The Psychologicat Effects of the Dust Bowl Essay Example

The Psychologicat Effects of the Dust Bowl Paper The Psychological Affects of the Dust Bowl The Dust Bowl was an added devastation accompanying the Great Depression. It lasted from 1930 to 1939 and is sometimes referred to as the â€Å"Dirty Thirties†. (Bonnifield) Lack of crop rotation and a heavy drought caused this trying time in American history. Over one third of the United States was swallowed up by dust storms with the concentration of storms being located in northern Texas, the panhandle of Oklahoma, the entire western half of Kansas, south east Colorado, and north east New Mexico. Gazit) One psychological affect experienced as a result of this great historic disaster must have been depression. With over a decade of soil misuse and a severe drought that started in 1930 the top soil virtually turned to dust and blew away with the wind. This catastrophe could have been adverted with the practice of crop rotation. Crop rotation is a technique that has been traced back to Roman times. This method prevents the buildup of pests and/or pathogens. A known occurrence when the same crop is used season after season. Specifically the rotation of deep rooted and shallow rooted crops would have helped to prevent this era in American history. This grave agricultural mistake served to devastate a large population of people. Because of the lack of top soil crops could not grow therefore farmers and their families became stricken with poverty. Soon after the dust started blowing away it created dust storms which their most fierce covered the sky and there was little to no visibility on the ground, even worse than a blizzard of today the storms were given the name â€Å"Black Blizzard† (Gazit). Entire farm machinery virtually disappeared under a blanket of dust deposits left behind by these storms. Even with the aid of relief programs from the federal government entire families still had to pick up and leave behind their land, homes, and way of life. Most of these families were referred to as â€Å"Okies† because the majority came from Oklahoma and nearly all headed west to California to escape the storms. (Ganzel) Meeting basic human needs was a day to day struggle. We will write a custom essay sample on The Psychologicat Effects of the Dust Bowl specifically for you for only $16.38 $13.9/page Order now We will write a custom essay sample on The Psychologicat Effects of the Dust Bowl specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer We will write a custom essay sample on The Psychologicat Effects of the Dust Bowl specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer Because the vast majority of the families were poor they had little to no money for food often fought over food that they may have shared with others just years earlier. Another health concern during this time was the onset of dust pneumonia which is the disproportionate exposure to dust where as dust literally fills the lungs. (Cook) The condition was so common that several musicians wrote song with the most famous being Woody Guthrie’s â€Å"Dust Pneumonia Blues†. Lack of employment was another common trauma that could easily lead to depression. Having previously been able to provide food and a place of warmth and wellbeing was no longer possible for males and single mothers of the day. The conditions were so extreme families were sometimes encouraged to give their children to government agencies so they could be better cared for. Not only did the Dust Bowl affect farmers but also white collar and professional workers who now had to fend for themselves in conditions and livelihoods they were not accustomed to. J. D. Bilbro, a child of the Dust Bowl recalls being trapped within a dust storm during a day known as â€Å"Black Sunday†. He talks about how he, a friend, and their two sisters ran through the storm and it was â€Å"black as midnight, rolling and boiling along the earth like a runaway tidal wave†. (Westbrook) The Grapes of Wrath written in 1939 by John Steinbeck and published by The Viking Press is a fictional story about a family traveling across the country to California during the Dust Bowl just in hope to find jobs as fruit pickers. In preparation for writing the book Mr. Steinbeck traveled as a migrant worker for two years so that he could get a feel and understanding for how the people of this era felt and survived. Bio) In the PBS history series American Experience: Surviving the Dust Bowl in an interview conducted in 2009 with Margie Daniel-Hooker of Oklahoma, she says that even as a child she could tell her father was depressed. She says it was noticeable by the way he would just stare off into space. In the same series Mrs. Daniel-Hooker goes on to talk about her younger brother who had pneumonia three times. She