Assessing Importance of School Factors Such as Racism Essay Example for Free

Assessing Importance of School Factors Such as Racism Essay A variety of material disadvantages that may confront ethnic minorities coming from working class backgrounds are they do not achieve the same level of education. The main achievers are Indian, Chinese and African students, but the lowest achievers are Turkish, Bangladeshi And Afro Caribbean students. The white working class students are the lowest achieving, which is peculiar because most sociologists are white who stereotype and label other students from different backgrounds. The main cause of underachievement in schools are cultural and language factors which sociologists clarify and focus on and are thought to be main cause of everything. Previously the spotlight has been put on what happens in school and racism in common As shown by Cecile Wright, which explains that, Asian students can also be the victims of teachers Cecile found out that regardless of the schools evident promise to equal opportunities, teachers still hold ethnocentric views they believe that British culture and English are greater. This prepared teachers to assume that they would have a poor pronunciation of English and left them out of class debates or used basic, childlike speech when speaking to them. Asian pupils also felt cut off when teachers spoken dissatisfaction of their behaviour or misread their names. Teachers saw them not as a risk but as a difficulty they could take no notice of. This resulted in that Asian pupils in particular the girls were hard-pressed to the limits and disallowed from play a part fully. Close at hand is proof of teacher racial discrimination and harmful labelling. Nevertheless study shows that pupils can take action in variety of ways. They may take action by becoming unsettling or withdrawn but pupils may decline to agree to the label and even choose to prove it incorrect by putting in hard work. Off-putting labels do not repeatedly twist into self-fulfilling prophecy Working class white pupils attain below standards and have lesser desires. There isn’t much parental support at home, which means there is low achievement and goals. Reports show that teachers have to deal with low level of behaviour and discipline in white working class schools. Nevertheless they had fewer kids on benefit programs teachers blame this on inadequate parental support at home and negative attitude that white working class parents have towards their children and their education. The life in the street for white working class can be tough for pupils which means they get used to getting intimidating and intimidate other which they pick up and use in school to cause disruptions and make it hard for other students to succeed at school. Underachievement of student of different is blamed on cultural deprivation. Few sociologists say that Afro-Caribbean families lack a close relationship to their family and therefore are extremely violent towards everything they do. Arguments explain that families aren’t very supportive towards their children and they don’t offer enough cultural capital for their children. Stereotypical views suggest those students are not deprived because of their class or because of their backgrounds. Factors like social class are important to certain ethnic minorities like Pakistanis, Bangladeshis and a considerable amount of Afro-Caribbean students, which are all working class backgrounds in which material deprivation play a main role because to find out why they achieve below the national standards. Sociologists say schools and curriculums made just for one specific group of ethnic minority gives priority to one particular ethnic minority while disregarding other ethnic groups. Some schools have curriculums, which are ethnocentric because they only give priority to English languages. The British curriculum has been described as exclusively British. In history Britain is thought to bring civilisation to ancient people are colonised. Black people as inferior weakens black children’s self esteem and Leads to them to underachieving and failing. It isn’t for sure what effects the ethnocentric study shows that black don’t really suffer from low self esteem. Wright’s study found some ethnic minority groups received poorer interaction from staff. Teachers perceptions were seem as stereotypical although Asian students were seen as good and black students were seen disruptive and disobedient. Study show that schools in cities which contain ethnic minority students were not benefitting in terms of O Levels entries because of being in low set and having to achieve high grade in order to get good results and become successful. Overall taking into consideration we can not split or label ethnicity from social classes and gender since this is really difficult matter as some of the main achieving students are from ethnic minorities so for that reason there isn’t a connection here so we can’t make statements or come to conclusions as to what the association among ethnic groups and schools actually are. Pupils can refuse to accept negative classing and teacher expectations. Sociologists can’t come to a conclusion to explain what occurs between teacher and students or what takes place in different ethnic groups related to education. Students live up to roles they are given but can try to resist the labels and getting put behind by carrying out what is thought of them to do or do what they want to do and achieve good education and become successful.

