Wednesday, October 30, 2019

COP Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

COP - Essay Example More importantly, COPS serves as the vehicle for the shift of law enforcement from its traditional form to a more proactive form known as community policing, which focuses more on crime prevention by putting police officers on beats where they can mingle and interact more with the members of the communities (Myers, 19). The community partnership component of community policing is an acknowledgment that law enforcers alone cannot prevent crimes, but need the involvement of the community and other stakeholders. Thus, community partnership aims at the â€Å"collaborative partnerships† between the law enforcement agents and members of the community such as the community members and groups, other government agencies, providers of services and non-profit organizations, private businesses and the media. Other government agencies may refer to federal and state legislatures and other law-making bodies, prosecutors, probation and parole boards and officers, public works departments, law enforcement agencies of neighboring communities, health and human services, child support services, ordinance enforcement schools. Community members and groups, on the other hand, refer to the residents within the law enforcer’s area as well as visitors or tourists to that area and commuters, which law enforcers can meet during town hall meetings, neighborhood association meetings and beat assignments. Nonprofit/service providers are those who provide services to the residents and other persons in the area for free, while businesses are those engaged in profit-earning enterprises in the area such as the members of the local chamber of commerce (COPS 2009, pp. 5-6). Partnerships appreciate that the police cannot be able to face crime without the involvement of the public, and it encourages relationships among the different stakeholders to fight crime. Collaborative partnerships between law enforcement agencies, organizations and individuals will increase the levels of trust

Monday, October 28, 2019

The Environmental Impacts of 2010 Essay Example for Free

The Environmental Impacts of 2010 Essay ABSRTRACT Nowadays as the issues of environmental sustainability have been a heated theme in the event industry, environmental impacts caused by major events are always examined through a bias lens and they are widely believed to be directly bound up with the host surroundings. When realizing the importance of sustainable development, many large-scale festivals such as Olympic Games and Glastonbury Music Festival are striving to mitigate their physical impacts on the local community and looking forward to turning into an eco-friendly event. This report focuses on the environmental dimension of the mega event and investigates both the pros and cons of the environmental impact. Table of Content 1. Introduction 2. Background of 2010 Taipei International Flora Expo 3. Environmental impacts 3.1 Positive Environmental Impacts 3.1.1 Showcasing the environment 3.1.2 Providing models for best practice 3.1.3 Increasing environmental awareness 3.1.4 Infrastructure legacy 3.1.5 Urban transportation and renewal 3.2 Negative impacts 3.2.1 Litter problems 3.2.2 Air Pollution 4. Conclusion 5. References Read more:  Environmental Festivals 1. Introduction As the event industry has been rapidly flourishing and well received over the years, staging the event is seen as one practicable means of displaying the local surroundings. However, conducting an event often has straight physical impacts (both active and passive) on the environment, such as all kinds of  contamination, destruction of flora and fauna as well as the depletion of natural resources. For this reason, I decide to select environmental impacts as the subject of this report. With the increasing consciousness of sustainable development, environmental impacts generated by major festivals in recent years draw deeper attention from all fields of society and become a hot topic around the globe. Most of festivals, especially those large-scale events, now are dedicated to protecting the host environment by effective operations wherever applicable and diminishing any possible negative impacts. The aim of this report is to examine environmental impacts through an instance of 2010 Taipei International Flora Expo as well as evaluate both positive and negative physical effects triggered by the assigned example. 2. Background of 2010 Taipei International Flora Expo  2010 Taipei International Flora Expo, a mega flora festival identified by AIPH (International Association of Horticultural Producers), was organised by Taipei government. It was the first time that Taiwan got authorised to run such an international-scale event and Taipei was also the seventh host city held in Asia. Going along with the previous excellent green practice, Taipei International Flora Expo was designed to show the creativity of horticultural decoration as well as implement the idea of sustainable environmental development and planned for advocating new green life-styles to individuals. The definition of sustainable development refers that ‘development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs’ (World Commission on Environment and Development 1987). Different from other mega events, the International Flora Expo does not require the host city to spend too much money on new amenities, but encourage it to make use of existing sites. This garden festival enhanced the old facilities and applied the principles of 3R (Reduce, Reuse, Recycle) and 3G (Green Building, Green Energy, Green Transportation) into its whole event project and the construction of infrastructure. Figure.1. 2010 Taipei International Flora Expo (ç ¶  Ã¨â€° ²Ã¥ · ¥Ã¥ »  2010) 3. Environmental impacts Events and surroundings are closely linked with each other. From the moment  that the city has decided to bid for the event, impacts soon started to occur on the environment. Host surroundings may be extraordinarily fragile and great consideration should be taken to look after them. A large-scale event should need to be conducted by an environmental impact assessment. Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) is a crucial environmental tool which is seen as the necessary procedure of activity in order to give the environment its appropriate place in the decision-making process by improving the quality of advanced information to event organisers, so that environmentally sensitive determination can be made paying careful attention to minimizing impacts, enhancing the planning of activities and protecting the environment (outlined by Kees Bastmeijer and Timo Koivurova, 2008). Analysis of the environmental impacts of events can be divided into three groups of physical impacts on the natura l environment; impacts on the man-made environment and impacts on the ecosystem (Là ³rà ¡nt, 2009). Firstly, natural environmental impacts contain air quality, geological factors and water quality, depletion of natural resources and flora and fauna. Secondly, the impacts on the man-made environment include the infrastructure put in place at the festival, the changes in the land-use and building and visual impacts. Finally, the ecosystem refers to the ecological network or flora and fauna. As for physical and environmental impacts, they are as complex as other impacts on the surroundings. They may be domestic and international impacts, reversible and irreversible effects, positive and negative influences. In the following section the favorable (positive) and unfavorable (negative) impacts will be come up for discussion independently. 3.1 Positive environmental impacts When it comes to positive physical and environmental effects, Hall (1989) refer that a successful event has five points of favorable impacts as follows: * Showcasing the environment * Providing models for best practice, * Increasing environmental awareness, * Infrastructure legacy * Improved transport and communication * Urban transportation and renewal As an environment-based festival, 2010 Taipei Flora expo as a whole brought about lots of beneficial impacts on the host surroundings. 3.1.1 Showcasing the environment Running the event is an effective approach to showcase the distinctive features of the host environment. Hall (1989) points out that selling the image of a hallmark event includes marking the intrinsic properties of the destination. Taking the opportunity of holding Flora Exposition, Taipei government devoted to renovating the majority of aging buildings in the host area such as Taipei Fine Arts Park, Children’s Leisure Centre, Zhongshan Soccer Stadium and Lin-An-Tai Historic Houses, and converting them into the new look with green concepts. Taipei authority successfully showcased their achievements in the construction of urban afforestation, the refurbishment of local amenities as well as in the areas of sightseeing. According to the official statistics, it is estimated that 2010 Taipei International Expo in total appealed to 8,963,666 attendants during the 171-day exposition. 3.1.2 Providing models for best practice By the event Taipei delivered its outstanding accomplishments in the industry of horticulture and eco-technology and in the implementation of urban greening. Many records created by this festival made visitors from all over the world proud. Dr. Doek Faber, the president of the International Association of Horticultural Producers (AIPH), publicly admired Taipei Flora Expo as the most interesting, innovative and creative one in the past five decades and added that this event has founded a new flora expo criterion and set an excellent practice for the coming 10 years. 2010 Taipei Flora Expo was considered as the great models of sustainable development and urban afforestation for other cities to follow. After the successful bidding, Taipei started a series of environmental protection work and made ‘urban greening’ into reality. 2010 Taipei Flora Expo also became a catalyst in boosting the environmental sustainable development of Taiwan. Other noticeable achievements which can be regarded as positive models for practice include: (Flora Expo Revisited 2010) * Each material of event was made in Taiwan * This festival attracted extra international attention to Taiwan’s garden industry * This festival offered many chances for Taiwan’s local cultural and creative industries to display their outstanding works * This festival help people realise the importance of the natural environment * This festival was the first mega event conducted by Taiwan * This festival got a good reputation at home and abroad * This festival was an eye-opener regarding urban aesthetics 3.1.3 Increasing environmental awareness 2010 Taipei Flora Expo was highlighted to the importance of environmental protection, so the festival organizers made great efforts to conserve the natural community and they also believed that they have an obligation to increase consumer awareness of environmental issues. The event organizers specially produced a series of 3D record films related to the latest environmental issues that were played in EXPO Theatre and hoped that through watching these movies participants can seriously face up to the environmental problems and can take actual action to protect our surroundings. In addition, there was a new-fashion eco-friendly architecture that was assembled from 1.5 million plastic bottles (instead of bricks) to put an emphasis on the idea of recycling and sustainable environmental development. Figure.2 Eco ark (ç ¶  Ã¨â€° ²Ã¥ · ¥Ã¥ »  , 2010) 3.1.4 Infrastructure legacy Regarding heritage preservation issues, the event managers integrated all legacies which are located in the host venues into the plan and then soon started undertaking the renovation. Taipei Story House and Lin-An-Tai Historic House are rebuilt to leisure places with the combination of cultural heritages and unique-style restaurants. This event not only well preserves local ancient legacies but also successfully broadcasts these historical sites to more visitors. Figure.3 Taipei Story House Figure.4 Lin-An-Tai Historical House 3.1.5 Urban transportation and renewal Unlike the majority of previous Flora Expo, 2010 Taipei Flora Expo was staged in the centre area. Therefore, transportation may be taken into the essential consideration. In order to provide tourists with convenient transport network, Taipei government improved the construction of public transportation, including rerouting bus system, enhancing pedestrian system as well as increasing bike lanes. During the festival, visitors can enjoy free shuttle buses around four event venues, use adjacent public fee-paying parking lot and take the MRT to other places. 3.2 Negative impacts Mega events have often attracted criticism for their perceived negative impacts on sensitive locations (Greenpeace, 2004). Adverse environmental effects such as destruction of the host surroundings, noise disturbances, pollution and disruption of legacy caused by large-scale festivals are always the critical themes remained a significant concern. These impacts may become much severe if the festival takes place in an outdoor public area like a square, street or park. Some opposite positive environmental impacts of 2010 Taipei Flora Expo will be integrated as below. 3.2.1 Litter problems A considerable amount of waste produced by festivals is always a persistent problem troubled the local authority. Taipei government had hoped to popularize the idea of environmental protection through the expo, however, it seemed to have no obvious effect. The reason why litter management of this expo failed can be attributed to its environmental policy. Taipei government specifically made strict rules to prohibit littering, but strangely, it didn’t install enough refuse and recycling bins around the host zones, so that festival goers could not find rubbish bins as easily as possible. As a result, it can be seen that garbage was still tossed by the side of host venues. Figure.5è ®Å Ã©â€º »Ã§ ® ±Ã¤ ¸Å Ã§Å¡â€žÃ¥Å¾Æ'Ã¥Å" ¾ Ã¥ â€°Ã¥ ¤ §Ã¦â€"‡æ˜Žçš„野è   »Ã¥ ±â€¢Ã§ ¤ º(é »Æ'Ã¥ ­ «Ã¦ ¬Å ) In terms of litter management, Glastonbury festival is a successful model of waste volume reduction for other events to learn. This festival makes  greater efforts to efficiently clean the rubbish caused by the event on the host community and thoroughly implements its strategies of reducing rubbish. Hence, remarkable reductions have been recorded in the past three years by taking stronger control of the items brought on spot by staff, sponsors and entrepreneurs – and by focusing on their obligation to remove items brought on spot. Moreover, the event managers of Glastonbury festival annually recruit recycling volunteers to collect litters and separate the recyclables (Glastonbury Festival Ltd, 2000). 3.2.2 Air Pollution In an event-related study Là ³rà ¡nt (2009) indicates that air pollution generated by the festival can cause bad impacts on the natural environment, particularly CO2 emissions from the transport exhaust. Due to 2010 Taipei Flora Expo taking place in the downtown, the provision of solid transportation network was the efficient way to manage the crowded visitors. However, CO2 emissions from vehicles, buses and other motors lowered the air quality of Taipei city. table.2 energy consumption for one passenger kilometer (Halmay et al., 2006) From the diagram, it can be obviously seen that walking and cycling consumed the lowest energy use. Although the host organisers highly promoted the advantages of cycling and walking during the event, the practical implementation was still be very challenging. 4. Conclusion After reviewing literatures and books in relation to the environmental impact, it can be proved that physical effects of festivals, no matter positive or negative ones, may have immediate influences on the environment. Before conducting large-scale events, the crucial step toward success is to assess environmental impacts through the analysis of environmental impact assessment. By doing so, the majority of event organizers can forecast and evaluates possible potential impacts of projects on the local environment and then can make the event going on smoothly. In addition, with the heated discussion about environmental sustainability, it seems a global trend that most of event holders currently have been attempting to apply the principle of sustainability into their events and taking measures to do the minimum of  environmental damage. Looking into the future, relevant research and studies of events suggest that environmental conscious events will be more prevalent in the coming two decades. As a result, more and more festivals are expected to place great emphasis on the sustainable development within projects. Mega events play a vital role in cultivating understanding of environmental issues, arousing awareness and generating resources. 2010 Taipei International Flora Expo, the first mega festival held by Taiwan, demonstrated Taiwan’s ambition to encounter the world event industry. How to effectively address negative environmental impacts of the expo and how to keep the positive consequences continuing developing are the primary task for Taipei government to review. 2010 Taipei Flora Expo can be regard as the preparation for the next mega event – 2017 Universiade. 4. Reference Andrea, C., Calvin, J., Max, M., 2008. Assessing the environmental impacts of mega sporting events: Two options. Tourism Management, 30(6). Available from:http://ejournals.ebsco.com/Direct.asp?AccessToken=9II51IQ8XRDJE4M5DD1KRMQJ1PEQ8XQM51Show=ObjectErrorURL=http%3A%2F%2Flinksource%2Eebsco%2Ecom%2Ferror%2Easpx [Accessed 25 October 2012] Benders, R. M. J., Moll, H. C., Nijdam, D. S., 2012. From energy to environmental analysis: improving the resolution of the environmental impact of Dutch private consumption with hybrid analysis. Journal of Industrial Ecology. Available from: http://ejournals.ebsco.com/Direct.asp?AccessToken=544W64JTRR9WYUS99S6SN4QVSQVYTRJFW6Show=ObjectErrorURL=http%3A%2F%2Flinksource%2Eebsco%2Ecom%2Ferror%2Easpx [Accessed 25October 2012] Brain J, M., Marlene, F., 1994. A CASE STUDY OF A TOURISM SPECIAL EVENT: AN ANALYSIS OF AN AMERICAN STATE FAIR. Festival Management Event Tourism, 2 (2), p.75-83 David, L.,2009. Events and Tourism: An Environmental Approach Impact A ssessment. Journal of Tourism Challenges Trends, Vol. 2 Issue 2, p101-113. Chris, R., Alan, S., Sharon, M and Don, G., 1998. NEW ZEALAND EVENTS: A TEMPORAL AND REGIONAL ANALYSIS. Festival Management Event Tourism, 5 (1/2), p.71-83 Evans, W.A., 1994. Approaches to intelligent information retrieval. Information processing and management, 7 (2), 147-168. Gemma, G., Peter, R., 2009. A Critical Comparative Study of Visitor Motivations For Attending Music Festival: A Case Study of Glastonbury and V Festival. Event Management , 13

