Its Kind of a Funny Story free essay sample

â€Å"Its kind of a funny story† is kind of a funny story. Its about 15-year-old Craig Gilner, who attends a prestigious college prep school that will set him on his way to the right college, the right law school, and the right job on Wall Street assuming he can bring up his 93 average. Studying for his schools entrance exam occupied Craig for months, and he was proud of his perfect score. Now, though, the school is a huge source of stress for him. He feels scattered and depressed, and even though he really likes the doctors who are helping him with his depression, he cant seem to make what he refers to as The Shift, a move back to normal life. When he calls a suicide hotline, they suggest that he go to the emergency room. From there, Craig spends five days on Six North, the adult psychiatric floor of his local hospital. We will write a custom essay sample on Its Kind of a Funny Story or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page Six North turns out to be exactly what Craig needs. Away from the stress of high school, parties and friends, he is given the chance to decompress, focus on getting better, and find out what he wants to do to achieve happiness. In this sheltered environment, supported by his doctors and his family, Craig returns to one of his first interests art and makes not only the quirkiest but the most real friends of his life, who help him on his way to healing. Even though there are a lot of serious issues here, you cant help but laugh. The people Craig encounters on Six North arent anything like his friends from school. Craig tries to maintain normal ties with his pals while on Six North, but they dont quite work out. His voice is very honest, and hes not afraid to share the details of a high-stress high school life, including sex, drugs and Egyptian popular music. Read it and weep. Or laugh. Maybe both.

Free Essays on Early Cuban History

Early Cuban History Cuba is a very interesting country with a very dramatic history behind it. Cuba was first discovered in 1492 by Christopher Columbus. Columbus names the island â€Å"San Salvador†, although the natives call it â€Å"Guanahani.† Columbus sailed around the shores of Cuba, which he called â€Å"Juana,† thinking that he had found Asia’s mainland. On October 9th, 1492 Columbus landed in Cuba and claimed the island for Spain. Three months later, Columbus set sail back to Spain to bring word of his discovery to the King, leaving a number of his men behind. He did not wait long to depart back to the new world again, leaving in September, but this time he brought 17 ships and 1500 men with him including missionaries, soldiers and laborers, as well as cattle and seeds. Even with all these ships, the Spaniards did not realize that Cuba was an island until 1508 when Sebastian de Ocampo circumnavigated Cuba, proving that it was an island. Before the Spanish had arrived there were 3 different native cultures: the Ciboneyes, the Guanahatabeyes and the Taà ­nos. The Guanahatabeyes had been there the longest and it is thought that they probably came from Florida. The Ciboneyes and Taà ­nos are though to have sailed over from the West Indies. These tribes were nomadic societies that hunted using natural materials, such as unpolished stones, seashells and fish bones, for tools. It is speculated that Taà ­no tribes were forced westward about 200 years before the Spaniards arrived, by a bloodthirsty tribe known as Canibs (this is where the word cannibal came from). They would raid a village, kill all of the adult men and consume their flesh. The women were spared for slavery, as were the young men, who were castrated. The Taà ­nos found Cuba to be a paradise that was very suitable for their peaceful lifestyle. The Ciboneyes eventually became servants to the Taà ­nos, who were more evolved and technologically advanced. "Th... Free Essays on Early Cuban History Free Essays on Early Cuban History Early Cuban History Cuba is a very interesting country with a very dramatic history behind it. Cuba was first discovered in 1492 by Christopher Columbus. Columbus names the island â€Å"San Salvador†, although the natives call it â€Å"Guanahani.† Columbus sailed around the shores of Cuba, which he called â€Å"Juana,† thinking that he had found Asia’s mainland. On October 9th, 1492 Columbus landed in Cuba and claimed the island for Spain. Three months later, Columbus set sail back to Spain to bring word of his discovery to the King, leaving a number of his men behind. He did not wait long to depart back to the new world again, leaving in September, but this time he brought 17 ships and 1500 men with him including missionaries, soldiers and laborers, as well as cattle and seeds. Even with all these ships, the Spaniards did not realize that Cuba was an island until 1508 when Sebastian de Ocampo circumnavigated Cuba, proving that it was an island. Before the Spanish had arrived there were 3 different native cultures: the Ciboneyes, the Guanahatabeyes and the Taà ­nos. The Guanahatabeyes had been there the longest and it is thought that they probably came from Florida. The Ciboneyes and Taà ­nos are though to have sailed over from the West Indies. These tribes were nomadic societies that hunted using natural materials, such as unpolished stones, seashells and fish bones, for tools. It is speculated that Taà ­no tribes were forced westward about 200 years before the Spaniards arrived, by a bloodthirsty tribe known as Canibs (this is where the word cannibal came from). They would raid a village, kill all of the adult men and consume their flesh. The women were spared for slavery, as were the young men, who were castrated. The Taà ­nos found Cuba to be a paradise that was very suitable for their peaceful lifestyle. The Ciboneyes eventually became servants to the Taà ­nos, who were more evolved and technologically advanced. "Th...

