Women, Health, and the Environment Essay Example for Free

Women, Health, and the Environment Essay -These three words together speak to a web of issues and concerns that challenges us to think outside the proverbial box and silos that keep us narrowly focused and divided. We must think and act from a holistic perspective if we are ever to reverse the environmental degradation and social inequalities on the planet and create environmentally sustainable, economically viable, and socially equitable gender-sensitive societies. A discussion of women’s health and the environment must also include issues of poverty, hunger, food, security, racism, water, sanitation, agriculture, trade, energy, species extinction, biodiversity and climate change. Our agenda for women’s health and environment must also address access and right to live with dignity, sustainable livelihoods, shelter, education for girls, political power and decision making, sexuality, and freedom from violence, conflict and war. Today many feminists believe we are in a third wave of feminism, one that challenges the idea if dualism itself while recognizing diversity, particularity, and embodiment. By theorizing from the notion of embodiment, recent iterations of feminism are beginning to reweave the specific duality between culture and nature, an especially important endeavor in these environmentally disturbing times. These feminisms, rather than working from established and usually abstract foundational theories, begin from the situated perspectives of different women. Beyond this general congruence, however, there are several different foci in the feminisms seen as third wave today. One of the most intractable problems facing environmentalists is how to address global environmental issues given the very different, often conflicting, ways that nature is valued within and across cultures. In many parts of the world, nature is valued as an exploitable resource that when used efficiently can raise standards of living, improve the quality of life, or increase the wealth of a select few. In other places, people believe that economic development efforts must be sustainable; promoting natural balance and improving living standards are values that can be achieved simultaneously. For many people, the value of global justice suggests that rich nations must do more to protect the global environment in order to allow for the legitimate improvement of the quality of life of the poor. To make things more complicated, there are additional values beyond the value of nature, and the value of justice. Ecofeminism, in the United States, originated during the second wave of feminism as women in the peace movement began to perceive the interrelationships of militarism, sexism, racism, classism and environmental damage. The theorizing of how this environmental damage was related to women’s oppression and the oppression of other people, together with theorizing form the perspectives of the women involved, including women in the so-called developing world, became evident during the time period seen as the emergence of third-wave feminism. Consider basic issue-women’s everyday living environments and women’s access to water and sanitation. Millions of poor women in urban and rural areas around the world do not have access to safe and affordable water or toilets. Unsafe water causes health problems such as diarrhea, schistosomiasis, trachoma, hepatitis, malaria and poisoning. The care of sick family members is usually the responsibility of women and takes time away from their income generating initiatives. To ill health, add the loss and suffering from the death of an estimated three million children a year from contaminated water-related diseases. In the rural area of Garla Mare, Romania, the majority of the water sources-the wells are contaminated with nitrates, chemicals, heavy metals and bacteria. Amongst other things, high nitrate levels in drinking water are linked to â€Å"blue baby disease† or acute infantile methaemoglobinaemia. Women in Romania along with Women in Europe for a Common Future (WECF) are working together to document sources of contaminated water, develop strategies to â€Å"clean† water with local authorities and run educational campaigns demonstrating the links between polluted water and ill-health (Merchant, 1980. Due to deforestration, the loss of vegetation, and the lack of toilets, rural women have to rise earlier and walk further to attend to their daily needs. In urban areas, slums often lack hygienic and secure toilets for women. Women and girls in many countries have been sexually and physically assaulted in the night when attempting to use the â€Å"outside,† or toilets that are too far from their homes. Women in the US are also organizing to question poor water quality as water supplies in many US cities and towns are contaminated with industrial and agricultural chemicals. Access to safe and affordable sanitation services is critical for women’s and girl’s dignity, health, and safety. Human-made chemicals and metals that are persistent, biomagnifying and endocrine disrupting such as atrazine, 2, 4-D, and lindane, have been used extensively in agriculture, industry, and the home and garden. Some of these chemicals are also called POPs (Persistent Organic Pollutants). They are the subjected of the United Nations Stockholm Convention for the protection of human health and the environment. These same chemicals are readily found in household sprays and cleaners, pesticides, herbicides, fungicides, insecticides, and in our food. Chemicals enter into natural systems and are having devastating impacts on wildlife. For example, there is evidence that some alligators, Western gulls, and Rainbow trout are developing rudimentary sexual organs, Western and Herring gulls are exhibiting mating behavior of both genders, frogs are being born with missing limbs and eyes, and Beluga whales are dying from immune suppression and cancer. Human beings are at the top of the food chain and health impacts similar to those on wildlife are being documented around the world. Widely documented are the health impacts on agricultural and horticultural workers, many of whom are poor women and children with limited options for other livelihoods. Lead, dioxins, DDT and PCB’s are found in women’s breast milk, from indigenous women in the Aral Sea region of Central Asia. Human exposure to these chemicals is linked to endocrine disruption, learning impairment and hyperactivity in children, as well as cleft lip and palate, spina bifida and limb anomalies. Environmental contamination has resulted in women in the North and in greater numbers in the South facing increased risks of fertility problems, spontaneous abortion and miscarriage, reproductive system abnormalities, immune system disorders and cancer. Breast cancer has become major women’s disease, transcending class, race, ethnicity, culture, sexual orientation and geographical location. The complexity of women’s sexual and reproductive health issues and illnesses underlines the need for women’s right to decision making and control of their sexuality, sexual and reproductive health, and their right to relevant services through the public health care system. While women are often dismissed from discussions on energy, it is a central issue concerning women’s quality of life. Poor women who use wood fuel and charcoal to cook indoors are exposed to poor air quality and an increased risk of severe respiratory problems. While nuclear proponents advertise nuclear energy as â€Å"clean† energy, they deliberately ignore the impacts of radiation