Saturday, October 26, 2019

Male Body Image Essay -- Media Self Image

  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Body image is what you believe about your physical appearance. Images of beautiful men and women are displayed everywhere from billboards to television advertisements. Fortunately, everyone does not look the same. Looking at models and movie stars often can create a negative self image of oneself in relation to these images. Approximately 46 percent of men of normal weight think about how they look constantly or frequently (Cloud, 46). The emergence of men’s new obsession with body image is connected to pressures from the media, plastic surgeons, and peers.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The media plays a primary role in the mushrooming fascination between men and their body image. An article in the New York Times said, â€Å"G.I. Joes have morphed over the last three decades into muscle-bound hunks that can harm the self-esteem of boys...† (Santelmo). Kids are more likely to develop a hero from someone close to them or someone they know about. Why not look up to the 26.8 inch biceps of the G.I. Joe Extreme? There have also been an increasing number of sleek male magazines. Included are photos of male models wearing only boxers or briefs which have 6-pack abs and a broad chest. Similar to the latest G.I. Joe, extreme bodybuilders are also a popular commodity of the magazines, flexing and grinning with barbarian-sized muscles. The common male might say, â€Å"I want to look like that.† The concept of these images is not entertainment, but is influence towards a ridiculous ultimatum, like â€Å"I have to be in s... Male Body Image Essay -- Media Self Image   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Body image is what you believe about your physical appearance. Images of beautiful men and women are displayed everywhere from billboards to television advertisements. Fortunately, everyone does not look the same. Looking at models and movie stars often can create a negative self image of oneself in relation to these images. Approximately 46 percent of men of normal weight think about how they look constantly or frequently (Cloud, 46). The emergence of men’s new obsession with body image is connected to pressures from the media, plastic surgeons, and peers.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The media plays a primary role in the mushrooming fascination between men and their body image. An article in the New York Times said, â€Å"G.I. Joes have morphed over the last three decades into muscle-bound hunks that can harm the self-esteem of boys...† (Santelmo). Kids are more likely to develop a hero from someone close to them or someone they know about. Why not look up to the 26.8 inch biceps of the G.I. Joe Extreme? There have also been an increasing number of sleek male magazines. Included are photos of male models wearing only boxers or briefs which have 6-pack abs and a broad chest. Similar to the latest G.I. Joe, extreme bodybuilders are also a popular commodity of the magazines, flexing and grinning with barbarian-sized muscles. The common male might say, â€Å"I want to look like that.† The concept of these images is not entertainment, but is influence towards a ridiculous ultimatum, like â€Å"I have to be in s...

