science was more than just a larger picture, Dillard finds herself wandering about in a park where she comes across a small puddle that just had to be full of little critters, and in her last desperate attempt to prove to herself that there really are interesting things out there, she takes a sample. From this she finds what she has been looking for all along: her amoeba. After all this doubt and frustration, Dillard earned her prize. She was extraordinarily pleased and felt that everybody must know; everybody must see this amazing little creature rolling awkwardly about within its small drop of water on her slide. Much to her surprise, when she ran upstairs to share this seemingly imperative news with her family, nobody seemed to care. Her parents simply smiled and brushed her aside, continuing on with their after-dinner coffee. This is when Dillard’s belief about her private infatuation with science is strengthened, and she states: â€Å"You do what you do out of your own private passion for the thing itself,† (Chaffee 50) and returned to her private wonder down the stairs. Without her parents playing a major role in her life, Dillard is left to investigate the world up close and personal on her own. Perhaps the sole reason she grew so fond of science is because it had a set of basic rules and guidelines which set a path she never had in her life at home. With science forming a foundation for her to stand on, it most likely brought her comfort in knowing she had something to fall back on. Since her parents rarely gave her any real source of motivation, Dillard is forced to look within herself to keep moving on. Thinking that â€Å"The sky is the limit† and â€Å"Anything was possible† (Chaffee 50) was enough to keep her focused on searching for her dreams. If it weren’t for these high hopes and faith, Dillard may have totally given up her search, and thus never have found her precious amoeba. Perhaps Dillard continued searching for her creepy, crawly critters because of a quote from later in her life: â€Å"No, we have been as usual asking the wrong question. It does not matter a hoot what the mockingbird on the  chimney is singing. The real and proper question is: Why is it beautiful?† (www.famouscreativewomen.com) Dillard comes to realize her admiration of science was not because she wanted to find reason or an explanation of why things do what they do; her amazement with science is its secret beauty within.

Chapter 29 to chapter 32 Coursework Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Chapter 29 to chapter 32 - Coursework Example This implies that the ancient artwork of the African world is known to the contemporary world through monuments of the artwork. These monuments have been preserved throughout generations for the purpose of shedding light on the daily lives of the ancient Africans and for the general purpose of preserving important historical aspects. The art forms are also known through masquerades and museums where masks and other artworks are preserved and used in performances to convey important information concerning the community. The Rococo art style was first discovered in France in the 18th century. It was a continuation of a previous art style known as Baroque style. Rococo focused on the indulgence and lavishness existing in aristocracy. In contrast to other styles such as Baroque, Rococo was mostly characterized through opulence, lightness, playfulness and grace themes. It mostly focused on lighthearted form of romance instead of other aspects that included religion, and heroic battles that were common in artistry. In addition, the Rococo style revolved heavily around exterior settings and nature. This art style also reflected the society’s tendencies and its name was derived from two different terms that included Rocaille and coquille that meant rock and shell respectively. The other features of the Rococo style include elaborate scrolls and curves, ornaments with a shape similar to plants and shells, intricate patterns complex shapes, and delicate details. The paintings associated with the Roco co style were characterized with recognizable as well as overt erotic themes. Despite being different from other art forms such as Baroque, it still maintained their tastes with regard to intricate patterns and complex forms. Moreover, it was also characterized with asymmetric compositions as well as oriental designs. Realism and Impressionism were both commonly known artistry methods and that were

Police science Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Police science - Essay Example M.J. Stephey, De-Criminalizing Mental Illness, Time Inc.) It is also a know fact that, most police officers do not enjoy working with what used to called "mentals". Most prefer to avoid dealing with mental health and psychological emergencies. Up until 1996, Oregon law enforcement recruits were trained in the academy to think of people in "colorful" terms such as "criminals", "know it all's", "busy bodies", and "mentals." The FBI used to train recruits to think of people in terms of "criminals", "crusaders" and "crazies". This use of language has been changed as well. (Michael G. Conner, Use Of Police And 911 For Mental Health And Psychological Emergencies) Mike, has experienced this first-hand, he is 31 years old and suffers from schizophrenia, bipolar disorder and depression. Since Mike was 17 years old, the Los Angeles native has been repeatedly arrested during psychosis for nuisance crimes like disturbing the peace, only to serve his time, fall off his medication and get arrested again. On three separate occasions, his hallucinations were so severe he tried to commit suicide by provoking the police to shoot him. Though he is receiving treatment, rising health care costs and declining federal help mean Mike will likely end up in jail again. (M.J. Stephey, De-Criminalizing Mental Illness, Time Inc.) For example, ninety two percent of the San Francisco police force is not trained to recognize a mental health episode. In fact, the San Francisco Police Department fought fiercely for years against any notion of police crisis intervention training. The San Francisco Police Department was never clear on specific reasons why police crisis intervention training was needed. The Department simply did not think training to recognize mental health episodes was necessary, even though one out of every four persons officers come in contact with a person that suffers with mental illness. In fact, a person who has a mental episode has a better chance of winning the Super Lottery than having a police officer dispatched to the scene of the episode because only 24 police out of 2,200 San Francisco Police Officers have completed the training program that was shoved down the throat of the Department by the Board of Supervisors. (Kaponda, July 2001, POOR Magazine) Impact of Hurricane Katrina: - Mental health problems soared after Hurricane Katrina, while New Orleans's ability to handle them plummeted, creating a crisis so acute that police officers say they take some disturbed people to a destination of last resort: jail. Due to the storm damage, only two of New Orleans' eleven hospitals are fully functioning. What's more, one of the closed facilities is the sprawling Charity Hospital, which police officers had relied on to drop off people at any hour. James Arey, a psychologist who commands the police crisis negotiation team says that, "You knew they were safe. You knew they would get the care they needed. You don't know either of those things now. People who need medication can't find it or can't afford it, and the storm's aftermath has made life more stressful, as well. Life is hard in this town now." A federally funded study published in the Bulletin of the World Health Organization found that mental health problems in the region roughly doubled in the months after Katrina, to 11.3 percent. Take the example of

I DONT HAVE ONE YET Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

I DONT HAVE ONE YET - Research Paper Example She had just been married for two years; and already was getting a lot of trouble in her marriage. She was really traumatized by the inevitably changing circumstances in her marriage following a strong and stable relationship she had had with her boyfriend. I remember when she was still in college and was really in love with her boyfriend Martin. Martin too loved her and this is the reason they got married immediately after finishing college. Liz was my best friend and this automatically qualified Martin as a good friend of mine. Consequently, we had many common friends because of this marriage and the friendship network. When Martin proposed divorce as a measure of solving their problems, we were all really devastated and Liz was too depressed to control the situation. I sympathized and empathized with her and at most times everything just went out of hand and I felt like I could no longer help in solving their situation. I too grew distressed of this. We no longer had good moments with Liz as we always deed since she spent most of her time in the bed weeping. Overtime she even grew cold and impossible to engage in a conversation. This reciprocated by withdrawing from our friendship and even withdrawing from her own self; she was no longer eating well nor caring fr her personal hygiene. There is a tremendous increase in divorce rates in the world today especially in the Northern America. In he United States of America, the current divorce rates lies at 50%. This typically means that 50% of America’s marriages end in dissolution (Cherlin Pgs 28-29). This is an alarming issue in the world today as divorce comes with many consequences that negatively involve even the innocent children that find themselves in the middle of such marriages. In Canada alone, statistics show that there are 2.11 divorces per every 500 families; there were 70,226 divorce cases in 2008 alone. This rate is a bit higher in America where there are 3.6 divorce cases per every 1,000 pe ople or 500 families (Cherlin Pg 29). The reasons for divorce varies from one region in the Northern America to another but the impacts are similar (Levinger & Oliver Pg 103). Divorce is a very bitter and heartbreaking monster to many families in the current generation. It mostly involves couples that at one point were very happy together, and they go through traumatizing moments to forget such days after divorce. It is so hard and it takes a long time and a lot of strength for such couples to overcome the confusion and trauma surrounding life, love and relationships. Martin had started withdrawing from Liz immediately they lost their first child at five months. Their child died of chronic pneumonia and Martin had always felt a sense of blame to Liz. He always accused her of negligence and lack of proper care to the child in terms proper and protective dressing of the child. Therefore, he withdrew from Liz after the child’s death and when Liz was devastated and tired of pursu ing Martin’s closeness, she too withdrew: not to me this time, bur to our other male friend Jack. Martin felt bad and in turn started being overprotective and jealous about Liz and Jack. At some point, he even engaged jack in a fight and the whole friendship network was falling apart. Liz instead withdrew further to a point that Martin proposed a divorce. This is when Liz again started to feel that she needed him more than

