Nursing Human Development Process

Question: Discuss about the Report for Nursing of Human Development Process. Answer: Every living organism change and grow and during this process become more diversified, competent and capable in dealing with the external world. Every human being is different and thus they grow or develop in a unique way depending on the physical, cognitive and spiritual growth through various stages from infancy to adulthood. But the order of development remains the same for every individual. This progression is termed as human development. The human development stages are categorized into four distinct stages and they are infancy, childhood, adolescence and adulthood (Bornstein Bradley 2014). In each stage the individual confronts, and hopefully experience, new challenges and explore and they gradually develop a sense of recognizing new things. Human beings, at the initial stage unable to crawl or walk, but quickly become competent at these skills, and move on to running and beyond.When an individual grows they start to develop new habits, learn new things and their interdependen cy increases (Kogan 2013). In this essay I am going to present the human development facts based on the physical, social-cultural and cognitive issues. In addition to this the process of development of self-identity and self-esteem of an individuals life and incorporation of relevant standards of practice into the nursing practice will be discussed. Human development is the process of physical, cognitive and spiritual expansion and transition of a human being. One of the early childhood stages, the toddlers are commonly termed as preschooler. In terms of the preschoolers the physical growth is little slower than the infants and toddlers, but the development is steady and also continuous. By the age of 6 years the size becomes close to an adult and the body becomes more coordinated. Motor abilities gradually develop such as throwing, catching and skipping Spodek Saracho (2014). A complete set of temporary teeth appears that are again replaced by the thirty two permanent teeth with time. Addition to this the average weight of a five to six years child has been estimated as 20.4 kilograms. According to Jean Piaget this stage is termed as the pre-operational stage. The cognitive development is characterized by learning of signs and symbols, imagination to enhance the play, improvement in verbal communication, increased socializatio n and better reasoning capability Gottfried (2013). Moreover, increased language and picture skills are also observed in preschoolers. The behavioral or psychological development in this particular age is biologically opposite-sex oriented. At this stage the behavioral aspect is mediated through social interactions. Children of this stage are quite prone to the fears of nightmares, new locations and their own imagination or fantasies. As predicted by Kohlbergs this particular stage is dominated by moral reasoning. The children of this age obey rules in order to avoid punishment. In accordance to this age the concepts of god, spirit, hell or heaven are inexplicable and sometimes frightening. The growth of the preschoolers re highly impacted upon by the social dimensions (Gottfried, 2013). With the advent of the early childhood stage numerous normative and non-normative transitions take place (Hershkowitz et al. 2012). At this stage the children become active explorers of their environment. According Jean Piagets theory of cognitive development, the early childhood stage is divided into two parts the pre-conceptual stage which involves children of the ages 2 to 4 years and intuitive stage which involves children of age 4 to 7 years. The children between the ages of 3 to 6 years think symbolically and their thinking is mostly egocentric. The normative transitions in these children involve increased size, changes in physical appearance, language development, emotional and spiritual development (Fisher et al. 2013). As per the theory of attachment of Bowlby, the attachment patterns that starts with infancy exerts a huge influence and find expression in a variety of sociological behaviors that continues throughout the lifespan. The difference in the child attachment patter ns is due to the distinct pattern of responses towards the social interactions. The non-normative transitions are the unpredictable changes that take place depending on certain situations. Non-normative changes can cause physical as well as emotional changes. For example, death of parents can traumatize a child of this age. Bowlby stated that, the relationship between the children and their parents aids in the development of a childs internal world. Therefore, sudden demise of the parents of a child of this age can impact negatively on a childs psychological health (Hershkowitz et al., 2012). Erikson stated that, very stages of development is highly influenced by an individuals interactions with the environment. The concept of self-identity requires a constant thought and intentional decision making (Charlesworth, 2013). By the age of 3 years a child develops the idea of concrete self and could distinguish him or her as a separate life. The self-concept can be defined as the sense of belongingness and being accepted by the world. The self-concept develops from the birth and it gets a form with time. Children within the age of 3 to 6 years have the ability to distinguish them as separate entities. The self-image of such children is more descriptive than being judgmental. At the age of five the children become aware of the requirements of his or her group (Kreppner Lerner, 2013). A five to six years child develops the power of words and communicates effectively in order to establish their own needs within the group. Self-esteem in preschoolers develops from several factors such as relationship, friendship and helping and playing task. In children of this age have high self-esteem and remains optimistic while learning, finishing a task and achieving success (Charlesworth, 2013). The development of the feeling of independency in preschoolers becomes deceptive by new things. The self-concept of children between the ages of 3 to 6 years is governed by many factors such as the social factors, emotional connections cultural factors and environmental factors. The normative and non-normative transitions among these children are significantly affected with the realization of the self-concept (Kreppner Lerner 2013). Certain studies have focused on the fact that the preschoolers develop the healthy ability to be assertive and they are seen to take initiative in tasks. Encouragement of these children in doing new tasks can positively impact on their self-concept. On the contrary certain non-normative transitions also affect