Friday, September 6, 2019
My First Day Essay Essay Example for Free
My First Day Essay Essay My First Dayâ⬠¦ As of today, August 30th, I, Blah blah blah, took the initiative to explore the entire campus. Today, the temperature could have possibly been right at about 93 degrees, and I decided to walk around this gigantic campus to waste time before my next class. During orientation week, I missed the campus tours because I was too busy sleeping my day away. So, what other way to compensate for lost time than to take my very own campus tour? Initially, I intended to look for the art buildings, but the best thing I discovered after my journey today happened to be the fact that the art buildings were being reconstructed. Just my luck. However, I did find the Knight Physics building which happens to be absolutely gorgeous. I also happened to stumble across the schoolââ¬â¢s arbortorium. I felt like I was walking through a jungle with my combat boots on and the leaves hovering above my head. I walked around in a circle and found my way to the school of law. The school of law is literally like its own kingdom within the campus. The students had their own law shirts, and the windows of the classroom even had curtains to block the sun out. I know curtains are a pretty simplistic observation, but I could not help but to find that fascinating! I have failed to sit in any classroom that had panels to block the sun. Only in the law school at the University of . As I walked away from the law school, I made my way towards the UC area and back around towards the Rat. Passing the vivacious students lounging with their friends, I hiked around the lake under the scorching sun wishing that I had a bottle of water, a hat, and maybe even some sun glasses. The heat was pretty unbearable. Passing between the Hecht and Stanford towers, I ventured towards the school of architecture. That is one white building. I expected it to be more lavish in its exterior design seeing that it is the school of architecture. I walked past the school of architecture and head back towards Mahoney-Pearson. I know that area pretty well. is my new home for now. As I left the Mahoney-Pearson area, I circled around towards the UC area again and crossed the winding paths towards the Whitten Learning Center. There was approximately 10 minutes left to spare before class started, and the brightest idea that I came up with all day wasâ⬠¦ to finally sit down!
Live Like YouRe Dying Essay Example for Free
Live Like YouRe Dying Essay Clean, Cull, and Connect. In his short essay ââ¬Å"Live like youââ¬â¢re dying,â⬠Chuck Palahniuk refers them as the ââ¬Å"Three Cââ¬â¢s. â⬠After confirming that suicide is the only escape route, they are the three final chores you must finish on your last ââ¬Å"livelyâ⬠week. Clean everything. Your bathroom, car, refrigerator, everything. Cull down your resources, donate and destroy needless possessions, and get a good haircut. Connect to everyone youââ¬â¢ve ever known and say something nice, no matter how bad you hate them. Donââ¬â¢t feel humiliated, youââ¬â¢ve got nothing to lose except a few days of your life. Also, know that no one will remember you, know that the world will not change after you die. Know that you will not be missed. And after all of this, Palahniuk says you probably wonââ¬â¢t bother to kill yourself, since by then youââ¬â¢ll be surrounded by friends who recognize you as a decent and valuable friend. But there is more to the essay than explaining what the three Cââ¬â¢s are. Both the title and content clearly spotlights death as a major concept of the essay, as most of Palahniukââ¬â¢s writings are. Actually, Palahniuk touches on death so often that it seems he cannot go through a single essay without discussing about it. Also, from start to beginning, his sentences are written in such a clean-cut way that the reader almost feels suicidal. ââ¬Å"Do everything. â⬠ââ¬Å"Destroy it. â⬠ââ¬Å"Treat yourself. â⬠ââ¬Å"Your oven will be clean, your car vacuumed. â⬠Even in the merriest mind, one cannot help but be persuaded that the world will crumble when the essay ends. Why does Palahniuk do so? It seems odd ââ¬â and arduous ââ¬â for any writer to be so ââ¬Å"deathlyâ⬠when he writes. Palahniuk was beleaguered by death all his life. In his mind, his happy family had already died when his parents divorced, leaving him and his three siblings to live with their grandparents. Later on, Palahniuk volunteered at a hospice as an escort, where he had to witness the death of a patient he had grown attached to (which lead him to stop volunteer working). And around 1999, Palahniukââ¬â¢s father ââ¬â Fred Palahniuk ââ¬â was shot and dragged into a house which was put on fire. Palahniuk later on helped the decision of the killerââ¬â¢s death sentence, the ex-boyfriend of Fred Palahniukââ¬â¢s girlfriend. Although death is a frequently visited topic for Palahniuk, he probably doesnââ¬â¢t always write in such a ââ¬Å"deathlyâ⬠manner on purpose. But it is also not surprising that Palahniuk ends up writing about death every time. Palahniukââ¬â¢s word choice during the essay is also different from the ordinary writer. Not only that most of them are short, but all of them are so-called ââ¬Å"easyâ⬠words (perhaps