Asylum seekers

The word Asylum seekers is not an unknown topic to Australia. The Asylum seekers or ‘boat people’ have been contentious issue in Australian politics for many years. According to Google dictionary an Asylum seeker is: â€Å"a person who has left their home country as a political refugee and is seeking asylum in another.†The big debate surrounding the area of asylum seekers is how to moderate the amount of boat people coming into Australia. The Malaysian Solution was one of the approaches to reduce the amount of asylum seekers arriving to Australia by boat. The Solution was this: If Malaysia accepted 800 of Australia’s next ‘boat people’ then Australia would accept 4000 of Malaysia’s ‘genuine refugees’ and integrate them into Australia. This so called solution from the Labour government however was ruled against by the high court of Australia due to legal and ethical issues The High court ruled that the scheme was unlawful. One of the reasons is because Australia could not send asylum seekers to Malaysia because it is not legally bound by international or domestic law to provide access for asylum seekers to effective procedures for assessing their need for protection (Alison Rourke, 2010). It would be unethical to send asylum seekers to a country in which their basic human rights were to be at risk. Malaysia is not a signatory to the UN Refugee Convention as well so there is no guarantee that the asylum seekers processed there would be safe. Many Australian governments are trying to introduce offshore processing as a deterrent to the ‘boat people’. By introducing the offshore processing ‘boat people’ will be faced with having to be processed as a ‘genuine refugee’ in another country rather than within Australia. With introducing Offshore processing it decreases moderation of the amount of people risking their lives by traveling by boat into Australian waters. Australians are also known to be against the idea of granting citizenship to refugees. By keeping the flow of refugees into Australia at a minimum it is less likely to cause a big uprising and attention to the area. Offshore processing however also has its flaws such as the excessive expense costs of transporting the asylum seekers to the offshore locations. It can be  estimated that to process 1 person in Malaysia would cost the government and tax payers up to $500 000 dollars per person. The Rejection of the governments Malaysian Solution by the High Court of Australia was for numerous reasons. The Scheme in many ways was illegal and did not improve the safety and human rights of the asylum seekers. Head of the Department of Immigration, Andrew Metcalfe, holds a firm view that offshore processing was ineffective and should not be reintroduced to process asylum seekers

Write a research paper discussing the affects of the Voting Term

Write a research discussing the affects of the Voting demographic on politics in the United States - Term Paper Example Because of these changes in the country’s demographics, democrats enjoyed a greater share of the country’s votes. According to the results of various studies, democrats will enjoy a favorable vote in the years to come, especially because of the increased rates of immigration into the country. Some of the leading populations in terms of immigration into the country are of Hispanic and Latino origin. The role of these populations has been widely felt especially in the 3 most recent elections. Democrats are therefore best advised to retain a hold on these populations. Al Gore scooped 66% of the votes from this population. This was especially notable in swing states examples being New Mexico. Cubans are not so keen on the democrats, a fact that resulted in Al Gore losing in states like Florida. This was one of causes of Gore’s loss to George Bush. The margin between the two candidates was quite slim but played a role in his loss. This effect was also noticeable in the 2004 election where George Bush was able to garner 44% of the Hispanic/Latino votes. This was a new achievement for the republicans. It was instrumental in his victory in that election. However, the republicans could not hold on to their Latino votes during the 2008 election when Barrack Obama of the Democrats won over 67% of their votes. The influence of the Latino/Hispanic vote was felt across several states in which republican’s George Bush won in the previous election in 2004. Florida was one of the most influential states during that election and Obama managed to clinch 57% of the votes cast by the Latino/Hispanic population. This win helped to raise Democrats’ confidence that had been lost due to Gore’s losses (Goldberg 17). The Latino/Hispanic population makes up 16% of the 312 million US citizens. The majority (64%) are whites while blacks make up 13% of the population. Asians make up 4% of the population while the rest 3% is made of less dominant races. The

Critical Reveiw of the Effects on Procurement in the UK Public Sector Dissertation

Critical Reveiw of the Effects on Procurement in the UK Public Sector after the Egan & Lathan Reports - Dissertation Example These transformations, both reports argued will prevent the crisis from happening again and consequently make the construction industry more resilient to future economic reversals. Investigating the current state of the construction industry as compared to the pre-Latham and Egan report era, this paper also investigated if the recommendations were fully implemented and integrated within the construction industry. A quick inquiry revealed that a Procurement Law that is congruent with both reports have been passed and is now fully implemented, comparing the law and the report it was revealed that the government has fully complied with both reports. This thesis also investigated the construction industry to determine if at all there was a cogent attempt to comply with the recommendation of the report. It was determined that there was no concerted effort to make the entire industry to systematically comply with the report. There is however indications of individual attempts of companies to comply with the report. ... Introduction After a period of serious lapse in the growth of the construction industry in the United Kingdom, the government and other stakeholders commissioned Sir Michael Latham to review the procurement and contractual arrangements in the United Kingdom (Harding, 2008). The report was published in 1994 and it has been three years short of two decades since then. In March 15, 2005 or during the time the procurement law of 2006 is being deliberated in parliament the National Audit Office published its report entitled â€Å"Improving Public Service through better construction (Comptroller and Auditor General, National Accounting Office). In it, it was established that there is still a need â€Å"for further action to improve departments’ construction performance and the scope for significant financial savings† (ibid). This paper shall synthesise and analyse secondary sources that would include government statistics to determine the current state of the construction in dustry as compared to its condition in the pre-Latham report. This paper shall also analyze the impact of the report’s recommendation with regards to procurement arrangements in the United Kingdom. The areas that will be explored are the laws that were legislated since the publication of the report. This paper would cover the procurement arrangement within the United Kingdom specifically those involving the construction industry. Influenced by the Egan and Latham reports, the United Kingdom Public Sector Procurement lists three routes that will deliver a project to completion; Private Finance Initiative, Prime Contracting and Design and Build (Office of Governement Commerce, 2007). Each of the routes mentioned will be