Influence of Social Media on Political Views

Influence of Social Media on Political Views Social media’s influence on citizen’s democratic beliefs and political ideology and impact on elections From the beginning the internet has been used as an archive tool for human behavior. Around the globe, social media has provided an outlet and has made it easier than ever in allowing individuals to voice their opinions and beliefs about government; to talk about issues, mobilize around causes, and hold various leaders and lawmakers accountable. This review will attempt to summarize how the spread of beliefs and opinions by others on social media very much influence the those who use social media as a source of getting news as well as if social media is changing the way we view a democracy. It is just recently that in the year 2011, social media took a vital role in the Arab Spring uprisings in places such as Egypt and Tunisia as it was proclaimed a liberating technology. A considerable amount has changed from that point forward. The 2016 US presidential election conveyed to the fore the dangers of outside meddling and fake news and political polarization. The impact of web-based social networking on legislative issues has never been so significant to observe. The majority of this brings up a critical issue: what impact does social media have on people’s democratic beliefs, values, and political ideology? By and large, 20% of social media clients say theyve adjusted their position on a social or political issue on account of material they saw on social media, and 17% say online based social networking was the underlying factor that assisted in changing their perspectives about a particular political hopeful (Anderson 2016). Among online-based social networking users, Democrats and liberal Democrats specifically are more likely than Republicans to state they have ever changed their perspectives on a social or political issue, or on a specific political candidate, as a result of something they saw via the internet. The Pew Research Center conducted a survey asking respondents a time where they can recall social media having an effect of their views on the 2016 presidential election. â€Å"Many of the responses we received in this survey, conducted this summer, mentioned one of the major presidential candidates as the â€Å"political or social issue† they changed their minds on. Around one-in-five users mentioned either Hillary Clinton, 21% or Donald Trump, 18%, and around one-in-ten referenced Bernie Sanders†. (Kent 2016). In addition to asking whether they had changed their opinion in this way due to what they saw on the internet, social media, the survey also asked respondents to tell share in their owns words the time when this change occurred. â€Å"I saw a video on Reddit †¦ that ultimately swayed me from voting independent in this election to voting for Hillary Clinton.† â€Å"I thought Donald Trump was leaning one way on an issue and a friend posted something that was opposite of what I believe. This caused me to think less of him than I once I did.† â€Å"Originally, I planned on voting for Hillary Clinton in the election, but then I found out about Bernie Sanders through social media. I decided I would vote for him instead.† (Staff P.S 2016)    It is evident that there is no deficiency of challenges at the intermix of online networking and democracy. â€Å"As of August 2017, 67% of Americans claimed that they get in any event some of their news via social media with two-in-ten doing as such frequently, as indicated by a review from Pew Research Center† (Shearer and Gottfried 2016). Note that this is only a slightly modest increase from the middle of 2016 during the peak of the primaries where 62% of U.S. adults revealed getting news from social media. A strong correlation is evident that the use of technological applications such as Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and YouTube and support of civil liberties. People who spend more time self-publicizing on the internet appear to value freedom of expression highly but also value the right to privacy; in contrast to those individuals who use social media less often. A cross-sectional survey was then conducted to determine the connection between online behavior, political attitude, and social media use in 2010. 913 people were surveyed with questions that pitted concerns about security and safety. In order to see a measure of these civil liberties Swigger then designed a test to measure individual’s support for privacy and freedom of expression against concerns of security and safety. In conclusion of this test, among online socializations came back with a negative attitude for the right to privacy and to note the results seem to be spearheaded by respondents 25 and younger. (Swigger 602: 2013) This pattern suggests that social media may be altering American’s attitudes and beliefs about democratic values (Swigger 590: 2013). In contrast to conventional media such as television and newspaper articles where the audience passively pays much attention to, web based social media is designed to encourage users to create and share content about their lives which formerly would only be shared in private face-to-face conversation. This change in behavior has led to people livening their lives in the light of the public. With regards to the 2009 German election, a study was conducted by the research institute Forschungsgruppe Wahlen and an analysis of more than 100,000 messages containing a reference to either a political party or a lawmaker. The results demonstrate that Twitter is utilized widely for political pondering and that the even a small number of party mentions precisely mirrors the race result (Tumasjan 2011). The tweets assumption (positive and negative feelings related with a lawmaker) compares similarly to voters political preference. In the examination 104,003 tweets examined between 13 August and 29 September 2009 prior to the German election. Of those tweets analyzed, about 70,000 of them mentioned the political party and about half of them referenced specifically the politicians name. Given the large samples size, a sentiment analysis was used, an automated mechanism to quantify the information contained in these messages. To extract such data, they used Linguistic Inquiry and Word Count (LIWC2007). LIWC2007, a text analysis software developed to assess emotional, cognitive, and structural components of text samples using a psychometrically validated internal dictionary (Tausczik & Pennebaker, 2010). In particular, this product determines the rate which certain cognitions and feelings are present in the text. There appears to be two facets to assess in determining if Twitter can fill in as an indicator of a race result. The foremost being the share of attention the political parties gets on social media, specifically Twitter, with the results of the 2009 German election. The latter being whether tweets can forecast the ideological ties amongst parties and potential political coalitions post-election. The MAE (mean absolute error) of six research institutes published election polls in the sample period, ranges from 1.1% to 