ââ¬Å"procrastinateâ⬠at the last paragraph is an exception). Of course, it comes from Palahniukââ¬â¢s minimalistic writing philosophy, but anyone with internet connection to Wikipedia can figure that out. The question is, where does his writing philosophy come from? Palahniuk claims himself to be a romantic who expresses ideas that others do not believe in. It is only natural that he holds different ideas from the ordinary man, regarding the unordinary world he grew up in. Therefore, readers of Palahniuk need to think twice about what he wrote to understand it. But complex words tend to have an accurate meaning to it, which doesnââ¬â¢t leave any space to think again about what he was actually trying to say. This leaves Palahniuk no choice but to use more flexible, simpler and original words. Although it doesnââ¬â¢t show in the essay ââ¬Å"Live like youââ¬â¢re dying,â⬠an exception is when it comes to mechanics. For example, in his novel ââ¬Å"Fight Club,â⬠most of the processes in making plastic bombs or soap is described in an accurate manner. This is probably because Palahniuk used to work for Freightliner as a mechanic, but his tendency to describe mechanical processes accurately has less to do with his flow of words than we have interest to. As it has been clearly shown, ââ¬Å"Live like youââ¬â¢re dyingâ⬠has a deep relation to Palahniukââ¬â¢s background, almost as if the essay is a shadow of Palahniuk. Everything that Palahniuk has been through, and is going through, is spilled out and spread, conscious or unconscious, on the computer screen when he writes. He canââ¬â¢t help it. And it would be nonsense to say that this only counts for Chuck Palahniuk ââ¬â every essay is a shadow of the author in some way or the other, a footprint of what he has been through. Thereââ¬â¢s a sort of syllogism going on here: what youââ¬â¢ve one is what you are, what you are is what you write, so what youââ¬â¢ve done is what you write. If you disagreed, youââ¬â¢d be challenging Socrates.
Thursday, September 5, 2019
The Concept Of Cinematic Illusion Film Studies Essay
The Concept Of Cinematic Illusion Film Studies Essay Ever since the advent of cinema, the human race has become more infatuated and intrigued by it and it has become more and more an integral part of our culture. In an age where the boundaries of realism are being pushed in cinema through the use of new technologies such as high definition and 3D, the film industry is constantly trying to create a more believable illusion of realism in film. If we strip the premise of cinema down to its most basic form of that of a series of images in sequence creating the illusion of a motion picture we can explore how we perceive this illusion and how it gave birth to the medium of cinema. One of the illusions still used in cinema today is the phi phenomenon. This was first seen in Victorian times with the popularisation of a toy called aà thaumatrope. This consisted of a disc or card with a picture on each side was attached to two pieces of string. When the strings are twirled quickly between the fingers the card rotates momentarily showing each of the two images. The two pictures appear to combine into a single image. This toy was said to be invented by John Ayrton Paris who in 1824 used it in a demonstration to the Royal College of Physicians in London the idea of persistence of vision. Persistence of vision said that there was a processing delay in the brain and when two images were flashed in front of the eye fast enough the delay caused the first image to remain in place for a fraction of a second longer causing it blend into the second one (Bazin 1967). In 1912 Max Wertheimer in his book Experimental Studies on the Seeing of Motion exposed this theory of persistence of vision as a myth. In its place Wertheimer devised the phi phenomenon along with beta movement help to describe the illusions of motion perception. Wertheimer was one of the founding members of Gestalt psychology and this discovery was a big breakthrough for this field of psychology. The phi phenomenon discovered by Wertheimer is a perceptualà illusion where the viewers mind fills in shapes to help link two images together. In his experiment Wertheimer shows an audience a series of two images. The first image is a line on the left side of the screen. The second image shows a line of the right side of the screen. At different timings Wertheimer observed that the viewers reported a sensation of motion in the space between and around the two lines. However the lines themselves did not appear to move, they simply saw what looked like two moving shapes of the background colour surrounding the flashing lines. Beta movement was described by Wertheimer (1912) as apparent motion. To prove his theory of beta movement Wertheimer preformed an experiment. He sat viewers in front of a screen where he then projected a two image sequence with varying gaps between them. The first image of a ball on the left of the screen was projected onto the screen followed by a second image with the ball on the right of the screen. The viewers described how they saw the ball move from one side of the screen to the other when in fact they only had seen two still images. This showed that the illusion