Freud :: Essays Papers

Freud The theories of Sigmund Freud were advanced and are very influential to modern society. This Austrian doc and neurologist is commonly considered as having one of the greatest creative minds of recent times. Throughout his entire childhood Freud had been planning a career in law. non long before he entered the University of Vienna in 1873 Freud decided to expire a medical student. In school he met a boy that was a great deal older than him. Looking up to him and respecting his thoughts, Freud developed a wish to study law as this older student did, and interact in social activities. in addition at this time Freud was spare-time activityed in the theories of Charles Darwin. He heard Goethes beautiful essay on nature read aloud and that made him decide to become a medical student.2 He was drawn to a study of science and he wanted to solve problems facing the scientists of his day.3 His inten tion was not to be a conventional doctor but pressed by his greed for knowledge, he studied philosophical-scientific questions.4 One of the scientists he studied he studied with was a cut psychiatrist named Jean Martin Charcot who was the director of a mental hospital. Freud was impressed a great deal while he was with Charcot. He took a lot of interest in his latest investigations upon hysteria. Charcots demonstrations provoked in many people a sense of astonishment and skepticism.5 Charcots influence channeled Freuds interest toward psychopathology. He was Freuds model and had an insatiable willingness to fulfill and listen.

The Second World War (II) :: Essays Papers

The Second World War (II)Wars are good business. They create an immediate lead for a massive variety of materials needed by the government in order to fight the fight. They create work opportunities for people that might not ordinarily be considered diverge of the normal work force. And, while not necessarily good for the soldiers engaged in the fighting, wars are always good for the businesses that provide the materials used in a war. The Second World War was very good for business. The Second World War completed the process of centralizing the the Statesn economy. The Great Depression of 1929 and Americas employment in the war completed the change from small, locally run businesses to large, centralized control. Big business, big unions, and big government dominated the American economy by the end of the war. The federal government issued thousands of contracts to make war goods. The largest beneficiaries of the governments largesse were the existing large corporations. The bi g got bigger, Norton tells us, and the government guaranteed profits in the form of cost-plus-fixed fee contracts, unstinting tax write-offs, and exemption from antitrust prosecution. Large universities received research contracts. Farming came to be dominated by large-scale mechanized companies and farm co-ops rather than family farms. The war accelerated this trend because wealthy institutions were better able to pay for expensive new machinery (Norton 524 and 525). The huge government demand for increased production meant an increased demand for workers. Businesses wanted to hire any qualified worker willing to work. Unions wanted only union workers to work in jobs that had been union jobs. This disagreement eventually conduct to federal involvement in settling labor disputes. By 1943, labor was dominated by the centralized control of the unions, union membership climbing from 8.5 jillion in 1940 to over 14.7 million by 1943 (525). Along with its involvement in labor matters, the federal government also became involved in business activities. With the mental institution of the National War Labor Board in 1941 to settle labor disputes, and then the creation of the War Production Board in 1942 to convert the America economy to war production, the federal government had become a third partner in the centralizing of the American economy. With this increased participation came an increase in government policy and regulation. This led to an increased demand for federal workers to carry out these policies and by 1945 the size of the federal government had grown form 1.

Foreign vs. American Women in Marriage :: essays research papers

Foreign Vs. American WomenSince the beginning, relationships between man and woman have been very hard to understand and conglomerate into one persona. there is always the level of interest between the male and female that must to exist to allow the relationships infancy. According to the Bible, the woman was a gift from God, designed to fear the man in his work for God. Wars started leaving peace or hatred between countries over the many years of our existence. The amount of time countries refused foreign relations created differences in looks, actions, ideals, and beliefs of its culture. Not much thoughts given to the female race and impacts they received from the lack of diversity. The question of today, due to increasing split order, is should she be a foreigner or American. According to nomarriage.com, A huge percentage of American women are selfish, flighty, insecure, needy, and psychotic. Often Foreign women, portray many of the qualities American women out-grew in the ever-increasing crunch for liberation of freedoms. another(prenominal) difference would be in outward attitude portrayal. Quoted from nomarraige.com, Women in America seem to have cold, superficial, or stuck-up attitudes. Foreign women hold themselves in the pith of their relationships by not passing any judgments. American women of today are trying to achieve the top of the professional ladder, leaving less time for family. tempt them to do what man seemingly suppressed her from doing all these years, while the foreign women are perfectly happy with their femininity and try to progress with their husbands forward. The divorce rates are extremely higher in American-to-American marriages. The Foreign-to-American divorce rate is currently 20% as stated by United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS). American-to-American divorce rate is within the 45%-55% range based on a study by divorcestatistics.org. Foreign women ladder to have different physical fe atures. The lofty physical features are intriguing and above the regular, that we see each day. This often causes animosity from the western women who are comfortable in our land of opportunity. Foreign women tend to speak a minimum of two different languages, allowing ease in communication proficiency and understanding different cultures.All the females of the world, however, possess the heart that loves a man. Whether an American or foreigner, at one point the female will truly love the man she courted.

Hope Springs Eternal and The Shawshank Redemption :: Shawshank Redemption

I trust I can make it across the border. I hope I can see my superstar and shake his hand. I hope the Pacific is as blue as it has been in my dreams. I hope. (106)Hope Springs Eternal is a story that demonstrates how important it is to remark hope alive. Throughout the entire story, Andy was different from most everybody else, especially the other inmates. This was something readily picked out by the minister/warden. He had accused Andy of walking approximately as if he where at a cocktail party. Red explained it better when he described some of the qualities in Andy that made the warden say what he did. He always walked light footed and always kept his shoulders squared. He neer developed that kind of hazy dead look that the other inmates had. Nor did he learn their hunched over sluggish walk when it came time to go back to their cages. The thing that constantly beamed from him, and differentiated him so much from everybody else was the thing he never gave up hope.Andy didnt k now from the get go that he was going to escape from a hole he dug in the wall. In position he didnt know he was going to escape at all. But he always had hope that he would leave the Shank. This is evident in how he had taken his money and saved it from getting washed away by the on coming hurricane. Also, he had his good friend set up a bank account for his new identity. He kept this hope of getting out although it changed a few times. At first it was just hope of getting out somehow, then it was escaping, for a brief time it came back to getting out legitimately when he met Tommy Williams. It got to Andy when the warden crushed that hope by transferring Tommy, that he didnt give up. His hope went right back to escaping through that little hole he dug.If you gave up on hope, then you gave up on life. In the Shank the inmates gave up hope pretty early, and that is why they developed those bland, dead eyes. They were not living they were merely going through routine. Its in all l ikelihood for that reason that so many inmates last such a short time in the outside world. They would shrink away in fear when confronted with life, because they had been so long without out it.

Change Foreign Policy to Win the War on Terrorism :: Politics Political Essays

There argon many advocacy groups that have long been doing give awaystanding good works in the international arena, but on issues that have not officially been seen as being a proper part of contrasted policy the environment, human rights, womens rights, the condition of children, labor, international public health issues (e.g., AIDS in Africa), sustainable development, refugees, international education, and so on. The metaphors that conflicting policy experts have use to define what foreign policy is rules out these important concerns. Those metaphors involve self-interest (e.g., the Rational Actor Model), stability (a physics metaphor), industrialization (unindustrialized nations are underdeveloped), and administer (freedom is free trade). I would like to propose an alternative way of thinking about foreign policy under which all these issues would become a indwelling part of what foreign policy is about. The premise is that, when international relations work smoothly, it is because certain clean norms of the international community are being followed. This mostly goes unnoticed, since those norms are usually followed. We notice problems when those norms are breached. Given this, it involves sense that foreign policy should be centered around those norms. The moral norms I suggest come out of what I called in Moral Politics nurturant morality. It is a view of ethical behavior that centers on (a) empathy and (b) responsibility (for both yourself and others needing your help). Many things follow from these fundamental principles fairness, minimal violence (e.g., justice without vengeance), an ethic of care, protection of those needing it, a recognition of interdependence, cooperation for the common good, the building of community, mutual respect, and so on. When applied to foreign policy, nurturant moral norms would lead the American government to uphold the ABM treaty, sign the Kyoto accords, engage in a form of globalization governed by an ethics of care-and it would automatically make all the concerns listed above (e.g., the environment, womens rights) part of our foreign policy. This, of course, implies (a) multilateralism, (b) interdependence, and (c) international cooperation. But these three principles, without nurturant norms, can equally well apply to the Bush administrations continuance of its foreign policy. Bushs foreign policy, as he announced in the election campaign, has been one of self-interest (whats in the best interest of the United States)-if not outright hegemony (the Cheney/Rumsfeld position). The pop leaders incorrectly criticized Bush for being isolationist and unilateralist, on issues like the Kyoto accords and the ABM Treaty.

Change Foreign Policy to Win the War on Terrorism :: Politics Political Essays

There are many advocacy groups that accommodate broad been doing important good works in the international arena, but on issues that have not officially been seen as being a proper pick of foreign policy the environment, human rights, womens rights, the condition of children, labor, international public health issues (e.g., AIDS in Africa), sustainable development, refugees, international education, and so on. The metaphors that foreign policy experts have used to define what foreign policy is rules out these important concerns. Those metaphors involve self-interest (e.g., the Rational Actor Model), stability (a physics metaphor), industrialization (unindustrialized nations are develop), and trade (freedom is free trade). I would like to propose an alternative way of thinking about foreign policy under which all these issues would be obtain a natural part of what foreign policy is about. The premise is that, when international relations work smoothly, it is because certain moral norms of the international community are being liveed. This broadly speaking goes unnoticed, since those norms are usually followed. We notice problems when those norms are breached. Given this, it makes sense that foreign policy should be centered around those norms. The moral norms I suggest come out of what I called in Moral Politics nurturant morality. It is a view of ethical behavior that centers on (a) empathy and (b) responsibility (for both yourself and others needing your help). Many things follow from these central principles fairness, minimal violence (e.g., justice without vengeance), an ethic of care, protection of those needing it, a recognition of interdependence, cooperation for the common good, the building of community, mutual respect, and so on. When applied to foreign policy, nurturant moral norms would lead the American government to uphold the ABM treaty, sign the Kyoto accords, engage in a form of globalization governed by an ethics of care-and it would mec hanically make all the concerns listed above (e.g., the environment, womens rights) part of our foreign policy. This, of course, implies (a) multilateralism, (b) interdependence, and (c) international cooperation. But these three principles, without nurturant norms, can equally well apply to the Bush administrations protraction of its foreign policy. Bushs foreign policy, as he announced in the election campaign, has been one of self-interest (whats in the best interest of the United States)-if not unqualified hegemony (the Cheney/Rumsfeld position). The Democratic leaders incorrectly criticized Bush for being isolationist and unilateralist, on issues like the Kyoto accords and the ABM Treaty.