1.7%. Thus, Twitter comes close in mirroring these accepted results. It is noteworthy to mention the predictive accuracy when compared to the historical backdrop of the IEM, a prediction market whose sole purpose is to predict election results. The IEM produced a MAE of 1.37% in U.S. presidential elections and 2.12% in non-U.S. elections based on election eve market prices (Berg, Forsythe, Nelson, & Rietz, 2008). In conclusion, the negligible number of tweets saying a political party can be viewed as a plausible reflection of the vote turnout and its prescient power even approaches conventional election polls (Tumasjan 2011). â€Å"Overall, our results demonstrate that Twitter can be considered a valid indicator of the political landscape off-line† (Tumasjan 2011). On the off chance that theres one essential truth about social media’s impact on democracy it’s that it  amplifies human intent  (Toyama 2011) both good and bad. At its best, it allows us to express ourselves and take action. At its worst, it allows people to spread misinformation and corrode democracy. References APA Anderson, M. (2016, November 07). Social media causes some users to rethink their views on an issue. Retrieved March 06, 2018, from http://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2016/11/07/social-media-causes-some-users-to-rethink-their-views-on-an-/ Davis, D. W., & Silver, B. D. (2004). Civil Liberties vs. Security: Public Opinion in the Context of the Terrorist Attacks on America.  American Journal of Political Science,48(1), 28-46. doi:10.1111/j.0092-5853.2004.00054.x Forsythe, R., Rietz, T. A., & Ross, T. W. (1999). Wishes, expectations and actions: a survey on price formation in election stock markets.  Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization,39(1), 83-110. doi:10.1016/s0167-2681(99)00027-x Kent, D. (2016, November 04). When social media changes minds. Retrieved March 06, 2018, from http://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2016/11/07/social-media-causes-some-users-to-rethink-their-views-on-an-issue/ft_16-11-07_socialpolitics/ Shearer, E., & Gottfried, J. (2017, September 07). News Use Across Social Media Platforms 2017. Retrieved March 06, 2018, from http://www.journalism.org/2017/09/07/news-use-across-social-media-platforms-2017/ Staff, P. S. (2016, November 08). Your Friends Unhinged Political Facebook Rants May Actually Make a Difference in the Election. Retrieved March 07, 2018, from https://psmag.com/news/your-friends-unhinged-political-facebook-rants-may-actually-make-a-difference-in-the-election Tausczik, Y. R., & Pennebaker, J. W. (2010). The psychological meaning of words: LIWC and computerized text analysis methods. Journal of Language and Social Psychology, 29, 24-54 Toyama, K. (2011). Technology as amplifier in international development.  Proceedings of the 2011 iConference on iConference 11. doi:10.1145/1940761.1940772 Tumasjan, A., Sprenger, T. O., Sandner, P. G., & Welpe, I. M. (2011). Election Forecasts with Twitter How 140 Characters Reflect the Political Landscape.  SSRN Electronic Journal. doi:10.2139/ssrn.1833192

Unemployment Rates in Albania: An Analysis

Unemployment Rates in Albania: An Analysis INTRODUCTION Albania is one of the economically last developed countries in Europe. After the collapse of the communist regime, Albania achieved an economical growth, but poverty level is still high. There is a strong link between poverty and unemployment because the lack of employment is one of the main determinants of poverty. Albania is considered as a poor country, thats why a high level of unemployment exists. This is a phenomenon that disquiets the Albanias society, so it is important to discus about this topic. This paper gives the unemployment level and its changing during years in Albania. The period of time that we have taken into account is 1995-2009. In this paper we are going to talk about the unemployments concept at the beginning and then its effects on the economy and society in chapter 5. We are going to give the unemployment rate of Albania, during this period according to age, gender and education and its values in different cities in chapter 3. Another point that will be shown in this paper is of course the precautions taken by the government to reduce the unemployment rate given in chapter 6. And finally we are going to show the conclusions of our work. GENERAL OVERVIEW ABOUT UNEMPLOYMENT 2.1. UNEMPLOYMENTS CONCEPT Unemployment is the time period when a person isnt actually working, but available for work and currently looking for work. The working age population includes people from 16 years old to 65 years old for men and 60 for women. It consists of two groups: active population (labor force) and inactive population. Labor force includes employed and those in search of employment (the unemployment people). In this assessment should be taken into account the difference between: -Individuals currently working, considered those who accomplish a payable work of residence, even if temporally absent from work. The unemployed, those considered not at work, but actively seeking employment or waiting to return to work. Outside the labor force are classified people that are in working age but they arent currently working or they dont want to. This group consists of students, the invalids, students of working age, those who perform military service, and persons not currently looking for work. The flow of movement between these categories can be expressed with the Fig.2, where: 1 shows the flow of people who change job. 2 show the flow of people who lose their job. 3 show the flow of people from the ranks of unemployed who find a job. 4 show the emergence of the unemployed out of the labor force (as unemployed who do not require work anymore). 5 show the entry or the reentry in labor force, but first as unemployed. 6 show entry or reentry in labor force, but now as busy at work. 7 show the loss of employment and the exit out of the labor force (such as pensioners, or people returning to school). The total number of losing jobs is given by the amount of movement 1, 2 and 7. The total number of finding jobs is given by the amount of movement is 1, 3 and 6. The difference between the losing jobs and the finding jobs shows the difference in employment. Changes in unemployment are given by the difference (5+2) (3+4). Changes in unemployment measured by the unemployment rate, which represents the percentage ratio of the number of unemployed and the labor force: Unemployment rate= (unemployed workers / total labor force) ÃÆ'- 100%.1 TYPES OF UNEMPLOYMENT Unemployment is an inevitable process for each country, so that we can find it among each person in different kinds. The most kind of unemployment we can find in Albania are: Frictional unemployment, which is created as a result of continued movement of workers from one job in search of another job, which is better than the first. This kind of unemployment is inevitable and economically justifiable, as leading to more efficient redistribute of labor resources. In this group are also included students who have just been graduated and are looking for a job, or women that have been away