3M Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

3M - Essay Example Contemporary academic settings have acknowledged the need to develop and recognize cultural intelligence as the ability to interpret and understand diverse cultural underpinnings. In this regard, not because the way things are done in Russia are different from what 3M is accustomed to, it should already mean that the organization should not do business there – most especially if there are vast opportunities in the Russian market that could be tapped and ventured on. 3M must simply understand which cultural practices must be respected and could not be changed in their entirety. As a multinational organization that operates in other parts of the world, it already has vast experience and understanding of cultural diversities and how they can adapt and adjust to the way of life to succeed in Russia. Honestly, I strongly believe that 3M could do business in Russia provided that they respect the cultural values and traditions of its people. Being an organization that promotes ethical behavior, I am sure that they have acknowledged which cultural beliefs need to be accepted and could not be meddled with. As such, by respecting the cultural norms and beliefs of the Russians, including business practices, 3M could be assured that they will proceed with smooth business interactions within the ethical standards and moral codes of discipline. The moral codes of conduct, as well as ethical standards in business are more or less universal in perspectives. 3M, as the investing organization in Russia, has the obligation to adhere to moral, ethical and social responsibilities as employer and therefore, could expect employees to conform to these obligations. In so doing, by the rules of being role models, 3M could improve the ethical climate in foreign countries where it does business with. It is one’s contention that a practical middle ground could be established by finding an effective and acceptable balance between American and Russian ways

Fallacies Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words - 1

Fallacies - Assignment Example One common source of fallacies is the media and this paper seeks to examine two exemplary and common fallacies from this source and illustrate how this source construes information to convince the audience. This is a common fallacy that is committed over the television. Ignoratio elenchi directly translates to "irrelevant thesis", which in formal perspective refers to a negation that fails to concentrate on the central argument (Destiny 2008). As commonly seen in televised political debates between presidential candidates, the interviewer might ask one of the candidates how he can handle the rising unemployment rates should he or she become the president, then the candidate may answer â€Å"I am glad you asked, since unemployment is a major problem facing our country, however, my opponent’s strategy to handle this situation is entirely insufficient,† (Destiny 2008). As illustrated from this example, the presidential candidate completely negated the question. This is a potent and a simple form of illogical fallacy. It occurs when an individual misinterprets the position held by the opponent (Destiny 2008). Such an argument was televised in the year 2001 when President George Bush assumed office he advocated for a new system of testing in schools, and then formed an argument that those opposing such a system were not interested in holding the schools responsible for their poor performance. On subjection to retrospection, such an assertion was not true, and it is dismissed on the basis that other political opponents had offered other adequate alternatives. After having studied logic, I explicitly understand how to distinguish between firmly grounded arguments that in essence have a basis from fallacious statements. Therefore, I do not think that I will be fooled by these fallacies. Presenters of fallacious arguments essentially construe information to appeal to the viewer, and as such they generally assume

Professional goals Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Professional goals - Assignment Example I established that the process has to be carefully managed if I am to fit into practice. Fitting in is quite difficult given the experience that I had during my placement. Fitting-in is a complex process requiring support from peers and the experienced nurses. However, I believe that with the correct mindset and determination together with support from experienced nurses, I can manage the transition. Duchscher (2008) argues that the graduate nurse is usually faced with a reality shock that comes from the discrepancy between what the draduate nurse has learnt in the classroom and what is actual or real in a health care setting. The graduate nurse in this case feels a sense of groundlessness. The resulting problems include anxiety insecurityand a feeling of inadequacy . Dyess and Sherman (2009) says that the problem is even more serious today because of the fact that the graduate nurse can take the licensure examination moments after graduation and enter into practice as a fully regist ered nurse in a matter of weeks. This is different from the earlier case where graduate nurses would get a temporary licence as they work with experienced nurses for a few months. According to Cubit and Ryan (2011), the situation is not completely out of hand and can be mitigated through proper support programs especially through Graduate Nurse Programs (GNP) that are provided by the health care organizations. This strategy will only be effective if it is not approached from an inculturation approach but rather a support and socialization approach in order to help the graduate nurse to fit in the system. I realized that it was not possible to do it on my own by moving straight into practice as I had little knowledge on the transition process and I was not aware about the graduate nursing programs available in my hospital setting. I would be in a better position if I developed the following †¢Reading more on the topic †¢Asking about other people’s experiences in orde r to learn from them †¢Find out the graduate nursing programs available at the hospital †¢Establish factors that contributed to my inability to fit-in and seek ways of mitigating them In order to know whether I gained from the learning or not, I will look at: †¢My transition process and establish whether it was successful or not †¢My knowledge of the transition process and if I can help others go through it †¢My understanding of the hospital graduate nurse programs The Nurse as a leader A leader is a person who is always looked at by others to provide guidance in situations of need. Being a leader is not a simple process and requires that one has an understanding of various issues around him or her and the people around him/her. I think that being a leader has to do with skills and capabilities that one has. It is thus not possible for anyone to be a leader. Leadership as a nurse is crucial in order to enhance patient care. I observed this during my placemen t as I got to understand what roles and responsibilities a nurse leader undertakes and how to effectively handle leadership roles. Nursing leadership is not a recent phenomenon. It is something that has been discussed for a while now (Stanley and Sherratt, 2010). The benefit of nursing leadership is seen in activities such as administration, education,

Hypnotherapy - Understanding of Conscious and Sub Conscious Processing Essay

Hypnotherapy - Understanding of Conscious and Sub Conscious Processing - Essay Example Even though this method is considered unscientific as it leads to abreaction, it has been verified to work on problems or conditions such as managing pain for those with chronic illnesses, depression, anxiety, irritable bowel syndrome, addictions, insomnia, phobias, eating disorders and even weight loss among many others. Since this technique explores the subconscious, care should be taken as to how it is being explored as it can lead to creation of false memories or quick awakening before preparation can cause partial amnesia as some of the memories are temporarily erased. Charles Tebbets was a renowned hypnotherapist and he explained that the subconscious must be known and understood from its functions to its principles in order to understand how hypnotherapy works. According to Tebbets, there are six functions of the subconscious and five principles that convince the subconscious and they will be discussed in detail below. The subconscious is a memory bank. Every action, feelings and experiences an individual has ever undergone through is stored in the subconscious without even the knowledge of the individual. These are the forgotten memories and hence do not come up when the person’s mind is not at ease or conscious. When hypnosis is however employed, the defences to the mind are eliminated and these memories are able to be accessed and they can explain various causes of the problems and conditions in a person’s life. The subconscious controls as well as regulates the functions of the body that are involuntary such as breathing and digestion among others. When an individual is under stress, these involuntary functions are affected through inhibition and they may eventually lead to psychosomatic illnesses. With hypnosis, these involuntary functions are able to be restored as it touches the controlling aspect. Tebbets explains that the subconscious is the seat to our emotions

15 - 20 Discussion Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

15 - 20 Discussion - Essay Example t has said that, death penalty is imposed â€Å"not upon those who commit the worst kind of crimes but upon those who have the misfortune of to be assigned the worst lawyers†.  (Bedau and Cassell, 2005, p. 209). Bright believes that poor people who are accused of capital crimes are often assisted by lawyers who are not well skilled and hence not in a position to defend his client from the death penalty. In Bright’s opinion money gains a prime importance in the courts of America. In the courts the one who lacks adequate wealth has to go through the ordeal of death penalty because the accused is not able to afford a proper lawyer for the case. The wealthy on the other hand can afford a lawyer who will take their case seriously and help them to achieve desired ends. Not only that Bright has also said that the courts sometimes do not even bother to look into the case carefully if a poor person is involved and gives a judgment of death penalty to the poor. Therefore accord ing to Bright death penalties take place in America on the basis of wealth and are not based on the merit of the case and so it is better that death penalty is altogether abolished so that the poor do not suffer merely based on the fact that they are poor. (Recinella, 2004, pp.230-235). Louis P. Pojman on the other hand supports death penalty. Pojman believes that those who commit gruesome crimes deserve to get adequate punishment and death is the most proper punishment for them. He has said that it is the duty of the society to give death penalty to those who deserve it. Pojman also holds the opinion that death penalty is required as a deterrence to fight the crimes of the society. He is also well aware of the fact that abolition of death penalty does not help to civilize a society. He says in spite of the fact that in America death penalty is discriminatory in nature it does not mean that the society has to do away with death penalty. He says that if a criminal commits crimes like murder he should