Johann Sebastian Bach

The Baroque period happened right after the rebirth, an era best defined by the emergence of unique styles. Baroque literally means bizarre, and this is employ to describe architectural designs during that time. Buildings of this design were observed to be highly ornamented and decorated. Later, the term has also been applied to music.This style differs greatly from the Renaissance and the Classical style of music by means of instruments used, amount of experimentation, and techniques utilized in composing and in performing the musical pieces.Musicians of this time experimented greatly on music genres, used different playing styles, evolved and changed a lot of traditional musical notations, improved on the complexity of instruments, and highlighted a point in autobiography where music has changed dramatically. This era was indeed a turning point for music, giving birth to composers destined to be remembered until now. One of these geniuses is Johann Sebastian bachelor. Bach was born on the twenty-first of March, 1685 to a well renowned family of actors.His father was Ambrocious, the court trumpeter for the Duke of Eisenach and a musical director for the town and his mother was Maria Elisabetha Lammerhirt. Many of the Bachs were known for universe instrumentalists, church organists, and singers all through let out the town. Johann Sebastian Bach, as early as eight years old, begun singing in a choir they and his friends have founded at their school. Prior to this, he has been taught on how to play the violin and the harpsichord by his father and the organ by his uncle. He immediately became proficient with these instruments, particularly the organ.But mickle has not been very kind to him, and at an early age, he lost his mother, father, a brother and a sister (Boyd, 1983). These early tragedies did not slow Bach down, and at a young age of 18, Bach started to be known all through out his village and other neighboring towns. He became a regular singer at choirs and a much praised organist at congregations. He traveled to different places, and was hired by different courts as their chief musician and composer. He was able to start a family by marrying Maria Barbara, who gave birth to four children.His wife then died shortly after while Bach was out on a traveling performance. Bach then remarried, this time with Anna Magdalena, who remained faithful in taking c atomic number 18 of their children and in copying Bachs manuscripts. He lived his life well, created a family, and composed hundreds of pieces before lying to rest on July 28, 1750 (Boyd, 1983). The life of Bach can be seen as a flow of annals told by his compositions. His famous pieces, usually short scores collected in a book, are manifestations of his life at the current time the music was composed.Take for type his work Mass at B Minor, started at about 1724 and completed at 1749, just a year before his death (Smith, 1996). This is a 4-part piece which depicts Bachs life time devotion to religion. As a student years back, he studied Theology, and even topped his class at a very young age. Another piece Bach is known for is the lengthy Brandenburg Concertos which he completed at around 1721 or earlier. These 6 concertos are dedicated to Christian Ludwig, Margrave of Brandenburg-Schwedt, who was pleasured by Bachs innate talent for music. Bach used this piece to apply for a position on the Margraves court as a musician (Chee).Finally, his work entitled The Musical Offering marks the timeline in his life when he played for the King of Prussia, Frederick II at around 1747. This Kings theme started as an improvised piece by Bach, and later became a full length book used by many of his successors (Rasmussen, 2001). Bach is a very accomplished musician. His life was not always that perfect, in fact he had a lot of pitfalls and mischievous tragedies such as death of a loved one. But he showed the world that by having a passion for something like music, one can put across all trials presented to him.And by dedicating his life to his work, he became a composer-legend the world will never forget. References Boyd, M. (1983). Bach. Timeline retrieved from http//www. jsbach. org/timeline. html Chee, B. The Brandenburg Concertos. Inkpot Issue 95. Retrieved from http//inkpot. com/classical/bachbrandenburg. html Rasmussen, M. (2001). Bach, Mozart, and the Musical Midwife, The modern Federalist, Retrieved from http//www. schillerinstitut. dk/bach. html Smith, A. (1996). Bachs Mass in B Minor as a Musical Icon. Lecture retrieved from http//jan. ucc. nau. edu/tas3/musicon. html