speaks about how she believes her brother caught pneumonia every time due to the dust storms. Mrs. Daniel-Hooker recalls her mother giving her little brother a spoonful of medicine each night and how the both of them sat up all night with him. Then one time as her mother was giving him a spoonful of medicine he leaned back in her arms and died. She tells how her mother screamed and held him very tightly then goes on to talk about how she had many more children but after the loss of that one child was never the same again. Mrs. Daniel-Hooker spoke about how she cried herself to sleep for an extensive period and how she will never forgive herself for bringing home the Measles and how he caught them. She explains how one could overcome pneumonia but never pneumonia and measles coupled together. Both Mrs. Daniel-Hooker, and her mother suffered long term from these experiences. As with the beginning of national media photography showed and still shows today the affects the Dust Bowl had on America. Dorothea Lange was a photographer who worked for the Farm Security Administration to document the plight of the Dust Bowl and was made famous for six pictures (one in particular) she took of Florence Owens-Thompson. (Dunn) Although the pictures accurately depicted life during this era Mrs. Thompson said she was told the pictures that were taken of her would not be published. But Ms. Lange sent the pictures to the San Francisco News and the Resettlement Administration in the nation’s capital. The most well known was entitled â€Å"The Migrant Mother†. Over forty years later the nation was enlightened as to whom the Migrant Mother was. In December 2008 Mrs. Owens-Thompson’s daughter, Katherine who was also seen in the picture at an early age publicly said the picture shamed the family because it pointed out just how poor they were. Gutierrez) Although the famous photos did much for public awareness and government change, they disturbed the family members depicted for a lifetime. As a result of the Dust Bowl and complications of the Great Depression large numbers of families lives were drastically changed. Loss of homes, jobs, and poor healthcare would have encouraged psychological complications such as depression. The day to day struggle to meet basi c family needs and difficulties arising from trying to accomplish these tasks led many Dust Bowl sufferers to develop and suffer with this depraved mental state. Works Cited About The Dust Bowl. Welcome to English  « Department of English, College of LAS, University of Illinois. N. p. , n. d. Web. 28 Nov. 2010. . Biography Page. Welcome to the Official Woody Guthrie Website. N. p. , n. d. Web. 28 Nov. 2010. . Bonnifield, Paul. â€Å"May, it seemed like the wind, and dirt had been blowing for an. 1930 Dust Bowl. cimarron county chamber of commerce. N. p. , n. d. Web. 28 Nov. 2010. . Cook, Ben, Ron Miller, and Richard Seager. Dust storms in the 1930s Dust Bowl. Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory | . N. p. , n. d. Web. 28 Nov. 2010. . Drought in the Dust Bowl Years. Welcome to the National Drought Mitigation Center website!. N. p. , n. d. Web. 28 Nov. 2010. . Dunn, Geoffrey. New Times San Luis Obispo Cover Story Photographic license. Internet Archive: Wayback Machine. N. p. , n. d. Web. 28 Nov. 2010. . Freedman, Russell. Children of the Great Depression . New York: Clarion Books, 2005. Print. Ganzel, Bill. The Dust Bowl of the 1930s. The Wessels Living History Farm, the Story of Agricultural Innovation. N. p. , n. d. Web. 28 Nov. 2010. . Gazit, Chana. WGBH American Experience . Surviving the Dust Bowl . Complete Program Transcript | PBS. PBS: Public Broadcasting Service. N. p. , n. d. Web. 28 Nov. 2010. . Gerrig, Richard J. , and Philip G. Zimbardo. Psychology and life . 19th ed. Boston: Allyn Bacon, 2010. Print. Gutierrez, Thelma, and Wayne Drash CNN. Girl from iconic Great Depression photo: We were ashamed CNN. com. CNN. com Breaking News, U. S. , World, Weather, Entertainment Video News. N. p. , n. d. Web. 28 Nov. 2010. . Hariman, Robert, and John Louis Lucaites. No caption needed: iconic photographs, public culture, and liberal democracy. Chicago: University Of Chicago Press, 2007. Print. John Steinbeck Biography Biography. om. Biography. co m. N. p. , n. d. Web. 28 Nov. 2010. . Popper, Deborah Epstein, and Frank J. Popper. Outstanding Articles. Internet Archive: Wayback Machine. N. p. , n. d. Web. 28 Nov. 2010. . RuneHQVideos. YouTube-Woody Guthrie Dust Bowl Blues . YouTube. N. p. , n. d. Web. 28 Nov. 2010. . Steinbeck, John. The grapes of wrath . New York: Viking Press, 1939. Print. s The Dust Bowl. United States History. N. p. , n. d. Web. 28 Nov. 2010. . WGBH American Experience . Surviving the Dust Bowl . Timeline | PBS. PBS: Public Broadcasting Service. N. p. , n. d. Web. 28 Nov. 2010. .

