...mechanisms as totally ineffective or their legal definition as totally illusionary. But at the very least he will insist that there is another level of reality to be investigated in the particular system of power. (Berger 1963) My suggestion is that when we experience fully the contradiction, conflict, and pain of engaging with our own teaching and research, we can’t help but be transformed into nepantleras. Not only do we routinely disrupt the status quo, we become uniquely practiced, through our critical engagement with the complex processes underlying the appearance of a stable social reality, in mapping complexity and journeying through difference to new frontiers. (O’Brien 2009) Arguments Berger’s (1963) approach was more like an invitation to assess one’s conceptions and realize if they are really valid and applicable in understanding or identifying the real subject or ‘problem’ at hand. He’s not asking you to disregard the ideas that the said society had accustomed to you but to consider seeing things in a wider scope. One must search for the backbone of everything and not be fixated on the obvious. When something is not in order, do not focus on the exterior but try to examine the roots and branches that hold it together. For O’Brien (2009), to dwell on the unorthodox part of a study, the personal conflicts that one experiences, is an effective way to edify one’s knowledge when it comes to her expertise and of course, not only does it add to one’s growth as a professional...
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...are the relevant process variables according to research in psychology, sociology, and education, that motivate the decision by parents to become involved, and why does this involvement positively influence educational outcomes? According to the psychological model proposed by Hoover-Dempsey & Sandler [1995], three (dynamic) constructs primarily influence parents’ involvement decisions: 1. The parents’ understanding of their role in the child’s life: what they believe that parents are supposed to do in relation to their children’s education and educational progress. Parents become involved in schools if they hold the belief that they should be involved. 2. The parents’ sense of efficacy for helping their child succeed in school: do parents believe that their involvement can exert a positive influence on children’s educational outcomes? 3. The general invitations, demands, and opportunities for parental involvement by both the child and the child’s school: do parents perceive that the child and the school want them to be involved? Scholars in this field have constructed scales, rooted in psychologic role and efficacy theories and assessed for reliability, that allow scholars to rank parents with respect to their role construction and their sense of efficacy; education scholars, following Epstein [1986] and Epstein et al. [1994], have established scales for measuring parents’ perception of invitations to involvement and for assessing their level of involvement. A recent example...
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...This paper discusses the way in which sociologists use critical thinking to de-familiarise common sense assumptions about social life while discussing specific terms such as the sociological imagination, empirical data and the social theory. This essay draws upon the issue of suicide among males living in remote Australian areas as a broad social issue apposed to being a private trouble of the individual. We tend to view certain experiences in our lives as a single private issue. However, this trouble can be viewed as a wider social problem. The sociological imagination is a sociological perspective which observes the world in a critical way and makes clear links between the private problems of the individual and important social issues (Scott & Marshall 2008). Anthony Giddens (1986:13) argues that there are three forms of sensibility that together make up the sociological imagination, these include; historical, anthropological insight and critical thinking. Sociologists use critical thinking to debunk every day common sense assumptions about human behaviour and social life (Mills 1959:2). For example; suicide among males in Australia may be viewed as a private problem of the individual. However, a high percentage of these males live in remote areas compared to those who live in major cities (Australian Bureau of Statistics 2011, Australian Social Trends, Cat. No. 4102.0, Australian Bureau of Statistics, Canberra), which in fact suggests that this issue in fact is a wider...
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...illness for health workers. Let’s start with some questions … o Why do people stop taking antibiotics before they have finished the packet? o Why do people smoke even when they know its unhealthy? o Why are women more likely to be diagnosed with depression than men? o Why are poor people sicker than rich people? o Why do people seek complementary and alternative remedies rather than going to the doctor? o Why do migrants to Australia have more accidents at work? o Why is there a 15‐20 year life expectancy gap between Indigenous and non‐Indigenous Australians? 2 2/17/2016 What is sociology? “The study of society” Links between individual lives & social forces Systematic patterns in groups of people – Behaviour – Meanings – Beliefs How do aspects of social life influence others? How does the distribution of power affect social life? Sociology offers: A ‘second opinion’ about common sense ideas...