Great Traditions In Ethics Essay Example for Free

Great Traditions In Ethics Essay The overcoming of the fear of death figures as a key component of Epicurean philosophy. Because the Epicureans valued above all other accomplishments, the living of a good life and that pleasure is the end of all morality and that real pleasure is attained through a life of prudence, honor, and justice the acknowledgment in Epicurean philosophy that the fear of death intrudes upon individual happiness is not at all the same as admission that fear of death is an insurmountable condition, (Epicureanism). To the contrary, the epicurean philosophy seeks forts to identify the root causes of the fear of death, which are: 1) The fear of being dead. 2) The fear that one will die, that ones life is going to end. 3) The fear of premature death. 4) The fear of the process of dying and for each of these considerations, Epicurean philosophy provides a response. The intention of epicurean philosophy is to persuade its adherents that death is not bad for the person who dies although death is inevitable and is the total annihilation of that person; despite the belief in total annihilation Epicurus held no regard for death itself. The basic center of the Epicurean refusal to fear death lies in the epicurean belief that God should not concern to us. Death is not to be feared and these facts are unchangeable despite ones subjective, emotional reactions. because death means the end of consciousness and the total annihilation of the individual, nothing exists beyond death which may cause fear at all,(Warren 4-7). It is only by admitting the fear of death and addressing it straight on through applied logic rather than religion or mysticism that the fear of death can be conquered. The Epicureans regarded the overcoming of the fear of death at the very heart of their ethical project. They identified the goal of a good life as the removal of mental and physical pain. Mental pain they further characterized as anxieties and fears because fear of death causes pain to the individual it must be overcome and it can be overcome by logical acceptance of the fact that death holds no pain for the person who experiences it. (Warren 6) Just as the fear of death prevented many individuals from achieving happiness in life, justice (or lack thereof) provides enmity to happiness in the Epicurean ethical tradition. For Epicurus, laws and justice are a matter of personal bearing and dignity as well as intelligence and experience. Under an Epicurean ethic, in a world full of Epicurean sages there would be no need for written prescriptive laws. Everyone in that case would be able to see and remember what contributes to the utility of the community and would act accordingly (Warren 183). The idea of breaking a rule of justice is wrong because it causes the eventual pain or threat of pain or disturbance to oters happiness as well as ones own. Unlike Epicurus, St. Augustine sees the need for rigid law to control human society and he envisions this law emanating directly fro the Divine. In his distinction between the City of God and the City of Men he makes clear that the church is divinely established and leads humankind to eternal goodness, which is God and that in the ideal city, The state adheres to the virtues of politics and of the mind, formulating a political community. Both of these societies are visible and seek to do good. (Bonner 54) By contrast, the City of Man exists to serve selfishly driven needs and does not partake of the Divine spirit of creation and Divine Law. The idea of self-love against the love of God separates the two cities an idea which springs from what Augustine was afterwards to regard in The City of God as the architect of the Earthly Citylove of self to the contempt of God (Bonner 54).