How to Effectively Prepare for a Second Interview

How to Effectively Prepare for a Second Interview Congratulations! Not only have you made it to the interview stage, you’ve made it through to the second round. You’re one step closer to landing the job. It’s not a guarantee, but it’s a pretty good indication that they like you. Think of it like a second date with someone you’d like to get serious with. Now’s your chance to prove to them that you have what it takes. That being said, here’s your comprehensive prep guide to help you prepare for a second job interview. First step: StrategizeThe stakes are obviously higher. You’ll have to kick your game up a notch to match the level of scrutiny you’ll be under. Make sure you’re well prepared. Make sure you know the exact name and function of the position for which you’re being considered. And make sure to ask in advance exactly who will be interviewing you, names and roles.If you’ve gotten word of your second interview via email rather than phone, this g ives you a bonus shot at drafting a superbly professional response. If not, no worries. Just plow forward into your prep work. The key to good prep is not to stalk them, but to garner enough knowledge to show them you’re keen and wells Included)

Interest Groups Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 1

Interest Groups - Essay Example The students are the affected people when the parent reaches a point that he/she cannot pay the school fees because their learning is affected. The people who are likely to join the group are the parents. The parents will bear the whole burden. When the cost of education increases, the parents will have to strain when looking for fees. They will join the group because the group will assist to advocate for the reduction of fees or some part being subsidized (Sweenay & Grant 2012, p. 77). The strategy I would use is to approach the institution and discuss the rising costs of education. This will be after forming the group and we will accompany each other with the group members. This will assist as we will assist each other when discussing the issue with the relevant bodies in the institution. The first step is to ask the institution the reasons for the rising costs of education. After getting their views in the reasons, we will go to the next step, which will be the possible solutions to the problem. The next step is to ask and check if there are any unnecessary costs on the budgeted expenditure (Nà ­ Bhrolchà ¡in & Beaujouan 2012, p. 103). If there is any cost that is unnecessary, we shall request the institution to drop the expenditure for the sake of reducing costs. This is because the reduction in costs will help the parents not to strain and at the same time, our studies will not be disrupted. If the institution will not respond to our request, we will take le gal steps. This means we shall seek for assistance from the respective law societies. After getting the feedback from the institution, we shall present it to the parents and other stakeholders whom we were representing. The money to be used in this process will be raised from the student unions. This is because there are some funds set for various activities organized by the student representatives in the university. We will present the opinion to the relevant officials of the

Chinese Judiciary Achievements Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words

Chinese Judiciary Achievements - Essay Example Despite this strides made, china is still away from achieving a wholly independent judiciary. This has been enhanced through enormous re-education and community attitude changes are encouraged. Achievements Chinese judiciary in the past thirty years has been successful in its quest for formalization and institutionalization. The areas include but not limited to; taking strides towards regulating acts of administrative laws. The important roles played by administrative legislation toward effective legal regulation of government legislative practices are crucial for any legal system. Legislative law of the people’s republic of china for instance, has ensured a basic legal framework for managing acts of administrative legislation (China's judicial system and its reform, 2010)1. For this to be realized, Chinese government issued the ordinance regarding the procedures for the formation of administrative control and the provisions on the guide for making administrative rules. This w as a sign of institutionalization and formalization at the judiciary. Cleaning up administrative rules, repeatedly standardization acts of government legislation (Cai, 2001)2. ... clarity and coherence in lawful standards, and in its way to realizing progress in the law based government, it has initiated several cleanups aiming at government legislation particularly those related to duties and rights of administrative areas. This initiative by the Chinese government to cleanup rules, regulations and normative documents have helped with the enactment of law-based government. Building of administrative penalty system and guarding individual procedural rights. An administrative penalty refers to authorizations passed on individual, legal persons and organizations found to have violated administrative directions. Such penalties help in effective management of communal affairs, enactment of administrative objective and disciplining person found with the offense of breaching administrative law standards or derail administrative goals and avoid illegal habit. China is among the few states to have an official administrative penalty law (Cai, 2001)3. In the year 1996, the Administrative Penalty Law established the legal ideologies and processes for legal and correct penalties and putting public opinion into consideration. It became useful during the incorporation of administrative penalty actions of administrative structures into a lawful framework. Through this, unjust penalties which were common in the early 1990s were stopped efficiently. Issuance of public security law and promotion of domestic based administration has seen improvement in areas such as legislative theory, important principles, and the sorts of punishments that are appropriate for public security management, punishment processes and supervision of law enactment. This is a reflection of the progress made so far by the Chinese government towards realizing a law based state and it

Sociological theory of religion