and nuclear waste and the work of many women who have researched and critiqued the dangers of nuclear energy and weapons. Seventeen years after the Chernobyl nuclear disaster of 1986, medical research shows that 70% of pregnant women in the Ukraine have extra-genital and obstetrics disorders including anemia, late toxicosis, cardiovascular disorders and urogenital diseases (Merchant, 1980). Increases in the frequency and severity of floods and drought have been linked to changing global climate regimes. A recent study on the impact of floods on women and girls in Cambodia highlights a number of issues. These include an increase in food insecurity and loss of crops; fear of losing children to the floods; risk of drowning because women and girls are not taught to swim; disaster-related debt and the corresponding increase in workloads of women as men migrate to cities; and the resulting stress and fear of HIV and sexually transmitted infections brought back from men engaging with other partners in the cities. While the study did not document an increase in wife assault during the disaster period or after, it did identify that the fear of assault is a constant factor enmeshed in women’s daily life and an ever present threat that colours women’s actions and involvement in decision making. The lack of political will and commitment from many national governments and major international bodies, like the International Monetary Fund (IMF), have degraded natural environments and subjected women citizens to increasing poverty by a loss of livelihoods and a reduction in accessibility to health, education, and other basic services. Extensive research and documentation has demonstrated the negative economic and social impacts of programs like the structural adjustment programmes o the IMF on African women. Another approach advocated by feminists such as Shulamith Firestone is the liberation of women through reproductive technology. This approach includes a spectrum of possibilities that would give women the right to choose when and if they wish to bear and raise children: male and female contraceptive devices, voluntary vasectomies and tubal ligations, amniocentesis and genetic counseling an, ultimately, test-tube reproduction and cloning. Science and technology are here viewed as potentially liberating and progressive, yet these approaches also raise a host of difficult ethical questions about the nature of control over life itself. For example, amniocentesis allows the woman to know the sex of her unborn child and thus to decide whether or not to abort the fetus. If through contraceptive and genetic technology families decide to have one or two children and to make the first child a male, then an increase in the proportion of males in society could result. If the psychological approach to the woman-nature question is valid, and if trust children tend to be more highly motivated, aggressive, and domineering than second children, then the outcome could be an increase in dominating males, with negative implications for women and nature. For many women who have become aware of environmental hazards and nuclear technologies through environmentalism and have become conscious of sexism through feminism, the appropriate technology movement presents an appealing alternative. Here the hands on skills necessary for personal survival and control over one’s own life are revered, and low-environmental-impact technologies are the movement’s hallmarks. Women involved in the appropriate technology movement, however, find great satisfaction in building bridges, solar collectors, greenhouses, and doing home repairs themselves, without resorting to high-cost contractors. Carpentry and plumbing skills taught to groups of women by other women rather than male â€Å"experts† are popular forms of education. The social economic analysis of the woman-nature question accepts many of the insights of the foregoing feminists but is critical of the idea of universal sex oppression and of the dichotomies â€Å"public-private† and â€Å"self-other† as explanatory categories. Rather than postulating a separate sex/gender system as the framework of analysis, this approach examines the historical context of male and female gender roles in different systems of economic production. The simultaneous emergence of the womens and environmental movements over the past two decades raises additional questions about the relationships between feminism and ecology. The structures and functions of the natural world and of human society interact through a language common to both. Ethics in the form of description, symbol, religion, and myth help to mediate between humans and their world. Choices are implied in the words used to describe nature: choices of ways in which to view the world and ethical choices that influence human behavior toward it. Ecology and feminism have interacting languages that imply certain common policy goals. These linkages might be described as follows: 1. All parts of a system have equal value. Ecology assigns equal importance to all organic and inorganic components in the structure of an ecosystem. Healthy air, water, and soil-the abiotic components of the system-are essential as the entire diverse range of biotic parts-plants, animals, and bacteria and fungi. Without each element in the structure, the system as a whole cannot function properly. Remove an element, reduce the number of individuals or species, and erratic oscillations may appear in the larger system. Similarly, feminism asserts the equality of men and women. Intellectual differences are human differences rather than gender-or race-specific. The lower position of women stems from culture rather than nature. Thus policy goals should be directed toward achieving educational, economic, and political equity for all. Ecologists and feminists alike will therefore assign value to all parts of the human-nature system and take care to examine the long and short range consequences of decisions affecting an individual, group, or species. In cases of ethical conflict, each case must be discussed from the perspective of the interconnectedness of all parts and the good of the whole. 2. The earth is a home. The Earth is a habitat for living organisms; houses are habitats for groups of humans. Each ecological niche is a position in a community, a hole in the energy continuum through which materials and energy enters and leaves. Ecology is the study of the Earths household. Human houses whether sod houses, igloos, or bungalows, are structures in an environment. Most are places wherein life is sustained-shelters where food is prepared, clothes are repaired, and human beings cared for. For ecologists and feminists the Earths house and the human house are habitats to be cherished. Energy flows in and out; molecules and atoms enter and leave. Some chemicals and forms of energy are life-sustaining; others are life-defeating. Those that lead to sickness on the planet or in the home cannot be tolerated. Radioactive wastes or potential radioactive hazards are present in some peoples environments. Hazardous chemicals permeate some backyards and basements. Microwaves, nitrite preservatives, and cleaning chemicals have invaded the kitchen. The home, where in fact women and children spend much of their time, is no longer a haven. The soil; over which the house is built or the rocks used in its construction may emit radon, potentially a source of lung cancer. The walls, furniture, floor coverings, and insulation may contain urea formaldehyde, a nasal, throat, and eye irritant. Leaky gas stoves and furnaces can