Examines the need for this action and discusses it in terms of legal issues, rights of workers, court decisions, types & reliability of tests, union aspects and private vs. public employees.
2,700 words (approx. 10.8 pages), 14 sources, 1999, $ 95.95
From the Paper " INTRODUCTION
Drug testing in the workplace is an issue because of the fact that drug abuse by American workers endangers their coworkers, reduces productivity, costs the company and eventually the consumer money, and contributes to health problems which are then paid for either by the company or the public in some fashion. Many employers have introduced some form of drug testing program in order to reduce costs and offer help to drug abusing employees. There are concerns that such testing violates privacy rights and could lead to employees being disciplined or even fired, and employers are concerned about lawsuits over errors, privacy issues, violation of rights, or unauthorized disclosure of test results. There are also concerns that the testing is not adequate or accurate and that innocent employees.."
Abstract This paper explores the works of philosophers Friedrich Nietzsche and Sigmund Freud (""Twilight of the Idols" and "Civilization and Its Discontents" respectively). It outlines and compares their views on science, religion, nature, the individual and society. The paper also focuses on the subject of instincts/passions vs. reason.
From the Paper "In the midst of so much confusion, so many contrasting affirmations, opinions and perspectives, what conclusions can be drawn? What lasting truths can one hold on to? Sigmund Freud, in his Civilization and Its Discontents, and Friedrich Nietzsche, in Twilight of the Idols, offer a good summary of many of their views. Freud and Nietzsche, both complex men of enormous egos, share many of the same ideas on the topics of science, religion, the individual and society, with the exception of a few minor differences."
This paper studies the sections in Freud's "Civilization and Its Discontents" dealing with suffering, love, happiness and pleasure principle, aggression and guilt, which are all related to Freud's theories of man & culture.
1,575 words (approx. 6.3 pages), 2 sources, 1980, $ 55.95
From the Paper In his book "Civilization and its Discontents", Sigmund Freud examines the cultural frustrations which are brought about by the conflicts between the demands of the instincts of man and the prohibitions of civilization. The structure of culture, Freud finds, is designed to restrict the instinctive life of man, the instinctive life being one of egoistic self-satisfaction and aggression or destruction. To delve into every aspect of this antagonism that Freud studies would be too great a task for a paper of this length, therefore, I would like to focus my attention on the sections of Civilization and its Discontents dealing with suffering, love, happiness and the pleasure principle, and aggression and guilt, since these were the most valuable to me in understanding Freud's theory. In dealing with any of these, one undoubtedly overlaps principles which deal with ... "
Abstract This paper provides an introduction to family or domestic violence, including the cycle of violence from one generation to another. It defines several kinds of violence including physical, mental and sexual. The paper examines the effect of domestic violence on the community and shows what is being done (and what is not being done) about America's number one health public health problem.
From the Paper "There is rarely a single cause of domestic violence. However, one constant in most instances of domestic violence; those who abuse family members, either witnessed abuse or were abused as children. It is called the "cycle of violence", it is a behavioral pattern, and psychologists refer to this as "intergenerational violence", because it affects many generations of the family. The American Psychological Association states, "The strongest predictor of violence, is a history of violence within a family". Women who witness abuse as a child are at a greater risk of experiencing abuse as adults. Furthermore, men who witness abuse as a child are at a greater risk of abusing. To "them" it is an accepted part of a male-female relationship; they imitate and repeat what familiar to them."
Abstract This paper discusses how we are constantly communicating and how silence and other methods of non-verbal communication are no more random than words. It analyzes how these are systematic expressions of meaning, which are often quite unconsciously used, in interpersonal contacts and how relationships in business and in social situations can be made and broken simply by the non verbals. It illustrates through a literaure review and various diagrams, how the effective reading of body language can do much to avoid or defuse conflict situation and provides strategies which can assist in resolving these conflicts.
From the Paper "Good communication requires that the communicators spend special or quality time together. Quality time involves that there is no time crunch and there is no crush of a crowd around you. In quality time we can search for just the right words that express what we are thinking and feeling. (Powell: 1987, 344). It follows also that in such ideal situations the non-verbal aspects of the communication will also be positive. A common attitude about silence or the absence of verbalised communication is that communication can be turned on and off, when we talk and when we do not. The reality is that we are constantly communicating, silence and other methods of non-verbal communication are no more random than words. These are systematic expressions of meaning, which are often quite unconsciously used, in interpersonal contacts (Myers: 1985, 217). Relationships in business and in social situations can be made and broken simply by the non verbals."
This paper is a detailed presentation of the different guidelines that might be followed when deciding which elements should be included when conducting a quantitative research report.