The Tools Of A Writer Essay Example for Free

The Tools Of A Writer Essay Compare the importance of the tools of a writer (description, narration, and example) to those of a carpenter. The textbook is Wordsmith a guide to college writing by Pamela Arlov 3rd edition. He either imagines the plans in his head, and make a sketch of the end he sees; it make time to complete this arduous task but he devotes time and energy into arriving at the right design for the work/furniture he plans. Until he finds the appropriate connection and decides the correct material to combine, he never starts. Once he is finished on the vision he sees, the idea to portray through the design and the necessities for the work, he runs straight to his workbench and work begins. He is a carpenter ready to ‘fashion’ an edifice from mere wood from the Amazon forest; poised to bring the vision to sight and the dream to reality. He cuts into strands and planks, cleans the inconsistent edge into defines shapes. He smoothens the surface of the wood with the smoothing machine, and clears the plank of dirt and unreasonable edges. He chisels in and out until the right bend is achieved and every part is well nit to the other. Then he sprays the finished work with the paint of ‘gold’ and the aroma of a ‘Paris’ perfume for the dream is here and the reality now a neighbor; that’s the way of the excellent carpenter. In similar fashion, the writer ruminates over the idea he is building, over the issue to espouse and the story to tell. In his mind, he does have a target: a topic to discuss. At his disposals are tools to work with: description, narration and example. He begins to espouse his idea with the definition, and process the data into useful information. In his description, he employs the use of words and not woods to make a statement or tell his story. He ‘saws’ out the right own that are compatible with his lines, leaving out irrelevance that may mar his work. To express his mind, he must describe and/or narrate. His words are constructed into sentences and meaningful paragraphs. His thoughts are clarified in this process, as he fashions out each unit for a definite purpose. He knits everything together with strong coherence and sentence unity. He ‘chisels’ the irrelevances out of each unit. He relies to a reasonable extent on the works and experiences of the past just as the carpenter derives strength from the victory of former days. With examples, he expands the model he proposes until all parts converge into an edifice. His narration appears like a divergence but in essence, all units consummate on the idea: a beautiful castle to behold made of wooden words.

Freedom comes from within yourself :: essays research papers

Freedom in the Hindu Culture   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Over the past three years in America we have been bombarded with the word freedom as a call to action or a word to persuade us to follow a specific view. Although our society was born on freedom as an idea, its meaning has been used in many ways. Hinduism is also a religion and a culture that places a lot of meaning on freedom but they give a different meaning to it. From learning about Hindu culture in this class their focus on it follows suit as does our version. While our â€Å"freedom† is an idea that can be used in many different ways the Hindu â€Å"Freedom† is a more pure idea as it seems the rest of the culture is. In the Eastern culture freedom comes along with a level or state that you have reached in your life. To understand the meaning of freedom you also have to understand its relation to words like Samsara, Avidya, Maya and Moksha. These are all part of the journey towards the Hindu concept of freedom. Samsara is important in defining freedom in Hindu terms because it is what you want freedom from. Samsara is the continuous cycle of life that takes place in the material world. It is thought of as a negative because it keeps us from moving on and up spiritually. Maya is a concept in Hinduism that relates to man disillusioning himself. The idea is that there is no such thing as an individual existence. When a person is trying to better their standing or wealth they are disillusioning themselves. In the Eastern culture you do not work harder to better yourself you work harder to better the world as a whole through your actions in life. This brings you closer to unity with the â€Å"Divine.† Avidya is similar to Maya. It is when the man is disillusioning himself that Avidya describes. When he denies his true â€Å"Self â€Å" and moves farther away from knowledge he is not taking care of his soul. Avidya is a product of the soul as well as a part of the soul. A person can always move away from this and make his soul healthy again by seeking truth and trying to reach the higher levels of spirituality. In the final stage of life we see Moksha come into play. After freeing yourself from material ties in the third stage of life you move on to the fourth and last. Freedom comes from within yourself :: essays research papers Freedom in the Hindu Culture   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Over the past three years in America we have been bombarded with the word freedom as a call to action or a word to persuade us to follow a specific view. Although our society was born on freedom as an idea, its meaning has been used in many ways. Hinduism is also a religion and a culture that places a lot of meaning on freedom but they give a different meaning to it. From learning about Hindu culture in this class their focus on it follows suit as does our version. While our â€Å"freedom† is an idea that can be used in many different ways the Hindu â€Å"Freedom† is a more pure idea as it seems the rest of the culture is. In the Eastern culture freedom comes along with a level or state that you have reached in your life. To understand the meaning of freedom you also have to understand its relation to words like Samsara, Avidya, Maya and Moksha. These are all part of the journey towards the Hindu concept of freedom. Samsara is important in defining freedom in Hindu terms because it is what you want freedom from. Samsara is the continuous cycle of life that takes place in the material world. It is thought of as a negative because it keeps us from moving on and up spiritually. Maya is a concept in Hinduism that relates to man disillusioning himself. The idea is that there is no such thing as an individual existence. When a person is trying to better their standing or wealth they are disillusioning themselves. In the Eastern culture you do not work harder to better yourself you work harder to better the world as a whole through your actions in life. This brings you closer to unity with the â€Å"Divine.† Avidya is similar to Maya. It is when the man is disillusioning himself that Avidya describes. When he denies his true â€Å"Self â€Å" and moves farther away from knowledge he is not taking care of his soul. Avidya is a product of the soul as well as a part of the soul. A person can always move away from this and make his soul healthy again by seeking truth and trying to reach the higher levels of spirituality. In the final stage of life we see Moksha come into play. After freeing yourself from material ties in the third stage of life you move on to the fourth and last.