produce nitrogen dioxide and carbon monoxide, resulting in nausea, headaches, and respiratory illnesses. An underground garage in an apartment building can be an additional source of indoor carbon monoxide. The homes faucets may be piping in carcinogenic drinking water, formed by the action of chlorine on organic compounds in reservoir supplies. Disinfectants sprayed where people eat or children play may contain phenols, aerosols, or ammonium chlorides that can produce toxic effects on the lungs, liver, and kidneys, or act as nervous system depressants. Over cleaners may contain caustic alkalis. The bathroom and bedroom any feature cosmetics and shampoos that can produce headaches, eye-make up contaminated by bacteria and fungi, deodorants laced with hexachlorophene and hair dyes containing aromatic amines that have been linked to cancer. The kitchen may have microwave oven and the living room a color television emitting low-level radiation when in use. The refrigerator may be stocked with food containing nitrite preservatives, food dyes, and saccharin-filled ‘low-cal’ drinks suspected as potential carcinogens. In the cupboards pewter pitchers or dishes containing lead glazes can slowly contribute to lead poisoning, especially when in contact with acidic foods. The indoor atmosphere may be filled with cigarette, cigar, or tobacco smoke, containing particles that remain in the air and accumulate even in the lungs of non-smokers. For ecologists and feminists alike, the goal must be the reversal of these life-defeating intrusions and the restoration of healthy indoor and outdoor environments. 3. Process is primary. The first law of thermodynamics, which also the first law of ecology, asserts the conservation of energy in an ecosystem as energy is changed and exchanged in its continual flow through the interconnected parts. The total amount of energy entering and leaving the Earth is the same. The science of ecology studies the energy flow through the system of living and non-living parts on the Earth. All components are parts of a steady-state process of growth and development, death, and decay. The world is active and dynamic; its natural processes are cyclical, balanced by cybernetic, stabilizing, feedback mechanisms. The stress on dynamic processes in nature has implications for change and process in human societies. The exchange and flow of information through the human community is the basis for decision making. Open discussion of all alternatives in which ecologists and technologists, lawyers and workers, women and men participate as equals is an appropriate goal for both environmentalists and feminists. Each individual has experience and knowledge that is of value to the human-nature community. 4. There is no free lunch. â€Å"No free lunch† is the essence of the laws of thermodynamics. To produce organized matter, energy in the form of work is needed. But each step up the ladder of organized life, each material object produced, each commodity manufactured increases entropy in its surroundings, and hence increases the reservoir of energy unavailable for work. Although underpaid environmentalists are said to accept free lunches, nature cannot continue to provide free goods and services for profit-hungry humans, because the ultimate costs are too great. Thus, whenever and wherever possible, that which is taken from nature must be given back through the recycling of goods and the sharing of services. For feminists, reciprocity and cooperation rather than free lunches and household services are a desirable goal. Housewives frequently spend much of their waking time struggling t undo the effects of the second law of thermodynamics. Continually trying to create order out of disorder is energy consumptive and spiritually costly. Thus the dualism of separate public and private spheres should be severed and male and female roles in both the household and the workplace merged. Cooperation between men and women in each specific context-childrearing, day-care centers, household work, productive work, sexual relations, etc. -rather than separate gender roles could create emotional rewards. Men and women would engage together in the production of commodities that are costly to nature. Technologies appropriate to the task, technologies having a low impact on the environment, would be chosen whenever possible. Resistance to a feminist-environmental coalition comes form both movements. Environmental coalition comes from both movements. Environmentalists react negatively to the intrusion of feminist’s issues that seem to them to muddy and complicate an already difficult struggle. At anti-nuclear rallies and solar technology conferences, the presence of lesbian feminists challenging male control of technology may seem particularly galling. Increasingly, in countries of the South and North, many governments are failing to defend and enhance women’s hard earned rights to live free of violence from either family members or the State, and to have right and access to health services, as well as specific programmes to address gender concerns as in the case of the HIV/AIDS pandemic. For poor rural women, government supported privatization of common property resources such as forests, wetlands, fallow fields, pasturelands, etc. make it nearly impossible to maintain precarious levels of substinence living; thus, further marginalizing those women who rely on common property resources for food, fodder and raw materials. Moreover, many of these groups establish ritual behaviors that maintain steady-state equilibrium between population and resources. Here nature and culture are not separated dichotomies in which nature is devalued and culture elevated. The nonhuman world is alive, sensitive, intelligent, and on a par with the human portion. In some cultures animals are members of separate societies governed by special spirits; particular rocks and trees are sacred; and the Earth is a living nurturing mother. Women and men perform different tasks and have different roles, but each is essential to the survival of the group as a whole and neither is devalued. The society is geared to the production of use values as the material basis for sustaining life. Like postcolonial and generational/youth cultures, feminism’s growing interest in ecofeminism has been evident in the last several years. Some ecofeminists, however, posit that, as a term, â€Å"ecofeminism† informally appeared, here and there, worldwide, in the 1970’s, usually as a response to so-called development activities. The Chipko Movement, the movement that began when village women of Himalayan India organized in the 1970’s to protect their forests, as described by their country woman, Vandana Shiva, and noted above, is most often specifically cited as the beginning of ecofeminism. In the West, an ecofeminist focus in activism emerged during the second wave of the women’s movement and was predicated on seeing the relations between militarism, sexism, racism, classism, and environmental damage. By the middle 190’s, many women, committed to direct action against militarism, started naming themselves ecofeminists to depict the interdependencies of their political concerns. As ecofeminism evolved, it took up additional issues such as toxic waste, deforestation, military and nuclear weapons policies, reproductive rights and technologies, animal liberation, and domestic and international agricultural development, in its efforts to reweave the nature/culture dualism. Ecofeminism is distinct, however, in its insistence that nonhuman nature is a feminist concern. Ecofeminist theory utilizes