Thursday, October 24, 2019

Crisis Counseling: an Overview

Psychology in the Schools, Vol. 46(3), 2009 Published online in Wiley InterScience (www. interscience. wiley. com) C 2009 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. DOI: 10. 1002/pits. 20370 CRISIS COUNSELING: AN OVERVIEW JONATHAN SANDOVAL, AMY NICOLE SCOTT, AND IRENE PADILLA University of the Paci? c Psychologists working in schools are often the ? rst contacts for children experiencing a potentially traumatizing event or change in status. This article reviews basic concepts in crisis counseling and describes the components of psychological ? rst aid.This form of counseling must be developmentally and culturally appropriate as well as individualized. Effective intervention can prevent post-traumatic stress syndrome and facilitate normal mourning processes associated with any losses experienced. These prevention activities are also discussed. Some children may need resources beyond those that the school can provide, and appropriate referrals can link children and adults to a variety of treatments such as psychotherapy and medication, also brie? y outlined. C 2009 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.Most children and adults are resilient and have ways of coping with stressful events. In fact, according to the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH; 2001), recovery from crisis exposure is the norm. Children usually need minimal assistance from family members, teachers, clergy, or other caring adults. Others, particularly those with few social supports, enter into a crisis state (Barenbaum, Ruchkin, & Schwab-Stone, 2004; Caffo & Belaise, 2003; Litz, Gray, Bryant, & Adler, 2002; Ozer, Best, Lipsey, & Weiss, 2003). People in crisis are in what Caplan (1964) terms a state of psychological disequilibrium.This disequilibrium occurs when a hazardous event challenges normal psychological adaptation and coping. Individuals often behave irrationally and withdraw from normal social contacts. They cannot be helped using usual counseling or teaching techniques. Nevertheless, children in crisis are usuall y also in school. School psychologists and other guidance personnel must be able to support teachers, parents, and the children themselves during periods of crisis. The primary goal in helping an individual who is undergoing a crisis is to intervene in such a way as to restore the individual to a previous level of functioning.For children, this means returning to the status of learner. Although it may be possible to use the situation to enhance personal growth, the immediate goal is not to reorganize completely the individual’s major dimensions of personality, but to restore the individual to creative problem solving and adaptive coping. Of course, by successfully resolving a crisis an individual will most likely acquire new coping skills that will lead to improved functioning in new situations, but that is only a desired, possible outcome, not the sole objective of the process (Caplan, 1964).Because failure to cope is at the heart of a crisis, the promotion of coping is an o verall objective of crisis intervention. P SYCHOLOGICAL F IRST A ID School psychologists and other mental health personnel working in schools are in a position to offer psychological ? rst aid (Parker, Everly, Barnett, & Links, 2006). Analogous to medical ? rst aid, the idea is to intervene early when a hazardous event occurs for an individual, and offer compassionate support to facilitate adaptive coping. At the same time, the need for further intervention may be assessed and planned.According to The National Child Traumatic Stress Network and National Center for Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) (2006) there are eight core psychological ? rst aid actions. Of course, the exact actions taken need to be tailored to the particular circumstances of crisis victims. Correspondence to: Jonathan Sandoval, Department of Educational and School Psychology, Benerd School of Education, 3601 Paci? c Avenue, Stockton, CA 95211. E-mail: [email  protected]? c. edu 246 Crisis Counseling Overvi ew 247 Making Contact The ? st action is to establish a relationship through verbal and nonverbal means with the child. Generally speaking, the sooner contact is made the better. By simply being physically present with the child and supporting nonverbal behavior alone, anxiety can be lessened. Providing Safety It is important to protect children from further harm by moving them to a secure location and attending to their basic needs for food, drink, sleep, shelter, or freedom from further danger. To relieve tension, it is also helpful to provide a place for play and relaxation.Children need to be protected from the eyes of strangers and the curious, and they need to be spared watching scenes of a traumatic event in the media (Young, Ford, Ruzek, Friedman, & Gusman, 1999). Stabilizing Affect Counselors must demonstrate nonverbally that they are able to be calm and composed. Adults modeling calmness and competence can communicate that problems may be solved and emotions can be control led in time. A counseling relationship will be important to help the child manage fear, anxiety, panic, and grief. Nondirective listening skills are most effective.However, it is also important not to offer unrealistic reassurance or to encourage denial as a defense or coping mechanism (Sandoval, 2002a). Addressing Needs and Concerns Once the crisis worker has been able to formulate an accurate, comprehensive statement about the student’s perception of the situation by identifying all of the sources of concern, it will be possible to begin the process of exploring potential strategies to improve or resolve the emotionally hazardous situation. Jointly, the crisis worker and pupil review the strategies explored and select one for trial. The outcome should be an action plan.This is much like the problem solving that occurs in conventional counseling, but must be preceded by the steps previously mentioned. Moving too quickly to problem solving is a common mistake of novices. Howe ver effective the problem solution is, the very process of turning attention to the future and away from the past is bene? cial in and of itself. Provide Practical Assistance Helpers need to be direct with children and take an active role in managing their environment. Because parents may be disabled by the disaster, it is comforting to see some adult taking control and making decisions.Some solutions may involve actions by others, such as teachers or school administrators. To the extent necessary, the crisis worker may act as an intermediary communicating with authorities on the child’s behalf. When working in schools, a task will be to reunite children with their parents or loved ones. Plans need to be in place to communicate with parents and track children should a disaster occur at a school site (Brock, Sandoval, & Lewis, 2001). Facilitate Connections with Social Supports Finding social supports may be particularly dif? cult during times of crisis.In a disaster, for examp le, whole communities are affected. There is a disruption of both schools and social services. There is often an absence of adults with whom children can process feelings of loss, dread, and vulnerability. Psychology in the Schools DOI: 10. 1002/pits 248 Sandoval, Scott, and Padilla Nevertheless, it is usually possible to ? nd either a group of peers or family members who can provide emotional support and temporary physical assistance during the crisis. In this way the pupil’s energies may be devoted to coping with the crisis.Being with and sharing crisis experiences with positive social support systems facilitates recovery. Conversely, lower levels of social support often predicts traumatic stress reactions (Barenbaum et al. , 2004; Caffo & Belaise, 2003; Litz et al. , 2002; Ozer et al. , 2003). If family is not available, there are often community resources that may substitute and the crisis worker should be knowledgeable about them. Facilitating Coping During the process o f crisis intervention, the student will have temporarily become dependent on the crisis counselor for direct advice, for stimulating action, and for supplying hope.This situation is temporary and before the crisis intervention interviews are over, the crisis counselor must spend some time planning ways to restore the student to selfreliance and self-con? dence. This restoration may be accomplished by consciously moving into a position of equality with the student, sharing the responsibility and authority. Although earlier the crisis counselor may have been very directive, eventually he or she strives to return to a more democratic stance.Techniques such as one-downsmanship [where the counselor acknowledges the pupil’s contribution to problem solving, while minimizing the counselor’s own contribution (Caplan, 1970)] permit the counselee to leave the crisis intervention with a sense of accomplishment. Helping individuals to ? nd alternative rewards and sources of satisfa ction using problemfocused coping (Lazarus & Folkman, 1984) is most helpful. Providing anticipatory guidance involves connecting children to knowledge and resources, and involves providing information about stress reactions and future challenges that the client will face.It acts to reduce distress and promote adaptive functioning. Any action strategies must be implemented in the context of what the student thinks is possible to accomplish. Crisis ? rst aid providers can emphasize what positive there is in the situation, even if it seems relatively minor. For example, even the victim of a sexual assault can be congratulated for at least surviving physically. The crisis situation often leads to a diminution in self-esteem and the acceptance of blame for the crisis.With an emphasis on how the child coped well given the situation so far, and how the person has arrived at a strategy for moving forward, there can be a restoration of the damaged view of the self. Drawing from the self-conc ept literature, it may also be important to emphasize positive views of the self in speci? c areas, as self-concept has been theorized to be a hierarchical and multidimensional construct (Marsh & Shavelson, 1985; Shavelson, Hubner, & Stanton, 1976). According to the compensatory model (Marsh, Byrne, & Shavelson, 1988), which holds that selfconcept in different domains may be additive, it may be bene? ial for students to increase their self-concept in one area if it has been diminished in another area as a result of a traumatic event. Helping children recognize competence in other areas besides the ones affected by the trauma will protect feelings of self-worth. This notion of building up other branches of self concept, such as academic self-concept, is also supported by Shavelson’s hierarchical model (Shavelson et al. , 1976). Create Linkages with Needed Collaborative Services Prime candidates for resources in many cultures are clergy, but these resources may also be an in? e ntial neighborhood leader or politician. In non-western (and western) cultures the family is an important system of support during times of crisis. Keep in mind that de? nitions of â€Å"family† do differ considerably. Psychology in the Schools DOI: 10. 1002/pits Crisis Counseling Overview 249 In many non-western cultures when individuals enter a crisis state, they turn to individuals (shaman) who are acknowledged within their communities as possessing special insight and helping skills. Their helping skills often emphasize non-ordinary reality and the psychospiritual realm of personality (Lee and Armstrong, 1995).Referral Although this is not one of the core psychological ? rst aid actions, as the ? rst and perhaps only person on the scene, the school psychologist should be helpful. Attend to physical needs, offer appropriate reassurance and anticipatory guidance, and help those in a crisis state to take positive action to facilitate coping (Sandoval, 2002a). As soon as poss ible, however, facilitate an appropriate referral to a culturally appropriate helper and/or to community-based services, and follow-up to determine that a connection has been made.D EVELOPMENTAL I SSUES I N C RISIS C OUNSELING A child of 5 and an adolescent of 16 have radically different faculties for dealing with information and reacting to events. Differences in cognitive, social, and emotional development mean that they will respond differently to hazards and will need to be counseled differently should they develop a crisis reaction (Marans & Adelman, 1997). The same event (e. g. , the death of a parent) may be a crisis for a preschooler as well as a high-school senior, but each will react and cope with the event differently.Counseling with younger children often involves the use of nonverbal materials, many more directive leads to elicit and re? ect feelings, and a focus on concrete concerns as well as fantasy. The use of drawing, for example, has proved very effective in getti ng children to express what has happened to them (Hansen, 2006; Morgan & White, 2003). In terms of increasing self-concept with children after a crisis, one must consider the dimensionality of self-concept as it relates to cognitive, language, and social factors (Byrne, 1996; Harter, 1999). Self-concept dimensions tend to increase with age.That is, young children are able to make judgments about themselves in terms of concrete and observable behaviors and tend to display all-or-none thinking. Thus, self-concept at this age tends to have few dimensions. Children at this age describe themselves in relation to certain categories, such as â€Å"I am 5† or â€Å"I have blond hair,† and are able to make simple comparisons such as â€Å"I am crying and he is not crying† (Harter, 1999). Although young children tend to have very positive descriptions of the self, negative life experiences, such as a traumatic event, may cause them to view themselves negatively.During mid dle childhood, self-concept dimensionality increases and children are able to make more global statements about their self-concept. However, they will often overestimate their abilities. Their descriptions change from being concrete to traitlike. Children during this stage also begin to use social comparison as they judge themselves and they can make social comparison statements, such as â€Å"I am more shy than most kids† or â€Å"I’m good at (one subject) and not (other subjects). † All-or-none thinking may continue at this stage, which may cause children to view themselves negatively (Harter, 1999).Traditional talk therapies such as nondirective counseling capitalize on a client’s capacity for rational thought and high level of moral development and are more likely to be effective with adolescents. With adolescents, the school psychologist can also acknowledge and use the ageappropriate crisis of establishing an identity. During adolescence, more diffe rentiation of the self occurs and peers may be used for social comparisons. Abstract concepts are used to describe the self, and there is an awareness of â€Å"multiple selves,† where they may behave or act differently in different contexts.Adolescents begin to make statements with interpersonal implications, such as, Psychology in the Schools DOI: 10. 