the self-concept. For example, inability to start a new project or feeling of guilt can negatively impact on the self-concept. However, children of these ages are not aware of the opposing characteristics in a person. They also cannot typically lin k the different self-description into an integrated self-portrait (Gottfried, 2013). Moorhead (2013) stated that, psychologists and nurses seek to realize and understand the health requirements of others and accordingly change their own behaviors, feelings and thoughts in order to enhance the well-being of those people. According to the NMBA, 2016 nursing practice standards, nurses should think critically and analyze the nursing practice and also engage in therapeutic and professional relationship. Preschoolers are of the early developmental stages in human beings. Therefore, it is very important to implement the NMBA, 2016 nursing practice in their lives but critically analyze their complications and incorporate it into clinical treatment of them. Firstly, understanding of their development and critically analyzing their illness and consequences is a significant part of the nursing practice in accordance to the NMBA standards. Secondly, as stated by NMBA standards one of the key parts of the nursing practice is to develop a therapeutic and professional relationship. Thus, as a nurse it is important to communicate with the childs parents about their reactive pattern and treat the diseases clinically (Ball et al., 2013). The pre-operational stage in human development as referred by Piaget is a significant developmental stage which involves several normative and non-normative transitions. These stage experiences several physical, cognitive and socio-cultural developments which ultimately helps in the growth of self-concept, self-identity and self-esteem. Thus, through careful assessment and family education nurses can aid in proper child development and enhance their own professional practice according to the NMBA standards. References: Ball, J. W., Bindler, R. C., Cowen, K. J. (2013).Child health nursing. Prentice Hall. Bornstein, M. H., Bradley, R. H. (Eds.). (2014).Socioeconomic status, parenting, and child development. Routledge. Charlesworth, R. (2013).Understanding child development. Cengage Learning. Fisher, K. R., Hirshà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ Pasek, K., Newcombe, N., Golinkoff, R. M. (2013). Taking shape: Supporting preschoolers' acquisition of geometric knowledge through guided play.Child Development,84(6), 1872-1878. Gottfried, A. W. (Ed.). (2013).Home environment and early cognitive development: Longitudinal research. Academic Press. Hershkowitz, I., Lamb, M. E., Orbach, Y., Katz, C., Horowitz, D. (2012). The development of communicative and narrative skills among preschoolers: Lessons from forensic interviews about child abuse.Child development,83(2), 611-622. Kogan, N. (2013).Cognitive Styles in Infancy and Early Childhood (Psychology Revivals). Psychology Press. Kreppner, K., Lerner, R. M. (Eds.). (2013).Family systems and life-span development. Psychology Press. Moorhead, S. (2013).Nursing Outcomes Classification (NOC), Measurement of Health Outcomes, 5: Nursing Outcomes Classification (NOC). Elsevier Health Sciences. Spodek, B., Saracho, O. N. (2014).Handbook of research on the education of young children. Routledge.

What to Look For in an Article Evaluation Essay Sample

What to Look For in an Article Evaluation Essay SampleWhy bother writing an article evaluation essay when you can just take the A+A, or the APA, or even the Harvard Law School Exam? There are many great courses on the internet, but they all say the same thing: take the APA or the Harvard Law School Exam. If you want to get into Harvard Law School, this is the way to go.It really is a fair market research to ask people to take the test if they aren't going to do their own research and to write articles to give someone else's opinion. Then, the person who did the research has to do the research again to prove that they are a good writer with the skills and experience to write an accurate, well-structured, and analytical evaluation of the work of the author. And it's not easy to do all that.The shortcoming of an article evaluation essay can be found in the weaknesses of the essay itself. The problems with writing an essay review article evaluations isn't in the article itself, but in th e fact that no one really cares enough about the work to go through it. You have to rely on the fact that you were in school to get a job as a writer and no one really cares what your personality is like or what you have written about before, so take the opinion of others and hope that they are trustworthy and honest.The old fallacy of saying that the market decides is still valid today. All you have to do is follow the trends. In order to make the numbers up for the numbers game that is the field of law, you need to write a lot of articles. If you are in a shortage of article writers, then that will also create a shortage of jobs in law because there is no way for the quality to be maintained.With high quality essays, you also need a variety of different types of writing styles, languages, styles, and areas of expertise. In the case of law, this is harder to do because the writer has to write a little bit of everything. There is no option to limit the amount of information to be ad ded to the article in order to create the more complicated style.If the writer is not careful, the potential client may be put off by the content of the content, thus, making them feel that the writer lacks professionalism. This can be avoided by using a list of criteria which were used by professional writers, along with employing a template to generate a clean and well-written article for the benefit of the client. That can be the best solution, because it allows the writer to leave a reputation for quality and success in the writing industry. For that reason, having an article evaluation essay sample is worth the effort.Not only should it be written for an assignment, but also it must be accurate, appropriate, grammatically correct, and properly written. The written material should not appear to be a statement on its own and should come from the perspective of the writer. If the document comes across as an opinion piece, it will be perceived as such by the reader. That is not to say that the writer does not have a right to their opinions; after all, they are giving a form of expression of their thoughts.An article evaluation essay is a valuable tool to a writer in the Internet age. The writer has to make sure that the information presented is correct, relevant, and able to be placed in context. It is one of the first steps in the process of writing an effective article.