Mannerism in art: An analysis

Mannerism in art: An analysis The stylistic categories are an important aspect of the history of art. Gombrich (1985) suggests that classification is a necessary evil that if taken as a tool that is also flexible and modifiable, can be valuable for art historians. Gombrich notes that while useful, categorisation has also been prone to critical abuse (p81). In other words derogatory nomenclature was often used when naming an art historical era. Baroque, which I would consider a very refined phase of technically crafted dramatic art, in fact was defined by the Oxford pocket dictionary of 1934 as grotesque (p81) as this was the immediate summary of its worth in the seventeenth century. Kaufman (2010) indicated that the categories mark historic periods of individual artists, however art critical analysis has always made it difficult to distinguish the categories and this has led to individual historians describing the categories or styles differently. To establish a permanent and agreed name to a genre or era of art could only happen successfully after that period had expired and time had lapsed for thorough deliberation it requires time and broadmindedness to deal with (Gombrich,1985, p81). Gombrich also states that such categories help us in the mastering an unstructured reality that is to say that as long as criticality in our application of such categories is maintained, new insights about what constitutes them can be gained. Categorisation is limited by language, complex concepts cannot always be expressed by words, and categories are often oversimplified into opposites: good/bad, visual/haptic, left/right etc. This system of opposites allows a range of values in between. In order to create an art category a style must be distinct and unique, therefore necessitating a term to describe it. If a style is neither unique nor distinct it would not require classification. Kaufmann (2010) believed that despite numerous stylistic terminology (p2) all art can be categorised into two major categories which are classical and non-classical. For example, Gothic art is classified as non-classical, while Barbaric and Barocco were described as post classical and degenerate at that time. However irrespective of this norm, there were exceptions to some styles like Mediaeval which was regarded as less beautiful but had some worthy attributes such as being more devout, more honest or more strong which according to historians of the time counted for more than mere orderliness (Gombrich,1985, p86). As Gombrich points out, the problem underlying the categorisation of art is the claim that arose in the 19th century that art historians can look at the historical development of styles in an objective and unbiased manner. That is to say without being influenced by their own agendas, political standpoints, need for oversimplification or cognitive biases. This is the proble m underlying all art categorisation, and through this understanding we can now go on to analyse the topic of mannerism as a historical art category. This essay will first of all attempt to offer a definition of mannerism, pointing out some inherent difficulties in doing so, it will then go on to look at some of the benefits of describing the historical period conventionally labelled as mannerist in this way, before looking at some of the drawbacks. Finally conclusions will be made about how helpful it is as a concept in the categorisation of historical art. 2. Mannerism as an art category 2.1 What is Mannerism, and why is the term controversial as an art category? Mannerism as it has been conventionally described in modern interpretations of historical art, is a style which came between the high Renaissance and the Baroque (1510-20 to 1600) periods and is sometimes was referred to as the late Renaissance (Wundram1985). One of the first issues when discussing Mannerism, is identifying exactly when it started, and when it finished, as while in Italy, it is thought to have ended in around 1580, but Northern Mannerism is thought to have extended into the early 17th century in Europe (Freedberg,1971). However according to Smyth (1992, p13) this set of stylistic conventions began to be adopted in around 1530, before becoming the norm in the 1540s and 1550s in the work of Vasari and his contemporaries. This highlights one of the first difficulties art historians have with the broad category of Mannerism. Deriving from the Italian maneriera, Mannerism refers to a style or manner and what exactly constitutes Mannerism has also been a matter of debate in art history. The term has been widely used in literature and architecture as well as in art. Vasari as a central Mannerist himself used the term to discuss an artists manner or method, in describing a particular artists style, and in attributing praise. However, the term has also been used according to Franklin (2001) by Vasari himself to criticise the work of Perugino as mannered meaning that his style was repetitious and this was thought to be unaturalistic and therefore negative (p14). Miedima (1978-79) points out that the term was originally used as a term of opprobrium (p20). As illustrated through these examples the term Mannerism and what is meant by it may have given rise to great deal of confusion as successive art historians used the term. What constitutes mannerism as a style is also not without its problems. Miedema (1978-9) defines the stylistic features thought of as Mannerism as artificiality, affectation, the stereotype and monotony furthermore these were interpreted arbitrarily as: anti-classicism, subjectivity, torment, anxiety and doubt, and violent emotionality (p21). Problematic is that fact that a term used to express what was negative about some art in the sixteenth century until around the nineteenth century has now been expanded to characterize the style of what we speak of as representing the entire period (ibid). The style of the period can also be seen as contravening the high Renaissance classical rule rooted more on visual perception and scientific naturalism. Rather mannerism is thought to be based more on intellectual preoccupation as evident in the late works of Leonardo da Vinci, Raphael and mid-career works of Michelangelo Mannerism as a style is not easy to categorise because of its diversity (Smith, 2007). The label defined a significant change in social behaviour and a noticeable brilliance in techniques of works of some artists. The term Mannerism itself is quite a profound indicator of the perception of general aesthetics. It denotes the acknowledgement of Style- the recognition of stylization integral to any art work and the implications this brings: Manipulation, adaption, abstraction. This in turn may have also have taken some of the devout piety away from the function of art works. Elongated forms, precariously balanced poses, and collapsed perspective; irrational settings and theatrical settings were reflected amongst characteristics of mannerists works. Parmigianos Work Madonna (1534-40) Florence, Uffizi, is a good example of the change of style and it was greatly believed to have been influenced by Raphael, but gave a great anti-classic character. Smith (2007, p) described the Madonna: Proportions are lengthened so that forms are attenuated; perspective is exaggerated, and there is great discrepancies of scale between the virgin and her attendants. Again a feeling of disquiet is produced by the column beautifully finished, but like a ruin supporting nothing, or* the enigmatic gentleman who opens a great scroll but instead of reading it turns his head in the opposite direction. The Madonna with the Long Neck is a very good example of divergent style from naturalism. The distorted proportion exemplified by elongated neck and arms brings about the concept of abstraction which was not the norm with the previous style. Smiths (2007) description concurs with the definition of Mannerists being advocates of tension and ambiguity as opposed to the rounded harmony of high renaissance. Mannerist composition lacks the balance and legibility that would have been necessary for art to be considered a complete, where all the relative parts played a role and reason was prominent. The whole perception of the entire work brings about an attitude of laziness or lack of seriousness especially to those used to high renaissance. The argument for the distortions would be that the artist was trying to heighten the notion of elegance and grace to express these famous historical figures. The mother of Christ therefore, was rendered larger than life or with an unrealistic perfection in certain anatomical features. A further example of Mannerists works is provided by the Scupture of Bologna (1581-83) The Rape of the Sabines. Matsui describes it as: Three figures twisting upwards in such a way as to form a Spiral, allowing, if not demanding, a 360 degree view of the work. Bolognas sculpture took on a flamboyant self-confidence, which clearly proved him to have at least one foot firmly placed in the next era, the Baroque. This goes to show how hard Mannerist artists are to defineà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦. Though the works reflects aspects of Michelangelos, Bologna went further than the usual forms of Michelangelos works by being more extravagant in terms of executing his shapes, which were more prominent in terms of their three dimensional nature, as described by Matsui. Such an approach went beyond the traditional boundaries of High renaissance, and was seen as a new phenomenon and probably the represented the foundation of a new style. High renaissance art being what it was at the time; an art style at peak in terms of its innovation, needed to be built on. Up-coming artists would have viewed the creative arena before them and may have seen invention as the most positive way forward. Another characteristic of mannerism worth noting is the use of space by the mannerist artists. Unlike the Renaissance where the space was definite and the view was provided with a fixed view point, in mannerism the space was extended to infinity and the side boundaries were removed (Wundram, 1985). Many of the themes used in Mannerist work paid homage previous masters works, styles and themes, as opposed to the norm of naturalism. Wundram (1985) points out that the movements focal point was for the first time considered to be in painting. This change in style can be seen as maturation from the high Renaissance and an extension of its qualities. The qualities displayed were anti classism and the move was seen to be a natural progression from High Renaissance. None of these descriptions and examples of what we now describe as Mannerism, solve the issue that the category became the term for defining the style of sixteenth century art, or at least part of that art (Miedema, 1978, p20), and that whether art can be qualified as Mannerist or not has depended on which criteria different authors applied and which were accordingly dismissed (ibid). The issue boils down to the debate around whether Mannerism is a style, a movement, or a period and the fact that it is commonly used to identify the European art and culture of the 16th century (Mobile reference, nd). 2.2 What led to the emergence of Mannerism? Mannerism as an art style emerged during a period of political unrest which includes the reformation, the plague and the sack of Rome in 1527. The style was more popular in Florence and Rome but spread all over Italy and northern Europe (Matsui, 2010). Although the origins of Mannerism have been attributed to the early sixteenth century, in 1555 a more radical style emerged which deviated from the masters in what was described as lazy ignorance or vain rashness, it was regarded as a complete philosophy and method of art (Smyth 1992). It was alleged that, these students became addicted to weak (not incorrect) design and feeble washed out colours, far from the truth and at the same time too resolute (ibid). The exact historical period of mannerism has been a subject of controversy; however it is generally seen to come between High Renaissance and Baroque. It is normally seen as the extension of the High Renaissance though it is mostly seen as Renaissance anti-classicism due to the natu re of works produced which are more abstract and do not reflect nature realistically. Mannerist artists were associated with great intellect and were no longer seen as crafts persons but rather scholars with great admiration of elegance and complexity. They could now stand apart from crafts men and be on equal terms with poets allowing for self-conscious interpretation of the events they recorded. With this freedom came great responsibility especially for visual artist. Poets could record the world with a degree of ambiguity and abstraction, but painters were limited in their presentation to a definite subject matter within the parameters of the four corners and flat nature of the canvass. Given the expectations that the art of the time would accurately represent its subject matter, it would have been extremely difficult to present an image with any degree of distortion or artistic licence. 