of movement was created through the perception of the viewers linking the two images together according to one or more of Gestalts laws, such as the laws similarity and proximity. Another way we perceive motion is through stroboscopic images. Leighton (2008) explains that stroboscopic images are a series of static images that when viewed in sequence at a high enough rate; the static images appear to blend into one continuous motion. A simple demonstration of this is the idea of a flip book. If you have a series of pages with simple drawings on them and the drawings are slightly altering from one page to the next and we flip through these pages at speed we perceive them as one continuous picture in motion. However if you flick though the book slowly enough the eye isnt fooled by this illusion and perceives them as separate images. We must then ask at what point our eye sees this series of images as motion and not just still images. According to Cubitt (2005) critical fusion frequency is the rate at which stimuli can be presented and still be perceived as separate stimuli. To work stroboscopic images have to present visual stimuli such as images to the eye at a higher rate than the critical fusion frequency so that the eye cannot perceive each individual image separately. The critical fusion frequency differs from person to person and depends heavily upon many conditions such as light and contrast but as a general rule it is said to be anything less than a 7th of a second. This means that if we look at a series of images that are playing at anything above 10 images or frames per second we will see then as one continuous motion. From when the first commercial movie cameras were manufactured there was no standard frame rate of the cameras, they ranged from anything from 10 frames a second. This was seen unsuitable for cinema as the motion in the film was very jerky. By the 1920s a standard frame rate of 24 frames a second was set (Bazin 1967). This allowed the illusion of motion in film to be perceived by the viewer to be a lot more smooth and fluid. Through the use of stroboscopic images, the phi phenomenon and beta movement discussed here modern cinema exploits the visual perception of the viewer to create the illusion of motion which forms the bases for all films. As advancing technologies aid this process of illusion they stride to help cinema create the most realistic representation of what our eyes see and helps transport the viewer into the world of the film as if they where there.
Wednesday, September 4, 2019
Loyalty in Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, The Odyssey by Homer and Do
Loyalty in Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, The Odyssey by Homer and Don Quixote by Cervantes This essay has some structural problems. Loyalty is a theme found in many classics. The three classics that are discussed in this paper are _Sir Gawain and the Green Knight_, written by an unknown author, _The Odyssey_ by Homer, and _Don Quixote_, written by Miguel de Cervantes. In all three of the masterpieces loyalty can be traced through the characters action and words. Loyalty is evident in the characters behaviors to one another or maybe through a test they endure. In _The Odyssey_, _Sir Gawain and the Green Knight_, and _Don Quixote_ loyalty is apparent throughout the story. _The Odyssey_ is believed to have been written by Homer and is infused with loyalty throughout the entire epic story. Odysseus is the most faithful, loving, and loyal husband, to Penelope, that any woman could dream of. Odysseus, in the beginning of his description of the trials and tribulations that he has endured, pledged his eternal loyalty to his ever-faithful wife Penelope. ?We are mortal weary and sick at heart/? [if only] now may I see once more/ my hall, my lands, my people before I die!? (Homer 7:233-240). Thought Odysseus did lie with the goddess his loyalty to Penelope held true. The ?Enchantress in her beauty? (Homer 7:274) enslaved the grand Odysseus to her will; yet Odysseus ?in [his] heart [he] never gave consent.? (Homer 7:276) The goddess offered Odysseus a choice, the ?promise [that he] should be/ immortal, [and] youthful, all the days to come? (Homer 7:275-276) or to continue his long continuous voyage to his queen Penelope. Because Odysseus chose to return to his devoted Penelope instead of gaining immortal life he has provided... ...th all my heart and could not bring myself to leave him, no matter how many foolish thing he does.? (Cervantes 2036). Examples of loyalty can be found in many pieces of classic literature such as _Don Quixote_, _The Odyssey_, and _Sir Gawain and the Green Knight_. Many characters in the stories profess their loyalty to other characters. Some of them fail in their loyalty tests while others prevail. I found loyalty to be an underlying theme in all three pieces of literature covered in this paper. The examples provided should prove the theme of loyalty. Bibliography: Cervantes, Miguel. _Don Quixote_. Lawall 1960-2071. Homer. _The Odyssey_. Lawall 209-513. Lawall, Sarah and Maynard Mack, Eds. _The Norton Anthology of world masterpieces: The Western Traditions_. New York. 1999. _Sir Gawain and the Green Knight_. Lawall 1458-1585.