Race, Class And Gender Essays - Gender, Social Constructionism

Race, Class And Gender Race, Class and Gender issues are commonly brought up. Throughout history many groups have been stigmatized not just for their race, but for their sex, and class as well. People of lower class incomes get slandered for where they live and for not having the economical means to purchase most common goods. Women have been considered the weaker sex for centuries, and currently, some of the old fashioned and ignorant theories on women being subordinate to men prevail. In the article Rethinking Womens Biology the author position appeared to be that society dictates what a woman means and teaches it from childhood. The old concept of blue for a boy and pink for a girl starts out from birth and is consistent throughout childhood and into adulthood. The clothes we wear, our activity level, what and how much we eat, the type of vocation we are in, all these variables occur due to society. Society has norms that are expected to continue. Even though society has these notions of what is normal and natural it is the concept people have of themselves that is also a primary dictator on their lives. (Hubbard 1990). The Social Construction of Gender touched on how Western society views gender. This article pointed out historically how women and men appear to be separate species entirely. And that even though physiologically we are similar, male and female, we are of an opposite class. The male and female class should not be labeled how our bodies function for we are all individual and unique. If a scientist views a female to be female based on the fact that physiologically she menstruates, than what is a female that ceased menstruation or never began to? Is she only half woman? Is a male not a man if he is not capable of producing sperm? (Lorber, 1992) The article also mentioned how sports glorified men and ignored the female athlete. Only giving women 5% of television coverage opposed to men receiving 92%. Sports can trivialize women symbolically. For example, College sport teams may name the male team tigers and the womens team kittens. (Eitzen societys prescriptions for those of their gender status because the norms are expectations get built into their senses worth and identity as a certain kind of human being and because they believe that their societys ways are the natural way. (Lorber,1992, p.42). Ah, Ya Throw Like a Girl was similar to the above to articles. It suggested how roles of society predict female and male roles. He referred to personal childhood memories. Reminiscing how while playing sports, his father, would encourage him to throw hard ball overhand. And how if he didnt he was throwing like a girl. He would be teased and taunted by friends and family if he did not play the sport hard and rough, because thats how boys do it. He also pointed out that his sister was more talented in sports than he but could not play. Basically, this authors position was traditional roles needs to be deleted with a new modern way of thinking. We know more now than we did when traditional male and female roles were established and we should all concur with the new age liberation and equality. (Messner, 1992) In A Male Centered World, Female Differences Are Transformed into Female Disadvantages was an article that stressed how because female and male persons have different body types this is what predicted the roles that would follow. Males being strong and dominant in stance and female averaging to be smaller and more petite than men led societys to think women were less capable. The authors position appears to be that because society think males are strong and women are weak this is indented into others positions and continues the cycle of a male centered world. Only by speaking out and protesting for our Civil Rights when we feel they have been disregarded will women take a stand. She uses the term Gender Polarization which refers to the scripts laid out for us within our society.