3 Advantages of using Mannerism as a historical art category The Mannerist era heralded a new period of innovation. The period fostered creativity, through a lack of adherence to the particular principles of the time. There was also a distinctness and sharpness which showed a lot of independent thinking. The structure of work is well defined and well balanced and highly stabilised to support its own particular aesthetic qualities. Using examples of Mannerist art, this section will give evidence to support the notion that in order to communicate about the period, a category such as Mannerism is more helpful than unhelpful. EL Greco, The Annnuncial (1576) (see appendix) is an exceptional work which exemplifies the creativity and beauty of what is thought to be Mannerist art. The theme of the work is religious based, as religion or erotic nature themes were popular due to the upheaval of the period of that time. El Greco personifies successful mannerists art because he engages both exaggerations in his painterly application and his distortions of figures. He leaves out any attempt to render the scene in naturalistic terms; thereby entering fully into the realm of stylistic invention. The work depicts the announcement of birth of Christ, it shows Angle Gabriel appearing before the Virgin Mary accompanied by many other angles above the two figures, a dove painted in glowing white , which spread all the way towards the virgin signifies the presence of the holy spirit. The painting is more congested as figures are juxtaposition to fit in the limited space. Colour contradictions and elongated figures give the painting a general view of uncertainty and menace. But everything about the painting is contrived and makes no attempt to conceal the artifice. El Greco has defied the odds, and has demonstrated some compositional brilliance of the style. EL Greco used elements of design to harmonise the entire work making it aesthetically interesting. The distorted figures and pallet of variety of cool colours gives the work mystical view augmenting the theme. It might have been that El Grecos art was misunderstood during his time (especially the later work), but he was to have a significant impact on later artists. He gains influence amongst the modernist era especially with artists such as Picasso and The German Expressionists. This era of art was more aligned to self-conscious manipulations and personal sensibilities, and it is surprising to see a 16th Century artist stand up to this genre of extreme modernism. In hindsight one could say that El Greco was far beyond his time, and helped influence some of the most extreme and drastic changes in aesthetic awareness that still inform the art world today. It is helpful therefore to have a least a general category of association in which to place El Greco. He may not be noted as an obvious exponent of Mannerism but he falls heavily into its influence, and not by his association with High Renaissance. It is by the particular general detail of categories that we are reliant on placing artists in context to their historical time, and agreeing on the traits that identify them with that genre and not another. The intellectuality that is attributed to the Mannerist period embraced liberal ideologies that allowed for much more creative freedoms in arts and literature. This allowed a whole body of work to flourish that embraced these new liberties. Such work represented a clear departure from previous works represented by High renaissance and clearly showed that the beginning of something very new was happening in terms of stylistic categories. Clearly then, a stylistic category delineating the two periods is necessary. It might not be a coincidence that the first historically recorded female artist Sonofisba Anguissola (a student of Michelangelo) gained acclaim and significant success during these times. Although not a mannerist, she transcended limitations placed on her gender at the time to be considered equal amongst her male counterparts in a male dominated discipline. Did this freedom for intellectual curiosity exhibited by the Mannerists also extend to other disciplines? For instance, Galileos (1564-1642) accurate observations on planetary orbits and scientific theory that contradicted the Roman Catholic Churchs assertions also came towards the end of the Mannerist period. Thus the credit for these advancements needs to be justified under a general label that identifies the era, and the influences that brought about prevalent features of arts and culture at the time. Clearly the artistic paradigm shift represented by Mannerist art deserves a label. It is sometimes useful to have a historical category which reflects the origins of such an important change of convention and under which the collective achievements of a generation can be contextualised. 4 The disadvantages of using the term Mannerism as a Historical art category. Although it is useful to delineate the changes from High renaissance to Mannerism how a particular piece of art can be analysed into one category or another can sometimes present methodological difficulty without a common and agreed frame of reference. Such a conceptual tool is yet to be perfected. The painting Christ before Pilate (Tintoretto, 1565-1567) clearly illustrates this issue, as it has always been controversial whether it is Mannerist or not even though it can be dated to a period thought of as High Mannerist. Some have referred to it as an anti-classical style as it ran counter to High Renaissance, some prefer to look at it as it as late Renaissance while others did not give it any specific category (Smyth,1992). This illustrates the point that if we are to think of Mannerism as a period, rather than an identifiable style as it is commonly viewed then we may find ourselves in difficulty. Likewise if we look at Mannerism as a style rather than a period, a painting such as Tintorettos presents classification difficulties. This illustrates a clear disadvantage of using the term mannerism as a historical art category. However, in a discussion of Christ before Pilot Curtis (in Akker, 2010) looked at Mannerism as a neutral term, that can be seen as a legitimate art category depending on the painting and the argument put forward by the art historian. Furthermore Shearman (1961) also puts forward and argument to defend Mannerism as a good art category, he describes it as decorative stylisation which illustrates meaning of form and called it a stylish style. To illustrate this point he cites the work of Perino del Vaga, Vertumnus and Ponoma (1527) as a good example of Mannerist work. Akker (2010) describes the work: being almost that of the whole design, we are more immediately aware of the freedom in the distribution of their parts, as if they were abstract and not figurative material; for the figures, interlaced one with the other, are also deployed in a remarkably decorative way over the whole surface. This freedom of disposition is obtained by manipulations of considerable torsion, achieved, however, with perfect ease in the figures themselves. Grace, not tension, is the resultà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ But overall though there is still a confusion as to Mannerisms identity as a specific category or a flexible term to reference work that is not quite High Renaissance, nor accessible as Baroque. Franklin, (2001) believes that this leaves it as a rather redundant term in the canons of art classification, and in Mannerisms particular case it is often ignored or goes unnoticed as an art category altogether. The critical view at the time of deemed that Mannerism did not fall or fit well within the contemporary notion of what art was supposed to be (Akker, 2010, p28), and there was said to be a decline in art after the High Renaissance. Painting was said to have reached its peak during the time of Raphael and drastically declined after his death. This decline was attributed to the departure of artists from the then current style, which was based on the study of Nature rather the more intellectual approach based imagination and artifice. These were further described by Lanzi (C.1800) (cited in Akker, 2010) as imitating previous masters work in a literal and servile manner. He believed that the style represents a cultural shift that can be considered an inevitable phase in culture that could be considered normal in any society. He further describes it as a sort of fatality that: seems to prevail in all human things, rendering their duration in the same state of short continuance; so that after attaining their highest elevation, we may assuredly at no distant period look for their decline But the issue of interpretation and accessibility lies only with that time that mannerism was in affect; for in hindsight, with the advantage of noticing succeeding generations of art development, Mannerism looks now like a bold attempt to challenge perceived notions and shock a conditioned establishment into reconsidering its values, or at least speculate on other innovations in visual art. The fact that it was noted for its discrepancies with the established order means it only attracted more attention, and thus necessitated being a category in its own right. The problem of Mannerism being its own distinct category leaves another issue; that of a dual allegiance of those artists who were in part indulging in High Renaissance styles and yet who were also involved with Mannerist tendencies. Michelangelo is one such an artist. His early career paid much attention to copying the old masters; Giotto for instance, but always without complete reverence. He would analyse the drawing but the final rendition would be adopted and altered for his own pursuit in technique (Nagel, 2000). Michelangelos career was spurred by the need to adapt, change, and be inventive. It is not surprising then that he ended up belonging to both camps, and by the later stages of his career was implicated as Mannerist. It is possibly the failure of historical labelling that causes confusion, and indicates a weakness in Mannerism as a historical art category. Mannerism had another very identifiable feature that is, over simplification of forms. This approach has led to many misconception about the style, some view the unrealistic aspects of the work produced as sign of laziness or rushed work done without much consideration technical details (such as correct proportion) or that it lacked serious attention. Friedlaenders(1957) however defended this aspect of Mannerism and stated that such over simplification is due to the distinct character of the artistic and cultural movement in specific places at specific times. Friedlaenders also pointed out that any form of refinement through stylization tends to result in simplification of form. This was very much part of Michelangelos agenda in his later years. His late work often looked unfinished; the Rondanini Pieta (1564) being a prime example. If we did not know it, one would not recognise it as a work of Michelangelo due its rough appearance. Nagel (2001) explains Michelangelos choices as being more to do with process than final appearance. The artists himself is noted for being intrigued about the process of sculpting. He did not anticipate a finished piece, but was open to a sense of discovery that that lay within a block of stone. For Nagel it appears as a reversal of the usual process, where excavation enables the artist to merely discover what already lay within. For this reversal of attitude to take place is a big upheaval in historical terms and requires distinction and categorization. The problem occurs when you have to refer to one artist; who is so well esteemed, as being a practitioner of both these disparate practices. However, there is no reason that the category of Mannerism should be ignored or brushed under the carpet by art historians because of this discrepancy, as will be discussed further in the next section. 5 Discussion The problem with the classical period was that the concept of what constituted an art form was too prescriptive. It was formalised into proportional figures, accurate perspective, round 3 dimensional composition, and naturalistic colour scheme. Under this strict regimen of constructing a painting the artist had little subjective input. It is not surprising that during this era the artists turned to a Mannerist style which allowed room for invention. This change in style marks a change in the perception and the function of an art work. Without a rigid system of application art elements and principles could be explored with a broader and bolder sense of creative design. Suddenly a dynamic quality of rhythm and symmetry evoked more imaginative possibilities in a picture surface, where elongated figures had more potential for movement in themselves. Renaissance art itself was a new achievement at a time of critical self-questioning in: religion, politics and culture. It was a tendency of artists to always be searching for different forms of expression. Mannerism appears to be a consequence of these introspective circumstances, as much as any modern art movement would have been a response to drastic changes to material and social upheavals. Categories seem easier to apply during the twentieth century than during the sixteenth Century due to the rapid succession of various movements that reacted to each other. But Mannerism was just as much a reaction to its predecessor, and a bridge in the historical continuum that leads to the Baroque. A land mark (and thus a historical art history category) therefore applies as well for Mannerism as it does for Cubism. Although mannerism is often over looked as a category in art development, it is in fact a very crucial dividing line in the history of art. It draws a definite line between scientific naturalism and more elaborate creative tendencies. This is very relevant and definitive moment in the transitional annals of art development. It defines a moment when the hierarchy of the art establishment was challenged and superseded to allow choice and alternative applications. As Kaufmann (2010) notes, although there may have been disagreement about whether a work of art should be labelled a particular label, such debates were often productive and new period concepts, like Mannerism, were discussed. As stated in the introduction as long as such historical debates continue critically, labels such as mannerism are a helpful term of reference, and enable opportunities for new scholars to become aware of the issues involved in art classification. In fact it could be the existence of art history courses that reinforce or necessitate such labels (Kaufman, 2010), in order to enable such debates to have a common terms of reference however problematic. 6 Conclusion There are always going to exceptions when classifying art historical epochs. We have seen how Michelangelo might be deemed as the greatest practitioner of High Renaissance, but also reverted to an anti-classic methods leaving speculation that is difficult for some art historians to reconcile. Perugino was also hard to classify in historical reference. The problems with classification have probably got a lot to do with the nature of language, especially written language. Until Vasari oral tradition had prevailed where information is temporal not material. The following tradition of written history meant the emergence of the Historian/analyst and the specific discipline associated with this practice. Most art historians like the debate to be simple, rounded and clearly articulated without confusion. Mannerism does not work as a perfect narrative and is hard to present conclusively as a period without contradiction. But it would be hard not to stumble across contradictions considering t he length of time spanned by this era; nearly one hundred years. Meidema (1978) certainly believes that it is inadequate to tie up this amount of time with one simplistic label. The problem probably accrued as there was only a few chroniclers recording the achievements of that time, and so large generalisations occurred. But given that there was a discernable shift in the collective intellectual imagination during that time it needs to occupy its own identifiable place in reference to written history. The term Mannerist is useful for a general referral to an art practice from 1510-1600, but also deplete and extremely awkward if you wish to investigate certain aspect of that era in more detail. One might say that the term Mannerism is no less stigmatizing than the term Fauvism used to describe modern European colourists comprising of that group. But whilst even here there may be some confusion and artists that do not fit the description comfortably as the time scale for the Fauves wa s reduced to four years.