principles from both ecology and feminism to inform its political organizing and its efforts to create equitable and environmentally sound lifestyles. From ecology, it learns to value the interdependence and diversity of all life forms; from feminism, it against the insights of a social analysis of women’s oppression that intersects with other oppressions such s racism, colonialism, classism, and heterosexism. Ecofeminism, in its use of ecology as a model for human behavior, suggests that we act out of recognition of our interdependency with others, all others: human and nonhuman. Ecofeminist politics embrace heterogenous strategies and solutions. Ecofeminists do share a broad vision of a society beyond militarism, hierarchy, and the destruction of nature, but like feminism itself, they often have different analyses and strategies for achieving them. In many ways, an ecofeminist style of politics the notion of â€Å"local resistance† against power relations. Ecofeminists understand power as â€Å"multiplicity of force relations† that are not centered, but are diverse and are constantly being reproduced. While ecofeminsm emphasizes local activism, it also maintains the importance of a global perspective. In ecofeminism, where everything is seen as interconnected and/or interdependent, there is a serious regard for women whose cultures and geographic locations are being foisted croded as a result of so-called development projects that are being foisted on the third world. Ecofeminists challenge the relationship between economic growth and exploitation of the natural environment, and as noted above, ecofeminist anthologies contain work by and about women resisting ill-conceived development projects in the third world, in addition to those in the West. The relation of ecofeminism theory to political activism is ideally informative and generative, not perspective. The activism that is undertaken is a result of the individuals who are involved reflecting on an actual problematic situation or issue. Because of ecofeminism recognizes that sexism, racism, classism, heterosexism, speciesism, and naturalism are mutually reinforcing systems of oppression, the work o end any oppression is valuable. Using ecology as a model for understanding these interdependencies and the value of diversity enables ecofeminists to include many kinds of political action. Ecofeminist theory, in turn is expanded by focusing on the actual activities, as articulated by the embodied voices of the participants. Social justice cannot be achieved apart from the well-being of the Earth. Human life is dependent on the Earth; our fates are intertwined. Ecofemism is spiritual, too, emphasizing that the Earth is sacred unto itself. And a strong recognition of the necessity of sustainability-a need to learn the many ways we can walk the fine line between using the Earth as resource while respecting the Earth’s need. One of the main endeavors of ecofeminism, in its efforts to reweave the nature/culture duality, is to understand the ideology that perpetuates the domination of women, other humans, and nonhuman nature. There are many approaches taken by ecofeminists who are engaged in analyzing how the subjugation of women, other suppressed people and nature are interconnected. Karen Warren (2000), writing 10 years after the Diamond and Orenstein anthology, in her work Ecofeminist Philosophy: A Western Perspective on What It Is and Why It Matters, discerns 10 directions ecofeminists take to theorize these interconnected subjugations. Warren terms these various approaches: historical and causal, conceptual, empirical, socioeconomic, linguistic, symbolic and literary, spiritual and religious, epistemological, ethical, and political. Feminist who take the historical and causal approach to explain the interconnected subjugations of women, other suppressed people, and nature, suggests that the ubiquitous ness of androcentrism with its accompanying phenomenon, the patriarchal domination of women and nature, is the source of environmental degradation. Riane Eisler and Carolyn Merchant are examples of feminists who present varying accounts of this approach. They explain how and approximately when societies that previously had been living essentially in concord with nature and with each other became subjugated by patriarchal domination. Societies, in these accounts, then become disharmonious in their relationships. A second approach some ecofeminists take to understand the ideology that perpetuates domination is an analysis of conceptual frameworks that have functioned historically to perpetuate and justify the dominations of interconnected subjugations. Conceptual frameworks function as socially constructed lenses through which one perceives reality. These conceptual works can be oppressive because of the part plated by rationalism in the domination of women and nonhuman nature illustrates. Rationalism explains how structures of domination are based â€Å"in hierarchically organized value dualism and an exaggerated focus on reason and rationality divorced form the realm of the body, nature, and the physical† (Warren 2004, p. 24). Warren, she, makes similar conceptual connections. She locates these connections in an oppressive patriarchal conceptual connection. She locates these connections in an oppressive patriarchal conceptual framework, mediated by what she calls â€Å"a logic domination. † This â€Å"logic† provides the moral premise for domination/subordination relationships based on socially constructed dualistic notions of superiority/inferiority. Empirical interconnections are made by ecofeminists who use verifiable evidence to document the tie-in among dominations. Using this kind of data, they are able to illustrate, for example, that subordinate groups suffer disproportionately form industrial environmental pollutants. Coinciding with postcolonial feminism, some ecofeminists using the empirical interconnections approach, furnish data to show how women’s inability to provide adequate sustenance for themselves and their families is caused by first-world development policies such as those destroying subsistence agriculture and/or the productivity of the land. Nature like women’s bodies and labor is colonized by the inter-workings of capitalism and patriarchy in first-world development. Some ecofeminists, who follow the concept formation that is strongly influenced by language, make linguistic interconnections to explain subjugation. They maintain that language is pivotal in maintaining mutually reinforcing sexist, racist, and naturist views of women, people of color, and nonhuman nature. They call our attention to the considerable extent that Euro-American language contains illustrations of sexist-naturist language depicting women, animals, and nonhuman nature as having less value than men. Related to this approach is the ecofeminist animal welfare â€Å"analysis that the oppression of nonhuman animals, is based on a variety of women-animal connections: for example, sexist-naturalist language, images of women and animals as consumable objects, pornographic representations of women as meat, male perpetuated violence against women and nonhuman animals,† (Warren 2000, p. 126). Another method-that of making symbolic and literary interconnections-is seen in a new genre of literary analysis: ecofeminist literary criticism. This genre has emerged as a way to appraise literature according to criteria of ecological and feminist values. Ecofeminists using this approach, maintain that the literary canon needs to be reconsidered to include a de-homocentric approach. Ecofeminist