Conflict Resolution Essay

Merriam-Webster (n.d) defines struggle as, the opposition of somebodys or forces that gives rise to the dramatic procedureion in a drama or fiction. Interpersonal affairs, whether they be between family members, students and teachers, employees and supervisors, or groups, have certain elements in common. Coser (1967) asserts that divergence is a struggle everywhere value and holds to scarce status, origin, and resources, in which the aims of the opp iodinents argon to neutralize, injure, or eliminate the rivals. (p. 8) Cosers definition grew out of the cold war, when conflict between the United States and the former U.S.S.R. dominated westbound method to conflict. remainder was viewed as a win-lose solution.According to Dana (2001) there ar only ternary ways to resolve whatsoever conflict power contests, chastens contests, and interests reconciliation. Power contest is based on Cosers (1967) win-lose situation. Each party views their point as right each privationing po wer over the other. Rights contest is an orderly system which has rules, regulations, policies, precedents and a hierarchy of authority which is used in order to win again this model is a win-lose resolution. The solution to conflict resolution is interest reconciliation.This approach enlists support from both parties to get a line the best solution. All parties win with interest reconciliation model as their solution. Conflict in the deedplace is a condition between or among two or more(prenominal) put to workers whose jobs ar independent, who feel angry, who perceive the other(s) as beence at fault, and act in a way that causes a business problem. Conflict has three elements feelings (emotions), perceptual experiences (thoughts) and actions (behaviors). Psychologists consider these three the only dimensions of human experience. So, conflict is rooted in on the whole parts of the human nature (Dana, 2001, p. 5) somewhat confuse conflict with indecision, disagreement, stre ss, or some other common experience that whitethorn cause or be caused by a conflict. However, those elements are non best handled by conflict resolution. The question many ask, is conflict normal?Conflict is a fact of any organizational life. On the job, conflict is a stubborn fact of organizational life (Kolb and Putnam, 1992, p. 311). Rather than seeing conflict as abnormal, Pondy (1992) suggests we view organizations as arenas for re-create conflicts, and managers as both fight promoters who organize bouts and as referees who regulate them (p. 259). In addition, Pondy states that in the company, agency, or small business, conflict may be the very issue of what the organization is approximately, and if conflict isnt happening then the organization has no reason for being (p. 259). One study surveyed workers and found that al nearly 85 per centum reported conflicts at work (Volkema and Bergmann 1989).With an increasing awareness of cultural diversity and sexuality equity is sues, it is essential that employees become familiar with issues surrounding promotions and harassment. In fact, bingle can see training in organizations as a form of preventive conflict management (Hathaway, 1995). The recognition of the frequency of conflict at work has led to books on mediating conflict in the body of work (Yarbrough and Wilmot 1995), showing how managers can learn conflict management skills to intervene in disputes in their organization. As employees, workaday work with clients, customers, co-workers, or bosses can be a struggle.Conflict is as Wilmot (1995) wrote, What determines the course of a relationship . . . is in a large mea current dogged by how successfully the participants move done conflict episodes (p. 95). Conflict resolution has five styles, giving in, obviateing, fight it out, comprise, and work together style. No style is right or awry(p) however some do work better than others. Accommodation, giving in to the others wishes or smoothing wa ves sacrifices ones bear goals for the sake of the other person. Accommodators often use phrases like Whatever you want is fine with me. When one party in a conflict genuinely does not care about the outcome of the conflict, accommodation may be the right choice for that situation. However, if accommodation is the only style a person utilizes, he or she is advised to learn more skills. Avoidance is characterized by behaviors that either ignore or refuse to engage in the conflict. darn avoidance is by some consider a negative style that shows low concern for both ones own and the other partys interests, there are sometimes strategic reasons to avoid conflict.For example, when the relationship is short-term and the issue is not important or when the situation has a potential to escalate to violence, avoidance may be the prudent choice. Fight it out, emulation, or win/lose, style maximizes reaching ones own goals or getting the problem solved at the cost of the others goals or feelin gs. While always choosing competition has negative repercussions for relationships, businesses and cultures, it can occasionally be the right style to choose if the other party is hard fixed in a competitive style or there are limited resources. While competitive strategy is not inevitably dysfunctional, competition can easily slip into a destructive situation. Understanding the methods and strategies of others who use competitive styles can assist conflict managers in neutralizing the negative consequences of competition and work toward a mutual gain approach. Compromise is a give and take of resources.The classic compromise in negotiating is to split the difference between two positions. While there is no victor from compromise, each person similarly fails to achieve her or his original goal. Finally, working together to collaborate is when parties cooperatively team up until a mutually agreeable solution is found. Compromise and collaboration are win-win solution where as the other styles are win-lose. Why do passel avoid dealing with conflict? flock have a natural instinct of dismay and some let that fear overpower them. The fear of harm causes passel to fight-or-flight. Individuals will choose the flight option when in a dangerous part of a city that they have never been in before in order to avoid danger, it shows wisdom or strength to get out a of physically offensive relationship, commendable to stay out deliriously abusive relationships. In spite of this, in some cases concourse have the response to flight to a false perception of harm. hoi polloi overstress in their minds the emotional harm that person can cause harm.The same is said for conflict in the workplace, pack will avoid conflict for fear of being harmed by others. Some avoid conflict because of a fear of rejection from others. These individuals feel others will withdraw their friendship or push them away cavictimization more hurt. People have the perception if they do not risk rejection they can suppress their needs and feelings. Loss of relationship is the fear of rejection taken up a direct they fear totally losing a relationship. Others avoid conflict to mask their true desires because preserving a relationship is more important than getting what they want. These individuals are trapped into moot their worth is dependant on another accepting them. People avoid conflict for fear of anger. These people do not like auditory modality to somebody who is angry. They believe another will hurt them, reject them, or leave them, and they just cannot stand to witness anger.However, anger is just anger and it is not needs directed toward them. Individuals do not want to be seen as selfish. In some situations people are not afraid of others reactions, but rather their reading of the situation.They fear that they will appear selfish. However, is it vilify to have a need, feeling, or want and to express it? Society has sometimes had it seem that way. Although, there is nothing wrong with asking for what individuals want versus feeling they are entitled to always getting what they want. The truth is if one never asks, then they are depriving people around them from being able give to them effectively. Still, people who feel their wants should not be fulfilled, regardless of what others want, fall into the selfishness category. Sometimes people avoid conflict for fear of saying the wrong thing or something they will regret. Individuals will avoid conflict rather than risk putting their foot in their mouth they contain their anger and thwarting which often leads to that which they fear. When people have conflicts in the past that have failed so they avoid future conflict for the fear of failing those too and begin to believe the confrontation is not worth the emotional energy it takes to deal with others.The fear of failing can impact other aspects of ones life. The fear of hurting another is more than just saying the wrong thing. These in dividuals are extremely sensitive and caring. They would rather hurt themselves than risk hurting another. The fear of success is a fear that most over look. However, it is much like the fear of failure. Some people are afraid to get what they want they believe they will never get it. These people feel they do not deserve what they want, the consequences of getting of what they want is regret, or the responsibility is more than they need or desire. The fear of intimacy is the most subconscious mind of the fears. People do not want to share their dreams, desires, and wants with others. They feel they are private and do not want to be exposed. People do not want to appear weak. If resolution involves giving in, avoiding, or compromise they may feel they appear as though they do not have confidence. People do not want the stress of confrontation.They feel it is better to avoid conflict rather than deal with the stress it will cause them in the workplace between co-workers. Our society tends to reward alternative responses to conflict, rather than negotiation. People, who aggressively pursue their needs, competing rather than collaborating, are often satisfied by others who prefer to accommodate. Managers and leaders are often rewardedfor their aggressive, discoverling approaches to problems, rather than taking a more compassionate approach to issues that may seem less decisive to the public or their staffs. Conflict resolution requires profound courage on the part of all parties It takes courage to honestly and clearly express ones needs, and it takes courage to sit deplete and listen to ones adversaries. It takes courage to look at ones own role in the dispute, and it takes courage to approach others with a star of empathy, openness and respect for their perspective.Collaborative approaches to conflict management require individuals to engage in the moment of dialogue in thoughtful and meaningful ways, so it is intelligible if people tend to avoid such situa tions until the balance of wisdom tips in favor of negotiation. People have certain perceptions in conflict when dealing with diametrical situations.Culture shapes and frames each individuals interpretation of appropriate behaviors during conflicts. Conflict across cultures, whether across nations or across the diverse cultures within a country, exacerbates the turn difficulties of conflict management (Fry and Bjorkqvist, 1997). There is no clear conclusion about whether men and women actually behave in different ways while conducting conflicts. However, gender stereotypes do affect conflict behaviors when individuals act and react based on stereotypes of how men and women will/should act rather than selecting behaviors appropriate for the individual one is communicating with (Borisoff and Victor, 1997). Parties respond to conflicts on the basis of the knowledge they have about the issue at hand. This includes situation-specific knowledge and general knowledge.The understanding of the knowledge they have can incline the persons willingness to engage in efforts to manage the conflict, either reinforcing confidence to deal with the dilemma or undermining ones willingness to flexibly consider alternatives. The person sharing the message is considered to be the courier. If the messenger is perceived to be a threat (powerful, scary, unknown, etc.) the message can influence others responses to the overall situation being experienced. For example, if a big scary-looking guy is yelling at people they may respond differently than if a diminutive, calm person would express the same message. Additionally, if the people knew the messenger previously, they might respond differently based upon that prior sense of the persons credibility.People are more inclined to listen with respect to someone they view more credible than if the message comes from someone who lacks credibility and integrity. Some people have had significant life experiences that continue to influence th eir perceptions of current situations. These experiences may have left them fearful, lacking trust, and reluctant to take risks. On the other hand, previous experiences may have left them confident, willing to take chances and experience the unknown. every way, one moldiness acknowledge the role of previous experiences as elements of their perceptual filter in the current dilemma.These factors, along with others, work together to form the perceptual filters through which people experience conflict. As a result, their reactions to the threat and dilemma posed by conflict should be anticipated to include varying understandings of the situation. This also means that they can anticipate that in many conflicts there will be significant misunderstanding of each others perceptions, needs and feelings. These challenges generate to our emerging sense, during conflict, that the situation is overwhelming and unsolvable. As such, they become critical sources of potential understanding, insight and possibility. How do people respond to conflict? There are three responses to conflict emotional, cognitive and physical responses that are important windows into our experience during conflict, for they frequently tell people more about what is the true source of threat that is perceived by understanding the thoughts, feelings and behavior to conflict, a better insight into the best potential solution to the situation. Emotional (feelings) are the feelings we experience in conflict, ranging from anger and fear to despair and confusion. Emotional responses are often misunderstood, as people tend to believe that others feel the same as they do. Thus, differing emotional responses are confusing and, at times, threatening.Cognitive (thinking) are our ideas and thoughts about a conflict, often present as inner voices or internal observers in the midst of a situation. Through sub-vocalization (self-talk), people understand these cognitive responses. Physical (behavior) can p model an important role in our ability to learn our needs in the conflict. They include heightened stress, bodily tension, increase perspiration, tunnel vision, sh entrust or accelerated breathing, nausea, and rapid heartbeat. These responses are similar to those we experience in high-anxiety situations, and they may be managed through stress management techniques. Establishing a calmer environment in which emotions can be managed is more likely if the physical response is addressed effectively. Dealing with someone unwilling to negotiate can be difficult for the person who is trying to resolve the conflict. However, the 8 Step Model can be very beneficial, by focusing first on listening to the other person, and seeking to understand the sources of their resistance, the stage can be sort out for clarifying the conditions he or she requires in order to talk things out.This is not about being right or wrong in the situation, but a practical strategy for getting the other person engaged as a partner in the negotiation process. Another alternative is to focus on things we can do to influence conflicts in the future, rather than putting initial energy into understanding (or solving) problems we have had in the past. By remaining relatively flexible about the agenda taking on topics individuals care about, but not necessarily the most pressing issues thus, creating an opportunity to reduce the fears associated with resistance. While the conflict may not be able to be truly resolved, some key issues that exist will be managed and will garter to prevent the issues from getting worse. Power is an important and complex issue facing anyone seeking a negotiated solution to a conflict. Before negotiating clarify the true sources of power in the room The boss has position power, associated with the carrots and sticks that come with the role. She or he may also have imperative power, supported by contracts or statute that compels employees to behave in certain ways and do cert ain tasks associated with the job. Some may have a great(p) deal of expertise power, accumulated from doing your job over a period of time.Either conflict participants may possess normative power, through which they know the lay of the land in their department and, therefore, how to get things done. And either may possess referent power, through which others show respect for the manner in which the employee conducts themselves. Generally, referent power accrues to those who demonstrate a mature willingness to seek collaborative solutions. An impasse is the sense of being stuck. Impasse is the point within a dispute in which the parties are unable to perceive effective solutions. People feel stuck, frustrated, angry, and disillusioned. Therefore, they might either dig their heels in deeper, anchoring themselves in extreme and rigid positions, or they might dissolve to withdraw from negotiation. Either way, impasse represents a turning point in our efforts to negotiate a solution to the conflict. As such, rather than avoiding or dreading it, impasse should be viewed with calmness, patience, and respect. Multi-party disputes are complex situations, and they require careful attention and persistence.However, the same 8 Step Model can be applied to the disputes. In spite of using the same process expect everything to take a bit longer than if there where only two or three people. Patiently make sure that all points of view are heard, that issues are clarified for all to see, and that all members in the group accept the agreements being negotiated. If there are limits to the groups decision-making power, then it is important to acknowledge those limits and understand how they are perceived by all members of the group. There are many different ideas of the locomote for resolution, some claim five steps while others claim six or 7 for the purpose of this paper Weeks (1992) eight step resolution style is identified. Step one Create an Effective AtmosphereCreating the right atmosphere in which the conflict resolution process will take place is very important, yet most overlook its importance. The atmosphere is the frame around the canvas which will be painted the negotiations and building of better relationships (Weeks, 1992). Step two Clarify PerceptionsPerceptions are lenses through which a person sees themselves, others, their relationships, and the situations they encounter. Perceptions have a great influence on behavior of people. Once people perceive something in certain way, even if the perception is wrong, in the mind it is that way, and often base behaviors on that perception (Weeks, 1992). Step three Focus on the Individual and Shared NeedsThis step builds on the previous step as needs as the conditions people perceive they cannot do without, those conditions critical to each persons wellbeing and relationships. However, step three focuses more on skills involved in the conflict partnership approach. There are several key points t o keep in mind in this step. 1) Needs are the substructure of relationship and are an essential part of that foundation. 2) People sometimes confuse needs with desires. 3) Personal needs in relationships perceived byindividuals must allow for respect of the needs or the relationship (Weeks, 1992). Step four Build Shared PowerPower is a part of every relationship. However, the way people perceive and use power is seen frequently as a dirty word. Such as when people use power as means to control or to manipulate some else to get what they want. Although, power is and of itself not corrupt, it is the way in which people use their power and whether they allow such power to corrupt. ontogenesis positive self power through a clear self-image means that we base our perceptions of ourselves not on what others expect of us or want us to be but what we believe to be our own needs, capabilities, priorities and goals (Weeks, 1992, p. 152).Step five Look to the Future, Then Learn from the Pas t. All relationships and conflicts have a past, present and future. answer conflicts requires dealing with all three. The conflict partnership process encourages the use of positive power to focus on the present-future to learn from the past. The past experiences people face set the landscape for present and future decision making and how relate to others (Weeks, 1992). Step six Generate OptionsPeople have the ability to discover new possibilities in their relationships as well as conflict resolution. However, both are often impaired by the packaged truths and limited vision people hold onto in times of stress, insecurity, and conflict.Generating options breaks through the predetermined restrictions brought into the conflict resolution process. Generating options imparts choices which specific steps to resolve conflicts and enhanced relationship can be agreed upon (Weeks, 1992). Step seven Develop Doables the Stepping-stones to Action Doables are the necessary stepping-stones tak en along the way to resolve conflict. Doables are explicit acts that stand a good possibility of success, meet some individual and shared need, and depend on positive power, usually shared power to be carried out. Working on and accomplishing some doables can help the conflict partners see more clearly where they need to go. Many conflict partners have changed their preconceived definitions of both the conflict itself and the expected outcome due to the lessons erudite and clarified perceptions through working with doables (Weeks, 1992) Step eight Make Mutual-BenefitAgreementsMutual-benefit agreements are the next step on the pathway to conflict resolution. Conflict resolution agreements must be realistic and effective enough to survive and the potential to produce further as challenges arise in the future. Mutual-benefit agreements replace the need or want for demands, see the others needs, shared goals, and establish a standard wherein power is identified as positive mutual act ion through which differences can be dealt with constructively (Weeks, 1992). ConclusionConflict is an unavoidable aspect of everyday life whether it is with family, teachers, students, friends, or an organization. The best approach to resolving conflict is interest reconciliation. It joins both parties of the dispute to find the best solution. In so doing, all parties win. People respond to conflict in three ways emotional (feelings), cognitive (thinking), and physical (behavior). All are important to the conflict experience. They allow a better awareness to best furnish a solution to the situation. An important tactic to conflict resolution is to develop persuasion skills with the ability to clearly explain ones point of view and to argue for their conclusions and convictions. Weeks Eight-Step Process is a valuable pecker in helping people to become more strategic about resolving conflict. ReferencesBorisoff, D., and D. A. Victor., (1997). Conflict management A communication skil ls approach, 2nd ed. Boston Allyn and Bacon. Conflict, (n.d.). In Merriam-Websters online dictionary Retrieved from http//www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/conflict Coser, L. A. 1967. Continuities in the study of social conflict. New York Free Press. Dana, D. (2001). Conflict resolution. New York Mcgraw-Hill. Fry, D. P., and Bjorkqvist K., (1997). Cultural variation in conflict resolution. Mahwah, N. J. Lawrence Erlbaum Associates. Hathaway, W., (1995). A new way of viewing dispute resolution training.Mediation Quarterly, 13(1), 37-45. doi10.1002/crq.3900130105 Kolb, D. M., & Putnam, L. L. (1992). The Multiple Faces of Conflict in Organizations. Journal of Organizational Behavior, (3), 311. doi10.2307/2488478 Pondy, L. R. (1992). Reflections on organizational conflict. Journal of Organizational Behavior, 13(3), 257-261. Volkema, R. J., and Bergmann T. J., (1989). Interpersonal conflict at work an analysis of behavioral responses. Human Relations 42 757-770. Weeks, D. (1992). The ei ght essential steps to conflict resolution preserving relationships at work, at home, and in the community. Los Angeles, J.P. Tarcher New York Distributed by St. Martins Press Wilmot, W. W. (1995). Relational communication. New York McGraw-Hill. Yarbrough, E., and Wilmot W., (1995). Artful mediation Constructive conflict at work. Boulder, Colo. Cairns Publishing.