Sociological theory of religion 1 Using examples critically assess one sociological theory of religion In most traditional societies, religion is an important form of social togetherness. It augments a feeling of community and promotes a set of shared values and beliefs in some form of god. Religion also plays a central role in cultural life; people often synthesize religious symbols and rituals into the material and artistic culture of the society: literature, storytelling, painting, music, and dance.[1] It is the focus of the society that is of interest to religious sociologists, in particular theories concerning the way religious behaviour differs between and within societies. Beckford notes that theories revolving around how social interaction benefits or holds back societies, has made sociology a renowned area of study.[2] In order to establish a fundamental starting point in this thesis, the foundations of sociology and the sociology of religion will be described in context. Furthermore, it will discuss, in some detail, the sociological theoretical approach of functionalism by sociologists; a critical analysis will aim to show the differences in their approaches to functionalism and will include supporting and critical statements from preceding and subsequent sociological theorists. Sociologists generally define religion as a codified set of moral beliefs concerning sacred things and rules governing the behaviour of believers who form a spiritual community[3]. Auguste Comte (1798 1857) describes sociology as the study of human societies.[4] A classical view is that, it is a social science that, uses varied methods of empirical investigation and critical analysis,[5] and is often used to develop theory about human social activity. The sociology of religion therefore takes into account the aforemention ed and also includes the practices, historical backgrounds, developments, universal themes and roles of religion in society.[6] Jones (2003) describes Comte as the first to proclaim the virtues of an empirically based social science,[7] a type of sociology that would have enormous implications for someone like Comte, who had been born during the aftermath of the French Revolution. Bilton et al (1996) explain this further: Positive social knowledge could offer the means for peaceful reconstruction of social order by the elite of enlightened scientists and intellectualsSocial change need not depend upon revolutionary violence and the manipulation of the mob[8] Comte was able to make use of the new science for the progression of society and the re-establishment of order as well as being able to apply the positive method to social theory[9]. Comte and his fellow Frenchman Durkheim are said to be the forerunners in creating the discipline of sociology. Thompson (1982) describes Comte as giving the subject its name and an ambitious prospectus, whilst Durkheim gave it, academic credibility and influence.[10] Functionalist sociologists focus their attention on the nature of institutional relationships in society.[11] To understand this further, one can use Talcott Parsons functionalist ideas as an example. Parsons, [who supported functionalism in the United States] used the functionalist perspective to group institutions in society into four related functional sub-systems; economic, political, kinship, and cultural. This theory stressed the importance of interdependence among all behaviour patterns and institutions within a social system to its long-term survival. [12] In a similar way Durkheim In trying to explain the value of social and cultural character, illuminated them in terms of their contribution to the operation of an overall system. Furthermore, Malinowski, who promoted functionalism in England, endorsed the idea that cultural practices had psychological and physiological functions, such as the reduction of fear and anxiety, and the satisfaction of desires.[13] Another English man Radcliffe-Brown contended that, all instituted practices ultimately contribute to the maintenance, and hence the survival, of the entire social system, determining the character of inter-group relations.[14] It is Parsons sub-system of culture that encompasses religion that we now turn to. A functional definition of religion is fundamentally based on the social structure and drawing together of people, it pays particular attention to how religion guides and influences the lives of people who are actively involved, and through this promotes unity and social cohesiveness.[15] Durkheim believed and argued that, religion was a socially constructed institution, serving the needs of society by socialising members into the same norms, values and beliefs, therefore reinforcing the collective conscience upon which the stability of society rests.[16] He looked in depth at the origins, meaning, and function of religion in society. His belief was that religion was not so much about God, but more about the consolidation of society and the sense of identity that this creates within a particular society.[17] He fully believed that individuals who accepted their role within their own society develop a form of social conscience as part of that role, which Durkheim labels as the Conscie nce collective,[18] which in simpler terms could be labelled as, a common understanding.[19] Published in 1921 and penned by Durkheim, The Elementary Forms of the Religious Life, is renowned as the best-known study on the sociology of religion.[20] Using secondary data, Durkheim studied native totemism in primitive Australian tribes, in effect the totem is a symbol that is an integral part of the group, and during ceremonies will be the magnet that draws everyone together to form a collective whole. Therefore, totemism in this instance is explained not in terms of what it is, [what the content of its doctrines and beliefs are] but what it does, that is, the function it performs for the social system.[21] Durkheim claims that, the totem, the sacred object is a representation, by which society symbolises itself,[22] which according to Fulcher and Scott, he believed to be the real basis of social solidarity.[23] From his observations Durkheim developed his theory of the sacred and profane, believing that all things in society can be separated into these distinct categories, as a fundamental dichotomy the sacred and profane are seen as two separate domains or worlds. For Durkheim the sacred meant the unity of the group embodied in symbols, as in his example of totems, the profane was more about the mundane or the individual, and less concerned with the group. However the British anthropologist Evans-Pritchard (1937) observed that sacred things may be profane at certain times, an example he gives is the case of the Azande[24], who, when their shrines were not in ritual use, were used as props to rest their spears.