theologians work to make spiritual and religious interconnections to explain subjugation. They discern most ancient religious myths basic to Judeo-Christian and Western traditions as ones justifying a social structure that exalts ruling-class men while denigrating others, including nonhuman nature. What many of these ecofeminist theologians subsequently have to consider is whether these religions can be reformed or if new religions, myths, and spiritual practices are needed. Some Ecofeminist working with spiritual and religious interconnections, see women’s spirituality as political. They believe â€Å"the preservation of the Earth will require profound shift in consciousness, a recovery of a more ancient and traditional view that reveres the profound connection of all beings in the web of life and a rethinking of the relation of both humanity and divinity in nature (Warren 2000, p. 32). The notion of â€Å"the Goddess† is also invoked by many spiritual ecofeminists to express the veneration both nonhuman nature and the human body merit. Warren further notes that knowledge and knowledge creation is studied by ecofeminists who work to make epistemological interconnections. Like postcolonial feminism, they challenge the Western view that knowledge is objective. Warren is also discusses the ethical interconnection approach made by ecofeminist philosophers who hold that a feminist ethical analysis and response is needed to show how subjugation of women, other â€Å"others† and nonhuman nature is interlinked. â€Å"Minimally, the goal of ecofeminist environmental ethics is to develop theories and practices concerning humans and the natural environment that are not male-biased and that provide a guide to action in the prefiminist present,† (Warren 20007, p. 37). Making political interconnections is integral to ecofeminism, which has always been a grassroots political movement, motivated by pressing pragmatic concerns (Warren 2000, p. 35). In addition to women’s activism to sustain their families and communities, the relationship of environmental and women’s health to science and development projects, animal rights, and peace activism are examples of issues that

HYPNOSIS :: essays research papers

METHODOLOGY †¢ CASE STUDY RESEARCHES  INTERVIEWS  QUESTIONNAIRES What is Hypnosis? Hypnosis is a specific and unusual form of verbal control that apparently enables one person to control another person’s behavior, thoughts and perceptions. Examples of hypnosis: Under hypnosis, a person can be induced to bark like a dog, act like a baby, or tolerate pierced with needles. Importance of Hypnosis Hypnosis is important to psychology because it provides insights about the nature of consciousness and has applications in the fields of medicine and psychotherapy. Uses of Hypnosis Hypnosis can play a useful role in medicine, dentistry and psychotherapy. Thus, it can be used to suppress the pain of the childbirth or of having one’s teeth drilled. It is also useful in reducing the nausea caused by the drugs used in chemotherapy for cancer. Hypnosis can also be used to help people break a bad habit such as smoking. Finally, hypnosis is often used in psychotherapy to help patients discuss painful memories whose inaccessibility is impeding progress. Reasons for Hypnosis, not being used in every day life: Not all can be hypnotized The induction of hypnosis takes some time Habits reside largely in the subconscious. Willpower alone can't reach the subconscious. Hypnosis can HOW HYPNOSIS WORKS TO HELP PEOPLE QUIT SMOKING? Hypnosis can be an astonishingly powerful tool for shifting a person into becoming a nonsmoker. For some people, the results are miraculous. They emerge from their hypnosis session permanently convinced in body, mind and emotions that they will never light up a cigarette again. There is, however, a catch: the person must be fully willing to become a nonsmoker. Sometimes a prospective hypnosis client believes that the hypnotist can get him/her to quit smoking. That is not the truth. No one can help you quit something but yourself. But...if you've already made the decision to quit, what hypnosis can do is reinforce that choice, and make it much easier and more comfortable for you. DOES BEING HYPNOTIZED FEEL WEIRD? No. Most people experience hypnosis as a pleasant and normal sensation of deep relaxation. In fact, all of us go in and out of light hypnotic states every day. An example of this is daydreaming. WILL I FORGET EVERYTHING THAT HAPPENS DURING MY SESSION? Although it's possible to relax so deeply that one doesn't remember her or his hypnosis session, most people remain fully aware of all that occurs. If this is a concern for you, ask your hypnotist to suggest to you that you will remember everything that has happened--and you will.

Exploring Love Through Minding Theory and Triangular Theory of Love Essay

My bestfriend and I have been together for more than a year. However, there are times when we feel that our relationship as friends would never last. But on the deepest part of our hearts, we do hope that our friendship would last until the last day of our lives. Having known the Minding Theory of Love gives me an idea of how we could strengthen our relationship as best of friends. The Minding Theory of relationships claims that a variety of â€Å"expectations and cognitive patterns† are advantageous to satisfying close relationships (Harvey and Omarzu, 2006, p. 99). Using this concept, our knowledge about each other and attribution of each other’s behaviors would be enhanced. As Minding Theory promotes relationships based on â€Å"knowing, accepting and respecting a partner†, it is therefore important to have an ample of knowledge about each other (Harvey and Omarzu, 2006, p. 99). Sharing of information and getting to know each other day by day is one of the best strategies that would be employed to strengthen our friendship. This way, we could make each other know that one is special, treasured and cared for. Such actions could also prevent misunderstanding, miscommunication and break in our friendship. On my part, any collected information about my bestfriend would enable me to know his strengths and weaknesses and his likes and dislikes. Not doing the things that could hurt him and helping him to fight with his weaknesses, I think, could make my relationship with him to become stronger. In addition, appreciating him, trusting him and winning his trust, accepting the whole of him, understanding and respecting him, giving and sharing my resources with him, and providing disclosure in our relationship could also help in strengthening our relationship while pursuing continuity and synergy. Part Two: Exploring Love Through Triangular Theory of Love The Triangular Theory of Love by Sternberg (2006) holds that love could be understood in terms of three components that together could be viewed forming the vertices of triangle: intimacy (top vertex of the triangle); passion (left-hand vertex of the triangle); and decision/commitment (right-hand vertex of the triangle). On top vertex of the triangle, Intimacy in loving relationships refers to feelings of â€Å"closeness, connectedness and bondedness† (Sternberg, 2006, p. 185). It provides the partners the experience of warmth within relationships. On the other left side of the triangle, passion in loving relationship refers to the drives or motivation that lead to physical attraction, romance, sexual consummation and other related events in a relationship. It includes â€Å"a state of intense longing† for the union with a partner (Sternberg, 2006, p. 185). Furthermore, on the left side of