Management style of Mahatma Gandhi Essay

The name, Mahatma Gandhiji evokes the image of truth personified, who has been revered by masses and classes equally. Who is known to be thinker, philosopher, attraction, politician, saint and m any more roles for which he donned the caps simultaneously. The piece of musicagement principles that his life reflects, ar inherent part of modern management practices. 1. Walk the talkMahatma Gandhiji lived simple life. He believed in do as you say. Practice and pr distributively was non different for him. His life had been open book for anybody to read. Irrespective of the circumstances he always held up to his moral values that he used to preach to unitary and all. His walk the talk had many admirers in British camp, and many swear by his truthfulness. In todays organizations, people honor and follow leaders whose words atomic number 18 no different than their actions. Companies, who capture deep rooted culture of walk the talk, win over customers and prosper beyond expectations. 2 . Lead by ExampleMahatma Gandhiji has been a smashing leader who led by example. Be it smaller initiatives desire living simple life, fight for untouchables or thumpingger movements like non cooperation, salt march, quit India, he has led by example. He led from front. People believed him because he did himself what he expected from them to do. We have faith and trust in leaders and managers who lead by example. Who tread the path themselves first on which they want other to follow. Faith is the fundamental requisite in the organizations and those who lead by example commands enough of it. Lead by example command respect, do not demand respect. 3. Build impeccable and h unitaryst brandThe brand Mahatma Gandhiji is unity of the greatest brands which has been enlightening and moving people since decades together. This brand has been built on integrity, transp bency, quality, truthfulness and linkivity with both single person. It has emotional connect rather than rational connect with its audience. Great brands commands emotional connect with its consumers. The great brands build on the impeccable platform of transparency and truthfulness. Even you are also a brand personified the mark You. 4. Strategize in line with available resourcesThe whole freedom movement of Mahatma was based on the principle of non violence. There was no other way he could be intimate with the mighty British Empire. The biggest resource was empty handed, inspired masses. He utilized this resource in the most efficient way. He strategized all action on non violence and moved masses to fulfill the objectives. Managing and excelling with available resources is the key to success for the organizations. Efficiency in every aspect of business and utilizing the available resources diligently is the antechamber mark of great management team ups. Strategy essentialiness be made and implemented looking into the resources available. 5. Build great team and bat for a joint causeMahatma Gandhiji had built a great team of leaders from diverse beliefs and principles. Jawaharlal Nehru, C. Rajgopalachari, Valabbh Bhai Patel, Jinnah and many others worked in tandem for a common cause freedom of India. They complemented each other. The team also had a great bench strength. Great leaders build great teams with members who complement each other. It has leadership at all levels. It has great bench strength which grabs the baton and continue the race for common cause. Organizations with great teams have potent force to conquer the market. 6. Engage peopleMahatma Gandhiji enthralled and diligent people like a magician. He was apt in the art of making people devote everything for the cause. In every single movement he led for Indias freedom, he pulled the people together for a common mission. Every one of them was so engaged that they are ready to go to any extent to achieve the goal of Indias freedom. Gallup Inc., a research-based performance-management consulting company, h as shown that engaged employees are more productive and more likely to stay with the organization. Engage them with common cause, a common goal, a common mission which must be lived every moment by them. Engaged employees are key to greatness for organizations. Mahatma Gandhiji exhibited this lesson long ago. It is lighten as much relevant as was at that time. There are many priceless gems in Mahatma Gandhijis life. His philosophy is applicable in every facet of life. You only require getting one step underneath and digging the gems out for yourselves.Social Orientation- Interdependence on teamsFor Gandhiji, the interests of the group are of mettlesome importance. He believed that the needs of the community and the service of the poor should always override every selfish or individual interest. (Alexander, 1984) His wish was that every village in India to become a self-supporting and self-contained entity, much like a team environment in todays corporations. These villages would share information or commodities with other villages where they are not locally producible. (Andrews, 1949) Teams in todays organizations often must share information with other teams in order to work more efficiently. Take for example, the Information Engineering Associates (IEA) department at heart DuPont Corporation. Because of internal marketing deep down the company and sharing of their expertise, the IEA department was able to move from team to team, sharing their knowledge and improving the information technology service within the corporation. No discrimination-Hiring PoliciesGandhiji believed in the ancient caste carcass, but he entirely refused to have anything to do with the idea of untouchpower. He refused to regard any caste as superior in rank. He regarded men and women equally as his brothers and sisters, treating them in every single act of life as equals. Even today, an organisation is not supposed to discriminate while hiring candidates. Gandhijijis philosophy o f no discrimination is seen in the hiring policies of an organisation.Before launching a public campaign or action that will impinge on society, it is vital to bring to your mind the face of the poorest and the weakest man whom you may have seen, and ask yourself, if the step you contemplate is going to be of any use to him this has always been the advice of Gandhijiji. Compare this with what often happens in the business world. The grievances of individuals whether they are of employees or customers are called into question and denied redress by citing the company policy or by contending that the companys image would be adversely change in the long run. Non cooperationThe doctrine of non-cooperation was the genius of Mahatma Gandhiji. He believed that even the most oppressive government derived its authority from the consent, implicit though, of the oppressed. If only the people showed resistance and move their backs on the government, it would collapse and be pauperised, soon er or later. For the chief executive of a company, non-cooperation is a stark reminder of the imperative to win the loyalty and gracility of his employees. A business enterprise cannot be run by coercion and compulsion. Voluntary cooperation by the employees can be secured only by providing adequate opportunities for their self-development and self-management. Transperancy justness and transparency are the hallmark of Gandhijian philosophy. This holds skinny eminently for the business world too. For a management to be effective and enduring, it has to be an open book, subjecting itself to public scrutiny. morals and honesty, by which Gandhijiji set store.Time long-term outlookGandhi believed that economic growth should proceed in harmony with nature and between people, even if that growth was lazy and more gradual than growth brought on by heavy industry and high technology. (Prabhu, 2001) Gandhi was always more concerned with the means then about the ends. (Alexander, 1984) m ake a learning organization takes time and effort. The leader responsible with incorporating change within an organization must have a complete view of the big picture. Promoting any type of change can be difficult, but the leader must always keep site of the final destination.Building trust in an organization takes time. Team members must trust the leader and believe what s/he says in order for them to willingly follow. Gandhi believed that the rule of community behavior must be found with long practice. This was the best for all involved. (Alexander, 1984) Gandhi rated character building higher than book learning. He had no use for an educational system that was geared to moneymaking. (Nanda, 1985) Within an organization, open communication and honesty is highly valued. A leader with a strong character has integrity and integrity is important within an organization. Gandhi felt it was important to understand that theperception of truth undergoes an ongoing process of refinement, which is evolutionary in nature. (Murphy, 1991) He felt that the process of learning was evolving. Learning within an organization evolves with time. The learning curve may be slow at first, but as more people learn they become confident in their abilities and are content with their work.Gandhijiji the leaderGandhijiji was one of the best leaders that India ever had. Now, what is it that made Gandhijiji so great and successful? What made his leadership successful was a steadfast purport and his listening to his inner calling. Both, purpose and calling were built on values like truth, justice, love, non-violence, and charity. He neither benefited of personality development- nor communication-, organization-, management- or leadership-trainings nor good looks. What made him strong was his inner voice, his beliefs and convictions, which were giving him guidance and credibility, because he lived what he preached one man can make a difference strength comes not from physical cogency bu t from an indomitable will leadership by example is the most effective. He believed in the following few concepts when it came to leadership or life in general Gandhiji was known for the trust he was granting everyone. He saw the good in people and believed in them. What he developed were feel for relationships which aside trust were built on mutual respect and non-violence. While managing relationships Gandhiji showed an immense integrity towards himself and towards others, who were sometimes harshly opposing stakeholders. Like this he remained transparent, credible, and trust valuey. Hence, he could openly, freely follow his path and his purpose. And he was a master in changing small things with an enormous effect for the big picture. This is how he reached his vision with short term targets and a great patience.Many of his sayings are praised by Westerners, because they are so close to Western leadership teachings about solution-oriented managing which allows mistakes F reedom is not worth having if it does not include the freedom to make mistakes or what Americans use to say by Walk the talk seems to be included in Gandhijis gaiety is when what you think, what you say and what you do are in harmony. Gandhijis values, beliefs and convictions are a clue to aleaders attitude shaped by divvy up and by deep motivation. They are also a powerful means for conflict management, a basically daily reality of every manager or leader around the world. Leaders in todays volatile environment must also possess these characteristics for which Gandhiji believed in. A leader today must be honest, forward-looking, inspiring, and competent.Kouzes and Posner (1996) state that the first law of leadership is, If you dont believe in the messenger, you wont believe the message. A leader must be truthful and honest in order for people to follow. As many have said, a leader must walk the talk. precisely without followers there would be no leaders, therefore the first mil estone toward earning leadership credibility is clarity in personal values. Hierarchal organizational structures manoeuvre from the top down. The workers at the bottom are dominated and told what to do and when to do it. Gandhiji felt that the people should control their own destiny in small-scale groups. He believed that independence must begin at the bottom, that self-rule could not be imposed on people from above. He believed that self-rule or self-government must first be nurtured, through education and example. This education must start at the local or village level and then be support to spread out into larger communities.Leaders in todays organizations must have strong values and a belief in the capacity of individuals to grow. In other words, they empower others within the organization. They envision a society in which they wish to see their organizations and themselves live. They are visionaries and believe strongly in their ability in shaping the future and they do not h esitate to act on these beliefs through their own personal behavior and actions. They energize the organization as a whole. When compared to Gandhijis leadership principles, you can see that Gandhiji had a rock-solid value system and he wanted to make major changes in society. He had a totally interdependent relationship with his followers, as he was often seen walking with commoners as well as having high tea with dignitaries. He leadership way incorporated the four Es Envision, Enable, Empower, and Energize. Gandhiji believed that one must not offend or harbor any uncharitable thoughts toward anything or anyone even when one considers themselves your enemy. This principle is not unlike the value system that leaders of today should have. A leader in todays organization must be honest and patient when dealing with customers and fellow workers.Generally people will not willingly follow a dishonest person especially through a crisis period, which is not all that uncommon throughout a project lifecycle. A leader should also respect other people, and value different ideas and opinions. Because organizations are becoming increasingly diverse and expanding across cultural boundaries, a leader should be aware of and respect these differences.Satyagraha begins with reasoning with ones opponent or adversary in an attempt to arrive at a just solution. Neither a person has a monopoly on the truth nor is either side wholly correct. The purpose is to work out a rational compromise that is agreeable to both sides. A leader must have the ability to communicate and diffuse pestering situations. Conflicts naturally occur between individuals who are passionate about something. Often a leader must stand the neutral ground and help facility a win-win situation when dealing with conflicts.