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...SOCS 325 – Environmental Sociology DeVry University Online Week 1 Written Action Assignment Environmental Injustice Cane Run Power Plant November 9, 2014 Environmental Injustice Cane Run Power Plant Introduction For this assignment about environmental injustice I have decided on the Cane Run Power Plant, also known as the operating site for Louisville Gas and Electric Company (LG&E), a coal-fired plant that is owned and operated by Louisville Gas and Electric in Louisville, Kentucky, located in Pleasure Ridge Park neighborhood. I will describe how the utility company LG&E is guilty of Environmental injustice to the Louisville residents of the Pleasure Ridge Park neighborhood, which Bell describes as powerless communities that suffer from human caused environmental disasters by the hands of powerful organizations and governments (Bell 2009). Case Summary Louisville Gas and Electric Company is a utility company that provides natural gas and electricity services for Louisville, Kentucky, which total to approx. 718,000 customers, as well the 16 surrounding counties (Unknown, Author 2014). LG&E provides these services from the Cane Run Power Plant located in the Pleasure Park Neighborhood, where the per capita income per household is approx. $21,831 per person (Unknown, Author 2013). This amount is considered considerably low. The power plant has been problematic for the residents of Pleasure Park for many years for a number of reasons, such as coal...
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...Knowledge Area Module I: Principles of Societal Development Student: Michael Moore Michael.Moore@waldenu.edu Program: PhD in Applied Management and Decision Sciences Specialization: Leadership and Organizational Change KAM Assessor: Dr. Javier Fadul Javier.fadul@waldenu.edu Faculty Mentor: Dr. Javier Fadul Javier.fadul@waldenu.edu Walden University February 5, 2011 ABSTRACT Breadth This Knowledge Area Module (KAM) broadens common knowledge of societal and cultural development by looking beyond economic and conflict theories for understanding other positions regarding social advancement. The Breadth Component studies societal and cultural development in terms of evolutionary, cyclical, and fundamentalist theories and demonstrates why it is important to looking beyond the popularly accepted knowledge about social development represented by economic and conflict theory. This approach provides a more robust generalization that more adequately describes social advancement, and concludes that classical researchers did not consider leadership as a social segment to be studied, that influences societal and cultural development. Leadership understanding of societal and cultural development is critical for enabling them to lead positive social change. ABSTRACT Depth The Depth section compares modern research in societal and cultural development to the theories of classical researchers in order to further develop the findings of the classical study, and to determine if leadership...
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...Alfred Adler known as a physician, psychotherapist, and also the founder of Adlerian psychology was born in a village on the western fringes of Vienna on February 7, 1870 (Adler University, 2008). He was third of the seven children. Early on, he developed rickets, which made motor movements difficult and painful for him and he was unable to walk until the age of four. From the very young age Adler decided to become a physician due to his interactions with doctors and rapidly became very interested in the subjects of psychology, sociology and also philosophy. At University of Vienna, he specialized as an eye doctor, and later in neurology and psychiatry. In 1895 Adler received a medical degree from the University of Vienna during which he had become attached to a group of socialist students and found his wife, Raissa Timofeyewna Epstein, who was an intellectual and social activist from Russia studying in Vienna. Adler and Raissa married in 1897 and had four children. Their children grew up to become a writer, two psychiatrist and a Socialist activist. Adler began his medical career as an ophthalmologist, but switched to general practice and established his office in Vienna across from a circus. His patients included circus employees, and it has...
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...G R O W I N G U P I N A U S T R A L I A Parents’ involvement in their children’s education DONNA BERTHELSEN and SUE WALKER n this paper, the nature of parental involvement in children’s education in the early years of school is investigated, as well as the relationship between parental involvement and children’s learning competence. The analyses use Wave 2 data from Growing Up in Australia: The Longitudinal Study of Australian Children (LSAC) for children in the kindergarten cohort, who were recruited at age 4 into the study. At the time of the Wave 2 data collection in 2006, these children were in Year 1 and 2 at school. Research findings on parental involvement are first briefly reviewed, and then the analyses using the LSAC data are discussed. I Questions considered include: What expectations do parents have for their child’s education? How responsive do parents believe that schools and teachers are to their needs? What contact do parents have with their children’s school and teachers in the early years of school? Does parental involvement predict children’s learning competence? Engaging families in the education of their children at home and at school is increasingly viewed as an important means to support better learning outcomes for children. When schools and families work together, children have higher achievement in school and stay in school longer (Henderson & 34 Family Matters 2008 No. 79 Australian Institute of Family Studies Mapp, 2002; Jeynes, 2005; Pomerantz...