Health Reform Essay

The American Medical Association (AMA) has been a supporter of the Affordable Care Act. This health reform has given coverage to over 30 million Americans (AMA). â€Å"We continue to support the health reform law as an important first step in covering the uninsured and transforming our health care system, and we are working hard to make improvements in the law for patients and physicians,† said Dr. Jeremy A. Lazarus, incoming president of the AMA (AMA). Physicians have asked why the AMA has supported the health care reform bill so early is the process. Dr. James Rohack, the president of the AMA, has stated â€Å"there are several sensible reasons for this strategy: †¢The original bill contained a core set of high-priority provisions that our organization has long supported; †¢Bill sponsors were not likely to maintain the $230+ billion investment in Medicare physician spending if we did not register support for the bill (hospitals, the home health sector, Medicare Ad vantage plans and pharmaceutical companies are all facing cuts in the tens and hundreds of billions of dollars); and †¢As early supporters, we are well positioned to help shape revisions to this bill, as well as the final legislation that will ultimately be presented to the President.† The AMA is working with Congress and Administrators to ensure the best outcome for patients and physicians. This reform has promised goals that the AMA is working on to make sure they are achieved. These goals are as stated by the House of Represantives, †¢Extending coverage to the uninsured †¢Making investments in the physician workforce †¢Providing long-term relief from Medicare’s flawed physician payment formula †¢Increasing the nation’s focus on preventive care and wellness initiatives †¢Simplifying administrative burdens for patients and physicians Although working to ensure these goals are met, this organization also has three other goals they are working to achieve. These goals are 1) Eliminate IPAB, 2) Replace SGR, and 3) Enact MLR. (AMA). The AMA is fighting to eliminate cuts to physicians and providers. They want to achieve a new system of payment. With this new system physicians can be rewarded for the care they provide. (AMA). Goal three has the AMA fighting to fix the liability system for patients and physicians. (AMA). In time, the Affordable Care Act bill will be worked out to where it will run smoothly. During this process the AMA will ensure that the legislative process will continue to better health care for Americans. References Rohack, J. (2009, July). AMA Comments On Health Care Reform Position. In Clinical & Practice management. Retrieved February 10, 2013, from www.acep.org The Affordable Care Act: An Important First Step. (2012). In Advocacy. Retrieved February 10, 2013, from www.ama-assn.org japsen, b. (2012, June 14). The AMA, A Key Backer of Obamacare, Looks to Reboot. Retrieved February 10, 2013, from www.forbes.com