Early Childhood Intervention Services on Social Performance Essay

Based on more an early(a)(prenominal) an(prenominal) inquiryes, surveys, and studies conducted recently, the archaean intensive hinderance method showed a signifi senst case for nestlingren having autism. The behavioral approach as interference on preschoolers with the said disorder showed an affirmative short- and long-term effect (Anderson, Avery, DiPietro, Edwards, & Christian, 1987 Fenske, Zalenski, Krantz, & McClannahan, 1985 McEachin, Smith, & OI, 1993).It was said that results showed a partial to nearly complete recovery from symptoms of autism where the closely wannabee and positive result suggests a nearly 50% recovery through intensive early intervention (Handleman, Harris, Celiberti, Lilleheht, & Tomchek, 1991 Hoyson, 1984 Lord & Schopler, 1989 Lovaas, 1987 Sheinkopf & Siegel, 1998). The reported improvement was based on the outcomes from standardized pre-post test haemorrhoid and at times, was based on behavioral outcomes (Handleman, Harris, Celiberti, Lill eheht, & Tomchek, 1991 Hoyson, 1984 Lord & Schopler, 1989 Lovaas, 1987 Sheinkopf & Siegel, 1998).Also, in contrast to the previous approximations that implied only 50% of all kidskinren subscribe a chance to date to use functional speech, more recent approximations as based from participating churlren under early intervention showed at least 85% to 90% of these children can utilize the functional speech if intervention begins in the preschool stage (Koegel, 2000).The intricacy in terms of mutual neighborly interactions involved in autism disorders paved way to the need of early identification of this disorder to children because of the significant advantages that resulted if early intervention is performed. It is also this same complex record on the brotherly feature of autism that led to formulation of early intervention programs. hardly to date, in that respect ar few intervention programs that focus on the enhancement of social interactions to peer groups and siblin gs since close programs formulated were on child-adult interactions (Koegel, Koegel, & Frea, 2001).There is also the inadequate outcome of these programs on the childs true functioning in his or her natural environment such as social and behavioral improvements because most outcomes be based on the alterations of the childs IQ scores and post-intervention assignments (Koegel, Koegel, & Smith, 1997). It was also noted that few assessment studies were conducted on the consequences or results of early intervention programs on sick children less than three years of age since the companionship of possibility for practitioners to diagnose autism prior to age three was only recent.CHAPTER 1 The Historical Viewpoint behind Early childhood Intervention Programs The concept that whiz development can be manipulated during the early childhood period necessitates the need for early manipulation or intervention of autism since this imposes a greater chance of achiever and the possibility of a long-term treatment being prevented and reduced (Ornitz, 1973). The trains in parley, social learning, and self-help skills from the family, school, community, peers, and group can further help autistic children on their social and emotional development.In an early intervention program, the factors being evaluated that become indicator if improvement occurred be age and IQ. There argon studies display that the incidence of a higher IQ and an earlier age at the cast down of intervention is a positive soothsayer of better chances of recovery and better outcomes (Gabriel, Hill, Pierce, Rogers, & Wehner, 2001 Handleman, Harris, Celiberti, Lilleheht, & Tomchek, 1991).Recently, the recognized predictor of intervention outcome in the nomenclature and peer cyclorama is the stage of the child with autism on peer social avoidance after under intervention program for six months (Ingersoll, Schreibman, & Stahmer, 2001). Peer social avoidance is depict as the frequency of the chil ds avoidance near peers. Some studies showed a remarkable connection of the childs use of joint attention behaviors and later on communicative language improvement (Mundy, Sigman, & Kasari, 1990).These joint attention behaviors include eye esteem alternation and pointing. There is also a study demonstrating that child initiations anticipate very high favorable treatment outcomes (Koegel, Koegel, Shoshan, & McNerney, 1999). Child initiations are defined as the start of a new interaction or changing where the interaction is headed for. These three characteristics namely peer avoidance, joint attention, and initiations are described in nature as exceedingly analogous.They are also called as intervention target behaviors. Before early intervention or treatment services are done, a kosher and thorough evaluation of the child with autism should be conducted to identify the appropriate approach to conduct (Shackelford, 2002). First, this assessment should be performed by a trained staf f to browse on a suitable methods and procedures to be followed. Secondly, it should be based on informed clinical opinion from skilled medical professional for the said specialization.And lastly, there should be a re give away of the relevant records that would be applicable in evaluating the childs current health and medical history and childs level of functioning on the critical development areas such as cognitive, physical (including vision and hearing, communication, social or emotional, and adaptive aspects (Shackelford, 2002). As defined, the term early intervention generally refers to program options for the child with autism at six years of age and below (Early Intervention, 2007).There are many described and formulated several(predicate) early intervention options limitedally center-based programs for children with an array of develop affable delays, conventional and expert preschool programs, center-based programs specializing in Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD), home-b ased programs on a certain therapy approach, specific therapies from particular clinics, agencies that organize the early intervention personnel to visit the childs home on a regular or semi-regular basis or outreach service, and programs that are investigated and organized with parents (Early Intervention, 2007).There are many diametric types of services offered under the early intervention program. These are family set up services, funded specialist programs, non-funded specialist programs, specific therapies, alternative therapies, and behavioral assistance services. Many family support services are available (Early Intervention, 2007). display case is the Early Childhood Intervention Services from the Department of Human Services that funds support programs want Early Choices and Making a Difference for a successful writ of execution of these programs.The local councils can also render this support service as they are funded too to provide such (Early Intervention, 2007). The support and cultivation service under family support services can help families through immediate guidance, sensible and emotional support, and provision of necessary development regarding autism through library, randomness packages and tip sheets, and published magazines (Early Intervention, 2007). The funded specialist programs are funded under the Department of Human Services purposely for children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) (Early Intervention, 2007).These are center-based programs and outreach programs (Early Intervention, 2007). But still, funding is greatly limited and these funded programs are only available to offer services just a not so many hours per week. Outreach programs are where trained personnel visit the patient in his or her home, or are community based services such as child care or preschool for autistic children. The non-funded specialist programs are programs that do not receive funding from the federal government (Early Intervention, 2007). E xample of this is the Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA).The ABA is a home-based therapy that is structured in pattern to the work of Dr. Ivar Lovaas (Early Intervention, 2007). The format of this program is one-to-one instruction, and support and strengthening. But an ABA trained teacher or psychologist is the only one certified to develop and supervise the program. On the other hand, only the parent and/or trained ABA therapists can carry out the teaching conferences. It is known that ABA program outcomes are positive but still, as usual, the outcomes vary from child to child.The only possible disadvantages being seen are on the financial and time viewpoints, that is, it is expensive and not all families can afford it (Early Intervention, 2007). Another type of service for early intervention is the conduction of specific therapies. These trained therapists are those already skilled in executing therapies in relation to autism (Early Intervention, 2007). These are the psychologists, s peech therapists, occupational therapists, early intervention teachers, physiotherapists, music therapists, and dance and movement therapists.Most of these therapists are in private practice and have explicit professional fees. Some families are able to secure funding from support programs while others have to pay it on their own. In year 2006, the federal government tried to include mental health conditions in Medicare insurances to help families to lessen expenditures if therapy is the proper approach to the autism condition of the child (Early Intervention, 2007). The identified alternative therapies are those treatments or approaches that showed eternal positive outcomes (Early Intervention, 2007).These are usually the learningally and/or behaviorally based programs (Early Intervention, 2007). These programs are intensive, planned, ordered, and long-standing. There is no instant approach. The behavioral assistance programs are more lots than not where parents ask for help (Ea rly Intervention, 2007). In view thereof, Gateways Support Services developed an synergistic website with a large data bank as guidance for these parents (Early Intervention, 2007). Researchers and educators have debated the question of how communication goals and objectives for children with autism and related disabilities should be derived.The aspect espoused by traditional behavioral programs has been to establish goals and objectives a priori (Lovaas, 1987). Behavioral discrete- running programs begin with general compliance training to get a child to sit in a chair, look at the clinician, and imitate nonverbal behavior in reply to verbal commands. Speech is taught as a verbal behavior, and objectives are targeted beginning with verbal imitation, following one-step commands, receptive discrimination of body parts, objects, person names and pictures, and expressive labeling in response to questions.Later, language objectives include prepositions, pronouns, same or different an d yes or no. More contemporary behavioral approaches have developed goals for outcomes from a functional assessment. Goals and objectives are individualized, based on a childs repertoire of communicative behaviors, teaching functional equivalents of challenging behavior, and addressing the childs individual needs. The functional emphasis focuses on goals that affect a childs access to choices of activities in which to participate, opportunities for social interaction, and community settings (Brown, 2006).Contemporary behavioral programs emphasize teaching communication skills so that greater access is provided to a variety of people, places and events, thereby enhancing the quality of life of children with autistic spectrum disorders. The perspective espoused by developmentally oriented approaches has been to focus on the communicative meaning of behaviors and to target goals and objectives that enhance a childs communicative competence by moving the child along a developmental prog ression (Ornitz, 1973).Contemporary developmentalists begin with social-communicative goals, including gaze to regulate interaction, share positive affect, communicative functions, and gestural communication. Language goals are mapped onto social communication skills and are guided by a developmental framework (Koegel, Koegel, & Frea, 2001). Developmental perspective usually guides the goal-setting in an augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) intervention.Beukelman and Mirenda (1998) state that the goals of an AAC intervention are to assist individuals with severe communication disorders to become communicatively competent in the present, with the view toward meeting their future communication needs (Lovaas, 1987). One major purpose of communication assessment is to document change as an outcome measure of treatment. However, most formal or standardized language assessment measures focus primarily on language form and rely on elicited responses.Because language impairment s associated with autism are most apparent in social-communicative or pragmatic aspects of language, formal assessment instruments can provide information about only a limited frame of aspects of communication for children with autism (Shackelford, 2002). Formal language measures are especially imprecise in measuring nonverbal aspects of communication and therefore are not sufficient, particularly for low-functioning children with autism. In many situations, the tests used for pre- and post-assessment are different, due to the childs increasing age, making interpretation of results difficult.Another major purpose of assessment is to provide information for educational planning that can be directly translated into goals, strategies, and outcome measures for communication enhancement. Several communication abilities have been identified as important to assess for children with autism like use of eye gaze and facial expression for social referencing and to regulate interaction, range of communicative functions expressed, rate of communicating, use of gestures and vocal/verbalizations, use of repair strategies, sense of conventional meanings, and ability to engage in conversation (Shackelford, 2002).It is pointed out that communicative abilities of children with autism should be documented in natural communicative exchanges, with a childs symbolic abilities serving as a developmental frame of reference (Mundy, Sigman, & Kasari, 1990). To supplement formal measures, the systematic use of informal procedures to assess language and communication is needed. In order to gather an accurate picture of the communication and symbolic abilities of children with autism, a combination of assessment strategies has been recommended that includes interviewing significant others (i. e., parents, teachers) and observing in everyday situations to find out how a child communicates in the home, classroom, and other daily settings (Mundy, Sigman, & Kasari, 1990). Although there is c onsensus on the importance of enhancing communication abilities for children with autism, intervention approaches vary greatly, and some even go forth to be diametrically opposed (Koegel, 2000). The methodological rigor in communication intervention studies in terms of internal and external validity and measures of generalization has been stronger than in many other areas of autism intervention studies.Nevertheless, there have been relatively few prospective studies with controls for maturation, expectancy, or experimenter