1002/pits 250 Sandoval, Scott, and Padilla â€Å"Because I am shy I do not have many friends† or â€Å"People trust me because I am an honest person† (Harter, 1999). In reviewing the crisis intervention principles and procedures just outlined, it seems reasonable to expect that younger children would have a greater dif? culty acknowledging a crisis, and would be more prone to use immature defenses such as denial and projection to avoid coping with a crisis (Allen, Dlugokinski, Cohen, & Walker, 1999).In contrast, an adolescent might use more advanced defenses such as rationalization and intellectualization. In coun seling children, more time might be spent on exploring reactions and feelings to the crisis situation and establishing support systems that engage in lengthy problem solving. With older adolescents, then, it may be possible to focus much more on establishing reasonable expectations and avoiding false reassurance, as well as spending more time on focused problem-solving activities. ATTENDING TO C ULTURAL D IFFERENCESMany events that frequently stimulate a crisis reaction in the dominant culture, such as a death, a suicide, or a natural disaster, may or may not have a similar effect on members of other cultures (Sandoval, 2002b). Sometimes a reaction to a traumatic event will be culturally appropriate but will seem to western eyes to be a breakdown of ordinary coping. Extreme outward expression of grief by wailing and crying followed by self-mutilation and threats of suicide following the death of a loved one may be normal coping behavior expected of a survivor in a particular culture (Klingman, 1986).A cultural informant will be useful in indicating what normal reactions to various traumatic events are for a particular culture. One of the most important manifestations of culture is language. Many important cultural concepts cannot be satisfactorily translated from one language to another, because the meaning is so bound up in cultural values and worldview. If possible, crisis interveners should speak the same language as their client and be familiar with their cultural perspective.In an emergency, this kind of match of counselor and client may not be possible, so school psychologists need to be prepared to work with interpreters and cultural informants. Attention to nonverbal communication is also important during a time of crisis. A number of behaviors including form of eye contact, physical contact, and proximity can be different between members of different cultures (Hall, 1959). Because these behaviors are subtle, counselors may easily miss them without hel p. Training in cross-cultural work may be delivered through workshops or by consultation with an experienced psychologist.A ? rst step in working with children from different cultures will be to learn the extent to which the client has become acculturated to the dominant culture. One cannot assume that a child is fully a member of either the culture of the family’s origin or of the American mainstream. Working with the child and family will be individualized on the basis of culturally appropriate intervention. P REVENTING PTSD The common goal of responding to children experiencing situational crises is to prevent the formation of PTSD. This syndrome, ? st identi? ed among military combat veterans, also manifests itself in children. Their reaction is similar to that in adults, although their reactions may be somewhat different and the symptoms will vary with age (American Psychiatric Association, 2000). To be diagnosed with PTSD, a person who has been exposed to trauma must ha ve symptoms in three different areas: persistent reexperiencing of the traumatic stressor, persistent avoidance of reminders of the traumatic event, and persistent symptoms of increased arousal.These symptoms must be present for at least one month, and cause clinically signi? cant distress or impairment in social, occupational, or other important areas of functioning (American Psychiatric Association, 2000). Children are more likely than adults to have symptomatology related to aggression, anxiety, depression, and regression (Mazza & Overstreet, 2000). As noted earlier, traumatic stress reactions Psychology in the Schools DOI: 10. 1002/pits Crisis Counseling Overview 251 are to a signi? ant extent dependent on the child’s level of development (Joshi & Lewin, 2004). Especially among younger children, traumatic stress reactions are less connected to the stressor and more likely to take the form of generalized fear and anxiety. It is certainly not true that all children, if untr eated, will develop PTSD. In fact, recovery is the norm (NIMH, 2001). Recent studies regarding the prevalence of PTSD in children and adolescents estimates that about 15% –43% of children have experienced at least one traumatic event in their lifetime.Although estimates vary by extent and type of trauma, a conservative estimate is that 12% –15% of children may develop PTSD six or more months following a disaster (La Greca, Silverman, Vernberg, & Prinstein, 1996; McDermott & Palmer, 1999). In a review of the literature, Saigh, Yasik, Sack, & Koplewicz (1999) report that rates of psychological trauma among children and adolescents (as indicated by the presence of PTSD) vary considerably both within and between types of crisis events (with rates of PTSD ranging from 0% to 95%).Some may even develop longterm characterological patterns of behavior following a disaster, such as fearfulness (Honig, Grace, Lindy, Newman, & Titchener, 1999). These character traits, exhibited la ter in life, may originate as negative coping responses to the trauma. Severity of symptoms is related to the magnitude of exposure to the event itself, and the degree of psychological distress experienced by children in response to trauma is measured by several factors. The closer a child is to the location of the event (physical proximity), or the longer the exposure, the greater likelihood of severe distress.Having a relationship with the victim of trauma also increases the risk (emotional proximity). A third factor is the child’s initial reaction; those who display more severe reactions, such as becoming hysterical or panicking, are at greater risk for needing mental health assistance later on. The child’s subjective understanding of the traumatic event can sometimes be more important than the event itself. That is, the more the child perceives an event as threatening or frightening, the greater the chance of increased psychological distress.Additionally, children who experience the following family factors are at an increased risk: those who do not live with a nuclear family member, have been exposed to family violence, have a family history of mental illness, or have caregivers who are severely distressed themselves (Fletcher, 2003). Children who face a disaster without the support of a nurturing friend or relative appear to suffer more than those who do have that support available to them. Symptoms in children may be more severe if there is parental discord or distress and if there are subsequent stressors, such as lack of housing following a disaster (La Greca et al. 1996). The traumatic death of a family member also increases the risk of stress reactions (Applied Research and Consulting, Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health, & New York Psychiatric Institute, 2002; Bradach & Jordan, 1995). Finally, children who have preexisting mental health problems or previous exposure to threatening or frightening events are more likely to experience more severe reactions to trauma than are others. Symptoms may also be heightened among ethnic minorities (La Greca et al. , 1996). La Greca and her colleagues (1996) discuss ? e factors related to the development of severe symptomatology: 1) exposure to disaster-related experiences, including perceived life threats; 2) preexisting child characteristics such as poverty and illness; 3) the recovery environment including social support; 4) the child’s coping skills; and 5) intervening stressful life event during recovery. These factors may interact with biological factors that make the child particularly vulnerable, such as genetically based premorbid psychopathology and temperament (Cook-Cottone, 2004).Clearly intervention must supply an appropriate recovery environment that is suited to a child’s characteristics and facilitates coping. Determination of what intervention is appropriate for a given student should be based on assessment of risk for psychologi cal traumatization. Nevertheless, school is an important environment where prevention and healing can take place. Cook-Cottone (2004), drawing from the literature on children with cancer, has outlined a protocol for reintegrating children into school following a traumatic experience that has led to their absence from school.Psychology in the Schools DOI: 10. 1002/pits 252 Sandoval, Scott, and Padilla FACILITATING THE G RIEVING P ROCESS Grieving, and mourning the losses common to most potentially traumatic events, will be among the counseling objectives. Losses may include those of signi? cant others as well as loss of status. However, emotional numbing and avoidance of trauma reminders that accompany trauma can greatly interfere with the process of grieving. Trauma work often takes precedence over grief work; nevertheless, ultimately appropriate mourning must be facilitated (Hawkins, 2002). Worden (2002) has identi? d four tasks of mourning. The ? rst task is to accept the reality o f the loss and neither deny it has occurred nor minimize the impact on the child’s life. It is common for children to fantasize about a reunion or that there has been a mistake about the loss, or that divorced parents will reunite. Before a child can progress to the second task, there must be a reduction in spiritual, magical, or distorted thinking (Hawkins, 2002). Worden’s second task is to experience the pain of grief. There are many pressures, both cultural and familial, to not express or feel sadness at a loss.Children are told not to be a â€Å"crybaby† and to â€Å"act like an adult. † However, if the emotional pain is not experienced, there may be a manifestation in psychosomatic symptoms or maladaptive thinking or behaving (Hawkins, 2002). The third task of coping with a loss is to adjust to a new environment that does not include the lost status or relationship. The child must learn to create a new set of behaviors and relationships to replace th ose lost. The goal is to build a meaningful and authentic new lifestyle and identity.A failure to accomplish this task leaves a child feeling immobilized and helpless, clinging to an idealized past. The ? nal task of mourning is to withdraw emotional energy from the lost status and reinvest it in other relationships and endeavors. By holding on to the past, lost attachments rather than forming new ones, a child may become stuck. Instead, the trauma victim must eventually embrace a new status. Worden (2002) believes that, when the tasks of mourning are accomplished, the individual will be able to think of the loss without powerful pain, although perhaps with a sense of nostalgia and perhaps some sadness.In addition, the child or adolescent will be able to reinvest emotions in new relationships without guilt or remorse (Hawkins, 2002). T REATMENT School-based Counseling Galante and Foa (1986) worked in groups with children in one school throughout the school year following a major Ita lian earthquake. The children were encouraged to explore fears, mistaken understandings, and feelings connected to death and injury from the disaster using discussion, drawing, and role playing. Most participants, except those who experienced a death in the family, showed a reduction in symptoms.Another feature of disasters and terrorist acts is a lowered sense of control over one’s destiny and heightened fear of the unknown. Thus, a focus on returning a sense of empowerment to children will be important. If children can be directed to participate in restorative activities and take some actions to mitigate the results of the disaster, no matter how small, they can begin to rebuild an important sense of ef? cacy. Finally, there may be issues of survivor guilt, if there is widespread loss of life or property. Survivor guilt is a strong feeling of culpability often nduced among individuals who survive a situation that results in the death of valued others. Those individuals spar ed, but witnessing the devastation of others, may have extreme feelings of guilt that will need to be dealt with. Children, particularly, ascribe fantastical causes to the effects they see. Consequently, some may Psychology in the Schools DOI: 10. 