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...Cultural differences in Daily communication between China and America 1. Introtion People have different lifestyle, thinking patterns, behaviors and values, which all inflect one another. In many cross-cultural conversations, misunderstanding can be caused by distinction in the understanding of a same word in the culture difference. A serious question may therefore bring great laghter, while an innocuous statement horrible anger,which caused by culture difference. Experts in sociology claimed that every single culture is distinctive. The word 'culture' is defined as follow in Oxford Advanced Learner's English Chinese Dictionary: customs,arts, social institutions, etc of a particular group or people. Among all distinctions, difference in daily life plays a special role. More details of lifes oversees are shown with the rapid development of communication and media. Facing that very difference between the Chinese and the American however, seems to have led to confusion and even further, false and unscientific evaluation, thus the eventual cultural conflict and descrimination. This paper will therefore focus on the distinction of the Chinese and American culture from the aspect of daily communication . 2.The Importance of Cross-Cultural Communication Because of various reasons, there are a lot of cultural differences between China and the U.S. This creates a barrier for cross-cultural communications. Due to globalization and social development...
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...Code and Description: GS210 W14 6WKB / Midstart Section 2 Term: 2014-03-03 Winter 6 Week B/ Midstart [pic] How has this course benefited me in my career? The class benefited me in my career because it will help me predict the behavior of the masses. People behave a certain way and how the behavior is determined by science. Also by studying sociology, it provided me with the educational background needed for managers to understand their employees and customers. [pic] What specific skills have I learned in this class? The specific skills that I have learned in this class is communication, interpersonal, leadership, analytical, statistics and research design, computer literacy, cross cultural understanding and business sense. [pic] Instructor Comments regarding my performance: Excellent job Ida! Terrific topic, Ida! Well done Ida! Good start to your paper, but no reference are listed. Be sure all information used from sources is paraphrased and given citation in text and on a reference page. Nicely done Ida! Well done Ida! [pic] Course Paper/Project: Ida Nesbeth Johnson GS210 Sociology Course Project 6 April 9, 2014 11:55 pm Miller-Motte College Online Chapter 2 Culture Moroccan Culture The Moroccan culture is much different from the American culture. There are things that Americans do that would disrespect the culture of Moroccans. Moroccans are extremely hospitable and very tolerant people, Even though most of...
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...every phase of life. The life-span perspective, was first set forth by Paul and Margaret Baltes and their associates (P. B. Baltes et al., 2006; Staudinger & Lindenberger, 2003). The life-span perspective notes that development throughout life is: (1) multidirectional, therefore change occurs in every aspect of life and in every direction and not just in a straight line, (2) multicontextual, therefore the several contexts, such as economic constraints, family patterns, and historical conditions embed the lives of humans, (3) multicultural, therefore several cultures affect the development of individuals, (4) multidisciplinary, therefore psychology and other disciplines, such as biology, neuroscience, education, economics, anthropology, sociology, religion, history, genetics, and medicine provide insight into development and (5) plastic, therefore any individual possess traits, which may be altered at any given time during life, and change that occurs is...