Tuesday, September 3, 2019
Speech Pathology in Practice -- Health Care
Speech Pathology In Practice A speech pathologist is a health professional, educated at university level in the study of human communication. Speech pathologists assess and treat a wide range of communication and feeding skills, including language, voice, speech, fluency, feeding and swallowing and literacy (Private Speech Pathologists' Association of Western Australia, 2011, p. 1). They provide a wide range of services, mainly on an individual basis, but also as support for families, support groups, and providing information for the general public. Speech pathologists can work in a variety of settings, including hospitals, nursing homes, schools, community health centres, rehabilitation centres and private practice. In addition, the role of a speech pathologist is also to act as an advocate on behalf of people with communication disabilities (Speech Pathology Australia, 2012, p. 1). Human language is a unique mental equity and the use of language is deeply entrenched in human culture. Apart from being used to communicate and share information, it also has social and cultural uses, such as signifying ingrouping and identity (O'Connor, 2010, p. 1). The term language is often used interchangeably with communication and even speech, but it is important to define these terms in the context of speech pathology. Language can be defined as ââ¬Ëcode with structural properties characterized by a set of rules for producing and comprehending utterancesââ¬â¢ (Nicolosi, Harryman, & Kresheck, 2004, p. 111). This is in contrast to speech; a ââ¬Ëmedium of oral communication that employs a linguistic codeââ¬â¢ (Nicolosi et al., 2004, p. 254) or communication; ââ¬Ëany means by which an individual relates experiences, ideas, knowledge and feelings to anotherââ¬â¢ (N... ...ial Educational Needs, 8(1), 2-12. doi: 10.1111/j.1471-3802.2008.00096.x Private Speech Pathologists' Association of Western Australia. (2011, 27 February 2012). What does a speech pathologist do? , from http://www.pspawa.com.au/html/what_do_we_do.html - What%20does%20a%20Speech%20Pathologist%20do Snowling, M. J., & Hulme, C. (2012). Interventions for children's language and literacy difficulties. International Journal of Language & Communication Disorders, 47(1), 27-34. doi: 10.1111/j.1460-6984.2011.00081.x Speech Pathology Australia. (2012). What is a speech pathologist? , from http://www.speechpathologyaustralia.org.au/library/1.1_What_is_a_Speech_Pathologist.pdf Steele, S., & Mills, M. (2011). Vocabulary intervention for school-age children with language impairment: A review of evidence and good practice. Child Language Teaching and Therapy, 27(3), 354.
Monday, September 2, 2019
Defining and Preserving the Well-Being of the Cree: waamistikushiiu v. miyupimaatisiiun :: Essays Papers
Defining and Preserving the Well-Being of the Cree: waamistikushiiu v. miyupimaatisiiun For the Cree, health is more than individual physiology. Health is definied by miyupimaatisiiun, a complex word that refers to an individual's enriching connection to his community and his natural environment. Miyupimaatisiiun can be interpreted as "being-alive well," a condition that includes the safety and security of family, friends and tribal members, as well as for the resources the Cree depend on to survive. Thus, the health of the Cree becomes a political entity, defined through challenging ââ¬Å"environmental, social, politicalâ⬠as well as physiological threats to traditional life. Politcially, the term signifies ââ¬Å"the ability to negotiate the obstacles that threaten the survival of the Creeâ⬠(57). To understand the significance of Cree health, there is much to be said for cultural definition through opposition. The key element of waamistikushiiu, or "whiteman health," that distinctly separates it from the miyupimaatisiiun is its numbing divorce from the earth. Removed from a lifestyle of hunting and dwelling in the bush, waamistikushiiu life is by and large unattached to the intimate land-life story of the Cree people. Without such a story, ââ¬Å"whiteman healthâ⬠is alien and blind in Adelsonââ¬â¢s ââ¬ËBeing Alive Wellââ¬â¢. Perhaps most significantly, waamistikushiiu health stubbornly denies the existence of other definitions of human health. Defined by individual physiology, waamistikushiiu health is universally evaluated against simple biomedical standards and ââ¬Å"determined in proportion to a relative absence of diseaseâ⬠(5). Cree miyupimaatisiiun, however, is not a ââ¬Å"biased and incompleteâ⬠standard of fitness, but a complex process compr ising social relations, land and cultural identity (4). In Whapmagoostui, ââ¬Å"accidental and suicidal deaths, drug and alcohol related illnesses, infectious diseases, and chronic diseases such as diabetes mellitus and cancer are all found- sometimes in disproportionate number-in native communities across Canadaâ⬠(14). By waamistikushiiu standards, such health conditions are deplorable; yet for the Cree, these ailments readily signify a deeper, perpetual ache of land and culture. For centuries, influences of waamistikushiiu culture have altered Cree living. Devastating fur trades, land usurpation, mercury poisoning in fish and waterways, and flooding damage are only a few of the casualties to Cree life in the whitemanââ¬â¢s pursuit of happiness. As ââ¬Å"the only way to acquire [miyupimaatisiiun] strength is to eat Cree food, and the only way to get Cree food is by hunting,â⬠the Cree are bound to defy whiteman devastation of their land and assert rights to survival on their own terms (94).