1002/pits Crisis Counseling Overview 253 need to explore their magical thinking in counseling or play therapy about why they escaped injury or loss. School community–based support groups can provide one vehicle for feeling connected to others and working through these feelings.Ceballo (2000) describes a short-term supportive intervention group based in the school for children exposed to urban violence. Her groups are designed to 1) validate and normalize children’s emotional reactions to violence, 2) help children restore a sense of control over certain aspects of their environment, 3) develop safety skills for dealing with the environment in the future, 4) understand the process of grief and mourning, and 5) minimize the in? uence of PTSD symptoms on educational tasks and other daily life events. Such structured support groups can promote resiliency and promote constructive coping with problems.Depending on training and supervision, the school psychologist might also engage in therapies validated for the treatment of PTSD. These therapies are reviewed in the section on community-based therapy. Time and other constraints often make outside referral necessary. Bibliotherapy Bibliotherapy may also be useful following a disaster. A particularly useful resource for children is a book entitled I’ll Know What to Do: A Kid’s Guide to Natural Disasters by Mark, Layton, and Chesworth (1997). The authors focus on four concepts they view as fundamental to recovery: information, communication, reassurance, and the reestablishment of routine.They explore children’s feelings that often emerge in the aftermath of a disaster, and offer useful techniques to help young people cope with them. Another technique in which the child is an active participant in the creation of a book about personal experiences is called the resolution scrapbook (Lowenstein, 1995). Here the child is guided through a set of experiences and activities designed to help the child reprocess traumatic experiences and place completed work in a scrapbook. Evidence for the effectiveness of this technique is largely anecdotal to date. Other Adults in CrisisAn important feature of a traumatic event is the fact that the adults in the school as well as the children are affected. The teachers, administrators, and guidance staff would be as traumatized as children by an earthquake, terrorism, or an airplane crashing into the school. They will need assistance in coping with the aftermath of the crisis as much as the children will (Daniels, Bradley, & Hays, 2007). It is likely that outside crisis response assistance will be needed to help an entire community deal with disaster and mayhem associated with violence. Comm unity-based PsychotherapyCognitive behavior therapy. There are many treatments being studied for their effectiveness in the area of PTSD. Currently, much of the research suggests that cognitive behavior therapy (CBT) may be the most promising treatment for PTSD (Jones & Stewart, 2007). CBT is a structured, symptom-focused therapy that includes a wide variety of skill-building techniques. All are based on the premise that thoughts and behaviors can cause negative emotions and patterns of interactions with others. Making maladaptive thoughts and behaviors more functional is the goal of CBT (Jaycox, 2004).CBT uses techniques that integrate elements of cognitive information processing associated with anxiety with behavioral techniques—such as relaxation, imaginal or in vivo exposure, and role playing—that are known to be useful in the reduction of anxiety (Cook-Cottone, 2004). Psychology in the Schools DOI: 10. 1002/pits 254 Sandoval, Scott, and Padilla Another protocol fo r dealing with treating PTSD is eye movement desensitization and reprocessing (EMDR). It includes many of the same elements as CBT, with the exception of in vivo exposure, and includes rhythmic eye and other tracking exercises (Greenwald, 1998).It has been successfully used with school-age populations (Chemtob, Nakashima, & Carlson, 2002). Play and art therapy. Play and art therapy are also being studied to determine their effectiveness on PTSD symptoms, especially in young children because of issues in language development (Cole & Piercy, 2007). Because play is a child’s natural method of developing mastery over the environment and because many symptoms of PTSD are seen in children’s play, this is a natural course of treatment (Kaduson, 2006). The use of art therapy has also shown to be effective in group work (Hansen, 2006). Medication.As a measure of last resort, medication may be used to treat severe PTSD. Often the symptoms of anxiety or depression that have resul ted from exposure to a traumatic experience are treated. Selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) in particular are often prescribed to treat the symptoms of anxiety and depression, including sertraline, paroxetine, and ? uoxetine (Foa, Davidson, & Frances, 1999). In the adult population, antipsychotic, antiepileptic, and other psychotropic medications have been explored and may be effective depending on the symptoms of the individual (Davis, Frazier, Williford, & and Newell, 2006).If medications are prescribed to a student, it is important that there be a liaison between the school and the treating physician or psychiatrist to monitor effectiveness and deleterious side effects. C ONCLUSIONS School psychologists are often the contacts in schools when there is a traumatizing event. School psychologists should be ready to administer psychological ? rst aid that is individualized and developmentally and culturally appropriate. By intervening and facilitating coping processes and the grieving process, it may be possible to prevent or minimize the development of PTSD.School-based protocols have been developed to respond to children in crisis. When students are referred to other psychological, psychiatric, or medical services, it is important to designate a liaison between the school and other professionals to maximize optimal treatment and care. R EFERENCES Allen, S. F. , Dlugokinski, E L. , Cohen, L. A. , & Walker, J. L. (1999). Assessing the impact of a traumatic community event on children and assisting with their healing. Psychiatric Annals, 29, 93 – 98. American Psychiatric Association. (2000). Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders (4th ed. Text Rev. ). Washington, DC: Author. Applied Research and Consulting, Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health, & New York Psychiatric Institute. (2002, May 6). Effects of the World Trade Center attack on NYC public school students: Initial report to the New York City Board of Educat ion. New York: New York City Board of Education. Barenbaum, J. , Ruchkin, V. , & Schwab-Stone, M. (2004). The psychosocial aspects of children exposed to war: Practice and policy initiatives. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 45, 41 – 62. Bradach, K. M. , & Jordan, J. R. (1995).Long-term effects of a family history of traumatic death on adolescent individuation. Death Studies, 19, 315 – 336. Brock, S. E. , Sandoval, J. , & Lewis, S. (2001). Preparing for crises in the schools: A manual for building school crisis response teams (2nd ed. ). New York: John Wiley. Byrne, B. M. (1996). Measuring self-concept across the lifespan: Issues and instrumentation. Washington, DC: American Psychological Association. Caffo, E. , & Belaise, C. (2003). Psychological aspects of traumatic injury in children and adolescents. Child & Adolescent Psychiatric Clinics of North America, 12, 493 – 535.Caplan, G. (1964). Principles of preventative psychiatry. New York: Basic Book s. Caplan, G. (1970). Theory and practice of mental health consultation. New York: Basic Books. Ceballo, R. (2000). The neighborhood club: A supportive intervention group for children exposed to urban violence. American Journal of Orthopsychiatry, 70, 401 – 407. Psychology in the Schools DOI: 10. 1002/pits Crisis Counseling Overview 255 Chemtob, C. M. , Nakashima, J. , & Carlson, J. G. (2002). Brief treatment for elementary school children with disaster-related posttraumatic stress disorder: A ? eld study.Journal of Clinical Psychology, 58, 99 – 112. Cole, E. , & Piercy, F. (2007). The use of dolls to assist young children with PTSD symptoms. Journal of Family Psychotherapy, 18, 83 – 89. Cook-Cottone, C. (2004). Childhood posttraumatic stress disorder: Diagnosis, treatment, and school reintegration. School Psychology Review, 33(2), 127 – 139. Daniels, J. A. , Bradley, M. C. , & Hays, M. (2007). The impact of school violence on school personnel: Implicatio ns for psychologists. Professional Psychology: Research and Practice, 38, 652 – 659. Davis, L. L. , Frazier, E. C. , Williford, R. B. & Newell, J. M. (2006). Long-term pharmacology for post-traumatic stress disorder. CNS Drugs, 20(6), 465 – 476. Fletcher, K. E. (2003). Childhood posttraumatic stress disorder. In E. J. Mash & R. A. Barkley (Eds. ) Childhood psychopathology (pp. 330 – 371). New York: Guilford. Foa, E. B. , Davidson, J. R. T. , & Frances, A. (1999). The expert consensus guidelines series: Treatment of posttraumatic stress disorder. Journal of Clinical Psychiatry, 60, 4 – 76. Galante, R. , & Foa, D. (1986). An epidemiological study of psychic trauma and treatment effectiveness for children after a natural disaster.Journal of the American Academy of Child Psychiatry, 25, 357 – 363. Greenwald, R. (1998). Eye movement desensitization and reprocessing (EMDR): New hope for children suffering from trauma and loss. Clinical Child Psychology a nd Psychiatry, 3, 279 – 287. Hall, E. T. (1959). The Silent Language. Greenwich, CT: Fawcett. Hansen, S. (2006). An expressive arts therapy model with groups for post-traumatic stress syndrome. In L. Carey (Ed. ). Expressive and creative arts methods for trauma survivors (pp. 73 – 91). London: Jessica Kingsley. Harter, S. (1999). The Construction of the self: A developmental perspective.New York: The Guilford Press. Hawkins, P. G. (2002). Helping children cope with death. In Sandoval, J. (Ed. ) Handbook of crisis counseling, intervention and prevention in the schools (2nd ed. ). (pp. 161 – 182). Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates. Honig, R. G. , Grace, M. C. , Lindy, J. D. , Newman, C. J. , & Titchener, J. L. (1999). Assessing the long-term effects of disasters occurring during childhood and adolescence: Questions of perspective and methodology. In M. Sugar (Ed. ), Trauma and adolescence (pp. 203 – 224). Madison, CT: International Universities Press. Klingman, A. (1986).School community in disaster: Planning for intervention. Journal of Community Psychology, 16, 205 – 216. Jaycox, L. (2004). Cognitive behavioral intervention for trauma in schools. Longmont, CO: Sopris West. Jones, A. B. , & Stewart, J. L. (2007). Group cognitive-behavior therapy to address post-traumatic stress disorder in children and adolescents. In R. W. Christner, J. L. Stewart, & A. Freeman (Eds. ), Handbook of cognitive-behavior group therapy with children and adolescents: Speci? c settings and presenting problems (pp. 223 – 240). New York: Routledge/Taylor & Francis. Joshi, P. T. , & Lewin, S. M. 2004). Disaster, terrorism and children. Psychiatric Annals, 34, 710 – 716. Kaduson, H. G. (2006). Release play therapy for children with posttraumatic stress syndrome. In H. G. Kaduson, & C. E. Shaefer (Eds. ), Short-term therapy for children (pp. 3 – 21). New York: The Guilford Press. La Greca, A. M. , Silverman, W. K. , Vernberg, E . M. , & Prinstein, M. J. (1996). Symptoms of posttraumatic stress in children after Hurricane Andrew: A prospective study. Journal of Consulting & Clinical Psychology, 64, 712 – 723. Lazarus, R. S. , & Folkman, S. (1984). Stress, appraisal, and coping. New York: Springer.Lee, C. C. , & Armstrong, K. L. (1995). Indigenous models of mental health intervention. In J. G. Ponterotto, J. M. Casas, L. A. Suzuki, & C. M. Alexander (Eds. ). Handbook of Multicultural Counseling (pp. 411 – 456). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage. Litz, B. T. , Gray, M. J. , Bryant, R. A. , & Adler, A. (2002). Early intervention for trauma: Current status and future directions. Clinical Psychology: Science and Practice, 9, 112 – 134. Lowenstein, L. B. (1995). The resolution scrapbook as an aid in the treatment of traumatized children. Child Welfare Journal, 74, 889 – 904. Marans, S. , & Adelman, A. (1997).Experiencing violence in a developmental context. In J. D. Osofsky (Ed. ), Children in a violent society. New York: The Guilford Press. Mark, B. S. , Layton, A. , & Chesworth, M. (1997). I’ll know what to do: A kid’s guide to natural disasters. Washington, DC: Magination Press. Mash, H. W. , & Shavelson, R. (1985). Self-concept: Its multifaceted hierarchical structure. Educational Psychologist, 2, 107 – 123. Marsh, H. W. , Byrne, B. M. , & Shavelson, R. J. (1988). A multifaceted academic self-concept: Its hierarchical structure and its relation to academic achievement. Journal of Educational Psychology, 80, 366 – 380.Mazza, J. J. , & Overstreet, S. (2000). Children and adolescents exposed to community violence: A mental health perspective for school psychologists. School Psychology Review, 29, 86 – 101. Psychology in the Schools DOI: 10. 1002/pits 256 Sandoval, Scott, and Padilla McDermott, B. M. C. , & Palmer, L. J. (1999). Post-disaster service provision following proactive identi? cation of children with emotional distress and depr ession. Australian & New Zealand Journal of Psychiatry, 33, 855 – 863. Morgan, K. E. , & White, P. R. (2003). The functions of art-making in CISD with children and youth.International Journal of Emergency Mental Health, 5, 61 – 76. National Child Traumatic Stress Network and National Center for Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. (2006). Psychological ? rst aid: Field operation guide (2nd ed. ). Author. Available at: http://www. nctsnet. org/nctsn assets/pdfs/pfa/2/ PsyFirstAid. pdf National Institute of Mental Health. (2001). Mental health and mass violence: Evidence-based early psychological intervention for victims/survivors of mass violence. A workshop to reach consensus on best practices. Washington, DC: U. S. Government Printing Of? ce. Ozer, E. J. Best, S. R. , Lipsey, T. L. , & Weiss, D. S. (2003). Predictors of posttraumatic stress disorder and symptoms in adults: A meta-analysis. Psychological Bulletin, 129, 52 – 73. Parker, C. L. , Everly, G. S. , Barnett , D. J. , & Links, J. M. (2006). 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Self-concept: Validation of construct interpretations. Review of Educational Research, 46, 407 – 441. Worden, J. W. (2002). Grief counseling and grief therapy: A handbook for the mental health professional (3rd ed. ). New York: Springer. Young, B. H. , Ford, J. D. , Ruzek, J. I. , Friedman, M. L. , & Gusman, F. D. (1999). Disaster mental health services: A guidebook for clinicians and administrators. [Online]. Available at: http://ncptsd. va. gov/ncmain/ncdocs/manuals/ nc manual dmhm. html Psychology in the Schools DOI: 10. 1002/pits