Supervisory techniques

The word counseling can be defined as the process of helping persons who are fundamentally psychologically healthy or otherwise resolve developmental and situational issues. Supervisory techniques are essential and incorporate some advances that may not be themselves referred as counseling such as creative problem solving but have similar aim. A successful counselor has a mature and well balanced state of mind and temperament and places him/her self in the shoes of the counselee, and has the ability to respect their (counselee) opinions, thoughts, feelings and emotions.After evaluating the story as described, a realistic, practical solution can be developed individually at first if this is beneficial, and then jointly to encourage the participants to give their best efforts at orienting their relationship with each other. It must be noted that the change in situations like financial status, physical health, and the influence of family members and friends can have an adverse negative influence on the conduct, responses and actions of the those counselee.The scope of counseling covers a wide and diversified field of study as it includes what one would imagine far and beyond these identified topics;- Abortion counseling, Brief therapy, Career Counseling, Christian counseling, Counseling psychology, Credit counseling, Cross-cultural counseling, Disaster counseling, Disciplinary counseling, Ecological counseling, Family & marriage counseling, Genetic counseling, Grief & trauma counseling, Marriage counseling, Pastoral counseling, Relationship counseling , Rehabilitation counseling, Sexual trauma counseling, Suicide intervention etc. 1.0) Pregnancy Options and Abortion counseling This provides information and support for a pregnant woman who is considering between the choices regarding the continuation of the pregnancy. The choices include continuing the pregnancy for parenting or adoption and pregnancy termination. In reality, qualified advisors take the information with certainty and encouragingly that helps each woman make the best decision for her. Counselors require up-to-date knowledge of local and national laws governing women's pregnancy choices, especially concerning adolescents and their rights to make such decisions.The tie between forced abortion and mental health is no more associated with psychological danger than carrying an unwanted pregnancy to term. Psychological effects of abortion It was noted that adverse emotional reactions to the abortion are influenced by pre-existing psychological conditions and other negative factors and, furthermore, that well-being was separately and positively related to employment, income, and education, but negatively related to total number of children. The kind of stress and the amount of stress women experience varies from culture to culture.Emotional distress may occur in a majority of women who are contemplating or have had an abortion due to a number of factors, including pre-existing mental health problems, the status of the woman's relationship with her partner, poor economic status, poor social network, or conservative views held on abortion. The term â€Å"post-abortion syndrome† was used as it was stated that it had been observed post-traumatic stress disorder which developed in response to the stress of abortion.While some studies have shown a correlation between abortion and clinical depression, anxiety, suicidal behaviors, or adverse effects on women's sexual functions for a small number of women, these correlations may be explained by pre-existing social circumstances and emotional health and various factors, such as emotional attachment to the pregnancy, lack of support, and conservative views on abortion, may increase the likelihood of experiencing negative reactions. Abortion might mean a selection of women at higher risk for suicide because of reasons like depression.The study concluded that compared to other women in the group those who had an abor tion were subsequently more likely to have â€Å"mental health problems including depression, anxiety, suicidal behaviors and substance use disorders. 1. 1) Career Counseling Career choices are based on matching personal traits (aptitude, abilities, resources, personality) with job factors (wages and environment for success. This framework contains three sections: a) Acquaintance with the necessary requirements and conditions of achievement, positive and negative effects, returns, opportunities, and prospects in different area’s of work.b) A true reasoning of the relations of these two groups of facts 1. 2) Christian counseling Christian counseling is carried out by a qualified counselor who upholds Christian ethics values, beliefs and philosophy. The uniting element is the therapist, who has integrated a combination of Christianity, psychology, and psychotherapy into the applied program. Counselees look at Biblical guidance and counseling as a perfect relationship with a ca ring counselor directed toward increased awareness of themselves, others, the societies and cultures in which they live, and their understanding of the Christian God.The therapy may take an ad-hoc approach, focusing simply on the therapy session itself. Clients may be more comfortable with a Christian counselor, and they may feel such a person's advice is more sensitive to their personal or religious needs. Some clients also wish to use the Christian Bible as a reference for their counseling sessions and therapy. 1. 3) Disciplinary counseling A disciplinary counseling is a session or a meeting between an employer and an employee or a supervisor and his/her junior employee.It may focus and put more emphasis on a specific work place scenario or in carrying out a performance appraisal. The counseling process may be scheduled, initiated and executed by the supervisor and is not considered disciplinary. It is conducted in ultimate privacy, and is intended to have a constructive goal of p roviding feedback to the employee to correct the problem. 1. 4) Pastoral counseling Pastoral or Biblical counseling is a branch of therapy in which ordained ministers, rabbis, priests and others provide therapy services.These include Marriage and Family Counselors. Pastoral counseling is essentially a non-licensure. Counselees often will not pay for pastoral counseling of counselors without state licensing which is often synonymous with pastoral care that include Christian Counselors, Clinical pastoral education.. 1. 5) Rehabilitation counseling This type of counseling takes interest on assisting those with disabilities to achieve their personal, career, and independent living goals through a counseling process.Though educational programs have began to appear, it is not until the availability of adequate funding for rehabilitation counseling programs that the profession begun to grow and establish its own identity. 1. 6) Suicide intervention Counseling Suicide intervention is an eff ort to stop or prevent persons attempting or contemplating suicide from killing themselves. Individuals who utter the intention cause harm to self are routinely determined to lack the present mental capacity to refuse treatment, and can be transported to an emergency department against their will.Medical advice pertaining people who attempt or consider suicide is that they should immediately go or be taken to the nearest emergency room, or emergency services should be called immediately by them or anyone aware of the problem. Modern medicine treats suicide as a mental health issue. According to medical practice, severe suicidal ideation, that is, serious contemplation or planning of suicide is a medical emergency and that the condition requires immediate emergency medical treatment. Those suffering from depression are considered as high-risk group for suicidal behavior.When depression is a major factor, successful treatment of the depression usually leads to the disappearance of sui cidal thoughts. However, medical treatment of depression is not always successful, and lifelong depression can contribute to recurring suicide attempts. 1. 7) Career Counseling A career was initially taken as a course of successive situations that make up a person's work life. One can have a sporting, musical or any other without being a real professional athlete or musician, but most frequently â€Å"career† in the 20th century referenced the series of jobs or positions by which one earned one's money.Career Assessments are tests that come in a variety of forms and rely on both quantitative and qualitative methodologies and helps individuals to identify and better articulate their unique interests, values, and skills. These type of advisors evaluates major interests, values and skills, of the client and also help them explore career options and research graduate and professional schools. This field is vast and includes career placement, career planning, learning strategies a nd student development.Typically when people come for career counseling they know exactly what they want to get out of the process, but are unsure about how it will work Career counselors work with people from all walks of life such as adolescents looking to explore career options or with experienced professionals looking for a career change. Career advisors normally have psychology, vocational psychology, or industrial/organizational setting. The approach of career counseling varies by practitioner, but generally they include the completion of one or more assessments. 1.8 Credit counseling It is also known as debt counseling. This is a process offering education to consumers about how to avoid incurring debts that cannot be repaid. This process is actually more debt counseling than a function of credit education. This type counseling involves discussing with lenders in ascertaining a debt management plan (DMP) for a consumer. A DMP may help the debtor repay his or her debt by worki ng out a repayment plan with the creditor. DMPs, set up by credit counselors, usually offer reduced payments, fees and interest rates to the client.It merely gives a fresh start and an opportunity for the client to begin building a positive credit history. Criticism for credit counseling These sharp increases of credit counseling activity also created other, more serious issues in the industry and they include: a) Exploitation by most credit guidance organizations are so significant which leads to criticism of the entire industry. b) Another common criticism of credit counseling is the assertion that participating in a Debt Management Plan will ruin a consumer’s credit.d) Severally many credit advice firms hire untrained staff to do credit counseling. References 1) Swanson, J. L. and Parcover, J. A. (1998). Annual Review: Practices and Research in career counseling and development — 1997. The Career Development Quarterly. 47, 2, 98-135. 2) Kim, B. S, Li, L. C. , and Li an, C. T. (2002) Effects of Asian American client adherence to Asian cultural values, session goal, and counselor emphasis of client expression on career counseling process. Journal of Counseling Psychology, 49, 3, 342-354.