the triangle, decision/commitment refers to the decision that one loves a certain other, for short term relationships; and to one’s commitment to maintain love, for long-term relationships. The three components of love interact with each other and determine the kind of love relationship one have for his or her partner. In the absence of the three components, a relationship is identified as non-love. However, if one of the three components exists, it is either an infatuated love or empty love. Infatuated love occurs when the relationship of partners is solely rooted on passion. On the other hand, a relationship that emanates from the decision that one loves another and is committed to that love is known as empty love (Sternberg, 2006). Meanwhile, a combination of two components of love also differentiates one kind of love to the other. A love relationship that is based on intimacy and passion is classified as romantic love while intimacy and decision/commitment are best associated with compassionate love. And lastly, a relationship that is rooted from passion and decision/commitment, on the absence of intimacy, is known as fatuous love. Nevertheless, the complete mixture of the three components of love – intimacy, passion and decision/commitment – is also possible as such kind of love is distinguished as the consummate love (Sternberg, 2006). With regard to the three components mentioned, it is perceived that the type of love relationship that an individual have for his or her partner or object of attention is greatly affected by the kind of attachment that he or she holds for the other. As an individual grows older, he or she would develop various forms of attachment for other people around him or her. For example, a child who is not yet familiar with things around him, only lives according to his instinct or to what is dictated to him by the people around him. The concept of attachment and love is still not innate to the child, thus the type of love he has as of this moment could be identified as non-love. As the child grows, he would develop a feeling of attachment to other people, most probably to his family. Considering Sternberg’s Triangular Theory of Love, forms of attachment which are likely to sprout on the child’s emotion are intimacy and commitment. Such forms of attachment is associated with compassionate love. Once he becomes a teenager, he might experience passion toward his opposite sex or come into decision of loving another person who is not his relative. On this stage, he is either experiencing infatuated love or empty love. Infatuated love is associated with passion while empty love emanates from a decision to love other person. As he matures, he might develop or experience another kind of love which is either a romantic love or a fatuous love. Romantic love involves intimacy and passion while fatuous love is rooted from passion and decision/commitment. When the partners finally take the bow of marriage, it only means that they have developed their love relationship into a complete form of love, which is consummate love. Consummate love involves intimacy, passion and commitment. Looking at the above example, we could conclude that the closer or stronger a relationship is, more developed feelings of attachment and love is being experienced by an individual. The forms of attachment, therefore, affect the type of love relationship an individual holds for the other person. Moreover, the amount of love and the balance of love also affects the relationship of partners such that the greater the amount of love being shared with a partner, the greater the area of the love triangle and the more stable the love relationship will be. On the other hand, the balance of love determines the shape of the love triangle wherein in a love relationship where partners have balanced their feelings of intimacy, passion and decision/commitment, the shape of the love triangle is also balanced such that an equilateral triangle is identified. A love relationship where intimacy and commitment have equal measurement yet passion is larger than the two is likely to have an obtuse love triangle and so forth. In general, an individual who had early experiences of love is likely to result in consummate love, which is recognized as an almost perfect kind of love, because his or her experiences of love relationships would enable him or her to develop various feelings of attachments, more love minding and better or improved love relationships. References Harvey, J. H. And Omarzu, J. (2006). Minding the close relationship: a theory of relationship enhancement. United States: Cambridge University Press. Sternberg, R. J. (2006). A Duplex Theory of Love. In The New Psychology of Love by Robert J.

Childrens Book Reviews

Analysis Of Charlie Leduff s Who Killed Aiyana

‘â€Å"I can accept the shooting was a mistake,† Jones said about his daughter’s death as a bleary-eyed Stanley sat motionless next to him. â€Å"But I can’t accept it because they lied about it. I can’t heal properly because of it. It was all for the cameras. I don’t want no apology from the police. It’s too late†Ã¢â‚¬â„¢ (LeDuff, 122). In Charlie LeDuff’s story â€Å"Who Killed Aiyana† he discusses the tragic loss of a little girl, all that lead up to her death and the tragic evet that occurred. The First 48 television show was filming an episode about a shooting that had occurred nearby involving the father of Aiyana and a teenager named Je’Rean Blake (who had been shot and killed). The cameras were outside the little girls home and SWAT team that was trying to get into the home ended up throwing in a grenade through the window and landing nearby Aiyana. Then the lead commander, Officer Joseph Weekley sho t his gun and Aiyana was killed. The SPJ code of ethics were clearly broken many times throughout the reporting of this story on The First 48. Minimizing harm is one of the main sections of the SPJ ethics code and is the category that was very much broken by the reporters on this case. The SPJ code of ethics state, â€Å"Balance the public’s need for information against potential harm or discomfort. Pursuit of the news is not a license for arrogance or undue intrusiveness† Was the need to get the information as this time (midnight) worth risking the harm of others? There was no need for the

Globalization And The World Trade Organization - 2400 Words

Globalization is a very broad topic; a sweeping term established in the minds of individuals primarily over the past quarter-century. It describes the widespread global integration of economic, political, social, and cultural systems that is shaping the world we live in today. Marked by the establishment of trade liberalization movements such as the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) and the World Trade Organization (WTO), globalization has greatly accelerated over the past twenty-five years, indeed, world exports have grown at an exponential rate of 6.0 percent in volume [annually] (Tremblay, 2015). Depending on the angle in which we choose to look at it, we may define and interpret it differently: good or bad, positive or negative. As Jan Aart Scholte describes, knowledge of globalization is substantially a function of how the word is defined (Scholte, 2000). Initially, the topic of globalization touched primarily on local and global issues such as poverty and world peac e, homogenization, and cultural, economical, and political convergence. Now, it is understood to be a far more complex subject that is contingent, ambiguous, contradictory, and paradoxical (Stromquist et. al., 2014). Regardless of whether one chooses to take a positive or negative standpoint on globalization, the fact remains that this process is taking on an increasingly global scale and has profound effects on individuals, nations, governments, and businesses every day. Moreover, it isShow MoreRelatedGlobalization And The Participation Of The World Trade Organization949 Words   |  4 Pages In Peter Singer’s book, One World, in chapter 3 he discusses globalization and the participation of the World Trade Organization (WTO). The way Singer describes the claims against the WTO I found to be quite interesting because of the way he wrote it. 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Banking Industry In United Kingdom- MyAssignment Help