Understanding Educational Aspirations And Expectations

Understanding Educational Aspirations And Expectations It is no longer questioned that high education level and human capital formation promote human well-being and are one of the main preconditions for economic growth (Romer, 1989:28). Moreover, along with evolving globalization, competition and economic challenges world is facing, returns to academic achievements have become larger than ever (Harmon and Walker, 2001:39), and low academic achievements can be seen as a constraint for economic independence. It has been observed that during the World financial crisis unemployment has risen exactly among the less educated people  [1]  . Therefore, it would be just natural if we would see more young adults, from both genders and all ethnic and social groups, reaching for higher educational levels and taking advantage of possibility to gain higher returns. However, evidence shows that educational attainment among youth differs significantly (e.g., Betz and Fitzgerald, 1987). Therefore, the question remains: why equally talented individual s with similar abilities and initial preferences make different academic choices, and why some of them end up in lower paying jobs and occupations? Economists have tried to explain this phenomenon with the existence of credit market imperfections, which individuals from less advantageous backgrounds might be facing (Loury 1981, Galor and Zeira 1993, Piketty 1997). However, these hypotheses are questioned in a large body of literature. Although in developing countries credit constraints might be a partial explanation for differences in educational attainment, this does not fully explain the differences in the developed world. Evidence shows that in developed word families facing economic constraints, when it comes to education, represent only a small part of the community (Cameron and Taber 2002). Besides, nowadays there exist many organizations and funds which are providing scholarships and financial help to students from low income families  [2]  . Therefore, it is essential to look for other, more internal reasons that could explain differences in educational choices and attainment among young adults with equal abilities a nd preferences. For being able to understand and change ones educational and career choices, it is crucial to understand what determines his or her aspirations. However, explaining it is not a straight forward task. Aspirations are determined already in early childhood and are prone to changes throughout the life. Moreover, sometimes high educational aspirations are not sufficient to guarantee a better outcome. This phenomenon exists due to aspiration-expectation gap, when ones desired goals do not coincide with the expected outcome due to the disbelief to a successful result. This pattern is especially observed among women and certain ethnic groups. Therefore, it is not only crucial to look at the level of educational aspirations, but it is also essential to ask if ones aspirations are always fulfilled. Although a considerable amount of literature has examined educational and career aspirations of young adults, the existing literature tends to provide somehow different conclusions; therefore, a comprehensive and critical literature review, overlooking different factor influence ones academic and career aspirations, is still missing. The purpose of this study is to contribute to an understand of how factors like gender, ethnicity, peers, parents, teachers and self-efficacy beliefs influence young adult academic and career aspirations and decision making. This thesis will also explain why sometimes high aspirations for girls and Black students do not lead to higher educational outcomes; the existence of an aspiration-expectation gap will be supported by the latest empirical data. Further, this thesis will discuss the existing policy measures aimed to promote and raise children educational attainment. Hence, the research questions of this thesis are: What are the determinants of educational and career aspirations? Why high educational aspirations do not always lead to better outcomes? What are the existing policies and projects in order to raise ones educational and career expectations? The focus of the thesis will be qualitative studies and will be based on an extensive literature review, covering various study fields, explaining the determinants of educational and career aspirations (Part I). Part II will provide different theories explaining an aspiration-expectation gap for girls and Black students; the existence of it will be supported by the latest quantitative data from U.S. Census Bureau 2010. Further Part III will concentrate on the overview of the policy measures and government projects that have been implemented in order to raise ones expectation level and close the aspiration-expectation gap. Chapter 1 Literature review of the determinants of educational and career aspirations This chapter introduces the determinants of educational and career aspirations and expectations. It begins with an introduction of the necessary definitions. Further, it is explained how ones aspirations and expectations are formed by providing different views and findings from an existing literature. 1.1 Defining educational and career aspirations It is believed that student educational and career aspirations are the most relevant factors determining ones future educational attainment (Gottfredson 1981; Trice and King, 1991). Therefore, it is essential to understand the exact meaning of aspirations. However, there has not been reached a consensus of one and certain definition; therefore, various explanations have been provided by different authors. Markus and Nurius (1986) have reported aspirations as ones ideas and hopes of possible selves, i.e., what a person would like to and what would not like to become or achieve. In psychology, aspiration level has been defined as the level of quality of a task which one desires to attain. It is a determinant of an individuals performance level in the future. It has been hypothesized that aspiration level varies from persons to person and place to place and is determined by factors that may change and influence aspirations level during the lifetime  [3]  . Likewise, the Wisconsin model  [4]  , which is a socio-economical model developed by Sewell and his colleagues in 1969 meant to explain ones social mobility and its determinants, provides definitions of educational and career aspirations. The educational aspiration level variable in the model is explained as the level of education one would like to attain, e.g., not continue higher education after high school, finish vocational school or attains college or university degree. Sewell et al. (1969) defines career aspiration level as ones ambitions and thoughts about their future occupation. However, some studies have suggested that high educational aspirations do not necessarily lead to high educational attainment (Empson, 1992; Conroy, 1997). Gottfredson (1981) has identified this phenomenon and has provided explanation to it. She suggests the existence of realistic aspirations or expectations and idealistic aspirations. The former is applied when ones educational and career aspirations are tempered by knowledge of obstacles and opportunities (Brown, 2002: 91), while the idealistic aspirations are ones desired goals and ideal education and occupation, in other words best possible life outcome. If there is a difference between these two types of aspirations and ones idealistic aspirations do not reflect ones expectations or realistic aspirations, there exist an aspiration-expectation gap (Danziger and Eden, 2006). Hence, in this thesis Gottfredsons theory about two types of aspirations and Danzigers and Edens definition of aspiration-expectation gap will be used. Firstly, determinants of idealistic aspirations will be discussed. Later this thesis will elaborate on the external factors that shape ones expectations or realistic aspirations. For the sake of simplicity, in the following text this thesis will refer to realistic aspirations as expectations while to idealistic aspirations as aspirations. 1.2 Determinants of educational and career aspirations and expectations Understanding the exact elements that determine ones educational and career aspirations and expectations is a tricky task. Existing evidence shows that there are many factor and circumstances that can shape them in a positive or negative way. Therefore, to contribute to a clearer understanding, in the following sections this thesis will deeply and broadly examine the determinants of aspirations and expectations. 1.2.1 Initial endowments determinants of ones aspirations We will firstly look at the initial endowment determinants, i.e. gender and ethnicity, which influence ones aspirations. These factors are extremely powerful in shaping ones academic and career aspiration level already in an early childhood. 