for a while from the labor market. These people are considered as volunteers unemployed.1 Structural unemployment, that occurs due to changes in demand and the supply to work as a result of fundamental changes occurring in the basic branches of economy. If an economy suffers from long-lasting low aggregate demand, it means that many of the unemployed become disheartened, while their skills (including job-searching skills) become rusty and obsolete. This means that they may not fit the job vacancies that are created when the economy recovers. This kind of unemployment can also be caused by technological progresses, since it means that fewer workers are needed to produce the same level of output every year.1 Cyclical unemployment is associated with declining demand for certain goods and services, especially at the stage of economic downturn, which leads to the decline in demand for manpower in the factories that manufacture these products or services. This is caused by a business cycle recession and wages not falling to meet the equilibrium level.1 Seasonal unemployment, which is related to seasonal nature of the product or service, for example in the branches of the construction industry, tourism, etc. It is linked to certain kind of jobs.1 Voluntary unemployment includes that group of people who choose not to work for different reasons, such as economical/financial reasons or any other.1 Hidden unemployment is the unemployment that does not appear in government statistics, due to the way the statistics are collected. Only those who have no work but are actively looking for work are counted as unemployed. Those who have given up looking, those who are working less than they would like or those who work at jobs in which their skills are underutilized are not officially counted as unemployed, though in a sense they are.1 UNEMPLOYMANT RATE IN ALBANIA The lowest rate of unemployment of these years is 12.3% in 1996, while the highest is 18.4% in 1999. From 1995 until 1999 we have successive ups and downs of the unemployment rate. This is due of the transition that in these years has been higher. While from 1999 with unemployment rate 18.4%, the unemployment rate has been decreasing gradually, reaching its lowest level in 2008 with unemployment rate 13%. However these digits are still high. Our country suffers from the phenomenon of unemployment. According to the report of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) 3 official unemployment rate is rather deformed three times lower than the real rate of unemployment. There are at least three reasons that make the data on unemployment rate not to be real. The main reason is informality, which is the number of employees who arent declared from the employer. ____________________________ 1scribd: MAKROEKONOMI-Inflacioni-Dhe-Papunesia. Url: http://www.scribd.com/doc/33883062/MAKROEKONOMI-Inflacioni-Dhe-Papunesia 2 INSTAT see Instituti I Statistikes 3 CIA (2010): library/publications/the-world-factbook/Albania. Url: https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/al.html Also, there are the unemployed who do not plead their self as unemployed. In this case they do not appear in official records as unemployed. This is a problem associated with lack of functionality and efficiency of office work. In the calculation of the unemployment rate also isnt disregarded unemployment in agriculture. Rural areas, in which lies the main map of poverty in the country, are supposed with full employment, since no one is registered as unemployed. According to the report, having such a large labor force in agriculture, when this sector provides 21.7% of Gross Domestic Product and almost zero unemployment rate, its explained why according the official methodology, the unemployment rate is only 12.5%. So, these are some of the reasons that make the unemployment rate not to be real. UNEMPLOYMENT RATE according to gender Throughout the years the percentage of unemployed females in Albania has been higher than the percentage of males, this for some reasons. In Albania are developed more activities oriented towards the employment of males. Specifically, trade, construction or development of hotels and restaurants, where dominate male employees. Also these years were closed enough industrial activities, in which there were employed a significant number of females. While the rural-urban movement does not give females many opportunities coming from rural areas to enter in the job market. Also females being most charged with house works and take care of everything, no firm has no interest to employ them before a male, because they often can take permissions, will require maternity leave etc. These can be some of the reasons why the level of unemployed females is higher than the unemployed males. The year 1999, in which the unemployment rate is the highest, marks the greatest number of unemployed males and females, respectively 16.4% of males and 21.4% of females in Albania were recorded as unemployed. While the lowest number of unemployed males registered in 1996, where 11.4% of males are registered as unemployed and the lowest number of unemployed females registered in 2007 where 12.2% of females are registered as unemployed. The number of unemployed people observed that has ups and downs, both in females and males until 2000, while after 2000 till 2007 is observed a general reduction of unemployed males and females. In 2008 is noticed an increase in the number of unemployed females from 12.2% to 13.5%. UNEMPLOYMENT RATE according to age Unemployment also varies according to age groups population. Three main age groups are: 15-19 years old, 20-34 years old and over 34 years old. Unemployment appears in higher rates for the first age group because young people are less able to adapt to the labor market. These rates have been high till 2001 and after this period dominates 20-34 year old age group as unemployed. Whereas all persons over 34 years old represent lower values in the unemployment rate since the majority of them are busy to work. This rate has been higher in the period 1998-2001 and since then has maintained a constant level. UNEMPLOYMENT RATE according to education According to the education level of unemployment, the major part of unemployment rate consists of people who have octennial and high-school education. This may come from different reasons such as the low level of intelligence, or any other. The difference rate between unemployed people with octennial and high-school education is low. In the period of time 1998-2000 there were more unemployed people who had high school education than with octennial education, but since 2001 this ratio has changed. From 2001-2009 there are more unemployed people with octennial education. Whereas people with university education have fewer chances to be unemployed since they have more opportunity to find o job. UNEMPLOYMENT RATE in different districts Unemployment rate varies in different districts of Albania. During 2008 this rate was different in different districts. Its values are shown in Fig 6, which represents the ratio of unemployment to the all districts of Albania. According to the data set, the