[25] This analysis of the sacred and the profane was extended to all religions by Durkheim and his followers, making a focus on what is similar about what they each do, and about the integrative functions all these religions perform on their social systems.[26] He therefore viewed religion within the context of the entire society and acknowledged its place in influencing the thinking and behaviour of the members of society.[27] Furthermore he beli eved that order flowed from consensus, from the existence of shared norms and values,[28] for him the key cause of social upheaval stems from anomie, the lack of regulating norms. Without norms constraining behaviour, explains Durkheim, humans develop insatiable appetites, limitless desires and general feelings of irritation and dissatisfaction.[29] Radcliffe-Brown continued Durkheims sociological perspective of society; he particularly focused on the institutions of kinship and descent and suggested that, at least in tribal societies, they determined the character of family organization, politics, economy, and inter-group relations.[30] Thus, in structural-functionalist thought, individuals are not significant in and of themselves but only in terms of their social status: their position in patterns of social relations. When regarding religious ceremonies Radcliffe-Brown contends that ceremonies, for example, in the form of communal dancing, promoted unity and harmony and functioned to enhance social solidarity and the survival of the society, in this he agreed with another renowned anthropologist Bronislaw Malinowski. Malinowskis functionalism was highly influential in the 1920s and 1930s, a British anthropologist, he conducted one of the first major studies of religion from an ethnocentric perspective, on the people of the Trobriand Islands.[31] The first anthropologist to undertake a long-term piece of field research, Malinowski lived among the Trobriand islanders for four years.[32] In studying the functions of religion in a small scale, he agreed with Durkheim that religion reinforced social norms, values and promoted social solidarity.[33] Malinowski also believed that religion could relieve social anxiety and could provide a sense of security especially when people are faced with situations in which they have no control, an example Malinowski gives is based on his observation of the Trobriand islanders fishing in a calm lagoon, no religious practice was attached, however when faced with the perils of fishing in the open ocean, religious rituals were always performed. In this way Malinowski b elieved humans could exert a perceived control over a world in which they held no significant, individual power.[34] This individual, perceived control can be seen to be used by people facing a personal crisis. Often in a situation where they have no control over the outcome, people will turn to religion looking for guidance and sanctuary; thereby giving them a sense of power. For Malinowski then, religion also helped to conciliate periods of life crises and events such as death, marriage and birth, these rituals, known as rites of passage are marked by ceremonies, that by their very nature, are a form of social togetherness that help to create social order and contentment. These rites however can be seen to be controlled in that to a certain extent one is prepared for new life, death and marriage, these events form part the circle of life and therefore come with some prior knowledge. Ceremonies that relate to these life events could be seen as a predictable common bond that will help to reinforce social solidarity. Malinowski argues that religion minimizes the disruption, in particular, of death. He believes that the assertion of immortality gives rise to feelings of comfort for the bereaved, whilst the act of a funeral ceremony binds the survivors together.[35] Coser (1977) explains further: Religion can counter a sense of loss, which, as in the case of death, may be experienced on both the individual and the collective level therefore religion as a social institution serves to give meaning to mans existential predicaments by tying the individual to that supra-individual sphere of transcendent values which is ultimately rooted in his society.[36] So far we have seen that collective or communal gatherings are generally aimed at promoting social solidarity and cohesion, this is backed by the empirical evidence offered by Malinowski in his study of the Trobriand Islands. Hamilton (1995) offers that these gatherings can also be interpreted as involving the recognition of divisions, conflict and disharmonies inherent in the society and rituals may be seen as a means of coping with and defusing them.[37] Concerning Malinowskis empirical evidence, a contrasting point is noted by Casanova (1995) who questions functionalism on empirical grounds, he argues that religion does not provide consensus and unity, instead he says that most conflicts [an example he gives is the Iran/Iraq war] in society have religious foundations.[38] Marxist sociologists also criticise functionalists on a theoretical level. Marx claims that religion does not create societal consensus, instead it creates conflict between those that have wealth in the ruling class and those that do not in the working class.[39] Therefore according to Marx, the only norms and values that are conserved by religion are those of the ruling class. Functionalist theory could therefore be said to neglect the areas in which religion has been dysfunctional for society, whereby religious divisions have caused disruption and conflict rather than promoting social order. History provides numerous examples of this including the aforementioned Iran/Iraq dispute, Northern Ireland and Bosnia. An Extreme functionalist assessment of religion, declares William Stevens, is put forward by American sociologist Robert Bellah. Bellah fuses Parsons argument that America derives its values from Protestantism, with Durkheims belief that the worship of god is the disguised worship of society. From this Bellah develops a new kind of religious concept, that of a civil religion.[40] Therefore despite the individual belief systems of American citizens, it is the overarching faith in America that unites Americans. Wallis (1983:44) cited in Jones, explains that Bellah finds evidence of civil religion in Presidential inaugurations and ceremonials such as Thanksgiving Day and Memorial Day are similarly held to integrate families into the civil religion, or to unify the community around its values.