Transformational Leadership Theory and Personality

Transformational Leadership Theory and Personality The concept of leadership is as old as mankind. A number of theories and conceptual models that explain this concept have been put forward by psychologists among other organisational experts. The theories have been classified into eight broader schools of thought.Advertising We will write a custom essay sample on Transformational Leadership Theory and Personality specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More They include: the trait approach to leadership, the behavioral theories, the contingency or situational school, leaders and followers, dispersed leadership, participative theories, relationship theories, and management theories (Bolden, Gosling, Marturano, Dennison, 2003). These schools of thought emerged in the course of the twentieth century. Most of the early theorists were interested in the qualities that made leaders unique compared with their followers. On the other hand, latter theorists have considered various variables like situation and level of skills in understanding leadership. This essay discusses the transformational theory of leadership which is under the leaders and followers relationship. Key terms used in the theory shall be explained, major components presented, as well as a description of how the theory works. The strengths and weaknesses of the theory will also be offered. Furthermore, the essay will present a selected organisational behaviour and show how it links to the transformational theory, for instance the influence of leadership on the identified observational behavior or vice versa. Transformational Leadership Theory Transformational theory of leadership is mainly concerned with understanding and explaining the relationships between the leaders and their followers. The theory argues that leaders seek to motivate, encourage, and be a source of inspiration to others by assisting them realise the significance and the higher value of the task presented to them (Covey, 2002). While other theori es focus on the leader as a unique figure, transformational leadership theory is interested in exploring the significance of the relationship between the leader and the follower. The roles of a leader and the one being led are interrelated. Transformational leaders place high priority on the success of their followers in general as well as individual excellence. Thus he or she is supposed to be a team leader.Advertising Looking for essay on business economics? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More The concept of transforming leadership was first suggested by James MacGregor Burns in1978. He defines transforming leadership as a relationship of mutual motivation and promotion where followers can assume leadership roles while leaders become agents of moral principles. Burns suggested further that this kind of leadership occurs when leaders and followers interact and in the process uplift one another to advanced levels of mot ivation and moral values. In proposing this theory, Burns was inspired by the humanistic psychology movement and he suggested that a transforming leader has the capacity to change, alter, and raise the motives, values, and objectives of meaningful transformation among those being led (Covey, 2002). According to Burns, transformational leadership is different from other styles because of the roles expected of a leader and the follower. The other leadership styles consider a leader as a dominant figure who is always in front as others follow. Transformational leaders are empowered with a special ability to change the leaders as well as the followers by the use of principles that makes them have mutual adherence to modal values and end-values (Tichy Devanna, 2006). The concept of transforming leadership as advanced by Burns was later developed by Bernard Bass into that of transformational leadership. Bass proposed that in this style, the leader’s ultimate aim is to transform th e followers (Bass Avolio, 1994). This conception draws a difference between Bass’ and Burn’s idea of leadership. Bass views the interaction between the leader and the followers as being one-way while Burns’ thinks that both the leader and the one being led have mutual influence and hence a two-way interaction (Bolden et al., 2003). However, Bass includes a new dimension of social change to the style. This perspective is lacking in Burns’ conception of transforming leadership.Advertising We will write a custom essay sample on Transformational Leadership Theory and Personality specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More According to Bass, transformational leaders have the ability to enlarge the portfolio of needs for his or her followers, change a follower’s self-interest, enhance the confidence levels of the followers, raise the level of expectations of those being led, and to set very high standards of value- expectation of the leader for his or her followers. A transformational leader, as put forward by Bass, should encourage and facilitate behavioural change and inspire others to achieve higher levels of personal potentialities equivalent of Maslow’s self-actualisation (Bass Avolio, 1994). Other prominent contributors to this theory of leadership are Tichy and Devanna who added to the ideas of Burns and Bass. They have jointly written a book entitled Transformational Leadership which is targeted at both organisational and work contexts. They argue that transformational leadership is not due to charisma but it is behavioural in nature which implies that it can be learned (Tichy Devanna, 2006). A transformational leader, therefore, is viewed under this theory as a role model with which the followers admire and would want to identify with. For a long time, the most common model of leadership has been that of a ‘bottom line’ approach. However, transformational leaders hip adopts the ‘top line’ perspective. Some characteristics of transformational leadership as outlined by Covey (2002) include: Builds on an innate desire by man for meaning in life Focuses on promoting moral and ethical values Rises above daily affairs Is geared towards the attainment of long-term goals without violating accepted human values and principles Concerned mostly with missions and laying of strategies to achieve them Aim at helping people release their full human potential by identifying and cultivating people’s talents Evaluates and re-evaluates job opportunities with an aim of making them challenging and purposeful Focuses on internal organisational structures and systems in order to reinforce desired values and goals The main goal of transformational leadership, according to Bolden et al. (2003), is to literally ‘transform’ people as well as organisations by changing their mind and heart; enlarging vision, insight, and level of under standing; ensuring clarity of purposes; making behavior to be in tandem with held beliefs, principles, or values; and facilitating permanent changes that are self-perpetuating, and with own dynamic momentum. Transformational leaders are associated with unique behaviours that distinguish them from other leadership styles. In their book ‘Transformational Leadership Styles and Behaviors,’ Bass and Avolio identify some of the behaviors exhibited by transformational leaders (1994). The first style is the idealised behaviour which emphasises on living one’s ideals.Advertising Looking for essay on business economics? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More It is characterised by an individual talking about the deep-held values and beliefs and tendency to have a strong sense of purpose in life. People with this style are very concerned with the moral and ethical consequences of their decisions and actions and are always enthusiastic in exploring new possibilities of doing things. Such leaders also like talking about the essence of building trust among each other. The second behaviour is the desire of the leader to inspire others. This is usually achieved by being optimistic about the future even if in the midst of trouble, talking confidently about the achievement of set goals, assuring the followers that the goals will be attained, and providing a vivid image of the future and the most essential things to be done. A transformational leader is also known to take a strong stand even on controversial issues. Thirdly, those using this style of leadership are usually intellectually stimulating. They offer a critique of every assumption to evaluate their appropriateness and explore various alternatives when solving problems facing their organisation by viewing the problem from different angles. Such leaders are also known to discourage followers from using conventional approaches while addressing traditional problems by encouraging them to question those assumptions that have not been subjected to critical questioning. The fourth characteristic of transformational leaders is that of embracing individualised consideration. They prefer spending time and resources teaching and developing others and treat each one of them as an individual as opposed to as a group. These leaders are keen on understanding individual concerns of the followers and helping them capitalise on their strengths. The fifth behaviour associated with transformational leadership is that of idealised attributes where the leader instill a sense of pride in the followers and often prioritises the concerns of the group. They always strive to be role model s by dedicate themselves to the service of others. This theory of leadership has both advantages and disadvantages. On the positive side, the theory is quite optimistic and envisions a future of possibilities, can transform people’s mindsets to see new chances, help in ensuring that the organisation remains true to its mission and vision, enhances uniqueness of an organisation, does not encourage master-servant relationship in the organisation, and helps in bringing up an inspired workforce that will strive to achieve the organisation’s goals. However, the theory may be criticised for being overambitious and setting unrealistic goals, advocates for the bigger picture which may result in missing out important details, and relying on motivation and inspiration alone as suggested by the theory may obscure one from truth and reality. Organisational Behaviour Organisational Behavior (OB) refers to the study of individual as well as group dynamics in a given organisation, an d the nature of the organisations under consideration (Nelson Quick, 2007). It has been acknowledged that when people interact in organisations, a number of factors influence the interaction process. Despite the diversity in the work place in terms of people’s backgrounds and cultural values, they are expected to work in harmony for maximum output. This topic has seen a growing interest in the study of organisational behavior. Personality and Organisation The behaviour of an individual is determined by his or her personality which incorporates a person’s qualities, unique skills and expertise together with such traits as grooming and general attitude (Nelson Quick, 2007). All these combine to form a specific consistent behavioural pattern of a person in specified contexts. Personality is a reflection of how one’s feelings, thoughts, cognitions and overt behaviour have been ordered. It has been established that certain u patterns are not physically observable u nless they are tested. Any given organisation is greatly influenced by the personality of individuals in it. A number of methods have been developed to measure people’s personality. They include Personality Inventories, Projective Tests, and Assessment Centre (Nelson Quick, 2007). Personality Inventory is a commonly used method and involves answering a set of questions which are designed to elicit a specific dimension of personality. The respondents are expected to indicate the extent to which they either agree or disagree with a given statement. Projective Test, on the other hand, is a bit sophisticated method of testing personality. In this approach, it is assumed that the prevalent fantasies, feelings, aspirations and expectations are measurable and cab be used to test personality. Ten pictures which are symmetrically dived into two are presented to a person undergoing the test and the individual is expected to indicate what he or she perceives in the pictures. The third method, Assessment Center, is made up of several methods used to test employees’ personalities. It includes various tasks associated with the organisation. The results are then classified into behavioural patterns that may be used to determine personality like sensitivity to others, personal ambitions, independence, and so on. The main objective of strategies used in organsational behavior is to help employees perform at their best and hence facilitate the achievement of organisational goals. It has been established that the performance of an individual depends largely on the competencies and will-power. However, motivation of employees plays a crucial role in the attainment of set goals. Managers, therefore, ought to understand each employee and how best to motivate them. Motivation is a skill that should be employed by every manager. Some of the strategies include the provision of opportunities for growth and recognition in the work place, allowing the employee to exercise some degree of freedom on the work schedule, empowering workers in their area of specialisation, among other approaches. A highly motivated employee has optimum output and vice versa. Personality and Transformational Leadership Theory This essay has discussed the Transformational Leadership Theory in terms of its components, how it works, as well as some of the strengths and weaknesses. The relationship between personality and organisation has also been explored. There is a strong relationship between transformational leadership theory and the topic of personality in organisational behaviour. It has been noted that the theory argues that leaders always seek to motivate, encourage, and be a source of inspiration to others by assisting them realise the significance and the higher value of the task presented to them. This theory, therefore, advocates for the development of personality of an individual. This is in support of the idea that personality of an employee has significant influ ence on the general performance of the organisation. In organisational behavior, there is need to understand how individuals are motivated and how their interaction affect the running of the organisation. This also calls for an investigation of how managers or organisational leaders interact with their employees or followers. Here, transformational leadership theory may be helpful since its principles are at the core of leader-follower relationship and the role of each party. Both topics advocate for the need for motivation in bringing out the best in individuals. For a leader who uses the transformational style, he or she must fully understand the personality of his or her followers and hence the need to be conversant with this topic under organisational behavior. It can be concluded that there is a strong link between transformational leadership theory and personality in organisations. The focus of the two is on understanding individual persons and their characteristics. Motivatio n forms the basis of these two areas of interest. Although personality may be used to define an individual as he or she is, there is a possibility of influencing it through proper motivation and inspiration. References Bass, B. M. Avolio, B. J. (1994). Improving organizational effectiveness through  transformational leadership. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications Bolden, R., Gosling, J., Marturano, A. Dennison, P. (2003). A Review of  Leadership Theory and Competency Frameworks. Center for Leadership Studies: University of Exeter Covey, S. (2002). Principle-Centered Leadership (3rd ed). Simon and Schuster Nelson, D. L. Quick, J. C. (2007). Understanding organizational behavior (3rd ed). Cengage Learning Tichy, N. Devanna, M. (2006). Transformational leadership (4th ed.). New York: Wiley