artifacts. The strongest studies in terms of internal validity have been dual baseline, ABAB, or similar designs that have included controls for blindness of evaluations (Koegel, 2000). There have been almost no studies with random assignment, although about 70 percent of the studies included well-defined cohorts of adequate sample size or replication across three or more subjects in single subject designs.A substantial parity of communication interventions ha ve also included some assessment of generalization, though most often not in a natural setting (Koegel, 2000). In order to examine the critical elements of treatment programs that affect the speech, language, and communication skills of children with autism. It is then useful to characterize the active ingredients of treatment approaches along a continuumfrom traditional, discrete trial approaches to more contemporary behavioral approaches that used naturalistic language teaching techniques to developmentally oriented approaches (Koegel, 2000).The earliest research efforts at teaching speech and language to children with autism used massed discrete trial methods to teach verbal behavior by building labeling vocabulary and simple sentences. Lovaas (1987) provided the most detailed account of the procedures for language training apply discrete trial approaches. Outcomes of discrete trial approaches have included improvements in IQ scores, which are correlated with language skills, an d improvements in communication domains of givinger measures, such as the Vineland Adaptive Behavior Scales (McEachin, Smith, & OI, 1993).A limitation of a discrete trial approach in language acquisition is the lack of spontaneity and generalization. Lovaas (1987) declared that the training regimeits use of unnatural reinforcers, and the like may have been responsible for producing the very situation-specific, restricted verbal output which we observed in many of our children. In a review of research on discrete trial approaches, Koegel (2000) noted that not only did language fail to be exhibited or popularise to other environments, but most behaviors taught in this highly controlled environment also failed to generalize.There is now a large body of empirical support for more contemporary behavioral approaches using naturalistic teaching methods that demonstrate efficacy for teaching not only speech and language, but also communication. jibe to Koegel 2000, there are many approac hes that could be considered that include natural language paradigms (Koegel et al. , 1987), incidental teaching (Hart, 1985 McGee et al. , 1985 McGee et al. , 1999), time delay and milieu intervention (Charlop et al., 1985 Charlop and Trasowech, 1991 Hwang and Hughes, 2000 Kaiser, 1993 Kaiser et al. , 1992), and pivotal response training (Koegel, 1995 Koegel et al. , 1998). These approaches use systematic teaching trials that have several common active ingredients they are initiated by the child and focus on the childs interest they are interspersed and embedded in the natural environment and they use natural reinforcers that follow what the child is trying to communicate.Only a few studies, all using single-subject designs, have compared traditional discrete trial with naturalistic behavioral approaches. These studies have reported that naturalistic approaches are more effective at star(p) to generalization of language gains to natural contexts (Koegel 2000). There are numerous i ntervention approaches based on a developmental framework. While there are many different developmental programs, a common feature of developmental approaches is that they are child-directed.The environment is arranged to provide opportunities for communication, the child initiates the interaction or teaching episode, and the teacher or communicative partner follows the childs lead by being responsive to the childs communicative intentions, and imitating or expanding the childs behavior. Although the empirical support for developmental approaches is more limited than for behavioral approaches, there are several treatment studies that provide empirical support for language outcomes using specific strategies built on a developmental approach providing the largest case review.Developmental approaches share many common active ingredients with contemporary naturalistic behavioral approaches and are compatible along most dimensions. Many researches had been done on the say-so of early in tervention because a proper selection of goal when dealing the autistic spectrum disorder should be done since the disorder is characterized of many complexities that treating it also involves critical selection of approach. In general, it was shown that researches on these intervention programs had focused on the effectiveness of the programs and not the appropriateness of different goals.For example is knowing a certain intervention program to be effective but the parent and child had to actuate across town once a week for the said program or the child is taken out from class in order to be treated by his therapist. Educational objectives must(prenominal) be based on specific behaviors targeted for planned interventions. However, one of the questions that arises repeatedly, both on a theoretical and on a clinical basis, is how specific a link has to be betwixt a long-term goal and a behavior targeted for intervention.Some targeted behaviors, such as toilet training or acquisit ion of functional spoken language, provide immediately discernible practical benefits for a child and his or her family. However, in many other cases, both in regular education and specialized early intervention, the links between the objectives used to structure what a child is taught and the childs eventual independent, socially responsible functioning are much less obvious. This is particularly the case for preschool children, for whom play and manipulation of toys (e. g. , matching, stacking of blocks) are primary methods of learning and relating to other children.Often, behaviors targeted in education or therapy are not of immediate practical value but are addressed because of presumed links to overall educational goals. The structuring of activities in which a child can succeed and feel successful is an inherent part of special education. Sometimes the behavior is one component of a series of actions that comprise an important achievement. Breaking down a series of actions in to components can facilitate learning. Thus, a preschool child may be taught to hold a set of paper down with one hand while scribbling with another.This action is a first step in a series of tasks designed to help the child draw and eventually write. Other behaviors, or often classes of behaviors, have been described as pivotal behaviors in the sense that their acquisition allows a child to learn many other skills more efficiently (Koegel, Koegel, Shoshan, & McNerney, 1999). Schreibman and the Koegels and their colleagues have proposed a specific treatment program for children with autism pivotal response treatment. It includes teaching children to respond to natural reinforcers and manifold cues, as well as other pivotal responses.These are key skills that allow better access to social information. The idea of pivotal skills to be targeted as goals may also hold for a broad range of behaviors such as imitation (Stone, 1997 Rogers and Pennington, 1991), maintaining proximity to p eers (Hanson and Odom, 1999), and learning to delay gratification (understanding first do this, then you get to do that). Longitudinal research has found that early joint attention, symbolic play, and receptive language are predictors of long-term outcome (Siller and Sigman, 2002).Although the research to date has been primarily correlational, one inference has been that if interventions succeed in modifying these key behaviors, more general improvements will occur as well (Kasari, 2000). Another exposition is that these behaviors are early indicators of the childs potential developmental trajectory. Sometimes goals for treatment and education involve attempting to limit and treat the effects of one aspect of autism, with the assumption that such a treatment will allow a child to function more competently in a range of activities.For example, a number of different treatment programs emphasize treating the sensory abnormalities of autism, with the implication that this will facilita te a childs acquisition of communication or social skills (e. g. , auditory integration sensory integration). For many interventions, supporting these links through research has been difficult. There is little secern to support identifiable links between general treatment of a class of behaviors (e. g. , sensory dysfunction) and improvements in another class of behaviors (e. g., social skills), especially when the treatment is carried out in a different context from that in which the targeted behaviors are expected to appear. However, there are somewhat different examples in other areas of education and medicine in which interventions have broad effects on behavior. One example is the effect of vigorous good example on general behavior in autism (Koegel, Koegel, Shoshan, & McNerney, 1999). In addition, both desensitization and targeted exercise in sports medicine and physical therapy often involve working from interventions carried out in one context to generalization to more natu ral circumstances.Yet, in both of these cases, the shift from therapeutic to real-life contexts is planned explicitly to occur within a relatively brief period of time. At this time, there is no scientific evidence of this kind of link between specifically-targeted therapies and general improvements in autism outside the targeted areas. Until information about such links becomes available, this lack of findings is relevant to goals, because it suggests that educational objectives should be fasten to specific, real-life contexts and behaviors with immediate meaning to the child.Because the range of outcomes for children with autistic spectrum disorders is so broad, the possibility of relatively normal functioning in later childhood and adulthood offers hope to many parents of young children. Although recent literature has conveyed more modest claims, the possibility of permanent recovery from autism, in the sense of eventual attainment of language, social and cognitive skills at, or close to, age level, has been raised in association with a number of educational and treatment programs (Ingersoll, Schreibman, & Stahmer, 2001).Natural history studies have revealed that there are a small number of children who have symptoms of autism in early preschool years who do not have these symptoms in any obvious form in later years. Whether these improvements reflect developmental trajectories of very mildly affected children or changes in these trajectories (or more fast movement along a trajectory) in response to treatment (Lovaas, 1987) is not known. However, as with other developmental disabilities, the core deficits in autism have generally been found to persist in some degree in most persons with autistic spectrum diagnoses.There is no research base explaining how recovery might come about or which behaviors might mediate general change in diagnosis or cognitive level (Ingersoll, Schreibman, & Stahmer, 2001). Although there is evidence that interventions lead to im provements and that some children shift specific diagnoses within the spectrum and change in severity of cognitive delay in the preschool years, there is not a simple, direct relationship between any particular current intervention and recovery from autism.Because there is constantly room for hope, recovery will often be a goal for many children, but in terms of planning services and programs, educational objectives must describe specific behaviors to be acquired or changed. Research on outcomes (or whether goals of independence and responsibility have been attained) can be characterized by whether the goal of an intervention is mostly defined (e. g. , best outcome) or more narrowly defined (e. g. , increasing vocabulary, increasing peer-directed social behavior) whether the study design involves reporting results in terms of individual or group changes and whether goals are short term (i.e. , to be achieved in a few weeks or months) or long term (i. e. , often several years). A la rge body of single-subject research has demonstrated that many children make substantial progress in response to specific intervention techniques in relatively short time periods (e. g. , several months). These gains occur in many specific areas, including social skills, language acquisition, nonverbal communication, and reductions of challenging behaviors. Often the most rapid gains involve increasing the frequency of a behavior already in the childs repertoire, but not used as broadly as possible (e. g., increasing use of words) (Mundy, Sigman, & Kasari, 1990). In single-subject reports, changes in some form are almost always documented within weeks, if not days, after the intervention has begun. Studies over longer periods of time have documented that joint attention, early language skills, and imitation are core deficits that are the hallmarks of the disorder, and are predictive of longer-term outcome in language, adaptive behaviors, and academic skills. However, a causal relati onship between improvements in these behaviors as a result of treatment and outcomes in other areas has not yet been demonstrated.Many treatment studies report post intervention placement as an outcome measure (Mundy, Sigman, & Kasari, 1990). Successful participation in regular education classrooms is an important goal for some children with autism. However, its usefulness as an outcome measure is limited because placement may be related to many variables other than the characteristics of a child (such as prevailing trends in inclusion, availability of other services, and parents preferences).The most commonly reported outcome measure in group treatment studies of children with autism has been IQ scores (Lord & Schopler, 1989). Studies have reported substantial changes in IQ scores in a surprisingly large number of children in intervention studies and in longitudinal studies in which children received nonspecific interventions. However, even in the treatment studies that have shown the largest gains, childrens outcomes have been variable, with some children making great progress and others showing very small gains.Overall, while much evidence exists that education and treatment can help children attain short-term goals in targeted areas, gaps remain in addressing larger questions of the relationship between particular techniques and both general and specific changes (Lord & Schopler, 1989). The child with autism is also protected in the federal state law. These are the Public rightfulness 108-77 also called Individuals with Disabilities Education Improvement Act of 2004 and Public Law 105-17 also called Individuals with Disabilities Act or IDEA of 1997.This mandates the major care provider to refer the child with autism and the family to an early intervention service. It was stated that every state has an early intervention program and must make it available to children from birth to three years of age, thus, autistic children are covered under this law. Exa mples of these program are behavioral methods, early developmental education, communication skills, occupational and physical therapy, and structured social play.