The Escape by Maugham Essay Example

The Escape by Maugham Essay Example The Escape by Maugham Essay The Escape by Maugham Essay William Somerset Maugham is one of the best known English writers of the 20th century. He was not only a novelist, but also a one of the most successful dramatist and short-story writers. Maugham wants the readers to draw their own conclusion about the characters and events described in his novels. His reputation as a novelist is based on the following prominent books: â€Å"Of Human Bondage†; â€Å"The Moon and Sixpence†; and â€Å"The Razors Edge†. Though Maugham doesn’t denounce the contemporary social order, he is critical of the morals and the narrow-mindedness. Realistic portrayal of life, keen character observation, and interesting plots coupled with beautiful, expressive language, a simple, clear, unadored style, place Somerset Maugham on a level with the greatest English writers of the 20th century. In general, Maughams novels and short stories could be characterized by great narrative facility, an ironic point of view, cosmopolitan settings, and an astonishing understanding of human nature. His short stories gained the greatest popularity. And it’s right time to speculate upon one of the stories â€Å"The Escape†- which impressed me deeply and made me think about its subject. It is about a man (Roger) and a woman (Ruth), their complicated relations and scheming in order to achieve different aims. So they are the main characters. The author hides behind the narrator who is the secondary character. The essence of â€Å"The Escape†, to my mind, is that Roger and Ruth have diverse approaches towards the relations. Of course, the men and the women like the first step: flowers, attentiveness, passion. But then their paths diverge. The romance disappears, the man looks for the way out, he craves for new emotions, but the woman deems that the relations should develop into the marriage. And â€Å"The Escape† is the example of such a mismatch. From the very beginning the narrator convinces us that if a woman once made her mind to marry a man nothing but instant flight could save him. One of his friends seeing the unavoidable hazard before him, took ship and spent a year traveling round the world. He hoped the woman who was considered to be his bride would forget him being fickle, but he was mistaken; when he got back thinking himself safe, the woman, from whom he had fled, was waiting for him on the dockside. This funny thing supports the idea that the inevitable loom of the marriage frightens some men and they try to evade it. This portion of the text is some kind of preamble, it prepares the reader for the following plot-development and presents a piece of narration. Its syntax is complicated, there are compound sentences with many subjects and verbs of action not to loose the thought. The epithets â€Å"instant flight†, â€Å"the inevitable loom†, â€Å"menacingly† show us fear and trembling of such men. They don’t know and don’t respect women, the epithet â€Å"fickle† confirms it, that why they are afraid of difficulties of the marriage. And through these stylistic devices we feel the author’s tone, it is humorous, but this humor is with bitter flavor, so it’s natural to begin to reflect once more on the essential principles of the relations between the man and woman, but the story continues, let’s turn to the text again. Further on the narrator says that he knows only one man who escaped successfully. Once upon a time his friend, Roger Charing told him he was going to marry. Roger was tall and handsome, rich, experienced middle-aged man. Of course, many women wanted to marry him. But he was happy to live the life of an unmarried man: the epithets â€Å"sufficient experience†, â€Å"careful† give the direct description of his lifestyle. But then he met Ruth Barlow. He fell in love with her. He immediately wanted to look after her and make her happy. Ruth was twice a widow, she was younger than Roger. She was quite good-looking and she had big, beautiful, dark eyes and she had the gift of pathos. When a man saw those big, sad eyes, he wanted to help Ruth. The epithet â€Å"defenseless† expose the power of her look. It was Ruth’s mode to get what she wanted because she had no other means (I mean money). This â€Å"gift† helped Ruth to reach her goals. The metaphor â€Å"the gift of pathos†, the epithets â€Å"splendid dark eyes†, â€Å"the most moving eyes†, â€Å"big and lovely eyes† and the repetition of the word â€Å"eyes† make us pay our attention to this peculiarity. And Ruth made her mind to marry Roger: he was rich, considerate, tactful and was glad to take care of her, so he was the best variant for her. He didn’t let down and made a proposal of marriage to her. They were going to marry as soon as possible. While reading we came across a lot of pure literary words (gift, splendid, wonderful, hazards, sadness, lovely) and some clich? s (â€Å"the world was too much for her†, â€Å"stand between the hazards of life and this helpless little thing†, â€Å"how wonderful it would be to take the sadness out of those big and lovely eyes†) which are peculiar to the description of ordinary situations concerning love affairs, so we see what kind of story â€Å"The Escape† is. The narrator provoke us to perceive it ironically. Through Roger’s vision, Ruth was very unlucky. Indeed, she seemed to be very miserable, everything was wrong with her. If she married a husband he beat her; if she employed a broker he cheated her; if she engaged a cook she drank. She never had a little lamb but it was sure to die. The epithets â€Å"helpless little thing†, â€Å"rotten time†, â€Å"unfortunate†, â€Å"poor dear†, the metaphor â€Å"a little lamb†, parallel constructions â€Å"if she married†¦ â€Å" and pure literary words such as â€Å"sufferings†, â€Å"hazards†, â€Å"sadness† display hopelessness of Ruth’s life. Roger took an interest in her destiny and was ready to relieve it: the repetition of the pronouns â€Å"she† and â€Å"her† in Roger’s speech, the epithet â€Å"dreadfully sorry† prove my assumption. The epithets â€Å"very happy† and â€Å"pleased† make us believe that it wasn’t a nuisance for him. But according to the narrator’s opinion, Ruth was two-faced woman of few ideas: he called her stupid and scheming. The epithets â€Å"stupid†, â€Å"scheming†, the similie