Family Law Coursework Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Family Law Coursework - Essay Example Analysis First of all, the issue that is at hand is that James and Cara have not been living together for the past eight years. However, Cara has been performing all of the housework and maintaining of children since the two have been split up. Therefore, one can argue that Cara’s caring for the children might be considered to be domestic work that would influence her share of how much she would receive, equity-wise, in the house. However, different courts have treated the value of housework and child care differently in this regard. For instance, take the case of Burns v. Burns.2 In this case, the plaintiff did not contribute monetarily to the property and the maintenance of the property. However, she contributed value to the household by her role as a homemaker. The Burns court found, however, that this was not enough, and that the plaintiff did not have the right to a beneficial entitlement to the home because she did not contribute monetarily towards this. This case was ba cked up by the case of Oxley v. Hiscock.3 In Oxley, there were two unmarried people who owned a home and were cohabiting, just as in the case of Burns, and in the case at bar. While both parties had contributed towards the purchase of the home in Oxley, but the court did not consider the value of the plaintiff being a homemaker in that case, either, so the plaintiff did not get an increased value in her beneficial stake in the home because she was a homemaker. Abbott v. Abbott4 came to the same conclusion, stating that only monetary contributions could suffice for determining an equitable stake in property, although some conduct may be considered, if the conduct is directly related to the house itself. For instance, conduct which improved the value of the house, such as manually making repairs, would be considered, but conduct which is indirect, such as homemaking or housekeeping, would not be considered. However, another case, Drake v. Whipp5 came to a different conclusion. In this case, the female partner made under 20% of the financial contributions towards the shared home, but was awarded 33% of the property, in part because of her contributions as a homemaker. Other cases that were before the Burns case are also relevant. For instance, in Pettit v. Pettit,6 which involved a married couple, the husband did not contribute financially towards the couple's home, which was in the separate name of the wife before marriage. He labored on the home, but the court still found that he was not entitled to a beneficial interest in the home. In Gissing v. Gissing,7 the couple was unmarried, and the husband did not contribute financially to the home. He did, however, buy furniture and do chores, such as mow the lawn. Again, the court did not find a beneficial interest for the husband in this case. Lloyds Bank v. Rosset8 is yet another case that found that conduct alone would not give rise to a beneficial interest – in that case, the wife undertook actions that im proved the home, yet she did not contribute financially to the home. The wife was denied a beneficial interest, and the Lloyds court found that anything less than direct contributions to the purchase price of a home, or towards the mortgage, would suffice to show the intention of the parties that

Debate Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words - 9

Debate - Essay Example The trend continued with the establishment of the sensitive security information category. Such information is deemed secretive and authorized individuals are required to access it. In case, any common person accesses it, the individual is deemed to be a felony (Ginsberg et al., 2015). Although, such moves are contradictory to the freedom of information Act; they are deemed to be an exemption from the provisions because of the volatile situation in the security area. According to Kean (2005), the government mercenaries are always working behind the scenes, hence compromising even privacy rights of its citizenry. This trend is a wrong ad must be condemned because it indicates a lack of professionalism of the federal bureau of investigation and related agencies. According to Ginsberg et al. (2015), government secrecy is also subject to bureaucracy on the part of the government. The practice has led to various forms of harassment on account of security screening and vigilance. The sharing of information between the public and the government is also compromised due to the limitation of information publicly (Ginsberg et al., 2015). The trend is also manifest in the number of officers employed on an annual basis to classify information as sensitive and otherwise. This situation notwithstanding, the public is usually notified of an exemption to the freedom of information access to avoid public uproar and litigations (Ginsberg et al.,