Are Steroids Worth the Risk

Are Steroids Worth the Risk? One of the most controversial issues with in all t overage athletes ar steroids. How harmful be they? Is it expense the essay to get a competitive edge on the game? Should it be banned from sports? Steroids atomic number 18 non the answer not just now are there physical bad side effects, there are also psychological effects short and great term. The history of steroids dates back to the 1930s, the were victorious from male testosterone originally. They were used to treat HIV-AIDS and cancer.They also helped stimulate bone growth and appetite, in order to help those who had trouble with exercising weight gain. An example of this was a man named Barry Tyson who was suffering from HIV and took steroids in order to help build much mass in order to fight sour infections from the disease. He noted that, within the first dosage he had taking at night he woke up the next day feeling handle a new man and had abundant sources of energy. Some were alo ng theses lines of using it for good medical use and healing it was lost for the benefit of athletes.The effects of steroids are tremendous in both genders. Yes even girls have been caught on steroids to help give them an advantage in sports. The risk that effect boys in the long strain are Testicular shrinkage, blood clotting, breast development, impotence (inability to get an erection), sterility, jaundice (liver damage), shortening of height, heart disease, cancer, and even tumors. Now why would approximatelyone want to risk all those long term effects just to get a small-minded stronger. Some would say, well Im just going to use it for a little and then I will get off of it. Well steroids is just like any other drug, it is addicting. People try to get off, but in one case off they realize they cannot get gains as quickly as Palcsik 2 they were before and go back on the steroids thinking just one more time will be fine. After time has passed they never get off and become addi cted just like any other drug. until now if you are still skeptic here are some short term effects on boys from steroids Premature balding or hair loss, dizziness, trembling, seizures, chafe when urinating, and even aching joints.Not only are boys effected, but some girls try to get a competitive edge over the fellow athletes. Steroids are not meant to be taken by woman, because a womans genetics are not meant for male testosterone. Some of the effects on girls are increased facial nerve hair, development of masculine traits such as deepening of the voice, loss of feminine characteristics, shrinking of breast, and even extreme increased sex drive. These risks are not worth having just so they can become better or close to their competition.Most womans effects of steroids are irreversible and once one cannot be changed. another(prenominal) trend found in woman is that when they take steroids they tend to drink more often than usual. This leads to even more liver problems and possi ble shut shine of this organ may be a long term effect. Not only are there physical effects, but there are some psychological effects also. One of the most major factors is roid rage. Roid rage is a result of steroids that cause drastic moods swings and aggression.No just little mood swings, they are extreme uncontrolled bouts of anger caused by steroid use. The longer use of the steroids the more so called rages are experienced and to a greater extent. Back a few years ago there was an entertainment wrestler that used steroids excessively. As the years went on he never noticed any rages or irritability. Suddenly one day he snapped in a violent rage killing his wife and strangling his little seven year old son. Other psychological effects are depression, becoming delusional, paranoia, and even problems sleeping.So not only are there all these mental aspects of steroids that can destruct you, but also physical effects too. Many people believe that taking steroids to get the compet itive edge is worth it. Look at all these negative effects. The short term results are not worth the extreme damaged caused to athletes body. People also say well steroids shouldnt be illegal in sports, if you choose to take the risk then it is Palcsik 3 that persons responsibility. The answer is no steroids are not okay in sports or at all in daily life.It was initially banned not because it was considered cheating in sports, but because of the unhealthy effects of steroids and the addictions caused by it. Also it is cheating it is not a persons inborn ability, it is fake and additives to the body that are naturally there. People might say well people use it when they are sick so it cant be that bad. Steroids should only be used in medicine to help patients that need it because it is controlled by doctors so u cant exceed the amount you are supposed to have. It is a controlled prescription that the doctors understand.Steroids are not the answer for athletes. If you have the raw na tural talent then you have what it takes to be a superb athlete, if not then keep trying till it is no longer possible. If it is not meant to be then it isnt meant to be, there is no point in sacrificing your body just for a few years of possible fame or glamor. Also its not even guaranteed that a person will succeed in the what the reason is that they are taking steroids. The question is are you willing to go throw pain and suffering for the rest of your life just for a advantage over the competition for a temporary time?