â€Å"as hard as nails† add some points to her description, so the method of character-drawing here is direct. We see two people, Roger and Ruth, as the future family, so this is the idea of this portion of the text. The author describes the first part of their relations which were rather standard. As thousands of men and women, they met, fell in love and decided to be together. But then, on a sudden, Roger fell out of love. This was the second part of their relations. There was no evident reason. Perhaps, his heart-strings were no longer touched by Ruth’s pathetic look. Roger became acutely conscious that Ruth had a mind to marry him. He gave a solemn oath that nothing would induce him to marry Ruth. But he was in a quandary. He was aware that Ruth would assess her feelings at an immoderately high figure if he asked her to release him. Besides, he didn’t want people to say that he jilted a woman. The epithets â€Å"acutely conscious†, â€Å"a solemn oath† and â€Å"an immoderately high figure† stress the importance, significance of his decision; as to the epithet â€Å"pathetic look† and the metaphor â€Å"heart-strings† (at the same time it is a clich? ), they produce the humorous effect. Falling out of love is the most terrible thing I can imagine. Recently it was an acute pleasure for Roger to do everything for Ruth. He was charmed, but, as I suppose, it wasn’t a serious and profound feeling – Roger lost it too easily. It is obvious Ruth was narrow-minded woman and she didn’t really love Roger. But there are some arguments to be said in her defense, she lonely and wanted to be protected. Probably she would be a good wife. The repetition of the expression â€Å"to have a mind to† reveals the conflict of Roger’s and Ruth’s interests. Ruth desired to have relations of long duration she cried for the moon. On the contrary, Roger wanted to escape with no loss. And again we are the witnesses of the usual continuation of the love story. It’s rather banal. Roger kept his own counsel, he remained attentive to all her wishes. It was decided that they would be married as soon as they found a suitable house. Roger applied to the agents and visited with Ruth house after house. It was very hard to find a satisfactory one. Sometimes houses were too large, sometimes they were too small, sometimes they were too expensive and sometimes they were too stuffy, sometimes they were too airy. The idea is that only such dishonest, shabby act as the flat-chase tactics seemed to be appropriate for Roger. I think, it was like a committing a crime. Roger’s behavior wasn’t fair, it was even disgraceful, but unfortunately such conduct is not uncommon, the men trick the women very often, because their attitude towards the relations differ. Parallel constructions â€Å"sometimes they were too large, sometimes they were too small, sometimes they were too expensive and sometimes they were too stuffy†, the metaphor â€Å"house-hunting†, the epithet â€Å"innumerable kitchens† describe Roger’s scheme. Firstly I took Roger’s side, because I consider that each person should have a right for free choice, but then I was sorry for Ruth, Roger tired her out, she didn’t understand what was happening. The epithet â€Å"exhausted† demonstrates her state brightly. At last Ruth revolted. She asked Roger if he wanted to marry her. There was an unaccustomed hardness in her voice, but it didn’t effect the gentleness of his reply. Roger persuaded her that they would be married the very moment they found a suitable house. Ruth took to her bed. She didn’t want to see Roger, but he was as ever assiduous and gallant. Every day he sent her flowers, wrote that he had some more houses to look at. The epithets â€Å"assiduous†, â€Å"gallant† display his dissimulation. A week passed and he received the letter: Ruth let him know that she was going to get married and claimed that Roger didn’t love her. He answered that her news shattered him, but her happiness had to be his first consideration. He sent Ruth seven orders to view. He was quite sure she would find among them a house that would exactly suit her. This is the end of the story. At that moment there was no love, there was no even the sympathy between them. They became the enemies. It was Roger’s victory. He achieved measurable gains at this story. In this portion of the text the tone changes, it is still ironical, but there appears some serious element. This story carried me with its eternal intrigue – the war between male and female, playing games between the sexes. We may be in earnest about it or may try to ignore it, but it really takes place and this problem will exist until the end of human history.

Abstract Expressionism and Surrealism Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Abstract Expressionism and Surrealism - Essay Example The focus of the essay "Abstract Expressionism and Surrealism" is on abstract expressionism and surrealism styles. Surrealism in painting is shown by highly abstract image that is loosely painted or drawn that also involves improvisation. In Abstract Expressionism, attention is drawn to the surface qualities of the paintings such as the monumental canvas and the paint viscosity; improvisation is also involved. The Surrealists such as Max Ernst (1891-1976), Yves Tanguy (1900-1955), Joan Miro and Andre Masson (1896) had the liking for the Positivists who intended to define and categorize elements in a way that their truths looked verifiable. The Abstract Expressionists such as Willem De Kooning (1904-1997), Jackson Pollock (1912-1956), Barnett Newman (1905-1970), Franz Kline (1910-1962) and Philip Guston (1913-1980) on the other hand utilized the improvisatory technique that had similarities with the psychic automatism. The abstract expressionism is similar to the surrealism. There are key distinct and similar features between the two styles of art. The main similarity is that both of them are interested in the subconscious mind. In orientation surrealism is classical (poses the desire to develop and order that can be understood by a group) whereas abstract expressionism is romantic (distillation of truth perceived through the artist’s personal vision). Both abstract expressionism and surrealism seek to capture the sub conscious mind in their work. The surrealists highly honored the studio of the painters.