highest rate for the unemployment this year has been in Kukà «s with a value of 30.9%, a high value compared to the other districts. It is followed by the district of Shkodra with 24.2%, then Lezha with 22.1% and 17.7% in Vlora. The lowest rate is given for the district of Tirana, around 7.3%. It probably comes from the fact that, Tirana is the capital and so on is a developed city, where employment opportunities for citizens are higher. Therefore this rate is lower in this city. As for other districts this rate varies with small values. CONSEQUENCES OF UNEMPLOYMENT IN ALBANIA Unemployment causes a lot of individual and social costs. A long period of unemployment reduces the human capital value and increases to malnutrition, illness, mental stress, and loss of self-esteem, leading to depression. Also another consequence of unemployment is that the unemployed people may lose their skills. At another point when a person is unemployed, he has lack of income. This causes less leisure. As some other serious consequences of unemployment we can mention the increasing number of divorces, crime and greater alcohol abuse. So the unemployment influences in the every-day life of the unemployed people. Unemployment causes reduction of incomes level and this brings the reduction of the countrys economic growth. The GDP is lower than it could be if the unemployed people were employed. As a result the whole economy and society suffer from people being unemployed. Also high levels of unemployment bring consequences at the level of taxes and government borrowing, and at the expenditure of government. Because of the existence of a high level of unemployment, the income that could be taken from taxes will fall. While unemployed people do not work, do not earn, and thus they do not pay taxes. This affects in the decrease of the level of income that the government collects. On the other hand, the government should help the unemployed by giving them economic assistance.4 In Fig 7 is presented the number of families receiving economic aid versus the total number of households in all districts of Albania. It is noted that the highest percentage of the families that profit economic aid is in Kukà «s. As we said before, the unemployment rate in this district is also the highest of all districts in Albania. Dibra, Shkodra and Lezha have also high percentages of families with economic aid and the levels of unemployment in these districts are high. Durrà «s, Fier, Tirana and Vlora have the lowest level of families in economic aid. But we have seen that Vlora had a high level of unemployment, although the percentage of families in economic aid is in lower levels. So the government loses as a result of the decline in tax collection and higher spending on families who have unemployed members. As a result the budget deficit may be increased, which increases and the risk of the government. These are some reasons that the level of government borrowing may increase. So we can say that all the society and the economy suffer from high levels of unemployment. PRECAUTIONS OF THE GOVERNMENT The government has to interfere continually to reduce the unemployment rate. The Albanias government has taken some precautions to low-down the level of unemployment. We can mention the opening of new workplaces, such as in infrastructure. The last years the government has realized a lot of projects in infrastructure and in this way, there are opened new workplaces. Also the government has practiced training and program applications to boost employment. As we have said in Albania the number of unemployed females is greater than unemployed males, and so the government has practiced free vocational training for women heads, victims of trafficking and roma women. Reforms in the fiscal system, in the improvement of the business environment by lowering taxes significantly, investments in infrastructure and the attracting of foreign investors to invest in Albania, encouraging investors to employ staff from Albania are the main factors that has contributed to the economic growth and, consequently, to the creation of new workplaces. So these are the main precautions that our government has taken to prevent and reduce the unemployment in Albania.5 CONCLUSION Unemployment is an inevitable process that happens in every country. It is found in different types such as frictional, structural, cyclical, seasonal, voluntary and hidden unemployment. This phenomenon is visible in every society, but it appears in different values. __________________________ 5 Ministry of Social Work and Issue and Equal Opportunity (2007): Strategji-Standarte/Strategjia e Punesimit. Url: http://www.mpcs.gov.al/images/stories/ministria/downloads/strategji-standarte/plani_i_veprimeve_per_zbatimin_e_strategjise_se_punesimit2006-2013.zip Although Albanias recent economic growth has reduced poverty level, it is still a country with a higher rate of unemployment. This rate has been changing over years. It has been in its lowest levels in 1996 with 12.3%. The highest rate has been in 1999 with a value of 18.4% and from then it has been reducing continually. In 2008 this rate was 13%. Its not a low level, but anyway is the lowest level Albania has ever had in the last 10 years. According to gender the percentage of unemployed females in Albania has been higher than the percentage of males. According to age, the level of unemployment has been higher for the age group 15-19 years old till 2001, and since then it has been higher for the age group 20-34 years old. Whereas the age group over 34 years old is always characterized of lower levels of unemployment according to the other age groups. Unemployment rate according to education has been higher for people with high school education till 2001, and from then it has been hi gher for people with octennial education. Whereas people with university education are characterized of lower levels of unemployment. In different districts are recorded different values. Its value is higher in Kukà «s and lower in Tirana. The unemployment brings a lot of affects in the society and the whole economy. It reduces the human capital value and increases to malnutrition, illness, mental stress, and loss of self-esteem, leading to depression. It increases the number of divorces, crime and the level alcohol abuse. The unemployment brings the reduction of the countrys economic growth. It reduces the level of the incomes that could be taken from taxes and increases the expenditure for economic aid given by the government for the unemployed people. The government has taken some precautions to reduce the level of unemployment; such are the reforms in the fiscal system or by opening new workplaces. It has practiced training and program applications to boost employment. The percentage of unemployed females is in high levels, so the government has practiced free vocational training for women. Also it has taken reforms in the fiscal system, in the improvement of the business environment by lowering taxes significantly, investments in infrastructure and the attracting of foreign investors to invest in Albania, encouraging investors to employ staff from Albania.