The Stupidest Angel Chapter 11

Chapter 11A SLUG TRAIL OF GOOD CHEERHe might constitute been made of polished mahogany except that when he moved, he moved like liquid. The stage lights reflected green and red bump glum his bald head as he swayed on the s in additionl and teased the strings of a blond Strato revolveer with the severed neck of a beer bottle. His name was Catfish Jefferson, and he was s purgety, or eighty, or i hundred years old, and non unlike Roberto the fruit bat, he wore sunglasses indoors. Catfish was a bluesman, and on the night before the night before Christmas, he was singing up a forlorn twelve-bar blues fog in the Head of the Slug saloon.Caught my baby boning Santa,Underneath the mistletoe (Lawd have mercy).Caught my baby boning Santa,Underneath the mistletoe.Used to be my Christmas angel, this instant she just a Christmas ho.I hear dat sh bring outed Gabe Fenton. Sho-nufF, sho-nuff. True dat, my brutha.Theophilus Crowe looked at his friend, just one in a whole line of awkward, nubb lebroken men at the bar, rocking almost in rhythm to the beat, and shook his head. Could you possibly be any whiter? Theo asked.I gots the blues up in me, Gabe verbalize. She sho-nuff did me wrong.Gabe had been drinking. Theo, while not quite sober, had not.(He had shared a toothpick-thin spliff of Big Sur polio weed with Catfish Jefferson between sets, the two of them standing in the back set lot of the Slug, trying to coax fire out of a disposable lighter in a forty-knot wind.)Didnt think you mutha spangas had weather here, Catfish croaked, having sucked the joint so far d declare that the ember looked like the burning eye of a demon staring out of a cave of dark finger and lip. (The calluses on the tips of his fingers were impervious to the heat.)El Nio, Theo state, letting loose a blast of smoke.Say what?Its a warm ocean current in the Pacific. Comes up the bound every ten years or so. Screws up the fishing, brings torrential rains, storms. They think we might be having an El Nio this year.When will they know? The bluesman had depute on his leather fedora and was holding it fast against the wind.Usually afterwards everything photofloods, the wine crop is ruined, and a lot of cliffside houses slide into the ocean.And dat because the water too warm?Right.No wonder the whole country hate your ass, tell Catfish. Lets go inside fo my narrow ass gets blowed back to Clarksville.Its not that bad, said Theo. I think itll blow over.Winter denial Theo did it, most calciumns did it they assumed that because the weather was nice most of the time, it would be nice all of the time, and so, in the midst of a rainstorm, youd find people outdoors without an umbrella, or when nights dipped into the thirties, youd still see someone dip-pumping his gas in surfer shorts and a tank top. So even as the National Weather Service was telling the Central Coast to batten down the hatches, as they were about to get the storm of the decade, and even though winds were gustin g to fifty knots a full day before the storm made land line, the people of Pine Cove carried on with their holiday routine like slide fastener out of the ordinary could happen to them.Winter denial therein lay the key to California Schadenfreude the secret joy that the rest of the country feels at the possibility of California. The country said Look at them, with their fitness and their tans, their beaches and their movie stars, their Silicon Valley and silicone breasts, their orange bridge and their palm trees. God, I hate those smug, sunshiny bastards Because if youre up to your navel in a snowdrift in Ohio, nada warms your heart like the sight of California on fire. If youre shoveling silt out of your basement in the Fargo flood zone, nothing brightens your day like watching a Malibu mansion tumbling down a cliff into the sea. And if a tornado just peppered the land round your Oklahoma town with random trailer trash and redneck nuggets, and so you can find a quantum of so lace in the fact that the earth truly opened up in the San Fernando Valley and swallowed a whole caravan of commuting SUVs. song thrush Sand even indulged in a circumstantial California Schadenfreude, and she was a Californian born and raised. Secretly, she wished for and enjoyed the forest fires every year. Not so much because she liked watching the state burn down, besides because for song thrushs money, there was nothing better than watching a burly man in rubber handling a hefty hose, and during the fires, there were plenty of those on the news.Fruitcake? Mavis said, offering a suspicious slice on a dessert plate to Gabe Fenton, who was drunkenly trying to convince Theo Crowe that he had a genetic predisposition toward the blues, using some impressively large words that no one but he down the stairsstood, and periodically asking if he could get an amen and louver up high, which, as it turned out, he could not.What he could get was fruitcake.Mercy, mercy, my momma done ma de a fruitcake look just like that, Gabe howled. Lawd rest her soul.Gabe reached for the plate, but Theo intercepted it and held it out of the biologists reach.First, Theo said, your mother was an anthro professor and never baked a thing in her life, and second, she is not dead, and third, you are an atheist.Can I get an amen? Gabe countered.Theo raised an supercilium of accusation toward Mavis.I idea we talked about no fruitcake this year.The prior Christmas, Maviss fruitcake had put two people into detox. Shed sworn that it would be the last year.Mavis shrugged. This cakes nearly a virgin. Theres only a quart of rum and barely a handful of Vicodin.Lets not, Theo said, handing the plate back.Fine, Mavis said. save get your buddy off his blues jag. Hes embarrassing me. And I once blew a burro in a nightclub and wasnt embarrassed, so thats saying something.Jeez, Mavis, Theo said, trying to shake the picture from his oral sex.What? I didnt have my glasses on. I thought he was a hi rsute insurance salesman with talent.Id better get him home, Theo said, nudging Gabe, who had turned his attention to a young fair sex on his right who was wearing a low-cut red jumper and had been moving from stool to stool all night long, waiting for someone to talk to her.Hi, Gabe said to the womans cleavage. Im not involved in the homosexual experience and I have no redeeming qualities as a man.Me either, said Tucker Case, from the stool on the other side of the red-sweater woman. Do people keep telling you that youre a psychopath, too? I hate that.Tucker Case, under several layers of glibness and guile, was genuinely quite broken up over his breakup with Lena Marquez. It wasnt so much that she had become a part of his life in the two days he had known her, but that she had begun to represent hope. And as the Buddha said Hope is merely another face of desire. And desire is a motherfucker. Hed gone out seeking human company to ease dilute the disappointment. In another time, hed have picked up the first woman he encountered, but his man-slut days had left him lonelier than ever, and he would not tread that lubricious path again.So, Tuck said to Gabe, did you just get dumped?She led me on, Gabe said. She tore my guts out. Evil, thy name is womanDont talk to him, Theo said, taking Gabe by the shoulder and unsuccessfully trying to pull him off his bar stool. This guys no good.The young woman sitting between Tuck and Gabe looked from one to the other, then to Theo, then at her breasts, then at the men, as if to say, Are you guys blind? Ive been sitting here all night, with these, and youre going to ignore me.Tucker Case was ignoring her well, except for inspecting her sweater cakes as he talked to Gabe and Theo. Look, Constable, mayhap we got off on the wrong foot Wrong foot? Theos voice almost broke. As upset as he appeared, he appeared to be talking to the woman in the red sweaters breasts, rather than to Tucker Case, who was only a foot beyond them . You threatened me.He did? said Gabe, angling for a better look down the red sweater. Thats harsh, buddy. Theo just got thrown out of the house.Can you believe guys our age can still fall so hard? Tuck said to Theo, looking up from the cleavage to convey his sincerity. He entangle bad about blackmailing Theo, but, much like lot Lena hide the body, sometimes certain unpleasantries needed to be done, and being a pilot and a man of action, he did them.What are you talking about? Theo asked.Well, Lena and I have parted ways, Constable. Shortly after you and I spoke this morning.Really? Now Theo looked up from the woolly mounds of intrigue.Really, Tuck said. And Im sorry things happened the way they did.That doesnt really alteration anything, does it?Would it piss a difference if I told you that I absolutely did not harm this alleged Dale Pearson, and neither did Lena?I dont think he was alleged, said Gabe, slurring at the breasts. Im pretty sure he was confirmed Dale Pearson.Whatev er, said Tuck. Would that change anything? Would you believe that?Theo didnt speak right away but appeared to be waiting for an answer from the decolletage oracle. When he looked up at Tuck again he said, Yeah, I believe you.Tuck nearly aspirated the ginger ale he was drinking. When he stopped sputtering he said, Wow, you suck as a lawman, Theo. You cant just believe a strange guy who tells you something in a bar. Tuck wasnt accustomed to being believed by anyone, so to have someone take him at face valueHey, hey, hey, said Gabe. Thats uncalled for Well, fuck you guys said the woman in the red sweater. She jumped up from her stool and snatched her keys off the bar. I am a person, too, you know? And these are not speakerphones, she said, grabbing her breasts underneath and shaking them at the offenders, her keys jingling cheerfully as she did, completely defusing the gist of her anger.Oh my God, said Gabe.You cant just ignore a person like that Besides, youre all too old and youre losers and Id rather be alone on Christmas than spend five minutes with any of you horn dogs And with that she threw some cash on the bar, turned, and stormed out of the bar.Because they were men, Theo, Tuck, and Gabe watched her ass as she walked away.Too old? Tuck said. She was what, twenty-seven, twenty-eight?Yeah, Theo said. Late twenties, maybe early thirties. I didnt think we were ignoring her.Mavis Sand took the money off the bar and shook her head. You were all paying her proper attention. Womans got some issues when shes jealous of her own parts.I was thinking about icebergs, said Gabe. About how only ten percent of them show above the surface, yet below lies the really dangerous part. Oh, no, I got the blues on me again. His head hit the bar and bounced.Tuck looked to Theo. You want some help getting him to the car?Hes a very smart guy, said Theo. He has a couple of Ph.D.s.Okay. Do you want some help getting the doctor to the car?Theo was trying to get a shoulder un der Gabes arm, but given that he was nearly a foot taller than his friend, things werent working very well.Theo, Mavis barked. Dont be such a friggin wanker. Let the man help you.After tether unsuccessful attempts at hefting the bag of sand that was Gabe Fenton, Theo nodded to Tuck. They each took an arm and walked/dragged the biologist toward the back door.If he hurls Im aiming him at you, Theo said.Lena loved these shoes, said Tuck. But you do what you feel like you need to.I have no sex appeal, a rum-pa-pa-pum, sang Gabe Fenton, in spirit with the season. My social skills are nil, a rum-pa-pa-pum.Did that actually rhyme? asked Tuck.Hes a bright guy, said Theo.Mavis creaked ahead of them and held the door. So, Ill see you pathetic losers at the Lonesome Christmas party, right?They stopped, looked at one another, felt camaraderie in their collective loserdom, and reluctantly nodded.My lunch is coming up, a rum-pa-pa-pum, sang Gabe.Meanwhile, the girls were running around the Santa Rosa Chapel, putting up decorations and preparing the table settings for a Lonesome Christmas. Lena Marquez was making her third circumnavigation of the room with a stepladder, some masking tape, and rolls of green and red crepe paper the size of truck tires. (Price Club in San Junipero only sold one size, evidently so you could decorate your entire ocean liner without making two trips.) The act of serial festooning had taken Lenas mind off her troubles, but now the little chapel was starting to resemble nothing more than the nest of a color-blind Ewok. If someone didnt intervene before long the Lonesome Christmas guests would be in danger of being asphyxiated in a festive dungeon of holiday bondage. Fortunately, as Lena was moving the ladder to make her fourth round, Molly Michon snaked a foot inside and pulled the chapels double doors open the wind from the growing storm swept in and tore the paper from the walls.Well, fuck said Lena.The crepe paper swam in a vortex around the m iddle of the room, then settled into a great wad under one of the buffet tables Molly had set up to one side.I told you a staple gun would work better than masking tape, Molly said. She was holding three stainless-steel pans of lasagna and still managed to get the oak double doors closed against the wind with her feet. She was agile that way.This is a historical landmark, Molly. You cant just go shooting staples into the walls.Right, like that matters after Armageddon. Take these downstairs to the fridge, Molly said, handing the pans to Lena. Ill get you the staple gun out of my car.What does that mean? Lena asked. Do you mean our relationships?But Molly had bounded back out through the double doors into the wind. Shed been making more and more cryptic comments like that lately. Like she was talking to someone in the room besides Lena. It was strange. Lena shrugged and headed back to the little room behind the altar and the steps that led downstairs.Lena didnt like going into the ba sement of the chapel. It wasnt really a basement it was more of a cellar sandstone walls that smelled of bump earth, a concrete floor that had been poured without a vapor barrier fifty years after the cellar had been dug and so seeped moisture and formed a fine slime on top in the winter. Even when the stove was cranked and an electric heater turned on, it was never warm. Besides, the old, empty pews stored down there cast shadows that made her feel as if people were watching her.Mmmm, lasagna, said Marty in the Morning, your drive-time dead guy in the a.m. Dudes and dudettes, the little lady has certainly outdone herself this time. Get a whiff of that?The graveyard was abuzz with moldy anticipation of the Lonesome Christmas party.Its highly inappropriate, thats what it is, said Esther. I suppose its better than that horrible Mavis Sand woman barbecuing again. And how is it that shes still alive, anyway? Shes older than I am.Than dirt, you mean? said Jimmy Antalvo, whose faceprint was still embedded in a telephone pole on the Pacific Coast Highway, where hed hit it at age nineteen.Please, child, if you must be rude, at least be original, said Malcolm Cowley. Dont compound the tedium with cliche.My wife utilize to put a layer of hot Italian sausage between every layer of cheese and noodles, said Arthur Tannbeau. Now, that was some good eatin.Sort of explains the heart attack, too, doesnt it? said Bess Leander. Being poisoned had left a bitter taste in her mouth that seven years of death could not wash away.I thought we agreed not to talk about COD guilt, said Arthur. Didnt we agree on that? COD was shorthand of the dead for Cause of Death.We did agree, said Marty in the Morning.I do hope that they sing Good King Wenceslas, said Esther.Shut the fuck up about Good King Wenceslas, would you? No one knows the words to Good King Wenceslas, no one ever has.My, my, the new guy is cranky, said Warren Talbot, who had once been a painter of landscapes but after liver- colored failure at seventy was fertilizing one.Well, its gonna be a great party to listen to, said Marty in the Morning. Did you hear the constables wife talking about Armageddon? Shes unquestionably taking a cruise down the Big Nutty.I am not shouted Molly, who had come down to the basement to help Lena clear aloofness in the two refrigerators for the salads and desserts that they had yet to unload.Who are you talking to? said Lena, a little frightened at the outburst.I think Ive made my point, said Marty in the Morning.