Business Law Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 8

Business Law - Essay Example The offer letter was also duly signed by Jennings, further confirming his intention to offer the car for sale to Wheeler. The offer letter, sent by any means like post or through personal delivery, was duly received by Wheeler and this fact is confirmed by his subsequent action, viz., to accept the offer and tendering the sale price of $13,500 on 29 September. Thus Jennings’ letter of September 1 to Wheeler is a valid offer on the date of its acceptance by Wheeler. This offer was not withdrawn or amended by Jennings before Wheeler communicated his acceptance. Wheeler responded to the offer letter by accepting it on 29 September and tendering the sale price. The date of acceptance is well within the validity period of the offer viz., October 9. However, it is seen that till September 15, there was no communication from Wheeler to Jennings and this period of silence can be construed as a fair and reasonable period of waiting for Jennings to decide on his next course of action if he thought that Wheeler may not be interested in the offer. However, since no consideration was exchanged between the two parties, Jennings was free to revoke his offer at any time. The options available for Jennings as on September 15 are a) to wait for Wheeler’s response till the expiry of the validity period of the offer or, b) to withdraw his offer (rescind or revoke) and to sell off the item to another person. Waiting for Wheeler’s response till October 9 would have given unilateral freedom of action to Jennings since the validity of the offer expires on that date. In case Jennings was in a position to make the sale by an earlier date, he could do so but he should have first withdrawn his offer to Wheeler on the grounds that a) he received no consideration and that b) he had waited for a reasonable time period viz. up to September 15 to hear Wheeler’s response. His action to dispose off the car without withdrawing the offer made to Wheeler

African American Characteristics Paper Essay Example for Free

African American Characteristics Paper Essay African American culture in the United States refers to the cultural contributions of Americans of African descent to the culture of the United States, either as part of or distinct from American culture. The distinct identity of African American culture is rooted in the historical experience of the African American people. The culture is both distinct and enormously influential to American culture as a whole. African-American culture is rooted in Africa. It is a blend of chiefly sub-Saharan African and Sahelean cultures. Although slavery greatly restricted the ability of Americans of African descent to practice their cultural traditions, many practices, values, and beliefs survived and over time have modified or blended with European American culture. There are some facets of African American culture that were accentuated by the slavery period. The result is a unique and dynamic culture that has had and continues to have a profound impact on mainstream American culture, as well as the culture of the broader world (Rydell, 2010). Learning Team B has chosen African Americans as the culturally diverse group we will focus on. The subjects in this paper will be African American history, family characteristics, parenting practices, language, and religion. Also, the primary characteristics of African Americans and how those characteristics impact their experience as a subculture in American Society will be a topic. The last topic will be the implications of the characteristics for psychological theories and practices. History African Americans are the descendants of Africans brought to America during the slavery era. Many were owned as property and forced to work as day laborers in the fields or as servants in their owner’s homes. Others were allowed to work off their debts by being bough and sold on the block. An article titled The Slave Auction of 1859 gives a brief account of what it was to be sold on the block: The buyers, who were present to the number of about two hundred, clustered around the platform; while the Negroes, who were not likely to be immediately wanted, gathered into sad groups in the background to watch the progress of the selling in which they were so sorrowfully interested. The wind howled outside, and through the open side of the building the driving rain came pouring in; the bar down stairs ceased for a short time its brisk trade; the buyers lit fresh cigars, got ready their catalogues and pencils, and the first lot of human chattels are led upon the stand, not by a white man, but by a sleek mulatto, himself a slave, and who seems to regard the selling of his brethren, in which he so glibly assists, as a capital joke. It had been announced that the Negroes would be sold in families, that is to say; a man would not be parted from his wife, or a mother from a very young child. There is perhaps as much policy as humanity in this arrangement, for thereby many aged and unserviceable people are disposed of, who otherwise would not find a ready sale (New York Daily Tribune, 1928). President Abraham Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation on January 1, 1863, as the nation approached its third year of civil war. The proclamation declared that all persons held as slaves within the rebellious states are, and henceforward shall be free. Despite this expansive wording, the Emancipation Proclamation was limited in many ways. It applied only to states that had seceded from the Union, leaving slavery untouched in the loyal border states. It also expressly exempted parts of the Confederacy that had already come under Northern control. Most important, the freedom it promised depended upon Union military victory. History pages often claim President Lincoln as The Great Emancipator which most educated adults come to learn is an over exaggeration. The general consensus is that Lincoln never freed a single slave, and only used the proclamation as a means to get what he wanted from the states. Once freed most African Americans still