Essay on John Milton’s Paradise Lost - Defense for the Allegory of Sin

Defense for the Allegory of Sin and Death in Paradise Lost Milton claims his epic poem Paradise Lost exceeds the work of his accomplished predecessors. He argues that he tackles the most difficult task of recounting the history of not just one hero, but the entire human race. However, he does not appear to follow the conventional rules of an epic when he introduces an allegory into Paradise Lost through his portrayal of Sin and Death in Book II. Some readers denounce his work for this inconsistency, but others justify his action and uncover extremely important symbolism from this "forbidden" literal device. Merriam-Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary defines an epic "a long narrative poem in elevated style recounting the deeds of a legendary or historical hero" ("epic," def. 1) and allegory as "the expression by means of symbolic fictional figures and actions of truths or generalizations about human existence" ("allegory," def. 1). Based on these definitions, it is unclear whether allegories fit into a true epic. From one perspective, such extended symbolism is not appropriate because it relies on "fictional figures" whereas an epic is based on a "historical hero". For this reason, some readers may dislike Milton’s extended symbolism of Sin and Death since it violates the traditional form of an epic. However From another point of view, an allegory is an acceptable literary component to an epic because it is considered an element of "elevated style". Therefore, other readers may see nothing wrong with Milton’s literary decision. Milton’s poetic license entitles him to write as he pleases and therefore justifies his adaptation of an allegory into his epic. It is clearly apparent that Milton recognizes this privilege when... ...ilton relies heavily on the Bible for much of his information. With Milton’s timeframe and era for writing Paradise Lost in mind, we can justify his choice to incorporate an allegory into his epic. Allegories present meanings on two levels, one literal and the other hidden, which often expresses a moral or idea produced by the author. With this in mind, the allegory is key to understanding many parts of Paradise lots since Milton addresses so many issues in this one scene. Within the allegory alone, we discover extensive symbolism and wonder if there are more details to be uncovered each time we study the epic. Milton effectively elicits his readers’ attention by raising such controversy and holds our fascination with his intriguing hidden ideas, meanings, and symbolic relationships. Works Cited Milton, John. Paradise Lost. New York: W.W. Norton, 1993. Â  

Saving Black Mesa :: Argumentative Persuasive Papers

Saving Black Mesa Works Cited Missing To the northeast part of Arizona lay a conflict between two indigenous groups from the surrounding area and the world’s largest coal company formerly known as Peabody Coal (now Peabody Energy). The Hopi and Navajo reservations surround a region known as Black Mesa. Black Mesa is located on both the Navajo and Hopi Reservations which is a target source for underground water called the N-aquifer. The N-aquifer contains a great amount of pristine Ice Age water. As time drew on, many indigenous people were alarmed that the water was carelessly being depleted from their land. Mining on Black Mesa should be stopped because the inhabitants are affected by Peabody, livestock in the area must depend on the local springs, groundwater is being depleted at an average of 3.3 million gallons per day, and the water is being contaminated (SBMW Online par 1). In the beginning, the Black Mesa region expanded from the Hopi Reservation in to Navajo borders. On the borderline between the Navajo and Hopi two were at constant disagreements over the claim of territory. Based on three Arizonan judges, the land was to be proclaimed as â€Å"Joint Use Area† which lasted 15 years from 1962 to 1977, between the two tribes. Still not content the two groups had bitter political feelings towards one another. In 1977 the land was divided by giving the Hopi tribe 900,000 acres, accounting for most of the land. Both tribes shared the mineral deposits and as little land as the Navajo tribe had acquired from the settlement, Hopi land in all is an island reservation surrounded by the Navajo Nation. Although having the Hopi at a major disadvantage, many of the Navajo people that lived all their lives in the present Hopi reservation had moved out (LUHNACP Online par 8). Although many people would insist that the Navajo and Hopi people had agreed to let Peabody mine their land, the problem is a little more complicated than what seems obvious. In 1966 a lawyer for the Hopi tribe by the name of John Boyden convinced several members of the Navajo tribe to start a council.