Question: Write about the application of strategic positioning models to banking industry in United Kingdom. Introduction The banking industry of United Kingdom plays major role in the economy. Banking industry is evolving over the time in order to provide superior service to eh customers along with strengthening the economy of the nation. It assists in managing cash flows of business organizations, personal banking service, generating employment opportunities and revenue for the government. The major focus is to analyze the environment of the banking industry of United Kingdom. A brief overview of the banking system of United Kingdom is presented in this below. With the aid of PEST analysis, the political, economic, social and technological factors are discussed which have immense influence on the banking sector of United Kingdom. The last part contains Porters Five Forces Analysis in context of the banking industry of United Kingdom. Does The Intricacy of The Topic Intimidate You? Tame Your Fear with Unmatched Assignment Help Services from Professional Writers. Background of the Banking Industry Banking industry plays a significant role in a nations economy. It assists in generating job opportunities, revenue for organizations; provide services to individuals, organizations and government. In United Kingdom banking service was started since seventeenth century. Bank of England was established in 1696. Gradually, banks in United Kingdom started to offer more services such as overdraft facilities, security investment, clearing facility etc. In eighteenth century, due to industrial revolution in England and increased international trade, an increase in number of banks was observed in London. Two significant merchant banks Rothschild and Barings were established in London in eighteenth century. In nineteenth century, joint stock bank was emerged and the government had taken an initiative to introduce Bank Charter Act which aims to control and regulate the banking industry. The accounting system and record keeping procedure had gone through continuous improvement. In 19th century the big five banks of United Kingdom were National Provincial, Barclays, Midland, Lloyds and Westminster. In this ear, computer was introduced in banking industry and many services such as credit card, ATM were launched. Presently, all the banks in United Kingdom are providing similar superior services. Apart from bank some financial services such as insurance, investment funds, stock brokerage plays a major role in the economy of United Kingdom (Figueira, Nellis and Parker, 2007). In 2011, 9.4% of the total economic output of United Kingdom was contributed by the financial service sector. But, recently, it has started to fall and reached 5.4% of the Gross Value Added (GVA) of United Kingdom (Chalabi, 2014). PESTLE Analysis of Baking Sector PESTLE analysis of banking and financial sector of United Kingdom scrutinizes the major factors that affect and influence the organizations operating in the industry. PESTLE analysis is the acronym for political, economic, social and technological analysis. PESTLE analysis is a strategic tool that assists the management as well as policy makers to analyze the driving forces of that industry and how respective companies will be affected by the those as well as the entire industry (David, 2005). Political factors In order to analyze the political factors of banking industry, stability of government, financial policies, regulatory frameworks etc need to be reviewed. According to many experts and senior bankers, political interference is a major risk faced by the banking sector of United Kingdom. In 2010, John Hitchins, one of the banking leaders of United Kingdom told that a lot of regulation and political interference in the banking industry has leaded to financial crisis (Treanor, 2010) (Bennett and Kottasz, 2012). In World Economic Forum, many complaints were received regarding excessive political interference in the banking and financial sector. According to the Gordon Brown, former Prime Minister, banks are responsible for contributing in the economy of the nation and must be completely controlled by the government (News.bbc.co.uk, 2014). Banks operating in United Kingdom needs to design their strategies complying with the regulatory framework (PwC, 2014). Economic Factors The retail banking and financial services industry of United Kingdom is facing major issues as control is within the hand of few organizations. The banking industry of United Kingdom can be compared with the Oligopoly market. It has been observed that the customers are becoming inclined towards the online banking services. Hence the idea that tells branches are responsible for representing the market dominance is becoming increasingly redundant. The dominance of the large banks has reached a situation where those banks are considered to be too big to encounter failure. The big banks get support from the wholesale retailers who offer cheap rates as they are confident about the fact that these bank will not fail. Royal bank of Scotland and Lloyds has experienced difficulty in selling their branches due to technological complication as well as huge expenses. Lloyds have spent one billion GBP for establishing TSB. Barclay Bank is also facing challenges as Moodys credit rating has decline d (ROBBINS, 2009). Social Factors The banking industry focuses upon meeting the existing needs of the society. Banks need to maintain its reputation in order to achieve sustainable growth. Apart from providing financial services to the customers, banking and financial industry is also responsible for creating job opportunities. 7% of the employments of United Kingdom belongs to the banking and financial sector (Prospects.ac.uk, 2014). Though London is dominating the global finance, some other cities such as Glasgow, Manchester, Leeds, and Edinburg have also flourished. Investments are generated extensively form the international clients. Technological Factors Advancement of technology has largely influenced the banking and finance industry of United Kingdom. Internet banking has significantly changed the scenario of banking industry. The banking organizations which are overlooking the technological up gradation will be naturally eliminated from the market. Technological innovations must be adopted by the giant market players. Professor Clayton Christensen has coined it as Disruptive innovation (Wall, 2014). Legal Factors In order to create safe and strong banks government of UK had introduced Banking Act and Bank of England Act. It has also taken action such as introduction of Banking Reform Act. Banking reform act focuses upon the change in terms of culture as well as structure. Moreover, in order to increase competition among various financial service firms. Government has introduced as new service 7-day current account switching service. This