Sunday, September 1, 2019
Psychological Motives for Becoming a Terrorist Essay
Introduction Suicide bombing, a major terror strategy of terrorists is, if not the most, one of the most gruesome acts anybody can commit. It is outright crazy and stupid. One must be beside the normal to be entertaining such a thought in mind. Ironically, fanatics who have committed and attempted suicide bombings in the past, were deemed normal until the day when the execution of their ultimate plans were made public whether foiled or completed. People who are afflicted with mental disorder may, as other people, travel for the same reasons ââ¬â vacation, visiting friends or relatives, business, recreation, and sometimes for religious or spiritual focus (Miller & Zarcone, 1968). Others indeed may travel for reasons other than the normal ââ¬â for reasons triggered by malformed mental state such as the men who carried out the 911 attack of the Twin Towers in New York. Along the 911 attack, suicide bombing through aircraft came to prominence resulting in the stirring of the awareness among the international public of the fact that the regular traveler might not be that ââ¬Å"regularâ⬠anyway. It is probable that some of them are driven by excessive anger or motivated by utopic hope as taught in the communities wherein they have pledged their life allegiance (Silke, 2003). Just a few months ago, upon the return of former Pakistani Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto to her home country, 124 were killed and 320 plus got injured as a result of another suicide bombing. The bomber threw grenades among crowds of people and afterwards blasted himself to death (CNN update, Oct.18, 2007). Itââ¬â¢s difficult to think of sensible reasons why a sane person (if that person was ever considered sane by his colleagues) has committed such an act in the first place. To spend and expend oneââ¬â¢s self for a noble cause is commendable only if they benefit people outside oneââ¬â¢s own community. Itââ¬â¢s never an ideal to advance a religionââ¬â¢s cause at the expense of the lives of other people. A suicide bomber is demented in that even in the logic of religion, all religions presupposed a benevolent god who is both powerful and loving. There must be distortions somewhere within the suicide bomberââ¬â¢s mind to have associated the act of delivering a bomb and acts of piety. Rationale of the argument ~Understanding mental health The majority of theories and models of human behavior fall into one of two basic categories: internal perspective and external perspective. The internal perspective considers the factors inside the person to understand behavior. People who subscribe to this view understand behavior as psychodynamically oriented. Behavior is explained in terms of the thoughts, feelings, past experiences and needs of the individual. The internal processes of thinking, feeling, perceiving and judging lead people to act in specific ways. This internal perspective implies that people are best understood from the inside and that peopleââ¬â¢s behavior is best interpreted after understanding their thoughts and feelings (Jourad, 1963). The other category of theories takes an external perspective. This focuses on factors outside the person to understand behavior. External events, consequences of behavior, environmental forces to which a person is subject, are emphasized by this external perspective. A personââ¬â¢s history, value system, feelings and thoughts are not very important in interpreting actions and behavior. Kurt Lewin for instance considered both perspectives in saying that behavior is a function of both the person and the environment (Tiffin,& McCormick, 1958). Man is a social being and as such his personality is viewed from the society and culture where he belongs. A society represents a geographical aggregate and has boundaries, similar government or a group of persons in meaningful interaction and engaged in social relationship. Personality is the individualizing traits of man which constitute his singularity and differentiate him from any other human being. The three determinants of personality: 1] biological heritage which has direct influence on the development of personality. This includes musculature, the nervous system, and the glands; 2] E.Q. factor describes qualities like understanding oneââ¬â¢s feelings, empathy for the feelings of others, and the ââ¬Å"regulation of emotion in a way that enhances living (Gibbs, 1995);â⬠3] environmental factors. Taking everything normal, environment plays an important role in personality development. Environmental factors are cultural environment, social environment, home and family, culture, status and role and social agent. Many of menââ¬â¢s pronounced stirred-up state of mind such as fear, anger, disgust, and contempt, have posed the question, why? What has caused such a reaction? What has brought a change to his/her behavior? What