1.2.1.1 Gender: Gender effect has a relevant role in determining ones aspiration level. A considerable amount of literature has focused on gender-related differences in academic and career aspirations (Howard, 1979; Betz and Fitzgerald, 1987; Danziger and Eden, 2007). Different views exist on the nature of the differences among both gender aspirations. Patton and Creed (2007) has argued that male students tend to hold higher aspirations for education level and position in the labor force, while Mau and Bikos (2000), approaching the same question, found the opposite. They claimed that girls are more likely to hold higher aspirations than men. Overall, most of the studies have supported Mau and Bikos (2000) view (Figure No.1) (e.g., Clift and Vaughan 1997; Butlin 1999; Anisef et al., 2001; Perry et al., 2009). Also, during the last decades female educational attainment and workforce has increased rapidly (Schoon, Martin and Ross, 2007); however, it has been observed that not too many women expect to follow careers which are mainly associated with the opposite sex, such as science and technology, despite the fact that these careers usually yield higher salary. This pattern becomes even more compelling as there is no evidence observed of differences i n quantitative abilities in tasks related to science and technology between both genders (Betz and Hackett, 1981). Figure No.1: Source: Looker, D. And Thiessen, V. (2004:Figure 1) 1.2.1.2 Ethnicity: Research has shown that educational and career aspirations vary across different ethnic groups. However, the results found in different studies yield different conclusions. It has been wildly assumed that the highest educational aspirations are held by Asian (especially Chinese) students (e.g., Cheng and Stark, 2002; Willitts et al., 2005). Their high aspirations are formed earlier than ones for other ethnic groups and are held constantly high throughout life (Kao and Tienda, 1998). Most of the researches contacted have found that White boys have the lowest aspiration level between all the other ethnic groups (Figure No.2) (Dillard and Perrin, 1980; Strand, 2007) and their educational achievements during the last years have increased less than for other ethnic groups (Figure No.3)  [5]  . White boys were found to hold lower aspirations than their Black peers in the research conducted by Wilson and Wilson (1992). Contrary, Cook et al. (1996) discovered that middle class White male s had higher educational aspirations than low-income African American males. However, this conclusion does not seem straight-forward as the differences might be also explained by the economic factors. Figure No.2: Figure No. 3: Data source: S., Strand (2007: 39) Data source: Department for Children, Schools and Families: Statistical First Release, England (2010: 12) Although, Strand (2007) has found that Black Caribbean and Black African students might have higher academic aspirations than White students, their higher educational attainment seems to be much lower (Figure No.4). Therefore, a question arises: what are the factors that do not allow high aspiration transformation into high achievements? The answer lies in the aspiration-expectation gap on which this thesis will elaborate in chapter 2. Figure No.3: Source: Jusan Ng (2011) 1.2.2 External factors determinants of ones expectations In the next two sub-sections, this thesis will concentrate on external factors, i.e., peers, teachers and parents, which can positively or negatively influence ones academic and career expectations. 1.2.2.1 Peer effect: A variable studied in the literature concerning the determinants of academic and career expectations is the peer effect. The peer effect refers to the positive or negative influence significant others have on ones expectations and level of achievement (e.g., by providing one with feedbacks, models or norms how they should behave, think and act in certain situations). Among their peers young adults develop their identities and self concept; therefore they are essential socialization agents for a young individual (Bandura, 1989; Brown et. al., 1994; Black, 2002). Although, some have argued that children expectations are more likely to be shaped by the characteristics of a family than by the characteristics of peers (Duncan et. al., 2001), relevant amount of the literature shows that peers play a crucial role in influencing ones achievement level and educational expectations (Peterson et al., 1986; Willms 1986; Goldstein et al., 2005). Ide et al. (1981) examined ten studies published form 1966 to 1978 that concerned the peer effects influence on ones academic achievements and expectations. In all these studies, they found a significant correlation. This finding is consistent with Downs and Rose (1991) who argue that peer effect is contributing to the construction of ones behavior and academic expectations. Another, slightly different view is held by Haller and Butterworth (1960) who look more critically on the straight forward correlation between ones academic expectations and peer influence. Although, they do not reject it, they emphasize that the initial factors, like characteristics and family backgrounds, could play a key role in bringing together similar individuals in that way forming homogeneous groups of peers. According to Jonsson and Mood (2008) children with high academic expectations and achievements are likely to connect with those sharing the same interests and expectations. Oppositely, adolescents, who have worse attitude to school and lower expectations, will most probable be attracted to peers with similar views (Ryan, 2000). In sum, it has been found that being around a certain group of people will have an effect on a persons future, specifically, it will impact the academic level or career one will expect to achieve. However, the degree of the importance of peers is ambiguous as different studies yield different results. 1.2.2.2 Teachers and parents influence: As discussed earlier peers have a certain influence on shaping ones academic expectations (e.g., Peterson et al., 1986; Willms, 1986; Black, 2002); however, a significant amount of literature points out the importance of familys and teachers influence on children long term decisions, e.g., occupation considerations (Jurkovic and Ulrici, 1985; OBrien, 1990; Furman and Buhrmeister, 1992; Wall et al., 1999; Duncan et. al., 2001). It is believed that teachers and parents can positively influence ones confidence and beliefs of his or her abilities, thus, persuading that the person is capable of being successful in further life (Van Auken and Stephens, 2006). According to Wall et al. (1999) parents as a support and role model have influence on ones conception about educational and career opportunities. Parents social support is directly linked with students school experiences, achievements and behaviors (Nurmi, 1987). There also exist a positive correlation between parents expectations for their child and childs expectations for himself (e.g., Davies and Kandel, 1981; Hossler and Stage, 1992). Family support can encourage the student to devote bigger effort to learning and school tasks (Gilbert et al., 1993). It is also observed that children who have the highest self-efficacy are the ones with the biggest family social support (Dubow and Ullman, 1989). In contrast, the ones with low family cohesion are more exposed to depression, low self-efficacy and self-esteem (Moran and Eckenrode, 1991; Cauce et al., 1992; Hirsch and DuBois, 1992). Moreover, Wall et al. (1999) has claimed a stronger correlation between young male expectations and the family support than the one for girls. In the research by Roper, (2008) it was shown that parent expectations and student GPA are correlated (Table No.1). Children with higher grades tended to have parents with higher expectations for them. According to De Coulon et al. (2008) also parents education level plays a significant role in formation of children expectations. In their research, they found a significant correlation between low literacy rates of parents and low test scores by their children. It was shown that parents with the lowest literacy skills were the least supportive and encouraging in relation to education. As a result, children with such parents were more likely to report dissatisfaction with school and develop low educational expectations. Table No.1: Source: Roper (2008: 2) A significant amount of literature has discussed parents and family role in shaping ones expectations, however, the body of literature about teachers expectation influence is rather small. Cheung (1995) found evidence on positive teacher influence on ones academic achievements. Teacher support has shown to have a bigger influence on women, student from lower socioeconomic backgrounds and ethnic minority perceptions of academic and career opportunities (Ellis and Lane, 1963; Wall et al., 1999). However, it is often blamed that teachers have insufficient expectations for their students, especially for students in rural areas and for certain student groups (Bishop, 1989; Hilliard III, 1991). It is shown that teachers tend to establish better contact and attitude forward students with higher ability (Bamburg, 1994). This is seen as a problem because children tend to internalize and adopt teacher perceptions about their abilities, which as a result, in case of low teacher expectations can lead to psychological constraints for self-efficacy and self-esteem (Raffini, 1993). To sum up, a considerable body of literature has shown that teachers, parents and peers can influence ones academic and career expectations. Young adults tend to internalize expectations that others have about him or her and accordingly adjust their own educational and career expectations. 1.2.3 Self-efficacy beliefs As already discussed, all of the beforehand mentioned factors, i.e., gender, ethnicity and social support, have an effect on shaping ones behavior, thoughts and attitudes towards different tasks, education levels and occupations. However, in order to be able to reach the aspired goals it is also extremely beneficial that one has a high self confidence in what he is doing. It was shown that teachers and parents have the ability to influence ones self-beliefs what in turn leads to higher or lower level of academic expectations of that individual. Therefore, this section will discuss why high self-efficacy beliefs, i.e., ones belief that she or he is capable of producing certain level of performance to attain certain goals (Bandura et al., 2001), are important in determining the outcome. The importance of self-efficacy on ones educational expectations have been wildly studied in the literature (e.g., Bandura, 1994; Lent and Brown, 1996; Nauta et al., 1998; Brown Lent, 2006); it has been proven that individuals self-efficacy beliefs have a significant importance in promoting positive outcomes and reducing the possibility of negative outcomes (Oyserman et al., 2006; Destin and Oyserman, 2009). Students who have high self-efficacy are more productive, efficient and confident about their performances than their peers with the same ability but lower self-efficacy. It has been also shown that they put more effort and are more concentrated on the task than others, as well as they are more committed to their goals (Bandura, 1997; Schunk and Pajares, 2005). Therefore, the ones with high self beliefs perform better and based on better outcomes have higher future academic and career expectations (Brown Lent, 2006) (Figure No.5)  [6]  . Figure No.5: Source: Looker, D. And