How I Learned to Drive Analysis Essay

In Paula Vogel’s â€Å"How I Learned to Drive†, we follow our protagonist nicknamed â€Å"Lil Bit† on a gut wrenching, and downright disturbing journey through her adolescence, told as a series of narrations, monologues, and flashbacks with the occasional interjection of a PSA like voice over. The play recounts the physical and emotional abuse Lil Bit encountered from the ages of eleven to eighteen at the hands of her uncle Peck, while he teaches her to drive. The main flaw I saw in Lil Bit was that she is too smart for her own good. You see this characteristic throughout the play as she manipulates Peck. For example, it was most obvious for me when their roles of adult and child are reversed, and Peck is explaining to Lil Bit what a good boy he has been for not drinking. Knowing how much Peck lusts after her she offers him a reward for his good behavior in the form of undoing her bra. Another great example is when prior to her and peck going on a road trip and Lil Bit’s mother indicates that she has a sense of what Peck has on his mind, she responds by saying â€Å"I can take care of myself. And I can certainly handle uncle Peck.† At this point in the story she is only eleven. It’s hard to imagine a child of that age so grown up emotionally. Overall, most of the characters had likeable qualities, with the exception of the grandmother. I didn’t really like the way she meddled in the Parenting of Lil Bit. I liked â€Å"Big Papa† the best. He’s a crabby old timer who speaks anything that comes into his head with reckless abandon. It brought me some levity in an otherwise melancholy play. The climax of the play occurs on Lil Bit’s eighteenth birthday. She and Peck are in a hotel room, and she’s been ignoring peck for some time leading up to this meeting as he’s been sending her cards counting down to her birthday. Lil Bit is obviously conflicted about their relationship now that she has gotten older, but Peck is looking forward to a time when it’s not illegal for them to be together. This is creepy enough on its own, but when Peck drops the marriage bomb, the creep factor skyrockets. I was honestly disgusted at the idea of a man leaving his wife to be with his niece whom he has known since birth, blood related or not. Prior to the climax, one major event occurs and that is in the monologue that Aunt Mary delivers indicating that she knows what’s going on between Peck and Lil bit. The words used during this monologue, indicate to me a couple of key points about this character. First of all she is very intelligent. Her thoughts are well put together and the words she uses indicates to me that she has some sort of education. She is also very intuitive, she picks up on the subtle, non-verbal signals that peck gives off when he’s got something on his mind and presumably when he’s around Lil Bit. Also, the words used by Lil Bit in her different flashbacks have a direct correlation to her age. It’s obvious as you read them, that during the later ones she is forming more complex thoughts and emotions, which is indicative of growth. For the music in this play, Paula Vogel suggested period correct music spanning two generations. She mentions Motown several times, as well as Roy Orbison and the Beach Boys. Most of this music is romantic and happy with little hints of sexuality and sometimes-pedophilic references. For some weird reason the voice of the announcer in my head was played by the Moviephone guy. The car in the play was described as a Buick Riviera, but in my mind it was more like a Camaro or GTO. The main reason for this is the obvious relationship between Peck and his car. The way he describes the way the aggressive way men are taught to drive and the feeling of a cars’ response to your touch, just makes me think of those fast nimble sports cars. Taking place in the 1960’s, the costumes in my mind were bell-bottoms and flowered shirts, polyester leisure suits, and fringes all over the place. This was your typical 1960’s attire. I believe the overall theme of this play is about the effect of time on relationships. The relationship between Peck and Lil Bit starts out strong, for her and fragile for him. She has a strong male figure giving her attention while he is nurturing a relationship that he knows is illegal and immoral. As time progresses, the roles ultimately reverse leaving Peck with much confidence in the relationship while Lil Bit comes to realize the truth about it which leads to its demise. It just goes to show that time will always change relationships, jus not always in the way you imagined.