experienced racial violence and lived in fear for many years. In 1870 the fifteenth amendment was added to the constitution giving blacks the right to vote. Although blacks were free they were still segregated from the white people, made to go to different schools, stores, and even ride at the back of the bus. In 1954 the supreme courts declared segregation in school unconstitutional due to the Brown vs. The Board of Education of Topeka Kansas. The civil right movement was at its peak during 1955-1965. Congress passed the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Voting Rights Act of 1965, ensuring basic civil rights for all Americans, regardless of race, after nearly a decade of nonviolent protests and marches, ranging from the 1955-1956 Montgomery bus boycotts to the student-led sit-ins of the 1960s to the huge March on Washington in 1963. In 1968 President Johnson signed the Civil Right act prohibiting discrimination in the sale, rental, and financing of housing. Some of the most famous leader of the civil right movement includes Martin Luther King Jr. , Thurgood Marshall, Rosa Parks and many others. Although civil rights were established many African American still struggled to be treated fairly in America. Affirmative Action was established in 1978 by a ruling of the Supreme Court to ensure that minorities are given an opportunity that they may have missed because of their race. In 2008 Barack Obama was the first African American to be nominated for a major party nominee for president. He was elected the 44th President of the United States on November 4, 2008, and sworn in on January 20, 2009. Family and Parenting Characteristics As with most cultures, African Americans place a high value on their families. In the United States African American family’s make-up 12. 9 percent of the population according to the 2003 US Census. The US census also shows that for African Americans over the age of 15 there are 34 percent married, five percent separated, eleven percent divorced, seven percent widowed, and 43 percent were never married. According to the First Things First website, â€Å"African Americans are the most un-partnered group in America† (Medium, 2011, para. 4). One major goal of African American families is communalism, which is very important for effective functioning (Hall, 2010). Hall (2010) describes African American families as having three family types. The first type is the cohesive-authoritative that is explained to be a family with high cohesion along with being supportive, nurturing, and involved with their children (Hall, 2010). The second type of family is the conflictive-authoritarian that is defined as families with conflict and the parents are controlling, critical, and express unhappiness with children (Hall, 2010). The last type of family Hall (2010) explains is the defensive- neglectful, that did not like other racial groups and also did not teach their children to be proud of being an African American. One significant trend that has been determined about the African American family structure is that the more interconnected the family is, the lower the rate of depression in African Americans (Hall, 2010). Based on these findings, a program called Strong African American Families has been created in order to strengthen the relationships between parents and children. According to Hall (2010), â€Å"The Strong African American Families program also has been found to reduce preadolescent risky sexual behaviors, preadolescent alcohol use, and parental depression among African American families† (p.95). This kind of program has been very effective in keeping families cohesive and helping to improve the goal of communalism. Language Generations of hardships imposed on the African American community created distinctive language patterns. Slave owners often intentionally mixed people who spoke different African languages to discourage communication in any language other than English. This, combined with prohibitions against education, led to the development of pidginsimplified mixtures of two or more languages that speakers of different languages can use to communicate. Examples of pidgins that became fully developed languages include Creole, common to Louisiana, and Gullah, common to the Sea Islandsoff the coast of South Carolina and Georgia (Rydell, 2010). It is sad to think that slave owners intentionally put Africans with people who did not speak their language to discourage communication, but is have been researched and proven to be true. Slavery is not the only element to African American culture, and it often seems that when discussing African American culture slavery is the main topic. However, when discussing language the centuries of slavery that they endured have everything to do with the evolution of African-American language. Now that we have covered the origin of African American language we can discuss the American perspective of where modern day African American language stands, and how this effects the culture. African American Vernacular English (AAVE)—also called African American English; less precisely Black English, Black Vernacular, Black English Vernacular (BEV), or Black Vernacular English (BVE)—is an African Americanvariety(dialect, ethnolect and sociolect) of American English. Non-linguists sometimes call it Ebonics(a term that also has other meanings or strong connotations) or jive or jive-talk. Its pronunciation is, in some respects, common to Southern American English, which is spoken by many African Americans and many non-African Americans in the United States. There is little regional variation among speakers of AAVE. Several creolists, including William Stewart, John Dillard, and John Rickford, argue that AAVE shares so many characteristics with Creole dialects spoken by black people in much of the world that AAVE itself is a Creole dialect; while others maintain that there are no significant parallels. As with all linguistic forms, its usage is influenced by age, status, topic and setting. There are many literary uses of this variety of English, particularly in African-American literature (Rydell, 2010). Of course