Thiessen, V. (2004: Figure 10) Chapter 2 Aspiration-expectation gap In the previous chapter, determinants of ones academic and career aspirations and expectations were discussed. It was shown by the evidence from the existing literature, that girls are more likely to hold higher aspirations than boys (e.g., Clift and Vaughan 1997; Butlin 1999; Anisef et al., 2001; Perry et al., 2009) and Black adolescents hold higher aspirations than Whites (e.g., Wilson and Wilson, 1992; Strand, 2007). It was also shown that social support has an influence on forming ones expectations. However, high aspirations do not always lead to high educational attainment and high position in the labor force (Strand, 2007). It has been suggested that the problem lies in the difference between aspirations and expectations. Unfortunately, often academic and career expectations of girls, Black Africans and Black Caribbean students are lower than their aspirations due to some perceptions in the society, perceived barriers or even academic feedback (e.g., Gottfredson, 1981; Armstrong Crombie, 2000). As a result, this can lead to underachievement and lowered self-efficacy beliefs (Bandura et.al. 2001). This chapter will approach this phenomenon by providing existing and relevant theories that tend to explain the reasons of an existing aspiration-expectation gap for females and ethnic minorities. Later, empirical data obtained from U.S. Census Bureau results will be provided to help us to confirm or reject some of the existing theories and hypothesis, therefore, giving the final concussions. 2.1 Gender: One of the explanations for different gender-related career expectations is that women career decisions are more complex than those of men. This arises from a bigger involvement in family and children lives or possible early pregnancy (Vonderacek et al., 1986; Lucas et.al., 1997; Eccles, 2005). Even more, women academic and career expectations can be shaped by existing stereotypes or strong gender identity because of social role perceptions (Eagly, 1987; Akerlof and Kranton, 2000; Danziger and Eden, 2007; Gupta et al., 2008). 2.1.1 Stereotype activation theory: Gender stereotyping can influence a persons decision making when it comes to academic or career choice (Heilman, 2001; Nosek, Banaji and Greenwald, 2002). Gupta et al. (2008) examined the impact of stereotypes on both genders intentions to follow traditionally male-related occupations. They found evidence showing that people were likely to internalize stereotypes and act according to them, choosing tasks associated with their own gender. This pattern is more observable if the stereotype is wildly accepted in a culture (Heilman, 2001). According to Day (1990) many women have high aspirations; however, usually they do not expect to be able to have the occupation they would like to in case it is more male-dominated. Wall et al. (1999) was examining the correlation between career expectations and career aspirations. As a result, they found inconsistency between women career expectations and aspirations, i.e., their expectations were most of the time lower than their aspirations. The phenomenon was explained by stereotypes in the society about gender-related jobs and women beliefs about the limits of what they possibly can achieve. 2.1.2 Social role and socialization theory: Another important theory explaining differences in men and women career and academic expectations is the social role theory. The theory, developed by Eagly (1987) is based on the historical division of men and women roles in the society, where women were associated with household responsibilities while men had responsibilities concerning livelihood of the family. Consequently, career expectations started to differ among men and women. Furthermore, the gender-related roles were usually transmitted to future generation making the distinction between appropriate gender roles in the society even stronger (Eagly, 1987). Moreover, the academic and career expectations are shaped by socialization processes people experience in childhood. Socialization shapes people perceptions of what is appropriate for themselves and for others, including what is expected from both genders (Seymour, 1999). Further, in early childhood children learn these roles associated with their gender, which in turn, shapes later perceptions about different types of jobs and influences their academic and career expectations (Danziger and Eden, 2007). According to Eagly and Wood (1999) and Franke et al. (1997) both genders tend to adjust their expectations in accordance with their social roles and expect to have occupations connected with their own gender (Dunne, Elliott and Carlsen, 1981). This leads to men occupying men-related professions and attaining higher educational levels while women tend to enter more female-related studies and jobs and attain lower educational levels (Powell and Butterfield, 2003). Although, gender stereotyping has been diminishing and the gender gap in education has been decreasing (Power and Wojtkiewiez, 2004), there are still fewer female than male representatives in men-related studies and profession fields (Powell and Butterfield, 2003); this shows that Eaglys (1987) social role theory is a considerable attempt to explain the differences between female and male academic and career expectations. 2.2 Ethicity: There are two main views, respectively structuralist and culturalist, that tend to explain differences in educational attainment between ethnic groups. 2.2.1 Structuralist theory: According to structuralist perspective, differences in educational choices between ethnic groups can be explained by external factors. The most influential factor, following structuralist theory, shaping ones expectations is the teacher support. This view has been supported by Ellis and Lane (1963) and Wall et al. (1999) who state that teacher support have an influence on ethnic minority students perceptions about academic and career opportunities. Unfortunately, most of the time teacher expectations are negatively correlated with ethnic minority group students expectations (Strand, 2007). In his report, Strand (2007) found evidence that teachers are likely to develop lower expectations for certain ethnic groups, especially for Black students. They also tend to hold unequal attitude towards White and Black student behaviors due to racism and social stereotypes. This, as a result, leads to a situation where ethnic minority students, following teacher beliefs about them, lower their ow n expectations of the possible outcomes regardless to their initial high aspirations. This, in turn, can explain the differences in educational attainment between Black students and their other ethnicity peers. However, the hypothesis, that educational expectations and attainment between ethnic groups can be fully explained by racism and social stereotypes have been criticized. Modood (2003) has argued that Asian students tend to face more social pressure and racial harassment than Black Caribbean and Black African students, yet their achievements are outstanding and there is no evidence that Asian students would experience aspiration-expectation discrepancies due to the racism toward their ethnic group. Although, there exist several problems with the structuralist core assumptions, their ideas present useful and testable information that helps to explain and understand the reasons behind Black African and Caribbean student aspiration-expectation discrepancies. 2.2.2 Culturalist theory: According to culturalist point of view, differences in educational choices rise from internal factors, like internalization of historical and social norms or constraints. Therefore, culturalist perspective can partly fill the missing holes in the structuralist theory and explain why, for example, Asian students perform better than their Black peers although are both prone to racial harassment. Caplan et al. (1991) has argued that Asian performance is significantly better than one for other ethnic groups due to their cultural perceptions and understanding. It is claimed that Asian students tend to hold higher sense of responsibility for their family and prioritize self-reliance more than students from other ethnic groups, especially, Black Africans and Black Caribbeans. It is observed that Black Caribbean boys on average experience bigger peer pressure than other ethnic groups. They are exposed to the pressure to adopt the lifestyle of street culture, which negatively influences their academic performance (Sewell, 1997). Ogbu and Fordhams (1986) have contributed to the explanation why Black students tend to have low educational attainment despite the fact that they are holding high educational aspirations. They focused on two opposite ways how students are thinking and behaving, i.e., acting White and acting Black. Due to the previously mentioned peer pressure of adopting the street culture, acting White, i.e., doing well at school, is not seen as appropriate behavior for Black students. Therefore, Black students choose to keep their identities and are avoiding acting White, what results in lower educational achievements and attainment than in case of an absence of this pressure. Another factor that triggers the low educational attainment for Black African and Caribbean students is the socio-historical factor (Ogbu, 1991). Based on the historical roles in the society for Black population, Black African and Black Caribbean students may under value the necessity of investment in education. This is due to job ceiling they might feel they are facing. It has been suggested that Black people do not have the same economic opportunities as White people in the job market. In a recent study, Fouad and Byars-Winston (2005) found that, despite the high aspiration level among the Black students, they expected fewer job offers and opportunities than their White counterparts. Therefore, it is easy to understand why Black student do not see education as an essential tool for being able to gain a high position in the labor force and their academic attainment is lower than the one for other ethnic groups. This in turn, unfortunately, has resulted in a tendency that Black peopl e are overrepresented in low skilled jobs and are a considerable propo