Major depressive disorder in children

Depression is fast becoming one of the most widespread illnesses affecting the youth today. It is often described in layman’s terms as a condition in which a certain individual feels sadder than normal, as having the case of â€Å"the blues†, or of being uncharacteristically disheartened and miserable. However, Major Depressive Disorder (MDD), also known as clinical depression, is characterized as a psychological disorder wherein an individual is rendered incapable of removing himself or herself from a persistent sense of sadness and a lessened interest in all of his or her activities. These symptoms must persist for a period of no less than 2 weeks in order for a diagnosis of Major Depressive Disorder to be made. (Watt & Markham, 2005) Other symptoms of MDD include feelings of worthlessness, significant weight change, listlessness, thoughts of death. Watt & Markham (2005) posit that MDD has biological factors in its etiology in children. These involve genetic make-up and hormonal imbalance. Other factors contributing to MDD include psychological and environmental factors. Psychological factors may involve functions of learned helplessness, melancholia, and depressive character traits which all contribute to the eventual self-defeating way by which the child will view the world. Environmental factors include stressful life events such as the loss of a loved one or a child’s negative experience in one of the social roles he or she plays. Social roles in children often include those they have in their families and in school. Not being able to successfully fulfill these roles can again lead to self-defeating thoughts and to feelings of worthlessness in the child. Psychological, environmental and biological factors all play an equal role in contributing to a child’s eventual experience of MDD. It is most likely that all these factors are at play to a certain degree in a clinically depressed child. What is clear, however, is that the foundation of MDD in the depressive child’s life is far-reaching and broad. It stems from many different aspects of the child’s persona and as such affects all these aspects in turn. All three factors must be taken into consideration. However, because children are still in an unbalanced state of development, their psychological and biological states are still in a precarious condition. This renders Major Depressive Disorder in this age group closed to certain types of treatment for depression. Only a few types of treatment have been found to have efficacy in reducing depressive symptoms in children. And even then, these few treatments have not all been able to provide truly child-friendly ways of dealing with depression. One of the treatments for MDD, which has received much interest from researchers, is pharmacotherapy. This involves the intake of drugs, tricylcic antidepressants (TCA’s) and selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRI’s), to suppress and decrease the symptoms of MDD. However, it has been seen that most research findings conflict in presentation of efficacy of pharmacotherapy treatment for adolescents and prepubescent children. (Milin et al, 2003) Electroconvulsive therapy, which involves introducing an electric shock to the individual’s system, also has greater efficacy in treating MDD in adults. However, the application of this treatment on adolescents and prepubescent children proves to be problematic. (Milin et al, 2003) Numerous ethical issues must be considered before psychologists and psychiatrists can test electroconvulsive therapy on children. One of the safest and least dangerous treatments that are applicable to clinically depressive children is psychosocial therapy. This includes Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT), interpersonal therapy, and family therapy. Treatment for Major Depressive Disorder, however, may not be limited to merely one type. Combinations of the different classes of treatment can be made in order to create a greater chance of improvement and recovery for the individual. (Milin et al, 2003) Combining CBT with antidepressant medication has shown results that prove the combination to be more effective in treating depression than simply applying one of the given treatments alone. (Rupke et al, 2006) Combining CBT with different psychosocial therapies such as family therapy, wherein the family is educated on the condition of the child, has also proven to be a much more effective treatment style. (Asarnow et al, 2002) Personally, I would choose to administer CBT over the other therapies because it provides the most flexibility in terms of addressing specific types of depression experienced by the individual. (Asarnow et al, 2002) In treating a child with MDD, individualization is essential. The treatment style that would best fit the child’s lifestyle and personality should be chosen. The CBT sessions will be fitted to match specific aspects of the child’s depression. The first step I would take would be to assess the child in terms of the type of depression he or she has. We would then pinpoint, together, the negative automatic thoughts he or she is prone to have. We would trace the specific situations and environments which lead him or her to this kind of negative thinking and to behavior characteristic of depression. Upon establishment of the child’s behavior patterns, goals for the CBT sessions will be set. To what extent does the child want to reduce his or her symptoms of depression? This will allow him or her to develop a sense of involvement in his or her own treatment. Having the child set his own goals gives him or her greater motivation to accomplish them. At first the child will be asked to simply monitor himself or herself by keeping a log of his or her behavior. The log will consist of the initially pinpointed negative thoughts and behaviors that the child has chosen to change. The instances he or she has pinpointed will also be monitored and kept in the log. The first 2 weeks of data in the log will serve as the baseline. The log will be assessed by the child with my guidance after baseline is set. He or she will be guided to acknowledge the cognitive distortions he or she makes in certain situations. These may include catastrophizing, black and white thinking, fortune telling and the like. These are maladaptive and only increase the child’s sense of misery, which is a chief characteristic of MDD. For example, if the child admits to always thinking that everything that goes wrong is his or her fault, he or she will be shown the irrational foundations of this belief. Afterwards, different ways of reacting and behaving will be conceptualized in order to replace the previous behavior and cognitions. The child will be guided to realize that external situations and individuals are outside his or her control but that the way he or she reacts, his or her perception of these events is what he or she can control. The log will be continued in order for the child and myself to monitor his or her progress. In it, he or she will also place details of assigned homework. Homework will involve practicing the new behaviors and way of thinking we devised together. This is essential to the CBT sessions. The bulk of the therapy’s success will rely on the child’s constant practice. Coping mechanism such as relaxation techniques, meditation and the like will be taught in order to assure continued progress in the child’s treatment from depression. These coping and relaxation mechanisms will also be assigned as homework. Later on, activities which the child previously avoided will be performed in the hopes of creating for the child a new schema. This will instill in the child a renewed self-confidence and a new self-image. Other social activities will also be pinpointed, in which the child will engage, as a means of reinforcing the positive schema he or she is gaining about himself or herself and the world. Family intervention therapy may also be an option should the child’s family want it. References Asarnow, J. R., Scott, C. V., & Mintz, J. (2002). A combined cognitive-behavioral family education intervention for depression in children: a treatment development study. Cognitive Therapy and Research, 26(2), 221-229 Rupke, S. J., Blecke, D., & Renfrow, M. (2006). Cognitive therapy for depression. American Family Physician, 73(1), 83-86 Walker, S., & Chow, J. (2003). Major depressive disorder in adolescence: a brief review of the recent treatment literature. Canadian Journal of Psychiatry, 48(9),600-606 Watts, S. J., & Markham, R. A. (2005). Etiology of depression in children. Journal of Instructional Psychology, 32(3), 266-670