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...Early and Middle Adulthood Marianne Williamson said, “In our society, as people pass out of young adulthood, they tend to relate to themselves more in terms of what they are no longer than what they are now, and that’s psychologically low-grade devastating”. As we age, we tend to look at the future, that growth with fear or trepidation. We mourn the loss of our “youth” rather than embrace the new changes we are heading toward. These changes we will experience are vast and necessary for each stage of development. As we grow become adults we will experience a variety of psychological changes as we adjust to aging and any changes that will happen to our lifestyle. These changes should not be feared, they simply mark the growth and experience that we will go through. During early and middle adulthood these changes are the most apparent. These changes can affect our relationships, the roles we play, and our later life. The way that people adjust to the changes of growing older and how this affects the rest of their life is what we will examine here. Social and Intimate Relationships During early and middle adulthood the way people view and interact within their relationships will be affected by a variety of factors. During middle to late adulthood, people will enter the fifth stage of Erik Erikson’s Psychosocial Theory of Development. During this stage people will face a crisis where they will face being alone or being involved in meaningful relationships, called intimacy versus...
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...Human Development Mindy Donaldson PSY 280 April 26, 2015 There are quite a few different theories about human growth and development, and why people do the things that they do. In this paper I will discuss and summarize three theories and how each is related to human growth and development, identifying one influential theorist for each. In addition this paper will include many views of the lifespan perspective followed by an explanation of how nature and nurture effect human development. Developmental theory can be defined as a conglomeration of ideas about achieving a good change in one’s society. Such theories draw on a variety of science disciplines and approaches that can provide a framework to understand how and why people evolve throughout their lifespan. Theorists in an attempt to make sense out of their observations try and design concepts that can outline a person’s development throughout life from one’s start as an infant all the way through adulthood (Berger, 2010). The influential theorists in this paper that I will discuss are: Sigmund Freud, John Watson, and Jean Piaget. Psychoanalytic theory is a theory of personality organization and the dynamics of human development that holds that irrational, unconscious drives and motives, often originating in childhood, underlie human behavior (Berger, 2010 p. 17). (Berger, 2010) According to Freud, development occurs over three stages during the first six years of life, each stage being characterized by sexual...
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...Canada, A Cultural Analysis Abstract Canada is a beautiful country that is adjacent to the United States of America. There are many resemblances between Canadian culture and American culture. It is also common for Canadians to expect great communications in the workplace and friendliness. It is valued to be respectful of others ethical background as well. It is also standard to see similarities in basic hand shake as a cultural behavior to mean many things. In a business environment in Canada, business people often begin relationships in a reserved manner; once people get to know one another they usually become friendly and informal. Canada as the United States encourages small businesses to grow and prosper as well as their economic. In regards to the workplace, Canada also promotes from within companies and wants its workforce to be involved in a company’s growth and offers great benefits to its employees. Canada as the Unites States offers great cultural diversity among its people and within the workforce as well. It would be easier for an individual to adapt to Canadian ethical behavior since it is similar and diverse as the United States. There are many similarities and differences between the culture of the United States and the culture of Canada. While there are many preconceptions about the culture and behaviors of Canadians, many of the country’s customs are similar to those found in the United States, despite differences in culture and government...
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...Turkish and Kurdish Fertility in Turkey: New Statistical Evidence for Convergence Word Count: 3,528 Number of Tables: 5 Number of Figures: 4 Running Head: Turkish and Kurdish Fertility in Turkey Abstract The purpose of this quantitative study was to present and discuss statistical evidence for the convergence of Turkish and Kurdish fertility rates in the Republic of Turkey. Linear regression and other statistical methods were utilized in order to illustrate convergence, which was theorized as (a) resulting from the delayed exposure of Turkey’s Kurds to the dynamics of modernization and (b) providing compelling evidence against the claim that Turks and Kurds belong to fundamentally different demographic regimes. One important form of divergence between these populations—bride’s age at first marriage—was acknowledged and related to a potential change in sexual economics among Turkish Kurds. Keywords: Turkish fertility; Kurdish fertility; Turkish fertility transition Turkish and Kurdish Fertility in Turkey: New Statistical Evidence for Convergence Introduction Although the overall fertility rate for Turkey has declined precipitously as part of the country’s demographic transition, perhaps the earliest in the Muslim Middle East (Angin & Shorter, 1998), there is a well-documented disparity between the fertility rates of ethnic Turkish and ethnic Kurdish women in Turkey (Işık & Pınarcıoğlu, 2006;...
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