[41] A further point to be made here is that generally civil religion does not hold to a belief in the supernatural. Bellah disagrees and says examples of confirmation in the supernatural can be see n or heard on a daily basis, phrases such as God Bless America and the words In God we trust on the national currency, he believes are prime examples of this. However Stevens asserts that this is not the god of any particular creed, but a god of America. For Bellah then civil religion creates a social cohesiveness by gathering people together to collectively partake in some form of ceremonial event. Therefore flag waving at a sporting event or lining the street to celebrate a royal marriage or death can bring about a united outpouring of joy or grief that in itself generates order. A contemporary example is the untimely death of Princess Diana. Her funeral witnessed a monumental combining of people, faiths and nations in a symbolic act of grief. Functionalist sociologists tend to emphasize what maintains society, not what changes it and are criticized for being unable to account for social change because it focuses so intently on social order and equilibrium in society. Functionalists have to take into account that change does happen in societies and that change is a good thing, and can represent progress. Jones says that the functionalist way around this is to use an organic analogy social progress occurs as it does with organisms as an evolutionary change.[42] Bilton et al explain that this takes shape in the form of structural differentiationdifferentiation is a type of splitting or separation of a previously undivided unit, the new units differ in that they are more specialised in the functions they perform.[43] Talcott Parsons, in his approach to social change, emphasises differentiation. According to Parsons, Institutions change, if the need of the system changes.[44] An example of a system change stems from The Indu strial Revolution, which was facilitated by capitalism, was increasingly demanding technological advances to increase profit. In order to make this possible there was a need for more educated workforces. As a result the industrial economy needed a new form of family to perform these specialist functions. Thus, as one aspect of society changed the economy and production it required a comparable change in the educational system, bringing social life back into equilibrium. This new modernization of society, explains Marske, is associated with the increasing indifference of the individual from the traditional social bonds of an intimate network of diffuse social relationships. [45] Due to a greater demand in the workforce people from all walks of life came together causing an increase in the cultural diversity within a particular society. As a result individuality became a more prominent feature; religion it seems was becoming less social and more personal. Durkheim would disagree with this statement as he believed it was possible to be an individual as well as social institution, he explains, In reality, the religion of the individual is a social institution like all known religions. It is society which assigns us this ideal as the sole common end which is today capable of providing a focus for mens wills.[46] Dillon (2003) explains that social scientists and Western intellectuals have been promising the end of Religion for centuries, Comte announced that, as a result of modernization, human society was outgrowing the theological stage of social evolution and a new age was dawning which the science of sociology would replace religion as the basis or moral judgements.[47] Durkheim predicted the gradual decrease in formal world religions; in post-enlightenment society he felt that there would be a greater emphasis on the individual. This he believed would lead to a weakening of ties in the modern world. In addition he envisaged that social solidarity and the collective conscience would be taken up by other institutions that would evolve into new forms of religious experience.[48] Furthermore a maturing modernity would see scientific thinking replace religious thinking. As a consequence, Durkheim considered the concept of God to be on the verge of extinction. In its place he envisioned society as promoting civil religion, in which, for example, civic celebrations, parades, and patriotism take the place of church services. If traditional religion were to continue, he believed it would do so only as a means to preserve social cohesion and order. Parsons disagrees with this synopsis, with modern life will come structural frameworks that are more competitive and specialised, however they would still persist because religion is an adaptable structural framework for the explanation of inexplicable social phenomena.[49] A criticism applied to the functionalists perspective stems from Durkheims analogy that societies and social institutions have personalities.[50] To imagine that a society is a living, breathing organism is a difficult concept when in fact it is seen as an inorganic object. This creates what can said to be a philosophical problem and an ontological argument that society does not have needs as a human being does; and even if society does have needs they need not be met. The view here is that society is alive in the sense that it is made up of living individuals. What is not taken into account is that each individual is a different entity, with their own wants and needs. As part of the unit they can function and integrate within the group as a viable member. However individual life choices may not always create a positive function for the society as a whole. Functionalists in general tend to have a too positive view by believing that everything that exists in society does so because it has some kind of functional purpose. Robert Merton believed that it was entirely plausible for society to have dysfunctional elements.[51] Durkheim also recognised that some forms of social life could be seen in the same way, however he did not use the term dysfunctional. In his work on crime, he noted that crime was functional to society, this seems to be a contradiction in that he also said, too high a level of crime might not be functional, because it could create a state of confusion regarding what constitutes the norms that applied to peoples lives. As a society dysfunctional actions, in particular criminal actions are frowned upon, and as a society we can become mob-handed in the way people come together to condemn an act of crime. Durkheim has a point to make here in that, people combine together, forming a collective cohesion in defining themselves against what they are not.[52] Picturing society like a vast machine, Merton argues that a society should best be considered as a cross between the cultural goals of a society-what it holds its members should strive for-and the means that are believed, legally or morally, to be legitimate ways that individuals should attain these goals. In an ideally organized society, the means will be available to deliver all of its members to their goals.