this information does not imply that all African Americans speak a version of AAVE, only that it is very common and prevalent throughout the modern day African American culture. Religion In the African American community religion plays an extremely significant role. The story of African-American religion is a tale of variety and creative fusion. Enslaved Africans transported to the New World beginning in the fifteenth century brought with them a wide range of local religious beliefs and practices. This diversity reflected the many cultures and linguistic groups from which they had come. The majority came from the West Coast of Africa, but even within this area religious traditions varied greatly. Islam had also exerted a powerful presence in Africa for several centuries before the start of the slave trade: an estimated twenty percent of enslaved people were practicing Muslims, and some retained elements of their practices and beliefs well into the nineteenth century. Preserving African religions in North America proved to be very difficult. The harsh circumstances under which most slaves lived—high death rates, the separation of families and tribal groups, and the concerted effort of white owners to eradicate heathen (or non-Christian) customs—rendered the preservation of religious traditions difficult and often unsuccessful. Isolated songs, rhythms, movements, and beliefs in the curative powers of roots and the efficacy of a world of spirits and ancestors did survive well into the nineteenth century. Historically during their most difficult times the African American relied on their religious beliefs to endure. During the civil rights movement black churches were often the target of racial violence because that was a place that African Americans spent most of their time. This was a place where they often held meetings to discuss their civil rights efforts. African Americans practice a number of religions, but Protestant Christianity is by far the most prevalent. Some African and African American also follow the Muslim and Judaism. According to Fife, Kilgour, Canter and Adegoke (2010), â€Å"African spiritual traditions have historically held a central place in African American communalism (Mbiti, 1990) and were vital to survival during the time of slavery. In African and African American culture the concept of spirituality is inseparable from all other aspects of human experience. The spiritual and the physical are indistinguishable (Mbiti, 1990). A deep connection exists between humans, God, family, and group (Barrett, 1974). Spirituality is not compartmentalized into systematized beliefs and practices but woven into everyday experience (Boyd Franklin, 1989). The Black church is the primary means through which many African Americans express their religious and spiritual beliefs and values (Richardson June, 1997). This institution is a central force in African American childhood and adolescent identity and helps to shape ideas about what comprises community. † Many African American children have christen ceremonies for they can even walk or talk. African American families generally spend a substantial amount of time within their places of worship. Conclusion For review, the big questions the above research addressed were: †¢What are the primary cultural characteristics of this selected group? †¢How do the characteristics of this group impact its experience as a subculture in American society? †¢How might the cultural aspects of this group be applied to traditional psychological theory? †¢What are the implications of these characteristics for psychological theory and practice? We have found that the primary cultural characteristics of the African America culture are their history of slavery in America, distinct family and parenting practices, slavery based evolution of their language, and their dedicated religious beliefs. The characteristics of this group impact its experience as a subculture in American society by enticing others in to the culture and sparking curiosity around the world. African Americans make up a small percentage of the minority in America. However African American culture dominates the world of music, fashion, and professional sports. The cultural aspects of the African American group can be applied to traditional psychological theory when considering family dynamics, cultural perspectives, and how these aspects influence mental health. The implications of these characteristics for psychological theory and practice would focus on how the African American history of slavery in America influences their world view, how family and parenting practices mold their ideals of what a family should be, how religion influences their beliefs and actions, and how language distinguishes them from others and what psychological impact this has on them as a whole. For many years African-American culture developed separately from mainstream American culture, both because of slavery and the persistence of racial discrimination in America, as well as African-American slave descendants desire to create and maintain their own traditions. Today, African-American culture has become a significant part of American culture and yet, at the same time, remains a distinct cultural body. References Fife, J. , McCreary, M. , Kilgour, J. , Canter, D. , Adegoke, A. (2010). Self Identification Among African American and Caucasian College Students. College Student Journal, 44(4), 994. Retrieved from EBSCOhost. Hall, G. C. N. (2010). Multicultural psychology (2nd ed. ). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson/Prentice Hall. Medium. (2011). First Things First. Retrieved from http://firstthings. org/page/research/african-american-family-facts New York Daily Tribune, March 9, 1859 reprinted in Hart, Albert B. , American History Told by Contemporaries v. 4 (1928). Retrieved from http://eyewitnesstohistory. com Rydell, R. J. , Hamilton, D. L. , Devos, T. (2010). NOW THEY ARE AMERICAN, NOW THEY ARE NOT: VALENCE AS A DETERMINANT OF THE INCLUSION OF AFRICAN AMERICANS IN THE AMERICAN IDENTITY. Social Cognition, 28(2), 161-179. 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