Wednesday, October 23, 2019

Leadership & Change Management Essay

Transactional leadership styles are more concerned with maintaining the normal flow of operations. Transactional leadership can be described as â€Å"keeping the ship afloat. † Transactional leaders use disciplinary power and an array of incentives to motivate employees to perform at their best. The term â€Å"transactional† refers to the fact that this type of leader essentially motivates subordinates by exchanging rewards for performance. A transactional leader generally does not look ahead in strategically guiding an organization to a position of market leadership; instead, these managers are solely concerned with making sure everything flows smoothly today. Transactional leadership motivates followers by setting up social or financial transactions that persuade them to act. For example, a transactional leader might offer bonuses to her sales staff for exceeding quotas. The bonus is a form of financial transaction. Transactional leadership often is set in opposition to transformational leadership, which is a leadership style that relies on convincing followers that a particular vision of what the organization can achieve is worth working toward. Transformational leadership A transformational leader goes beyond managing day-to-day operations and crafts strategies for taking his company, department or work team to the next level of performance and success. Transformational leadership styles focus on team-building, motivation and collaboration with employees at different levels of an organization to accomplish change for the better. Transformational leaders set goals and incentives to push their subordinates to higher performance levels, while providing opportunities for personal and professional growth for each employee. Transformational leadership might sound preferable because the leader doesn’t cynically harness the self-interest of her followers, as the transactional leader does. But there’s a problem. A transformational leader might not be forthright with her followers. For example, a business owner might motivate her workforce with stirring speeches about the nobility of hard work, while her real aim is to increase production for personal gain. This type of transformational leader might be called inauthentic. Advantages Both leadership styles are needed for guiding an organization to success. Transactional leaders provide distinct advantages through their abilities to address small operational details quickly. Transactional leaders handle all the details that come together to build a strong reputation in the marketplace, while keeping employees productive on the front line. Transformational leadership styles are crucial to the strategic development of a small business. Small businesses with transformational leaders at the helm shoot for ambitious goals, and can they achieve rapid success through the vision and team-building skills of the leader. Applications Different management styles are best suited to different situations. When it comes to front-line supervisors of minimum-wage employees, for example a transactional leadership style can be more effective. Shift supervisors at a fast food restaurant will be much more effective if they are concerned with ensuring all of the various stations run smoothly, rather than spending their time thinking up better ways to serve hamburgers. On the other hand, CEOs or sales managers can be more effective if they are transformational leaders. Executive managers need the ability to design and communicate grand strategic missions, passing the missions down to transactional leaders for implementation of the details. Organizations emphasize the concept of leadership in training managers or group leaders to propel a team or the organization forward. Within leadership, the effectiveness of the transformational versus transactional leader is often debated. Transactional leadership relies more on a â€Å"give and take† understanding, whereby subordinates have a sense of duty to the leader in exchange for some reward. Transformational leadership, on the other hand, involves a committed relationship between the leader and his followers. In 1985, industrial psychologist Bernard Bass identified and wrote about four basic elements that underlie transformational leadership. Idealized Influence Transformational leaders act as role models and display a charismatic personality that influences others to want to become more like the leader. Idealized influence can be most expressed through a transformational leader’s willingness to take risks and follow a core set of values, convictions and ethical principles in the actions he takes. It is through this concept of idealized influence that the leader builds trust with his followers and the followers, in turn, develop confidence in their leader. Inspirational Motivation Inspirational motivation refers to the leader’s ability to inspire confidence, motivation and a sense of purpose in his followers. The transformational leader must articulate a clear vision for the future, communicate expectations of the group and demonstrate a commitment to the goals that have been laid out. This aspect of transformational leadership requires superb communication skills as the leader must convey his messages with precision, power and a sense of authority. Other important behaviors of the leader include his continued optimism, enthusiasm and ability to point out the positive. Intellectual Stimulation Transformational leadership values creativity and autonomy among the leader’s followers. The leader supports his followers by involving them in the decision-making process and stimulating their efforts to be as creative and innovative as possible to identify solutions. To this end, the transformational leader challenges assumptions and solicits ideas from followers without criticizing. She helps change the way followers think about and frame problems and obstacles. The vision the leader conveys helps followers see the big picture and succeed in their efforts. Individualized Consideration Each follower or group member has specific needs and desires. For example, some are motivated by money while others by change and excitement. The individualized consideration element of transformational leadership recognizes these needs. The leader must be able to recognize or determine through eavesdropping or observation   what motivates each individual. Through one-on-one coaching and mentoring, the transformational leader provides opportunities for customized training sessions for each team member. These activities allow team members to grow and become fulfilled in their positions. The Benefits of Transformational Leadership Motivation A transformational leader uses her belief in the vision of the company to inspire the staff to be more productive and work towards company goals. The drive behind a transformational leader is to find ways in which she can get the entire staff on board with corporate strategy and planning. When the entire company is on the same page with the corporate vision, it can make achieving that vision easier. Planning Inspirational managers do not focus their energy solely on motivating the staff. A good transformational leader has broad visions for the company’s future, and those visions can become instrumental in company planning. Whether it is refining the overall business plan or affecting individual marketing programs, the transformational manager has ideas and visions for the future of the company that he wants to share with the management team and work to turn those plans into reality. Retention The idea of transformational leadership is to reach out to each employee and bring out the best in them. An inspirational manager spends time with each employee discussing ways to make the employee’s job easier, and helping to create plans for developing the employee’s career. This individual attention that is offered by transformational leaders helps to create a strong bond between the manager and his employees that will reduce employee turnover. Growth  A manager that is not intimately involved in the growth of the company and the development of her staff can start to struggle with managing her department as the company grows. A transformational leader is constantly involved with the growth of the company and the ongoing development of employees. As the company grows, the transformational leader maintains that close contact to the company and employees and can make the process of growing a more involved experience for new and veteran employees.

Tuesday, October 22, 2019

Creation of the Roman Empire Essays

Creation of the Roman Empire Essays Creation of the Roman Empire Paper Creation of the Roman Empire Paper The contributions of the Roman heritage on the modern West cannot be overemphasized. Even from ancient times the Roman Republic, and later the Roman Empire, was regarded as a successful template for all of civilization. The Romans had a superb ability to organize and administer to the needs of their citizens and also developed a tremendous legal system that is fundamentally in use even today. In the early republic, social divisions determined the shape of politics. Political power was in the hands of the aristocracy – the patricians. They dominated the affairs of state, provided military leadership in time of war, and monopolized knowledge of law and legal procedure. The common people – the small farmers, artisans, and landless urban dwellers – had few of the patricians advantages. They did, however, have a voice in politics but were mostly overshadowed by the patricians. One of the greatest institutions of the republic was the formation of the Senate, a council of noble elders who advised the king. The creation of several assemblies through which laws and policy decisions were made provided the foundation for a structured government in Rome. In comparing historical Roman political bodies to that of the present day United States it is easy to understand the influence that Roman history had on the framers of our own constitution and system of government. The Roman senate retains its name and also its function. The Roman consuls relate to our countrys legislative assembly while a Roman praetor most closely resembles a judge or attorney. The Roman system of law was one of the earliest in history to enforce the belief that all men were created equal and are the basis of modern civil law. Roman law also established the precedent that the burden of proof weighed on the accuser, creating the belief that someone is innocent until proven guilty. It also stated that a person could not be punished for a thought but only an action.