[53] One must take into account when analysing such theories that at the time of writing the world was a very different place to the one we live in today. Social anthropology has come under criticism for looking into primitive societies as a representation of unchanged societies criticism in particular stems from the lack of historical records that could confirm or deny any findings. Radcliffe-Brown considered this type of work a mistakehis belief was that the religious and ritual systems had to be understood in the context of the existing society and their role in that society.[54] One could linger on Durkheims prediction that religion would decrease with modernity, religion here being in reference to the act of attending a social gathering in the worship of some form, whether it be totemic or divine. However an important point to note is that at the time when the Sociology of Religion was in its infancy, religious practice was more of a regular occurrence than one would perhaps find in todays society. However individuals are still irrevocably influenced by the role of religion in their own lives. Their beliefs and values allow them to feel supported in their everyday life; religion sets aside certain values and infuses them with special significance. Culture plays an important part here, as values, customs and beliefs combine to become a moral code by which societies adhere to and live by and pass on to future generations. Religion encourages collective worship be it in a church, mosque, temple, home or some other specified gathering place. Through the act of collective worship the individual is encouraged to feel part of a wider community. Today, societies are classed as more secular in their nature, yet if one consider the earlier statement about religion being an important form of social togetherness it would be easy to make analogies with the different groups that make up the society we inhabit. For example schools hold assemblies, awards evenings and performances all which can be seen as an example of community spirit and social cohesion. People as individuals, have interests outside of their immediate social groupings, this does not make them an outcast or outsider, and instead it promotes a sense of identity, individualism and the self. The writings of sociologists such as Durkheim, Comte, Radcliffe-Brown and Parsons are still important today, especially in comparing the way society sees religion. However, in contemporary society sociologists have a different set of problems to contend with as belief in modern society and materialism for many becomes a more vital moral value than partaking in a religious practice . BIBLIOGRAPHY Beckford, James A. (2003) Social Theory and Religion, (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2003). Bilton et al, Introductory sociology 3rd Edn (Basingstoke: Macmillan, 1998). Casanova, Jose, Public Religions in the Modern World (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1995) Christiano, Kevin J., William Swatos Jr Peter Kivisto, Sociology of Religion: Contemporary Developments Lanham, 2nd edition (MD: Rowman Littlefield publishers, 2008). Comte, Auguste, A Dictionary of Sociology (3rd Ed), John Scott Gordon Marshall (eds), (Oxford: OUP, 2005). Coser, Lewis A. Masters of Sociological Thought: Ideas in Historical and Social Context, 2nd Ed., (Fort Worth: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, Inc., 1977), pp. 136-139, Coser, Lewis A. Masters of Sociological Thought: Ideas in Historical and Social Context, 2nd Ed., Fort Worth: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, Inc., 1977: 136-139, Dewar, Greg, Religious studies, Philosophy and Ethics, (London: Oxford University Press, 2002). Dillon, Michele, Handbook of the sociology of religion (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2003). Durkheim, Emile, The Division of Labor in Society. Translated by, George Simpson. (New York: Free Press, 1893/1964). Durkheim, Emile, and Coser, Lewis A., The Division of Labor in Society. (Free Press, 1997) Durkheim, Emile. The Elementary Forms of the Religious Life: A Study in Religious Sociology. Translated by, Joseph Ward Swain. (New York: Macmillan, 1915). E. E. Evans-Pritchard, Theories of primitive religion, (Oxford: Clarendon press, 1965). Emile Durkheim, Sociology and philosophy (New York: free press, 1974). Evans-Pritchard, E. E. Social Anthropology and Other Essays. ( London,1950).Contains a critique of Radcliffe-Browns functionalism from the perspective of historicism. Fulcher, J. Scott, J. Sociology, (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2003). Giddens, Anthony, Durkheim, (London: Harper Collins, 1996). Goldschmidt Walter, Functionalism In Encyclopaedia of Cultural Anthropology, Vol 2. David Levinson and Melvin Ember, (eds) (New York: Henry Holt and Company, 1996), p. 510. Hamilton, M, The sociology of religion, 2nd edition (Oxon: Routledge, 2001). Hunt, S. Religion in Western Society, (Hampshire: Palgrave, 2002). Jones, Pip, Introducing Social Theory, (Cambridge: Polity Press, 2003). Jones, Robert Alun., Rules of the sociological method 1895, in Emile Durkheim: An Introduction to Four Major Works. (Beverly Hills, CA: Sage Publications, 1986), pp. 60-81. Macionis, J. Plummer, K. Sociology: A Global Introduction (Essex: Pearson, 2005). Merton, Robert, Social Theory and Social Structure, (USA: Macmillan, 1968), chapter 3. Orenstein, Ashley D. DM, Sociological theory: Classical statements 6th edition (Boston: Pearson Education, 2005), pp.3-5: 32-36. Sociology Quarter, Durkheim as a functionalist, vol 16 no 3 (Summer, 1975), pp 36 -379. Thompson, Kenneth, (1982) Emile Durkheim, (Sussex: Ellis Horwood Limited, 1982). Winthrop, Robert H. 1991. Functionalism In Dictionary of Concepts in Cultural Anthropology (New York: Greenwood Press, 1991), p. 130. WEBLIOGRAPHY Functionalism, in Anthropology and Sociology The Columbia Electronic Encyclopaedia. 2000-2007 Pearson Education, publishing as Infoplease. http://www.infoplease.com/ce6/society/A0819881.html (Accessed: 18.01.10). Functions OF religion learningat.ke7.org.uk/socialsciences/soc-sci/soc/a2/R. Accessed 14.1.10. CliffsNotes.com. Introduction to Religion. http://www.cliffsnotes.com/study_guide/topicArticleId-26957,articleId-26927.html. Accessed 10.1.10 Chris Livesey, Functionalist perspectives on Durkheim, www.sociology.org.uk Marjolin, Robert French sociology-Comte and Durkheim, University of Chicago press American journal of sociology, vol. 42, no 5 (Mar., 1937), pp693 -704. http://www.jstor.org/stable/2767763 (Accessed: 12.1.10.). Mark Glazer, Functionalism http://www.utpa.edu/faculty/mglazer/theory/functionalism.htm (Accessed: 13.12.09). Marske, Charles E, (1987) Durkheims Cult of the Individual and the Moral Reconstitution of Society, Sociological Theory, Vol. 5, No. 1, (American Sociological Association, 1987), pp. 1-14. http://www.jstor.org/stable/201987. Accessed: 17.01.10. The Azande, http://lucy.ukc.ac.uk/EthnoAtlas/Hmar/Cult_dir/Culture.7829 (Accessed: 15/1/10). William J. Stevens, Religion: A Functionalist Assessment, http://www.helium.com/items841304-religion-a-functionalist-assessment. (Acces