Abstract This paper presents the many different guidelines that should be followed in a quantitative research report about burnout in the nursing profession. The author discusses some of the different problems that should be posed in the outline of a research report and include asking and answering what problem the study was conducted to resolve, and why the problem is an important one for nursing to study. Some of the research questions that should be posed include the asking and answering of the main research question and any secondary questions that may arise as a result of research. The author then covers the discussion of the hypothesis and lists some of the questions that could be asked in order to help with its development. The next questions that should be answered in the discussion are whether the study variables were independent or dependent, if a conceptual model or theoretical framework was used to guide this study, and if so, a description of the model or framework should be included. Some of the other questions that should be included are: In what way(s) does the literature review support the need for this study?; What study design is used?; In what way(s) is the target population an appropriate one for this study?; What are the extraneous variables in this study?; In what way(s) is the validity and reliability of the study instruments adequate for their use in this study?; In what way(s) are the data collection procedures appropriate for this study?; In what way(s) are the data analysis procedures appropriate for the data collected?; What are two major strengths of the scientific rigor of this study? and the final question that needs to be addressed is whether the scientific merit of this study sufficient for considering the application of its findings in professional practice.
From the Paper "What are two major strengths of the scientific rigor of this study?
The strengths of this study include the depth to which the factors were evaluated, and the level to which each hypothesis was able to be evaluated by the data collected. The findings concluded that: As hypothesized, younger staff was more likely to suffer burnout than older staff members. The nurses in the oncology departments suffered from burnout more frequently than the aids staff, but the occurrences of the latter group was a much greater level. This accounted for the fact that the aids nurses tended to emphasize more deeply with their patients.
Contrary to the hypotheses, the burnout rated between the two hospitals was significantly different."
Abstract Discusses importance of parental involvement in a child's education. Influence of parents on child development. How parents influence the environment that children are raised in. Impact on student achievement. Quality of home life as critical to educational success. Children's need for parental support. View of teachers and parents on the necessity of parental invovement.
From the Paper "Introduction
There is an old saying: "It takes a village to raise a child". In today's society of multiple marriages, relationships, step- and half-families, family reunions can indeed look like a village. Yet, in these families, as well as in other, smaller, nuclear families, or in single parent families, the most important aspect is whether or not the parents are involved in the development of their child.
Contrary to recent articles and books by Judith R. Harris indicating otherwise, because of their dependency on the adults in their lives, children will always be effected by their parents (Azar, 2000). After all, "parents are a child's first and most important teachers" (Fuentes, Cantu, & Stechuk, 1996, p. 16). The question is, however, how will they be effected and to what degree. For this reason ..."
Abstract "Couch potato (cp)" behavior is operationally defined as sitting and watching TV. The goal of the program presented in this paper is to modify this behavior towards participation in an exercise program. A self-observation log demonstrates "couch potato" behavioral antecedents, an operational definition of the target behavior and behavioral consequences. Cognitive-behavioral modification is discussed and the program is stated. Effectiveness of the intervention is then discussed.
From the Paper "Week one would consist of new thoughts such as "TV is not the only way to relax, this is a lie, the truth is that TV is contributing to my fatigue." Positive affirmations were to be employed as immediate and continuous reinforcements, such as "I'm feeling better each day with my new activities. I'm doing a great job." TV watching was to be cut down to half hour periods per week day and two hour periods for weekend days. Stimulus control was employed and junk foods were to be removed from the premises to avoid visual cues leading to poor eating behaviors. New foods were to be purchased, such as fruit juice in place of alcoholic beverages, nuts and fruits in place of chips; actual changes in meals would be dealt with later. Lifestyle changes for the first week would include using the stairs at work and school instead of the elevator, since walking up stairs is found to burn twice the calories of jogging behavior and it would serve as an aerobic exercise activity."
Abstract The situation of the HIV/AIDS client in the United States has changed dramatically in the past few years with the development of new drugs, which seem to promise an extended lifespan to the client. In many instances, however, clients are still too disabled to return to full-time employment in their old jobs. They may also have lost relationships, friends, houses, families, and many of the identifiers that gave their lives meaning. While all this loss may allow for re-creation or transformation of the self, this does not come easily. This paper focuses on the situation of HIV/AIDS clients and the application of existential therapy to their problems. It also provides a history and definition of this particular type of therapy and explains how it differs from the more conventional psychotherapy. The paper includes an outline.
From the Paper "There are two sets of problems associated with HIV/AIDS, the physiological problems and the psychosocial issues. The latter apply to all clients with HIV/AIDS, but there are some particular problems associated with the chosen population of gay males. This is still a stigmatized population (Weitz, 1991). While children and hemophiliacs are considered to be "innocent" victims of HIV/AIDS, this language implies that gay males are not innocent nor victims. Instead, there is a segment of the population that believes that gay males are primarily responsible for HIV/AIDS in this country, others who believe that only gay people get HIV/AIDS, and still others who believe that HIV/AIDS is a punishment from god."
This paper reports the findings of the writer's observations of the following three populations: (1) Young children in a public playground; (2) A group of adolescents "hanging out" in a mall and (3) Seniors on an outing to Las Vegas.