Monday, October 21, 2019

Measuring Intelligence

Measuring Intelligence Introduction â€Å"Goddard and the Kallikak family† and â€Å"The Cyril Burt Affair† are two articles that dwell on intelligence research. The report will compare the validity of their research with current knowledge on the subject matter in order to determine whether their work is plausible.Advertising We will write a custom essay sample on Measuring Intelligence specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More Analysis â€Å"Goddard and the Kallikak family† focuses on psychologist Henry Goddard’s research on intelligence in the 1900s. Goddard studied feeblemindedness, which was a condition that made an individual appear normal even though they possessed low intelligence. Such people had learning difficulties and were manipulated easily. Goddard thought that the condition was inheritable, and sought to prove it by studying the Kallikak family. The psychologist affirmed that Martin Kallikak’s marriage to a feeble mi nded woman called Deborah resulted in a line of feebleminded descendants, but the same was not true for his Quaker wife. Deborah’s side was susceptible to instances of prostitution and crime because people manipulated her descendants easily. Kallikak recommended that such people ought to be segregated from society since they would multiply and cause social problems. He even tested incoming immigrants like the Russians and Jews, and found that they tested poorly in his intelligence tests for feeble-mindedness. More than 75% of them were feebleminded. His results led to their deportation. However, years later, the psychologist reneged on his recommendations after realizing that there were problems with his intelligence tests. He also realized that feeble minded people can learn and improve (Esping and Jonathan par. 12). The second article (â€Å"The Cyril Burt Affair†) dwells on Cyril Burt’s work in intelligence testing. Burt was a proponent of genetic intelligenc e. He believed that people inherited intelligence, and sought to prove it by studying monozygotic twins who grew up in different households. The scientist did a series of tests on 15 twins, then 21 and eventually 53 pairs of twins. He found questionable correlation coefficients in the studies because they did not change as the sets of twins increased (Plucker par. 4). Later, scholars questioned Burt’s findings by stating that there was no proof for the existence of his research assistants. Scholars concluded that he might have fabricated the results to support his theory on intelligence, which is, intelligence is inherited.Advertising Looking for essay on psychology? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More Sigelman and Rider (276) explain that intelligence tests are highly complex, and scholars have misused them in many instances. In analysing Burt’s work, one can question the way he applied it to immigrants an d the feebleminded, as their demographic traits biased the tests. One can also question whether he considered all facets of his subjects’ intelligence. When Goddard carried out his investigations, he did not acknowledge the importance of multiple intelligences as described by Sigelman and Rider (279). These authors explain that a person may have linguistic intelligences (language capabilities), mathematical (numerical abilities), musical (skills in understanding musical patterns), spatial (visual information processing skills) interpersonal (social aptitude), bodily-kinesthetic (physical movement and form), intrapersonal (knowledge of self) or naturalistic intelligence (knowledge of the natural world). Since traditional intelligence tests focus mostly on mathematical, linguistic and spatial tests, they cannot be relied on to make sweeping statements about a person’s intelligence. A person’s intelligence could lie in the other areas, and they could function succe ssfully in life with these other intelligences. When psychologist Goddard carried out his research on Deborah, who was the source of feeble-mindedness in his class, he only focused on standard forms of intelligence – mathematical, linguistic and spatial. He did not consider the fact that Deborah had a high level of interpersonal intelligence. In fact, some school visitors often mistook her for a member of staff. Additionally, she might have had a high level of bodily – kinesthetic intelligence as demonstrated by her woodwork and seaming capabilities. Sigelman and Rider (280) also introduce another crucial aspect into the intelligence testing debate. They affirm that one’s culture defines intelligence. Items that are intelligible in one culture may be illogical in another. Consequently, one may question Burt’s work with the monozygotic twins on this basis.Advertising We will write a custom essay sample on Measuring Intelligence specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More He used sets of twins who were from different parts of the country and these areas may have had different definitions of intelligence. Therefore, it would be inaccurate to compare intelligence scores for persons from different cultural context. The same thing can be said about Goddard’s work. He tested newly arrived immigrants from Russia and Italy, and found that they scored poorly. People in the US were more likely to be exposed to the test items in Goddard’s tests than the immigrants who had just entered the country. Cultural bias is a strong basis for rejecting Goddard’s work. People misused Goddard’s intelligence tests in order to deport immigrants and support the passing of some state laws to forcefully sterilize feeble-minded citizens. Goddard later accepted that feeblemindedness was not a permanent trait when he observed changes in people’s intelligence after education. Modern psycholog ists now know that intelligence is dynamic and can be improved. If a child gets the support he requires for improvement, then chances are that those undesirable traits will disappear. In Burt’s research concerning the monozygotic twins, his strong correlation coefficients indicate that genetics is the primary source of intelligence. They do not take into account the effect of one’s environment. Sigelman and Rider (285) explain that intelligence in children can either decrease or increase depending on the environment, so one may question Burt’s work on this basis. Conclusion If Burt and Goddard incorporated all the complexities in intelligence testing, which modern psychologists know, then their work would have been indisputable. Nonetheless, modern day psychologists still consider Burt’s contribution in IQ testing through acknowledgement of the heritability of intelligence. They, however, acknowledge that other factors come into play, such as age and envi ronment. Goddard’s work on IQ testing has been improved on to include multiple intelligences.Advertising Looking for essay on psychology? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More Esping, Amber and Jonathan Plucker. Goddard and the Kallikak Family. 2002. Web. Plucker, Jonathan. The Cyril Burt Affair. 2012. Web. †¹https://www.indiana.edu/†º Sigelman, Carol Elizabeth Rider. Lifespan Human Development. Chicago: Cengage Learning, 2010. Print.