is the frustration that has brought about such behavior? In the world of a suicide bomber, he/she contemplates on various input or stimuli from the world he/she evolves in. There are frustrations of every form and even without these, his/her psyche or mental state functions on the basis of anything he/she receives (actively or passively) from the milieu. Lifeââ¬â¢s problems are numerous and as long as one is alive and kicking he will always be faced with problems, be they big or small. Such problems stir-up oneââ¬â¢s emotions or feelings which maybe pleasant or unpleasant. Physiological problems, environmental problems, personal deficiencies and psychological concerns bring on a variety of responses; some predictable, others are not. Disorganization of family life, disintegration of personality brought about by depression, great personal suffering, any of these may take any person beyond the limits of his tolerance. Man is born in a social environment surrounded by cultural norms and values. He is faced with cultural taboos and acceptable social behavior. Numerous environmental factors come to the fore which may or may not be easily overcome. One of the most difficult problems in this area is oneââ¬â¢s cultural dos and donââ¬â¢ts. Environmental frustrations cannot be avoided, for there are always certain factors in a personââ¬â¢s growth and achievement. Psychological or internal problems are the most difficult to resolve as they are within the inner feelings of a person. One may not be able to detect his/her concerns/anxieties through his /her overt behavior. It may only be inferred from what his/her inner thoughts and feelings are but will not know what caused such a feeling. Psychological concerns of various forms represent a more serious threat to the personality of the individual than do environmental pressures. If severe enough, they may create considerable emotional tension with accompanying behavior disorders. Reacting to pressures and other concerns such as frustration varies from person to person because of their personality differences. These reactions maybe defensive, neurotic or psychotic. Most people are sympathetic to people who develop physical ailments, but regard an individual with mental disorder as ââ¬Å"crazy.â⬠At this juncture, does a suicide bomber then be considered a person with a mental disorder or deemed as ââ¬Å"crazy?â⬠definitions of mental health vary considerably. Freud when asked what he thought a normal, healthy person should do well replied ââ¬Å"love and work.â⬠Karl Menningerââ¬â¢s (1956) definition is quite similar to Freudââ¬â¢s. He states: ââ¬Å"Let us define mental health as the adjustment of human beings to the world and each other with a maximum of effectiveness and happiness. Not just efficiency, or just contentment, or the grace of obeying the rules of the game cheerfully. It is all together. It is the ability to maintain an even temper and happy disposition. This, I think, à is a healthy mind.â⬠When we therefore, try to define mental health, we have in mind the adjustment process which an individual brings into force when he is faced with a problem situation. Adjustment is defined as an individualââ¬â¢s manner of reacting or responding adequately to a perceived problem. From the standpoint of mental health, adjustment refers to a happy and socially acceptable response to lifeââ¬â¢s situations. Mental health therefore, is the ability of the individual to function effectively and happily as a person in oneââ¬â¢s expected role in a group and in the society in general. It is a condition of the whole personality and is not merely a condition of the ââ¬Å"mindâ⬠as is often supposed. It is an out-growth of oneââ¬â¢s total life and is promoted or hindered by day-to-day experience, not only by major crises as some assume (McCllelland et al, 1973). Mental health is the capacity to live harmoniously in a changing environment; to face and solve oneââ¬â¢s problems in a realistic manner; to accept the inevitable, and to understand and accept oneââ¬â¢s own shortcomings as well as the shortcomings of others. In this sense, people who develop and encourage Jihad or any ââ¬Å"terroristicâ⬠ideas and brainwash others to do the same, are seen people who do have unrealistic way of looking at life and their experiences. They are commonly classified as people having delusions of grandeur among others. This term refers to people who experience a bloated sense of importance or missions and oftentimes associated with corresponding persecution complexes (Jourad, 1963). They therefore harbor also a sense of anxiety that some people are out there to cut off their goals and obstruct their missions. Their resolve to deliver their target aims is even stronger the reason for their methodical and systematic way of doing things. Since they cannot accept that they must co-exist with people whose beliefs radically differ from theirs, they accept the