Abstract The paper discusses the following characteristics and features of each population-- their reason for gathering together, the "rules" that seem to govern their interaction; common behavior; their response to "outsiders;" their reactions to new group members; their communicatory processes; their handling of extreme emotions or outbursts; their appearance and dress; their handling of money and/or possessions; and the types of personalities noted in each group.
From the Paper "In terms of handling money or possessions, one child was given some money by a parent in order to get a coke from a nearby vendor (he appeared to be the oldest child in the group). This soon resulted in about a third of the children asking their mothers to either give them money to purchase a coke or buy them a coke. Those children whose parents refused were upset, although the expression of this "upsetness" varied from child to child with a couple of children acting like they were about to die of thirst (and then the parent would be sorry) while others just put on a sad or miffed face and let it go at that, their attention almost immediately being caught by something else."
Abstract Social learning theory states that people learn a behavior by imitating others and receiving rewards for this emulation. The paper describes the ways in which this theory is put into play in the way parents raise their children. The writer explains how social learning theory is used to understand the differences in levels and types of aggressive behavior, as well as the influences of race, gender and family structure.
From the Paper "Bandura, a major proponent of social learning theory, states that the personality is learned within a social context, with the reciprocal interaction between the environment, the behavior, and the person (reciprocal determinism). The reciprocal determinism paradigm includes self-regulatory behavior, self-observation, judgmental processes, and self-response. Bandura's theory proposes that the personality is learned through the process of observation and imitation, symbols are used to achieve this phenomonen, and people are the self-regulators in the complex interaction with the environment (Corsini, 1977, p. 422; Feist, 1985, pp. 266-267, 270-284)."
Tags: parenting, imitation, reward, emulation, environment, social
This paper discusses the challenges confronting social workers and other counseling professionals in providing intervention and prevention services to juvenile delinquents and other adolescents referred to juvenile rehabilitation centers.
Abstract This paper explains that working alliances between disparate rehabilitation system caregivers, justice system professionals and parents are the most effective means of achieving desirable behavioral and attitudinal changes. The paper states that acting-out or delinquent behavior is recognized as an associated feature of adolescent depression disorders. The author believes that the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (MMPI) is a valuable tool in assisting caseworkers, social workers and counselors in developing effective treatment regimens.
From the Paper "Miser (1996) commented that difficulty in the assessment and treatment of juvenile delinquents can be explained by social labeling theory. In this theory, it is posited that any delinquent act, regardless of underlying causes, is a legal construct that carries a label capable of influencing the clinical judgment of those who assess and then treat such clients. Abnormal behavior is defined in terms of a legal violation and some type or degree of punitive treatment or response is then required. The mere act of labeling the youthful offender as "delinquent" produces adverse effects on self-concept, which is believed by some to insulate against delinquency. Lower levels of self-concept are associated with deviant labels. Counseling the youthful offender therefore often focuses on development of a positive self-concept or image."
Abstract The media, including television, magazines, radio, internet and billboards surround everyone daily, sending messages about what items to buy and why. While the effect is obvious among the adult population, the effect is even more profound on the teenage population. The present day media has established a target on adolescents, influencing them to smoke, drink, look a certain way and dress a certain way in order to be accepted by society. This paper focuses on the affect that television has on teenagers, showing that the average American teenager will view nearly 14,000 sexual remarks, sexual innuendos, and jokes per year. The paper details the negative effects on these youths, including an increase in violence, early sexual activity, substance abuse and eating disorders.
From the Paper "Studies have shown that young women subscribing at an early age to "teen" magazines such as "YM" or "Teen" have a much higher rate of eating disorders. According to the National Eating Disorders Association (2002), an increase in magazine viewing led to a 45% increase in lowered self esteem in young women age 12-15. Another study showed that 66% of young women believed that models in magazines were their "ideal" image, or what they were expected to look like (Irving, et al 1998). Actually, the average American woman is 5?4" tall and weighs 140 pounds. The average American model is 5?11" tall and weighs 117 pounds. Most fashion models are thinner than 98% of American women (NEAD, 2000)."
Abstract This paper analyzes the so-called "Repressed Memory Syndrome." The author discusses how the issue is controversial in that as the so-called victims are winning large settlements in courts, the number of therapists and cases is rising dramatically. While most psychiatrists admit that repressing traumatic memories does indeed happen, many do not believe in the existence of Repressed Memory Syndrome. The paper makes this case by discussing a slew of psychiatric evidence, all of which suggests that memory is not absolute, memories can certainly be created and that the tools therapists use to revive memories can actually help create them. The most damning evidence against RMS has been findings which suggest that the social and legal goals of the rememberer can influence memory. The author closes by arguing that more research needs to be done into how memories are created and how they can be distinguished from false ones, so that actual victims of child abuse need not be trivializes.
Abstract The book is a very significant contribution to therapy. The author teaches the importance of focusing on the client in therapy and on a therapeutic relationship with the therapist. Overall, it stresses the importance and possibility of self-actualization.