Biography of Abraham Lincoln Essay -- American Presidents History Essa

Biography of Abraham Lincoln Abraham Lincoln was born Sunday, February 12, 1809, in a log cabin near Hodgenville, Kentucky. His parents names were Thomas and Nancy Hanks Lincoln. They named him after his grandfather. Abraham’s grandfather had been killed by Indians long before Abraham had been born. Both of his parents were born in Virginia. Abraham had an older sister and a younger brother. His younger brother was named Thomas but he died in infancy. Abraham’s sisters name was Sarah. Abraham’s father was a hard worker, he was a carpenter and a farmer. Abraham’s parents were members of a Baptist congregation which had separated from another church due to opposition to slavery. Abraham was seven when his parents decided to move to Indiana. One of the reasons they wanted to move there was because of slavery. Abraham had attended school for a little while in Kentucky and did so again in Indiana. In 1818, Abraham’s mother died from milk sickness. It was a sickness that you got from drinking the milk from cows which had eaten poisonous white snakeroot. He took her death hard. His father remarried in a year. Abraham liked his new step mother. She brought along three of her own children to the household. Her name was Sarah Bush Johnston Lincoln. As Abraham grew up he realized that he preferred learning things than to be working in the fields. This caused a problem between Abraham and his father because his father was the complete opposite. Abraham would borrow ...

Rationalizing Economic Development and Environmental Sustainability Essay

There happens to be a two-fold task governing the existence of economic development and environmental stability – national progress towards economy depends on natural resources, and natural resources needs replenishment to continue the cyclical mode of economic development. In this manner, these two important national concerns continuously exist with a common approach of relationship. Indeed, the economy depends on the environment and the stability of the environment likewise opts for support from the sectors enriching the economy. In issues occurring between economic development and environmental stability, there are claims that the arousal of the economy inhibits the constancy of the environment. The energy sector primarily is one of the fundamental avenues governing this relationship. An exemplification of such is the report of Woodwell and Ramakrishna (2004) entitled â€Å"World Bank undermines efforts on global warming†: It states there that the World Bank favorably considered the continued support for the expansion of new-fangled sources of fossil fuels, one of the principal causes of climatic distraction. It came up with a decision that interests on recommending support to the less developed countries which are good prospects that can sell oil or gas or coal to the world markets. Furthermore, the alleged deed brings back into the limelight the ongoing inconsistency between the voices of the scientific community that provokes on the world’s state, and the ears of what the economic and political communities bear. In fact, the environment is being changed in conduct that annihilates its life-supporting capacity. Instead, it seeks for immediate efficient steps to stop the erosion. Such report only signifies how the trend of coming up with possible sources of oil, gas or coal can be much of a danger to the environment, to the inhabitants surrounding the possible resources, and to the planet earth as well. Global warming for the past decades continuously alarms the people of its degrading effects on the environment. Drastically, different industries governing the economy surely have directly or indirectly implied to such dilemma. In lieu with this, the question is back to basic – â€Å"What does the environment do to the economy? † Indeed, there is a need to assess the economic value of the environment through its fundamental means, ways, and processes. Taking a look with CIDA’s Policy for Environmental Sustainability, an article called â€Å"Assessing the Economic Value of the Environment† states that taking into consideration the economic values implied to all environmental values, which may be of cultural, aesthetic, or spiritual, is not possible. Moreover, programmers are in constant need to assess the environment’s value to know its value in economic terms, and to assess the economy’s value to identify its value in making of environment decisions. In contrast with the macro and micro level, there is a need to emphasize the pros and cons of doing economical activities that may affect that of the environment. Furthermore, the article â€Å"The Complicated Interrelationships of Poverty, Population and Natural Resources† from the same policy states the sophisticated interrelated web of cause and effect relationships among poverty, population growth, degradation of natural resources and natural resource consumption (11). Three factors such as population, environment and poverty are commonly indivisible. In this manner, such dilemma is perceived in most of the less developed and highly populated countries. Most of the highly populated countries accumulate much of its resources creating a slash on its natural resources yet may incur a probable high or low effect to its economy. Indeed, in terms of economic development and environmental sustainability, the whole process is inevitably diversified. With this, the relationship between the economy and the environment takes action upon the people and their surroundings. Works Cited Woodwell, George M. and Ramakrishna, Kilaparti. â€Å"World Bank undermines efforts on Global Warming. † The Boston Globe 11 August 2004. â€Å"Assessing the Economic Value of the Environment. † January 1992. Canadian International Development Agency. 13 April 2007 â€Å"The Complicated Interrelationships of Poverty, Population and Natural Resources. † January 1992. Canadian International Development Agency. 13 April 2007