notion that annihilation is a solution and dying a martyrââ¬â¢s death to ensure this goal is the ultimate sacrifice. This kind of mindset comes only from a frame of thinking that has been exposed only to a few options; in fact, only very narrow options. That option is the radical Islamic alternative and nothing else. When living in this world, co-existence is not just something that is talked about inside the halls of the academe: co-existence signifies a mindset that is healthy as well and free from disorders. Mental health is a matter of degree. There is no hard and fast line that separates health from illness. It is not a simple matter to divide the population into two distinct groups-those who should be institutionalized and those who should not be. Many of us at one time or another exhibit traits and pattern of behavior which if, accentuated and continuous, would necessitate psychiatric care (Jourad, 1963). Though radical a thought this may seem, and naturally sounds unrealistic, the ideal place is to set monitoring and evaluation of mental hygiene at some point in time. How to do this is going to be a big issue, expectedly. However, terrorism and the likes of suicide bombing can probably be controlled in some ironic way: by referring to them as idiosyncratic, delusional or even possessing mental disorders. Another way of classifying them is through the Diagnostic Statistical Manual IV (DSM) classification system; these people are versions of psychopaths or psychotics; because the symptoms are there and they cannot function normally among any general population. ~Towards developing a Strategy or Intervention Since the argument of this paper stands on looking at the acts of a suicide bomber as acts emanating from someone with mental illness, it follows that approaches to its reduction or elimination be provided or examined as well. There are three ways of looking at developing and establishing a strategy or intervention: the preventive, therapeutic, and the curative Kolb et al, 1974). There are subtleties that engulf these three but it is good to explore these dimensions. The preventive approach is based on the principles that the best way to ensure a well-adjusted individual is to surround him with environmental influences that will enable him to develop his full potentialities, to obtain emotional stability, and achieve personal and social adequacy. The therapeutic aspect is concerned with the attempt to correct minor behavioral adjustments through the various counseling and techniques of psychotherapy, or adjust to the social/or physical environment of the person in order to help him obtain the amount of emotional security and self-confidence necessary. The curative approach is sometimes called ââ¬Å"preventive psychiatryâ⬠and is concerned with the detection and correction of serious but curative but behavioral maladjustments. Although this is the work of a trained clinician or psychiatrist, it is helpful for the layman to have at least a fundamental knowledge of the major types of behavioral maladjustments in order that he/she may have a basis in determining behavioral maladjustments that need the attention of competent specialists. It is therefore necessary, on a serious note, that public awareness on the nature of mental illness on a scope such as that of the course taken by the suicide bombers, coupled with detection of signs and symptoms by neighboring homes and those in the community, help diminish the threat. There are of course other paths or strategies to follow, but why not take all that is available to ensure our security (Kolb et al, 1974). References: 1. CNN, Breaking News, October 18, 2007. www.cnn.com 2. Gibbs, Nancy. 1995. ââ¬Å"EQ Factorâ⬠Time International, October. 3. Gordon, Harvey, Mike Kingham, Tony Goodwin. Air travel by passengers with mental disorder. Psychiatric Bulletin (2004) 28:295-297. The Royal College of Psychiatrists. 4. Jourad, Sydney, 1963. Personal Adjustment. 2nd Ed. New York: MacMillan Company. 5. Kolb, David & Ralph K. Schwitzgebel. 1974. Changing Human Behavior: Principles of Planned Intervention. New York: McGraw-Hill Book Company. 6. McCllelland, David C. & R.S. Steele. 1973. Human Motivation: A Book of Readings. Morristown, New Jersey, General Learning Press. 7. Menninger, Karl in Taylor, David, 2003. The concept of mental health in children. European Child & Adolescent Psychiatry. Steinkopff. Volume 12, Number 3. Pp.107-113. 8. Miller, W. B. & Zarcone, V. (1968) Psychiatric behaviour disorders at an international airport. Archives of Environmental Health, 17, 360 -365. 9. Silke, A. (2003). The psychology of suicide terrorism. In Terrorists, Victims and Society (ed. A. Silke), pp. 93 -108. Chichester: Wiley. 10. Tiffin, Joseph and Ernest McCormick J. 1958. Industrial psychology. Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey: Prentice Hall, Inc.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)