Sunday, October 20, 2019

The Persian Empire of Ancient Iran

The Persian Empire of Ancient Iran Irans history as a nation of people speaking an Indo-European language did not begin until the middle of the second millennium B.C. Before then, Iran was occupied by peoples with a variety of cultures. There are numerous artifacts attesting to settled agriculture, permanent sun-dried- brick dwellings, and pottery-making from the sixth millennium B.C. The most advanced area technologically was ancient Susiana, present-day Khuzestan Province. By the fourth millennium, the inhabitants of Susiana, the Elamites, were using semipictographic writing, probably learned from the highly advanced civilization of Sumer in Mesopotamia (ancient name for much of the area now known as Iraq), to the west. Sumerian influence in art, literature, and religion also became particularly strong when the Elamites were occupied by, or at least came under the domination of, two Mesopotamian cultures, those of Akkad and Ur, during the middle of the third millennium. By 2000 B.C. the Elamites had become sufficiently unified to destroy the city of Ur. Elamite civilization developed rapidly from that point, and, by the fourteenth century B.C., its art was at its most impressive. Immigration of the Medes and the Persians Small groups of nomadic, horse-riding peoples speaking Indo-European languages began moving into the Iranian cultural area from Central Asia near the end of the second millennium B.C. Population pressures, overgrazing in their home area, and hostile neighbors may have prompted these migrations. Some of the groups settled in eastern Iran, but others, those who were to leave significant historical records, pushed farther west toward the Zagros Mountains. Three major groups are identifiablethe Scythians, the Medes (the Amadai or Mada), and the Persians (also known as the Parsua or Parsa). The Scythians established themselves in the northern Zagros Mountains and clung to a seminomadic existence in which raiding was the chief form of economic enterprise. The Medes settled over a huge area, reaching as far as modern Tabriz in the north and Esfahan in the south. They had their capital at Ecbatana (present-day Hamadan) and annually paid tribute to the Assyrians. The Persians were established in three areas: to the south of Lake Urmia (the tradional name, also cited as Lake Orumiyeh, to which it has reverted after being called Lake Rezaiyeh under the Pahlavis), on the northern border of the kingdom of the Elamites; and in the environs of modern Shiraz, which would be their eventual settling place and to which they would give the name Parsa (what is roughly present-day Fars Province). During the seventh century B.C., the Persians were led by Hakamanish (Achaemenes, in Greek), ancestor of the Achaemenid dynasty. A descendant, Cyrus II (also known as Cyrus the Great or Cyrus the Elder), led the combined forces of the Medes and the Persians to establish the most extensive empire known in the ancient world. By 546 B.C., Cyrus had defeated Croesus*, the Lydian king of fabled wealth, and had secured control of the Aegean coast of Asia Minor, Armenia, and the  Greek colonies  along the Levant. Moving east, he took Parthia (land of the Arsacids, not to be confused with Parsa, which was to the southwest), Chorasmis, and Bactria. He besieged and captured Babylon in 539 and released the Jews who had been held captive there, thus earning his immortalization in the Book of Isaiah. When he died in 529**, Cyruss kingdom extended as far east as the Hindu Kush in present-day Afghanistan. His successors were less successful. Cyruss unstable son, Cambyses II, conquered Egypt but later committed suicide during a revolt led by a priest, Gaumata, who usurped the throne until overthrown in 522 by a member of a lateral branch of the Achaemenid family, Darius I (also known as Darayarahush or Darius the Great). Darius attacked the Greek mainland, which had supported rebellious Greek colonies under his aegis, but as a result of his defeat at the  Battle of Marathon in 490  was forced to retract the limits of the empire to  Asia Minor. The Achaemenids thereafter consolidated areas firmly under their control. It was Cyrus and Darius who, by sound and farsighted administrative planning, brilliant military maneuvering, and a humanistic worldview, established the greatness of the Achaemenids and in less than thirty years raised them from an obscure tribe to a world power. The quality of the Achaemenids as rulers began to disintegrate, however, after the death of Darius in 486. His son and successor, Xerxes, was chiefly occupied with suppressing revolts in Egypt and Babylonia. He also attempted to conquer the Greek Peloponnesus, but encouraged by a victory at Thermopylae, he overextended his forces and suffered overwhelming defeats at Salamis and Plataea. By the time his successor, Artaxerxes I, died in 424, the imperial court was beset by factionalism among the lateral family branches, a condition that persisted until the death in 330 of the last of the Achaemenids, Darius III, at the hands of his own subjects. The Achaemenids were enlightened despots who allowed a certain amount of regional autonomy in the form of the satrapy system. A satrapy was an administrative unit, usually organized on a geographical basis. A satrap (governor) administered the region, a general supervised military recruitment and ensured order, and a state secretary kept official records. The general and the state secretary reported directly to the central government. The twenty satrapies were linked by a 2,500-kilometer highway, the most impressive stretch being the  royal road  from Susa to Sardis, built by command of Darius. Relays of mounted couriers could reach the most remote areas in fifteen days. Despite the relative local independence afforded by the satrapy system, however, royal inspectors, the eyes and ears of the king, toured the empire and reported on local conditions, and the king maintained a personal bodyguard of 10,000 men, called the Immortals. The language in greatest use in the empire was Aramaic. Old Persian was the official language of the empire but was used only for inscriptions and royal proclamations. Darius revolutionized the economy by placing it on a silver and gold coinage system. Trade was extensive, and under the  Achaemenids  there was an efficient infrastructure that facilitated the exchange of commodities among the far reaches of the empire. As a result of this commercial activity, Persian words for typical items of trade became prevalent throughout the  Middle East  and eventually entered the English language; examples are, bazaar, shawl, sash, turquoise, tiara, orange, lemon, melon, peach, spinach, and asparagus. Trade was one of the empires main sources of revenue, along with agriculture and tribute. Other accomplishments of Dariuss reign included codification of the data, a universal legal system upon which much of later Iranian law would be based, and construction of a new capital at Persepolis, where vassal states would offer their yearly tribute at the festival celebrating the spring equinox. In its art and architecture, Persepolis reflected Dariuss percept ion of himself as the leader of conglomerates of people to whom he had given a new and single identity. The Achaemenid art and architecture found there is at once distinctive and also highly eclectic. The Achaemenids took the art forms and the cultural and religious traditions of many of the ancient Middle Eastern peoples and combined them into a single form. This Achaemenid artistic style is evident in the iconography of Persepolis, which celebrates the king and the office of the monarch. Envisioning a new world empire based on a fusion of Greek and Iranian culture and  ideals,  Ã¢â‚¬â€¹Alexander the Great  of Macedon accelerated the disintegration of the Achaemenid Empire. He was first accepted as leader by the fractious Greeks in 336 B.C. and by 334 had advanced to Asia Minor, an Iranian satrapy. In quick  succession,  he took Egypt, Babylonia, and then, over the course of two years, the heart of the  Achaemenid EmpireSusa, Ecbatana, and Persepolisthe last of which he burned. Alexander married Roxana (Roshanak), the daughter of the most powerful of the Bactrian chiefs (Oxyartes, who revolted in present-day Tadzhikistan), and in 324 commanded his officers and 10,000 of his soldiers to marry Iranian women. The mass wedding, held at Susa, was a model of Alexanders desire to consummate the union of the Greek and Iranian peoples. These plans ended in 323 B.C., however, when Alexander was struck with fever and died in Babylon, leaving no heir. His empire was d ivided among four of his generals. Seleucus, one of these generals, who became ruler of Babylon in 312, gradually reconquered most of Iran. Under Seleucuss son, Antiochus I, many Greeks entered Iran, and Hellenistic motifs in art, architecture, and urban planning became prevalent. Although the Seleucids faced challenges from the  Ptolemies of Egypt  and from the growing power of Rome, the main threat came from the province of Fars (Partha to the Greeks). Arsaces (of the seminomadic Parni tribe), whose name was used by all subsequent Parthian kings, revolted against the Seleucid governor in 247 B.C. and established a dynasty, the Arsacids, or Parthians. During the second century, the Parthians were able to extend their rule to Bactria, Babylonia, Susiana, and Media, and, under Mithradates II (123-87 B.C.), Parthian conquests stretched from India to Armenia. After the victories of Mithradates II, the Parthians began to claim descent from both the Greeks and the Achaemenids. They spoke a language similar to that of the Achaemenids, used the Pahlavi script, and established an administrative system based on Achaemenid precedents. Meanwhile, Ardeshir, son of the priest Papak, who claimed descent from the legendary hero Sasan, had become the Parthian governor in the Achaemenid home province of Persis (Fars). In A.D. 224 he overthrew the last Parthian king and established the Sassanid dynasty, which was to last 400 years. The Sassanids established an empire roughly within the frontiers achieved by the Achaemenids  [c, 550-330 B.C.;  with the capital at Ctesiphon. The Sassanids consciously sought to resuscitate Iranian traditions and to obliterate Greek cultural influence. Their rule was characterized by considerable centralization, ambitious urban planning, agricultural development, and technological improvements. Sassanid rulers adopted the title of shahanshah (king of kings), as sovereigns over numerous petty rulers, known as  shahrdars. Historians believe that society was divided into four classes: the priests, warriors, secretaries, and commoners. The royal princes, petty rulers, great landlords, and priests together constituted a privileged stratum, and the social system appears to have been fairly rigid. Sassanid rule and the system of social stratification were reinforced by Zoroastrianism, which became the state religion. The Zoroastrian priesthood became immensely powerful. The head of the priestly class, the  mobadan  mobad, along with the military commander, the  eran  spahbod, and the head of the bureaucracy, were among the great men of the state. Rome, with its capital at  Constantinople, had replaced Greece as Irans principal Western enemy, and hostilities between the two empires were frequent. Shahpur I (241-72), son and successor of Ardeshir, waged successful campaigns against the Romans and in 260 even took the emperor Valerian prisoner. Chosroes I (531-79), also known as Anushirvan the Just, is the most celebrated of the Sassanid rulers. He reformed the tax system and reorganized the army and the bureaucracy, tying the army more closely to the central government than to local lords. His reign witnessed the rise of the  dihqans  (literally, village lords), the petty landholding nobility who were the backbone of later Sassanid provincial administration and the tax collection system. Chosroes was a great builder, embellishing his capital, founding new towns, and constructing new buildings. Under his auspices, too, many books were brought from India and translated into Pahlavi. Some of these later found their way into the literature of the Islamic world. The reign of Chosroes II (591-628) was characterized by the wasteful splendor and lavishness of the court. Toward the end of his  reign  Chosroes IIs power declined. In renewed fighting with the Byzantines, he enjoyed initial successes, captured Damascus, and seized the Holy Cross in Jerusalem. But counterattacks by the Byzantine emperor Heraclius brought enemy forces deep into Sassanid territory. Years of warfare exhausted both the Byzantines and the Iranians. The later Sassanids were further weakened by economic decline, heavy taxation, religious unrest, rigid social stratification, the increasing power of the provincial landholders, and a rapid turnover of rulers. These factors facilitated the Arab invasion in the seventh century. Data as of December 1987Source: Library of Congress Country Studies Corrections *Jona Lendering  points out that a 547/546 date for the fall of Croesus is based on the  Nabonidus Chronicle  whose reading is uncertain. Rather than  Croesus  it may have been the ruler of Uratu. Lendering says the fall of Lydia should be listed as the 540s. **He also advises that cuneiform sources start to mention Cambyses as sole ruler in August 530, so the date of his death the following year is wrong.

Saturday, October 19, 2019

Organized crime Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Organized crime - Essay Example Nevertheless, there are certain features that characterize organized crime, which are used in investigating if a crime is organized. Organized crime involves an act of violation of law that had been pre-arranged. The planned criminal activity is for the purposes of making profit, and it entails use of threat, violence, and intimidation. Additionally, a lot of corruption evolves as the involved persons attempt to escape from arrest and prosecution. Cressey and Abadinsky have researched a lot on organized crime. However, their definition and understanding of organized crime differs. Cressey argues that organized crime makes available illicit goods as well as services to the society. He thus asserts that organized crime is part of the legitimate society though it provides illegitimate goods or services. Abadinsky claims that organized crimes are meant to provide goods and services required by the society. His description of organized crime emphasizes on the attributes that make a crime to be considered as an organized one. This essay focuses on Cressey’s and Abadinsky definitions of organized crime. Additionally, the essay will compare the two definitions. Howard Abadinsky defines organized crime as a non-ideological enterprise that encompasses individuals with close social ties, is planned on hierarchical foundation, with not less than three ranks and is aimed at acquiring power profits in addition to power. The enterprise attains the above by engaging in illegal as well as legal activities. The persons in the different ranks have different roles to play, which are assigned depending on one’s skills. Abadinsky asserts that the group does not have to share kinship ties to engage in organized crime. Abadinsky adds that, the members strive to make the enterprise part of their goals and are willing to use violence or corruption to attain their goals. Abadinsky argues that organized crime has no political goals and the membership is limited (Abadinsky 1- 6). On the other hand, Donald Cressey defines an organized crime as a crime that occupies a position in a social system and is planned to capitalize on profits through providing products and services that are legally forbidden but demanded by members of the society. Cressey argues that the main attributes that characterize organized crime include set up agreements, rules, and regulations that the members of the group perpetuating the crime must follow. As opposed to Abadinsky who asserts that some of the activities performed by organized crime groups are legal, Cressey argues that most of the activities performed by organized crime groups have antilegal attitude and do not comply with the code of conduct. Cressey posits that the enforcer, corruptor, as well as the corrupted persons in an organized crime are important in coordination of organized crime (Cressey and Finckenauer 70-73). Abadinsky categorized organized crime into two. He named the two categories as bureaucratic or corpo rate and the patrimonial or patron. Additionally, Abadinsky came up with certain attributes that define either of the two types of organized crime. The attributes include lack or ideological motive, occurs over an extended period, entails use of tactics or strategies, which have been planned over a long period. Another attribute is that organized crime is directed by rules in addition to code of ethics shared by the perpetrators. An additional attribute of organized crime is that it is aimed at creating monopoly on certain goods and