service will help the customers in switching their current accounts. In 2010, an Independent Commission on Banking was established. The responsibility of the commission is to review and make suggestions for the banking industry. The commission emphasizes on banking industry reform that will help in increasing competition as well as maintaining financial stability. Financial Service Act which was introduced in 2013 focuses on making changes so that financial services banks are regulated (Gov.uk, 2013). Environmental Factors Environmental factor refers to the competitive banking industry of United Kingdom. The biggest banks of United Kingdom are Barclays, Royal Bank of Scotland, HSBC, Lloyd and SCB. In terms of profit and net asset HSBC was ranked top among all the banks in 2013 (www.kpmg.com, 2013). The banking industry has been facing a lot of challenges due after the financial crisis. The environment of United Kingdom banking sector is extensively competitive and dominated by few banks. Porters Five Forces for Banking Industry Porters five forces is an efficient tool for assessing the micro environment of a specific industry in order to determine the strategic position of a business organization belonging to that industry. According to Porter, there are five forces which need to be analyzed for assessing the attractiveness of the industry (Jeffs, 2008). The five forces for banking industry of United Kingdom are discussed below: Competitive Rivalry within the Industry The banking and financial industry of United Kingdom is extremely competitive (Wilson, 2014). The leading banks of United Kingdom are Barclays (1,593 outlets), HSBC (1,187 branches), Lloyds TSB (1,800 branches) and NatWest (1,415 branches) (Hiscott, 2013). Banks are offering several services to its customers and it requires high capital investment. The banking industry of United Kingdom is extensively concentrated and competitive. In order to have sustainable growth in the banking industry of United Kingdom huge infrastructure, capital investment is required. The leading banks of United Kingdom have high market value as well as asset. The market value and Assets can of the leading banks of United Kingdom are given in the following table: Bank Market Value(billion) Assets(billion) HSBC 122.4 1736 RBS 49.9 2508 TSB 44.5 1195 Barclays 38.3 2320 Standard Charted 37.1 299 Threat of new Entrants The banking industry is extensively capital intensive i.e. requires huge capital investment in order to set up the infrastructure. The existing market players have already huge capital and asset which provide them extra advantage. It is very difficult for the new entrants to set up a bank and compete with the exiting market rivals. In United Kingdom, the banking sector is concentrated and reflects oligopoly model. Hence, for the new entrepreneur it is very difficult to venture in the banking industry of United Kingdom. The probability of establishment of new bank is very poor. So it can be concluded that threat of new entrants is very low in the UK banking sector (Sadler, 2003). Bargaining power of Customers Bargaining power of customers is quite high as the market is extremely competitive. The customers have an option to switch to the lower cost (El-Manstrly et al., 2011). This can be observed in the services such a loan, mortgage, credit card facilities etc. The natural tendency of the customer is to compare the cost with other banks and switch to the lower cost. Due to this trend, the banks are providing various schemes in order to meet the cost expectations of the customers. Hence, it can be stated that the bargaining power of the customers in banking industry of United Kingdom is potentially high (Ahmad, 2005). Bargaining Power of Suppliers Bargaining power of supplier is not a big issue for the banking industry of United Kingdom. Especially, the big banks get a lot of support from the wholesale lenders as they are confident about the potential of the big banks. Hence, it can be concluded that the bargaining power of suppliers are moderate(Researchandmarkets.com, 2014). Threat of Substitute Products The threat of substitute is moderate and increasing day by day. The non-banking financial institutions offer similar service. Hence, the threat of substitute product is moderate to high. Future of Banking Conclusion The future of UK banking industry is very difficult to state. It can be said that both the investment and retail banking sector of United Kingdom is facing transformational challenges. The regulatory reform proposed by government is extensive and its impact is also uncertain. After the financial crisis, banks are emphasizing on repairing its balance sheets, trying to strengthen their capital, enhancing the liquidity position and above all regaining trust and confidence. The recovery of banking sector is extensively dependent upon the policy and reform actions taken by the government. Success of banking sector depends on suitable risk taking. Banks need to assess their targeted economic growth along with their potential of taking risk. It is observed that the world economy is developing gradually. Hence, an effective regulatory framework, reform actions will help the United Kingdom banking industry to achieve sustainable growth in future (www.kpmg.com, 2013). References Ahmad, R. (2005). A conceptualisation of a customer-bank bond in the context of the twenty-first century UK retail banking industry.International Journal of Bank Marketing, 23(4), pp.317--333. Bennett, R. and Kottasz, R. (2012). Public attitudes towards the UK banking industry following the global financial crisis.International Journal of Bank Marketing, 30(2), pp.128--147. Chalabi, M. (2014).UK banks: how powerful are they?. David, F. (2005).Strategic management. 1st ed. Upper Saddle River, N.J.: Pearson Prentice Hall. El-Manstrly, D., Paton, R., Veloutsou, C. and Moutinho, L. (2011). An empirical investigation of the relative effect of trust and switching costs on service loyalty in the UK retail banking industry.Journal of Financial Services Marketing, 16(2), pp.101--110. Figueira, C., Nellis, J. and Parker, D. (2007). Challenges facing the polish banking industry: A comparative study with UK banks.Managing Global Transitions, 5(1), pp.25--44. Gov.uk, (2013).Creating stronger and safer banks - Policy - GOV.UK. Hiscott, G. (2013).Number of bank branches at lowest level for over 60 years. Jeffs, C. (2008).Strategic management. 1st ed. Los Angeles: SAGE. Moshirian, F. and Wu, Q. (2009). Banking industry volatility and banking crises.Journal of International Financial Markets, Institutions and Money, 19(2), pp.351--370. News.bbc.co.uk, (2014).BBC NEWS | UK | Brown: Banks should be 'servants'. Prospects.ac.uk, (2014).Overview of the finance sector in the UK | Prospects.ac.uk. PwC, (2014).What now for the UK banking industry? Implementing the Independent Commission on Banking recommendations. Researchandmarkets.com, (2014).UK Retail Banking Sector: Industry Profile - Research and Markets. Researchandmarkets.com, (2014).UK Retail Banking Sector: Industry Profile - Research and Markets. ROBBINS, M. (2009).Barclays hit by credit rating blow. Sadler, P. (2003).Strategic management. 1st ed. Sterling, VA: Kogan Page. Thompson, A. and Strickland, A. (2003).Strategic management. 1st ed. Boston: McGraw-Hill/Irwin. Treanor, J. (2010).Political prying biggest risk facing banks, say bankers. Wall, M. (2014).Start-ups challenge big banks' technology. Wilson, H. (2014).Is competition in retail banking a problem? - Telegraph. www.kpmg.com, (2013).Road to Recovery? What the Future holds fr UK Banks.